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shogun32

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Instead, the networks lobbied politicians to pass laws that make it illegal for cable providers to offer ala carte channels. They have to be sold in packages or bundles. It's bullshit.
it's all about the skim. Inject yourself into the middle of 2 points and you can siphon off a portion of every transaction. We call this being a parasite. Some are useful, some are unavoidable, but legally protected ones are properly demolished.

One parasite that serves the public "good" (for some definition of the term) is actually stock brokers. Not everyone can pass the tests and become a registered agent. And since there is very robust competition among the "gatekeepers astride the transactions in financial instruments" transaction fess (the siphon) have come way down to almost zero. So now even your dog can trade stocks should they want to.
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Dave2013M3

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it's all about the skim. Inject yourself into the middle of 2 points and you can siphon off a portion of every transaction. We call this being a parasite. Some are useful, some are unavoidable, but legally protected ones are properly demolished.

One parasite that serves the public "good" (for some definition of the term) is actually stock brokers. Not everyone can pass the tests and become a registered agent. And since there is very robust competition among the "gatekeepers astride the transactions in financial instruments" transaction fess (the siphon) have come way down to almost zero. So now even your dog can trade stocks should they want to.

Exactly, they have their hands in all the cookie jars. They make money from added dealer accessories to warranty plans and everything in between.
 

velocirooster

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It's one thing to order and have to wait on a Mustang or something special. But no one is going to wait months on some basic transportation order (base level Escape and so on).
A scenario that this applies to would be if you totaled your only vehicle and needed to get up and running ASAP. Automobile "unenthusiasts" just want 4 wheels and air conditioning, so Ford might lose that customer base, unless some vehicles are kept in stock.
 

Ratchet27

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Who gets to rip off all the walk in customers on trade if you're a direct to consumer seller? Big Ford isn't setup to be in the trade in business if they want to cut out the dealer middle man for new car sales.
 

04DarkShadowGT

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This whole thing is going to be interesting. There are quite a few things that will need to be ironed out. It is one thing for Tesla who is already a sort of boutique manufacturer selling a unique product compared to most of the market.

If you are Ford and are rolling this out widespread it could be challenging for many reasons. I guess time will tell. Some people will love it as they don't have to see or deal with anyone other than a computer screen. Getting great deals will be a thing of the past if this comes everywhere. There will be no leftovers before model change. Instead of paying 35K for a new premium Mustang after like 7-10k in discounts you will be paying the full MSRP.
 

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Dave2013M3

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Personally I don't think this will happen soon, I think Covid definitely put it on the radar.
 

AnalogDan

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The less dealer involvement, the better. I'd be happy for dealerships to go extinct.
 

Stage_3

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I think this is the way to do it.
I like to order my vehicles, so for me it's a win and a win for the dealerships.
 

Jeff58

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If they would always come as fast as my 2020 did, it wouldn't be so bad. The car arrived 15 days after I placed my order......the dealer couldn't believe.....and neither could I as my prior orders always took 6 to 8 weeks.
 

Redraven571

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Maybe someone else asked but how would this affect leasing vs. buying? Still order EXACTLY the car you want, pick it up, drive for 2-3 years and drop it off where? At a dealer? Or will Ford pick it up like Carvana and whisk it off to be sold online as a pre-owned vehicle? Will 'dealers' then only handle used/certified pre-owned? How about trades, are they then dead?
 

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Redraven571

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Some people will love it as they don't have to see or deal with anyone other than a computer screen. Getting great deals will be a thing of the past if this comes everywhere. There will be no leftovers before model change. Instead of paying 35K for a new premium Mustang after like 7-10k in discounts you will be paying the full MSRP.
One of the things I effing HATE about car shopping is being barraged as soon as my feet touch the macadam in the parking lot. I just want to look and see what's what; if I want to talk to someone, I'll find them. Plus, as a lot of people have already said, you can get EXACTLY what you want, no compromises (other than what upgrades you can afford).
 

Angrey

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The truth is usually self evident. If dealers weren't getting an unfair advantage, they wouldn't have had to pass legislation shutting the door on direct manufacturer purchases. They lobbied for those laws for a REASON.

I find the struggle by Tesla similar to the struggle Uber went through with taxi cab unions. They fought and fought it. Unfortunately, what did in the taxi cab unions were just people refusing to comply with the law and eventually they all just gave up.

I don't think Ford or GM or Chrysler is just going to crap all over their dealer partners and begin selling directly to consumers.

More likely is that they'll just expand the custom order process (but you'll still have to go through a dealer).

I see this more of an adjustment to the old system of...spit out a zillion cars with various packages and configurations and let the marketplace sort out who buys what (and transfers, etc).

What will probably happen is more and more vehicles will be made to order (but through a dealer).

GM kinda keeps their dealers on a shorter leash and doesn't allow ADM raping as much, especially with what they deem to be brand loyal customers (if you buy vettes your whole life you get rewarded for being first in line, preferred pricing, etc).

Honestly, Ford creates the dealer raping by keeping supply choked which allows them to do it. If Ford produced adequate supplies, dealers would have no choice but to offer vehicles at or below MSRP, otherwise you'd just drive to the next dealer. But when they keep production low and exclusive, you can't just drive down the street and buy from someone else.

In fact, it's so bad that you can't just walk in and order a GT500 track pack, if that dealer has already expended it's limited slots (in this case called a "golden ticket"....vomit). Basically if Ford produced enough GT500 track packs, they wouldn't be able to charge $20k+ over MSRP.

What's crazy is Ford is just cutting their own throat by doing that. They've priced the vehicle poorly when compared to the planned supply output.

If you make custom items and set the price at $X, and dealers and distributors are able to demand more than that, you should either A) make more because the market is telling you it WANTS more or B) Raise your prices so that people paying the higher price are paying YOU instead of the distributor.
 

ALLSTOCK

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dont dealers make most of their money from servicing vehicles?
 

Strokerswild

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dont dealers make most of their money from servicing vehicles?
Most make the majority of their money from used vehicle sales, or used to anyway. I remember a long-time dealer affiliate telling me that years ago.
 

Strokerswild

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Honestly, Ford creates the dealer raping by keeping supply choked which allows them to do it. If Ford produced adequate supplies, dealers would have no choice but to offer vehicles at or below MSRP, otherwise you'd just drive to the next dealer. But when they keep production low and exclusive, you can't just drive down the street and buy from someone else.

In fact, it's so bad that you can't just walk in and order a GT500 track pack, if that dealer has already expended it's limited slots (in this case called a "golden ticket"....vomit). Basically if Ford produced enough GT500 track packs, they wouldn't be able to charge $20k+ over MSRP.

What's crazy is Ford is just cutting their own throat by doing that. They've priced the vehicle poorly when compared to the planned supply output.
Ford's allocation BS is largely to blame. Build as many as people will actually order and buy.

As it was described to me, a dealer only gets so many allocations, and they depend on sales volume. Back when I inquired about ordering my '15, through a smaller dealer that moves very few Mustangs per year, I was told that they could order with no issue if they had Mustang allocations; they had no problem ordering it X-plan, but had to have that allocation. No problems there since they had only ordered a couple. But it could have been a bottleneck on me ordering a GT.

When it comes to something like the GT500, allocations are very few; a dealer has to move a ton of Mustangs for more allocations (plus the enrollment in the Shelby program). I wanted a base GT500 (let alone a CFTP) bad early last spring, but ADMs were rampant and I'll never pay one, knowing that things would cool off. Throw in the 'rona and a couple of major life events since, and I'm on the fence now after (too) much consideration. Lost sale? Maybe, let's wait and see about a '22. Fast forward to today and I've reached out to a couple of dealers that I've learned will sell one at MSRP, and allocations are full plus there's a list. I just want to buy a goddamn car and the hoops one needs to jump through have annoyed me nearly to the point of saying to hell with the whole idea.

As far as pricing on the GT500, I feel they're right where they need to be. Ford's build quality will never merit more and, frankly, might be a little high considering there's no special QC treatment given for the flagship model. But that's another topic.
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