If the free market is working, whoever managed to ramp up production fastest will reap the rewards and put everyone else out of business. Good for them.
Carmakers feel chip crisis easing
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Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing
#52The auto industry caused the vast majority of the chip problems we are seeing across all sectors. Eff em.
Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing
#53If the free market is working, whoever managed to ramp up production fastest will reap the rewards and put everyone else out of business. Good for them.
Car companies try very hard to maintain two suppliers, so they will only be able to put all but one of their competitors out of business.
Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing
#54I saw an article recently saying that dealerships and car makers want to keep inventories low because they like the post-covid margins they're experiencing. When I paid 5k over msrp a few months ago the salesperson claimed they wanted more inventory because salespeople were unable to hit the volume goals they have. Not sure who to believe but I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in between.
Really glad that dealers in Canada can't charge over MSRP for new vehicles.
Then they should be honest and call it MMRP — manufacturer’s mandatory retail price [maximum] (with corresponding French equivalent).
Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was seriously looking to buy and stopped when I was quoted a 9 month delivery time. Also, what is the point of a dealership if you have to wait a very long time and have no negotiation leverage? They might find they regret their temporary boost of profits when it destroys them. Ford is selling EVs direct to consumer now, the writing may be on the wall for dealerships.
My friends who work at Ford all report a general feeling of being over the dealership. They’re just as sick of the dealer shenanigans as we consumers are and it sounds like they’re working hard on cutting them out. This didn’t have to be—but the dealers insisted on being scummy and not changing with the times and now they’re left friendless.
TBF there is a very slow moving pendulum. The manufacturers screwed the dealerships many decades ago, so the government passed laws to protect dealerships (see also: in some states you can't buy a Tesla at a Tesla showroom). The dealers in turn used those regulations as leverage against the manufacturers.
General speaking: in times of high-margins, manufacturers want to kill the dealerships to capture a larger slice of those margins. In times of low-margins (even negative net margins) the manufacturers want to force the dealerships to eat as much of the cost as possible.
Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing
#56I saw an article recently saying that dealerships and car makers want to keep inventories low because they like the post-covid margins they're experiencing. When I paid 5k over msrp a few months ago the salesperson claimed they wanted more inventory because salespeople were unable to hit the volume goals they have. Not sure who to believe but I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in between.
Disclosure: I work for GM. Anything expressed here is solely my own opinion and experience. I think each statement is true. Context: for ages, OEMs (the factory) have had a belief that Americans will not wait to buy a car. There's also a bit of a prisoner's dilemma: if any automaker wanted to trim inventories, the customer could go to a competing automaker's lot and buy today. Since customers will not wait to buy a c…
Example of one, but once I heard about the 9+ month wait times for cars I wasn't even excited about, I just decided to keep my current car and fix the paint, detail the interior, etc. I can wait to buy a car, but not on a paid wait list.
Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing
#57I saw an article recently saying that dealerships and car makers want to keep inventories low because they like the post-covid margins they're experiencing. When I paid 5k over msrp a few months ago the salesperson claimed they wanted more inventory because salespeople were unable to hit the volume goals they have. Not sure who to believe but I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in between.
Disclosure: I work for GM. Anything expressed here is solely my own opinion and experience. I think each statement is true. Context: for ages, OEMs (the factory) have had a belief that Americans will not wait to buy a car. There's also a bit of a prisoner's dilemma: if any automaker wanted to trim inventories, the customer could go to a competing automaker's lot and buy today. Since customers will not wait to buy a c…
> In future American OEMs may move to a more European model where vehicles are built to specific customer order. This takes on the order of two months at the moment for many legacy reasons, but there is no need for it to actually take this long.
You've been able to do this in the US forever; you just might have needed to pay closer to (or even at) sticker (now I'm sure it's higher than sticker).
Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing
#58I saw an article that mentioned Britian's 4 day work week trial, then saw this about the "chip" crisis easing and I was confused
Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Disclosure: I work for GM. Anything expressed here is solely my own opinion and experience. I think each statement is true. Context: for ages, OEMs (the factory) have had a belief that Americans will not wait to buy a car. There's also a bit of a prisoner's dilemma: if any automaker wanted to trim inventories, the customer could go to a competing automaker's lot and buy today. Since customers will not wait to buy a c…
> In future American OEMs may move to a more European model where vehicles are built to specific customer order. That's it, I'm moving to Europe.
You don't have to do that. Many if not most automakers, both foreign and domestic, already accept custom orders through their dealers. You're not going to like the wait time, though.
Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing
#60Just in time for $6 gas.
Are people seriously going to buy anything other than a hybrid or full EV at this point?