Ford CEO Farley Says Dealers Who Price Gouge Could Get Fewer Vehicle Allocations

[Brocked]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ys-dealers-who-gouge-could-get-fewer-vehicles


Some car dealers are taking advantage of lean inventories as a result of the semiconductor shortage by charging well above sticker price -- and Ford Motor Co.’s chief executive officer isn’t happy about it.

“We have very good intelligence of who they are and their future allocation of product will be directly impacted because of that policy,” CEO Jim Farley said Thursday on a conference call with analysts. “We have about 10% of our dealers last year in the supply constrained environment that we’re in charging above MSRP to the best of our knowledge,” he said, referring to the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.

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[North7]

Talk is cheap, will Ford take action, highly doubtful.

Unless they bring out the big guns, that will really scare the dealers.

 

[Smashquatch]

Not to mention it does nothing for the folks who have been or are about to be screwed. They’ll just keep jacking prices on the vehicles Ford decides to give them.

 

[MyBroncoNotYours]

From a dealer, they are required to sell a certain % of reservation orders to the original res holder or they will get their allocations cut. If they charge ADM and people back out, it’s going to hurt them.

 

[_finack]

Ford lowered the name match percentage required for Bronco reservations. That is the exact opposite of doing something about it.

 

[DaveH]

From a dealer, they are required to sell a certain % of reservation orders to the original res holder or they will get their allocations cut. If they charge ADM and people back out, it’s going to hurt them.

Didn't Ford lower it to 60% name match? In this market, a dealer can be pretty slimy and still hit that mark.

 

[Razorbak86]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ys-dealers-who-gouge-could-get-fewer-vehicles


Some car dealers are taking advantage of lean inventories as a result of the semiconductor shortage by charging well above sticker price -- and Ford Motor Co.’s chief executive officer isn’t happy about it.

“We have very good intelligence of who they are and their future allocation of product will be directly impacted because of that policy,” CEO Jim Farley said Thursday on a conference call with analysts. “We have about 10% of our dealers last year in the supply constrained environment that we’re in charging above MSRP to the best of our knowledge,” he said, referring to the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.

Don’t get too excited unless you’re an EV customer. Wait for the conference call transcript for context.

 

[ScottyScooter]

Maybe I'm the only one, but I actually don't care how much the dealerships jack up the price of their inventory. If they have a lot full of vehicles that are all priced $20k above MSRP, fine. I'm not paying that, but good for them if they do find people willing to pay that for the convivence of walking onto their lot and driving home in a new car on that day.

The thing that I find completely unacceptable is when a dealership tries to do that to a customer order. The people who place an order do not get the convenience of buying a car on the lot. That vehicle is not the dealers inventory. The dealership has practically no overhead because all they do is pass it along to the customer and make a nice profit on the sale as soon as the car arrives. The customer who placed that order already paid the price of market constraints with their time by waiting many months for that vehicle to be built.

If I were in charge of Ford, I would have a hotline available for my customers who placed orders and if they are overcharged, I would destroy the dealership that did it.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

The thing that I find completely unacceptable is when a dealership tries to do that to a customer order. The people who place an order do not get the convenience of buying a car on the lot. That vehicle is not the dealers inventory. The dealership has practically no overhead because all they do is pass it along to the customer and make a nice profit on the sale as soon as the car arrives. The customer who placed that order already paid the price of market constraints with their time by waiting many months for that vehicle to be built.

I would have to go so far as saying that I would not consider it unacceptable for a dealership to charge a significant markup on a customer order, as long as this is clearly disclosed at the time the order is placed. At that point, the customer still has a very viable option to go off and see if he can get a better deal from another dealer.

What makes what we have been seeing lately, unacceptable, is that a customer places an order, commits to that dealership, and then waits for months, sometimes well over a year, only to find out, when his vehicle actually arrives that now the dealer wants to charge him a lot more for it than what was understood when he placed the order. Walking away, to look for a better deal, now means getting back in line, waiting another several months, only to risk having the same thing happen again. That's not acceptable, and it shouldn't be legal.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ys-dealers-who-gouge-could-get-fewer-vehicles


Some car dealers are taking advantage of lean inventories as a result of the semiconductor shortage by charging well above sticker price -- and Ford Motor Co.’s chief executive officer isn’t happy about it.

“We have very good intelligence of who they are and their future allocation of product will be directly impacted because of that policy,” CEO Jim Farley said Thursday on a conference call with analysts. “We have about 10% of our dealers last year in the supply constrained environment that we’re in charging above MSRP to the best of our knowledge,” he said, referring to the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.

The linked article is hidden behind a paywall.

Do you or anyone else have any source for this news, from a credible site?

 

[Silver-Bolt]

10% doing it??? More like 10% not doing it.

 

[JT58Bronc]

Sucks that dealerships do it but it's business. Vehicle will sit there until someone really wants it or has to have it and they can pay the ADM. I won't, that's for sure. I remember the days when there were deals to be had. I have owned over 60 vehicles in my short life and never paid MSRP for any of them, never mind ADM.

 

[HBTFD]

I bought my Bronco for $500 over invoice. Look around, you’ll find a dealer that won’t screw you.

 

[Marsalad]

When I ordered my Bronco in February 2021 the dealer contacted me to confirm the order. I was then contacted a few times after that (I have purchased vehicles from this dealership before) and the only price ever discussed was MSRP. When the vehicle arrived in October they made a fair offer on my trade but out of habit I asked if they could do any better as other dealerships had offered more, although not against a Bronco. They discounted the Bronco $500 off MSRP and I was more than happy. I have asked my sales person a few times during follow-up calls or visits to pick up accessories (except the rock rails I ordered at delivery that still haven’t appeared yet) if they had gotten over MSRP on any orders and was told no. He said the only time he can remember that happening was when the Ford GT was reintroduced back in 2005 and they basically had a bidding war on eBay for the one they were lucky enough to get.
Perhaps Ford is aware of this dealership’s customer service because they have significantly more new Ford vehicles in stock than any other dealer in the area.
They also have three modified Broncos on display in their showroom that I believe are either employee-owned or mannequins.
The dealership is Caskinette Ford in Carthage, NY.

 

[Easy-v]

I listened to the call too - he said "future allocation will be impacted"...it's not clear if he was only addressing profiteering on the EV's or ICE+EV's.

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