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Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

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Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#241

Post by dnndev »

sircastor wrote: post #117
serf wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>That being said, is there any counterpoint to this view? Are there any benefits that dealerships offer today over direct sales? the only thing I can think to say is that they are still a convenient repair facility, Tesla is fairly notorious for slow turn-around for repair.[0] I think a nice middle-ground would be the conversion of dealerships into showrooms/receiving-centers/repair facilities -- oust the sales porti…

I’ll second this from a privileged position. I own a late model Land Rover, and if I take it down to the dealer to solve something, they treat me very well and put me in a very nice lounge while I wait. It’s a first class experience. I don’t think I’d get as nice attention from a non-luxury dealer though.

I would rather they pickup my car fix it and return it. To me that is luxury. Forcing me to go to your location and waiting on you is not convenient.

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#242

Post by superultra »

signatoremo wrote: post #132
superultra wrote: post #62

I bought a (Toyota) Scion xB when it first came to the States in 2004. The brand rollout was fixed-price, advertised as no-haggle. A big play for that era's Gen Z, Gen X. Focus was on personal customizations as upgrades, not much else rom the mono-spec model. I loved the whole concept. Dealerships hated it. I loved that car, drove it until it the wheels fell off. Point being, Tesla is hardly the first one to pull off…

As someone else mentioned, it wasn’t online. You still had to deal with dealership. Sometimes Scion showroom was right next to Toyota’s one, practically the same people. Also, it no longer exists. Dealers don’t like it because they make less profit off Scion cars. The incentive wasn’t there. You can see how it is different than the direct model Tesla use, and Ford is contemplating to adopt

I am pretty sure that I did buy online-ish. I filled out a customization form on the Scion website (it was a fancy webpage for 2003/4, but bascially just a very basic form submission), and then got an email a few days later from the nearest dealership (at the time I had to drive a couple of states over to get it), and it went from there. But there was no negotiation. I walked in, signed papers, and drove out with a car. Pretty revolutionary for 2004.

And true Scion as a brand no longer exists, but it lasted pretty long.

In this case, Ford is not saying away with the dealerships - they're looking at them as distribution hubs, basically...like Scion.

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#243

Post by noveltyaccount »

alexktz wrote: post #55
zeeb wrote: post #47

I imagine the +$20k "market adjustment" markups on the F-150 lightning (and other EV's and hybrids) [0] by dealerships probably factored into this decision. [0]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/02/12/ford-gm-d...

It 100% factored into my decision to cancel my pre-order for a Lightning. The dealer said to me via email in December 2021: The latest communication is that order banks will open in January. Ford will be sending invitations to build / order in waves as to keep up with the demand. The invitations will be prioritized based on reservation time stamps. Your reservation is number 138 at our location. I have no way to trac…

I was going to place a preorder deposit on launch day, but as soon as I had to select a dealership in the configuration process, I stopped and changed my mind. Also would have been net new to Ford.

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#244

Post by OnionBlender »

I absolutely hate dealerships. I tried to buy a Mazda 3 a few years ago and the dealer took my keys and driver's license with some stupid excuse. I didn't realize until later that it was a tactic to prevent me from walking out the door when I wanted.

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#245

Post by grogenaut »

justahuman74 wrote: post #111
more_corn wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe instead of auto manufacturers getting all the profit it’s nice that a local middleman gets rich too?

But it sounds like the local middleman is getting rich at the expense of fellow-locals

I'm glad if I'm going to pay someone for not doing anything it's a local person so I can see how much my money is helping them at the country club I can't get into.

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#246

Post by natch »

cschep wrote: post #91
alexktz wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It 100% factored into my decision to cancel my pre-order for a Lightning. The dealer said to me via email in December 2021: The latest communication is that order banks will open in January. Ford will be sending invitations to build / order in waves as to keep up with the demand. The invitations will be prioritized based on reservation time stamps. Your reservation is number 138 at our location. I have no way to trac…

Count me as another "will buy an f-150 lightning if they will take my money but not if I have to go through a dealer". I don't know how many of us there are but I really hope enough that I never have to go to a dealer again.

And no Supercharger network. Kind of nuts to buy an EV without that.

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#247

Post by taneq »

ars wrote: post #237
toomuchtodo wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Distance typo fixed, thank you! Happy to have provided a chuckle.

> 400k km ? LOL Why not just use megameters? 400Mm OK, something about that looks odd. But what's the point in SI units if you can't actually use them? Maybe 250k miles?

Ah but is a megameter 10^6m or 2^20m? ;)

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#248

Post by xeromal »

Alupis wrote: post #127
paxys wrote: post #39

A lot has been said about the dealership model in the last few years, and the almost universal consensus is that it is an unnecessary and predatory industry and all auto makers should just sell cars directly like Tesla does. That being said, is there any counterpoint to this view? Are there any benefits that dealerships offer today over direct sales? What would we lose if we got rid of every dealership? If there is t…

When I see "No Haggle, Fixed-Price, Online Only", I think "Rip Off", and I can't be the only one. It's not that I enjoy haggling with car salesmen, walking out the door and getting hunted down in the parking lot like an animal... I don't... in fact I hate it. But at the end of the day I get a deal I'm satisfied and comfortable with - and it's always below MSRP - far below. I think what we're seeing here is a combinat…

I really don't understand the rip off feeling if the price is the price.

If I see a widget and the widget meets my needs and the widget fits my budget and I buy it, I don't care how much profit they're making. Why does it matter?

I think the act of feeling ripped off or having to make sure someone only makes a certain amount of profit is a path that leads to anxiety.

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#249

Post by sammalloy »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #240
sammalloy wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing about Toyota and Honda though is they create loyal customers who keep coming back. My buddy has a Toyota with 250k miles on it. And that’s considered normal wear and tear. Good luck trying to get a Ford past 120k. Ever had to deal with a Ford dealership? It’s like visiting hell for a day.

It's all in the perceptions. Pretty much everything made in the last 30yr lasts as long as you're willing to keep doing the normal scheduled maintenance and keep feeding it wear parts. The average Toyota buyer is a lot more willing and financially capable of doing that than the kind of person who rolls negative equity on an Altima into a Dodge Journey. I used to be responsible for a fleet of delivery vans. I would ha…

You’re talking about the difference between commercial and commuter use. We both know that they are not the same at all, and have different manufacturing environments, parts, builds, and specs. Clearly, this discussion is not about commercial vehicles.

Go look at the list of most reliable cars. Toyota and Honda are always listed as number one and two. Ford isn’t ever discussed as "reliable". I think this goes way beyond perception. Yes, commercial vehicles by Ford are probably reliable, but we are talking about regular commuter cars, and when it comes to that class, Toyota and Honda lead.

Re: Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

#250

Post by dheera »

jvm wrote: post #157
medler wrote: post #82

This article takes an off-the-cuff comment from the CEO of Ford and reads too much into it IMO. He wasn’t saying dealerships are going away; he was actually saying the opposite. The point he was making was that Ford is going to adopt some of Tesla’s practices while using the dealership network to compete with them. Here’s the quote with more context: “I believe for retail, we have to -- it's kind of like what happene…

Selling online without negotiated price is a big change. That should make the dealerships really uncomfortable in the long run… he's kind of saying "oh the dealerships could rent out Mustangs" but is that actually realistic?

I mean, I'm all for the dealerships dying. They do nothing but waste peoples' time. We don't actually need them and the scripts that the salespeople and buyers effectively recite to each other like a Shakespeare play.
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