Who says a manufacturer can't control dealer pricing? (Just ask Dodge)

[mdmoore23]

Anything can be made faster, it's the allure of the car in stock form.

The thing that turns me off most about the car is the fender flares, to me it should have wide body fenders, would have made the car look tons better.

I just wouldn't feel comfortable driving the car as those flares aren't my taste. Had those not been there i would have pulled the trigger. Even then it still wouldn't have been my type of car, just something to play around with for a while. I figure if there is a mopar nut behind me in line, they would be ecstatic to get it.
They told me they had a few guys in line and that it would sell, I had no doubt about that.
Will be getting the next gt500 from the same dealer, that is if they can get the KR version (if there is one). They couldn't ever get the 350R.
Would be nice if ford thought of the consumer purchase in some way, like dodge did here. Well done!

No doubt on the allure of a 9 second factory steetable car. That's why I said to most it would be a moot point that modded Hellcats run 9's regularly. The fender flares are a big turnoff to me too. I honestly was hoping those wouldn't make it to final production. Seems that with all the other changes, they could squeezed some reshaped fenders in there. Kudos to Dodge on making the car period, though.

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[machsmith]

Agree 100%.
I love performance but for a car, the most important feature to me is the way it looks, after all it's a spin-off of our tastes.
Dodge could have done much better than the flares... big turn off.

 

[Spa2k]

Agree 100%.
I love performance but for a car, the most important feature to me is the way it looks, after all it's a spin-off of our tastes.
Dodge could have done much better than the flares... big turn off.

Retooling the fenders and quarters would have cost too much time and money - I think Dodge's marketing group already thought the price was high enough for the market to bear - plus they had to leave a little room for the ADM.

 

[jma406]

https://jalopnik.com/heres-what-you-have-to-sign-when-you-buy-a-dodge-challe-1796304916

 

[jma406]

Bring your lawyer with you when you buy your demon! whttps://jalopnik.com/heres-what-you-have-to-sign-when-you-buy-a-dodge-challe-1796304916

 

[Spa2k]

With the Demon, I guess you won't be able to dodge acknowledging that you're buying the most track-ready Challenger ever produced.

 

[Mike02z]

I'm curious to see what the insurance costs on the Demon.

I have to say the way FCA did this was better than I thought. All dealers got their allocations at the same time. There will be no staggered allocations. Even today there were 3 dealers posting on Hellcat.org that they had Demon allocations at MSRP. These went within an hour but it looks like if you REALLY want a Demon, you could probably still get one at or close to MSRP. I suspect these will be sold out in the next few days. Dealers only have 90 days to get all their orders in. There are still dealers looking to get 10-50k over MSRP.

Too bad I'm broke :(

Poor Canadian folks still have no idea when they will get their 300 allocations.

 

[Trackaholic]

The only way to truly stop adm, starts with the consumer. As long as some have to be the first on the block, have the disposable income, and continue to act like a machine is worth more than it's maker has suggested, this will continue. I do commend Dodge for at least acknowledging they don't approve of the practice though. I'm sure they really don't care, but maybe they do. They surely kept the promise in the 2016 Hellcat after the 2015 debacle. That was through increased production though, and I'm sure they'll want to keep the Demon numbers to 3000 as they've said.

Coming to the thread late, so this may have been debated already, but I disagree with this assessment.

With limited allocation, the consumer has almost no power over ADM. Many dealers are willing to keep cars in the showroom for years, and are happy to never sell it, rather than getting rid of ADM. One of the largest dealers in LA will do this all the time. They have great prices on the "normal" cars, but all of the ones with allocations have ADM, and the owner will simply take the car himself if he can't sell it with a markup.

GM typically does not create the "limited edition" stuff, so they don't have allocation (usually there is initially, but if there isn't a limit to the number built, then dealers have no leverage because a potential buyer can go anywhere to get one). Examples are the difference between the Z/28 and the SS 1LE. The Z/28 probably sold more, but because they were limited editions, the dealers tried to mark them up like crazy initially. Of course on that model they got their asses burnt since the car ended up not being very popular (over priced MSRP IMO). On the SS 1LE, GM probably built even less, but because you could go to any dealer to order it, there wasn't any ADM on it.

Anyhow, at least Dodge does give the consumer some leverage, in that they are able to tell the dealer that the ADM will make put them at the end of the list, so they need to get it for MSRP or less. Still, I don't know that it is enough. Really, all Dodge needs to do is tell the dealers there isn't any allocation, cars will be built in reverse price order, and anyone who wants one can buy one. They will still only sell a small amount, since almost no general consumer wants to spend that much on that hardcore a car. That would eliminate the dealer leverage completely.

So, IMO ADM actually stems from the MFR, and their insistence on "limited edition" models. Most people don't want these hardcore versions anyway, so calling them "limited edition" and creating allocation models only gives power to the dealers and encourages ADM. I think the MFR's actually do this in order to give the dealers a way to make extra money on the low volume models, so they can afford to make better deals on the normal stuff. It's a gift to the dealers IMO, and while the MFR's pay lip service to eliminating it, I don't see them doing much to stop it.

The Ford GT method is actually one that does get rid of it, but of course Ford controls the allocations directly to the customer, which many don't like. I think that many customers actually like to pay ADM to ensure they are one of the select few who get the car (not so much with "value" cars like the GT350, Hellcat, and Demon, but more like the 911 R, P1, 918, Ford GT, etc.).

Anyhow, one can hope that waiting for supply and demand to equalize will put the power back in the consumer's hand (like the Z/28), and of course that part IS in control of the buyer.

How bout that Demon though!

-T

 

[mdmoore23]

Coming to the thread late, so this may have been debated already, but I disagree with this assessment.

With limited allocation, the consumer has almost no power over ADM. Many dealers are willing to keep cars in the showroom for years, and are happy to never sell it, rather than getting rid of ADM. One of the largest dealers in LA will do this all the time. They have great prices on the "normal" cars, but all of the ones with allocations have ADM, and the owner will simply take the car himself if he can't sell it with a markup.

GM typically does not create the "limited edition" stuff, so they don't have allocation (usually there is initially, but if there isn't a limit to the number built, then dealers have no leverage because a potential buyer can go anywhere to get one). Examples are the difference between the Z/28 and the SS 1LE. The Z/28 probably sold more, but because they were limited editions, the dealers tried to mark them up like crazy initially. Of course on that model they got their asses burnt since the car ended up not being very popular (over priced MSRP IMO). On the SS 1LE, GM probably built even less, but because you could go to any dealer to order it, there wasn't any ADM on it.

Anyhow, at least Dodge does give the consumer some leverage, in that they are able to tell the dealer that the ADM will make put them at the end of the list, so they need to get it for MSRP or less. Still, I don't know that it is enough. Really, all Dodge needs to do is tell the dealers there isn't any allocation, cars will be built in reverse price order, and anyone who wants one can buy one. They will still only sell a small amount, since almost no general consumer wants to spend that much on that hardcore a car. That would eliminate the dealer leverage completely.

So, IMO ADM actually stems from the MFR, and their insistence on "limited edition" models. Most people don't want these hardcore versions anyway, so calling them "limited edition" and creating allocation models only gives power to the dealers and encourages ADM. I think the MFR's actually do this in order to give the dealers a way to make extra money on the low volume models, so they can afford to make better deals on the normal stuff. It's a gift to the dealers IMO, and while the MFR's pay lip service to eliminating it, I don't see them doing much to stop it.

The Ford GT method is actually one that does get rid of it, but of course Ford controls the allocations directly to the customer, which many don't like. I think that many customers actually like to pay ADM to ensure they are one of the select few who get the car (not so much with "value" cars like the GT350, Hellcat, and Demon, but more like the 911 R, P1, 918, Ford GT, etc.).

Anyhow, one can hope that waiting for supply and demand to equalize will put the power back in the consumer's hand (like the Z/28), and of course that part IS in control of the buyer.

How bout that Demon though!

-T

I agree for the most part because I know in reality there will always be people willing to pay the prices, but at the end of the day if people didn't cave to the prices they wouldn't exist. Many dealers can't afford to sit on a $70k specialty vehicle for a year or two. I know this would never happen, because there's more than enough people to afford markups on the cars they want. But theoretically, just think if no one bought a marked up GT350R for the whole 2016 model year. How would any dealers have leverage to justify anything over msrp at that point? Theoretically is the key word here.

 

[Epiphany]

The "theory" isn't valid as there are always those that will pay the ADM because they just have to have something. Some dealers will happily fish for these buyers.

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