SVT's tent drew heavy crowds and right there was the new SVT Shelby Cobra GT500. The SVT guys were knowledgable and helpful. I overheard one poor SVT guy being grilled by several men about the price gouging going on with the Ford GT and asking what Ford was going to do to prevent the same shenanigans with the GT500. Apparently Ford SVT is tracking dealer sales and they will direct more product to dealers that don't jack up the prices. We'll see what happens when they hit dealers.
5 comments:
The OEMs can not influence dealer prices. Otherwise, they would be in big trouble with the Feds--it is called anti-trust.
I'm sure you are right, but as I recall, the guy from SVT said that dealers that jack up prices just won't recieve the cars when they are alocated. So that may not be an Anti-Trust situation.
I don't make this up, just repeat what I heard the SVT guy say. He may have just said anything to get out of a sticky situation.
You have to imagine this guy surounded by 10 prospective buyers (more likely dreamers like myself) being hit with dirty looks and accusitory attitudes. I'm sure he would have chewed his own leg off to get away, but the crowd just kept getting bigger and none of his SVT buddies were close enough to bail him out.
Are people upset at the basic supply-demand economics? I don't see an issue with it as long as there are people lining up to pay for it at twice the cost.
You don't see a problem with the supply and demand issue? I do. I have been a loyal Ford customer for over twenty years. I bought my first new Ford in 1991, a GT Mustang hatchback, and was able to negotiate a fair deal. Since then, I have purchased at least ten new Ford vehicles and have always been able to get a good deal on my vehicles. I have been loyal to one dealer in particular. The practice of dealers inflating the sticker for a vehicle that they consider "hot" is price gouging. As a matter of fact it sometimes backfires, look at how much damage they did to the Thuderbird. People paid $5,000- $15,000 over sticker and waited on long lists for cars that you and I can now get for one third of what they paid. The dealers did more to the demise of the Thunderbird than any thing Ford didn't do to make it a world class car. An MSRP should be the ceiling for a new vehicle. No other entity in the automobile industry recognises the premium paid over sticker. If you total it out in front of the dealership, the insurance company does not factor in adjusted MSRP's. The bottom line is that American car dealers should not charge a premium. Full sticker is more than fair, don't bilk the people that keep you in business in between rare vehicles that truly deliver on our automotive fantasies.
Tommy O thanks for weighing in, I'm always glad when people want to discuss something I've posted about. Anonymous, Tommy does have a point, and while supply and demand can drive a price, the current practices of dealers have gotten out of hand. Just go to E-Bay Motors and look for a Mustang.
My original post was to point out how angry customers had cornered this poor guy from SVT, not debate the premium pricing. But Tommy has pointed out a good case with the T-Bird. Price gouging was a factor in poor sales and the ultimate demise of that car.
Besides, Ford isn't talking about price fixing, their just say that dealers that have a bad track record will not recieve a large alotment of specialty product. That is withing Ford's discretion, with non mass market cars.
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