Ford disagrees on dealer cuts

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that would be smart. i live in the country, and there is a toyota dealer in every town. a big plus. and why I can't buy VW (but why would I?)
 
Political posturing. Ford wanted some air time on this issue.

Ford says it doesn't believe in cutting rural dealers, but they already have cut 700 of them. Where were those dealers located, Yuppie Town? I'm sure plenty were "rural dealers".

Ford is in a position to squawk about the issue, their dealer base is already down to where GM wants to be. It's like the skinny guy who used to be fat is criticizing the weight loss program of fat guys. Easy for Mr. Skinny to be critical of the process; he's already met his goals.

The rest of the whining is about Chrysler dealers dumping cars onto the market to eliminate inventory. Product dumping is not good for anyone in the business and Ford is complaining about the effects before they happen. More whining.

On this topic Ford's opinion doesn't matter. Everyone in the industry needs to stick with their business plans and get back to work instead of running to the media every 10 minutes for face time.
 
One other point that Ford's complaint is worthless posturing:

Ford has only two dealer bodies - Ford cars and trucks, and Lincoln-Mercury. Ford has consolidated most of the L-M dealers into the Ford dealer body already. Volvo and Mazda are separate entities from Ford.

GM has separate dealer bodies for Saab, Hummer, and Saturn, all of which are being eliminated. The only brand with combined dealers is Pontiac, so no great dealer loss there. Much of GM's dealer excess come from these brands. While I haven't seen a list, I'm sure GM isn't cutting a lot of Chevy dealers compared to their other brands. I think Rural America will survive just fine without a Saab dealer or a Hummer showroom.
 
Originally Posted By: bretfraz
Political posturing. Ford wanted some air time on this issue.

Ford says it doesn't believe in cutting rural dealers, but they already have cut 700 of them. Where were those dealers located, Yuppie Town? I'm sure plenty were "rural dealers".

Ford is in a position to squawk about the issue, their dealer base is already down to where GM wants to be. It's like the skinny guy who used to be fat is criticizing the weight loss program of fat guys. Easy for Mr. Skinny to be critical of the process; he's already met his goals.

The rest of the whining is about Chrysler dealers dumping cars onto the market to eliminate inventory. Product dumping is not good for anyone in the business and Ford is complaining about the effects before they happen. More whining.

On this topic Ford's opinion doesn't matter. Everyone in the industry needs to stick with their business plans and get back to work instead of running to the media every 10 minutes for face time.

True partly- ford has cut 600 dealers total since the way forward program started,not 700 and not all in the country.I for one would be worried about dumping ,unless I wanted a chyrsler,in that case woo-hoo
 
Rural and Urban America will live well without dealers like I dealt with in Mabank, TX. I sent Tri-County Ford a message through their dealer website, asking 2 simple questions and providing my contact information.

My questions were: 1) What is your internet price on your 2008 Fusion, stock # xxxxxxx, VIN 3FAHP07Z09R220485. 2) Can you give me an estimated trade allowance on a 2006 Mazda Mazdaspeed 6 "Sport", excellent condition, 9300 miles.

The only reply I've received thus far:

Dear Charlie,

Below is a Special Bonus from the Tri-County Ford Internet Department.

Thank you for the recent request for information on a Fusion I hope the information we provided was helpful to you and that you are feeling more comfortable with your potential purchase decision. If there is anything we failed to provide, or any way I can help you in making an informed decision, please let me know.

As an added incentive we have enclosed a "special internet bonus coupon" to be used toward your internet purchase. This coupon does expire after five days, so please let us know how we can be of service.

I can be reached by responding to this email or by calling me at 903-887-2121.

Thank you for your interest. I look forward to speaking with you soon!

My response:

Moses,

Quoted from below: "I hope the information we provided was helpful to you..." You sent me a coupon, and your phone number. What I'm not seeing is ANY information provided about the car I requested a price for.

1. Is this car still available? 2009 Ford Fusion 5-speed, Silver, VIN 3FAHP07Z09R220485

2. If yes, what is your best internet price for this vehicle?

Thanks
Charlie

I've heard nothing further from them.

If they think I'm driving 80 miles before getting better information than this, they're even stupider than they appear when the send canned responses to specific internet questions. Clearly, they don't need the business.
 
The internet is certainly changing the ways cars are sold. Some dealers get this, others don't.

That canned response was from an auto-reply program, so at least they can say they acknowledged your email. You email is probably sitting in some manager's in box. Instead of sending you a response, he's probably out on the lot, shooting the breeze with some ol' boy looking at a new F150.
 
Those dealers still in business a year from now will have learned to deal in the new economy...

I had a similar experience. On the web it says "Click to get a special internet price on this vehicle." On the return I get a message similar to what you got above. No price, just thanking me for my interest, and please call if I can be of further assistance. Dealers are resisting the inevitable change. Consumers are too informed and the old games aren't going to work anymore.

Is there any value-added to the customer for a dealer to make an extra several thousand dollars on a transaction? No, there is not. Only the salesman benefits. This won't continue.
 
ViragoBry

we have that same setup at my dealer, but they never set anyone up to get those emails. my manager has received calls from ford saying there is a customer calling to complain that we didnt order X part for him that he email ordered. we dont have email ordering setup, not did he provide money upfront.
 
The main purpose of dealerships should be specialized after-sales service and demo vehicles for test drives.

There is nothing special about the actual new car sale process itself, so that can be done online.
 
I just think if they're going to bother giving a potential customer the opportunity to ask specific questions online, or if someone goes to the trouble of filling out the form regarding the specific car he'd like more information on, he deserves something better than a canned answer. My questions were very specific, contained all the information he needed to give me an answer, and even though this is an internet salesperson's PRIMARY job, he couldn't manage to give me what I asked for. It's called LAZY.

The whole reason I filled out the form was to avoid trying to have a conversation about a car while I was busy at work, and what does he do? Asks me to call him. GEE, I woulda never thought of that on my own. Why bother going to the expense of setting up a website with submittable forms? They could just buy a simple one-page website with their phone number splashed across it and save themselves a bundle, along with potential customers' aggravation. But hey, they're a small dealership located in Mabank, TX. They probably aren't long for this world anyway. What a loss.
 
I noticed that GM announced they were closing 1100 dealers but won't tell us which ones. Nice for them, not so nice to buyers who might use the information to make a more informed buying decision over the next 2 years and might pass on a GM product if a particular dealer is closing.

Anyone else think that's exactly the point of keeping the information from consumers?
 
Bottom line is that they don't want sales negatively affected in any way, so they do what comes naturally to them. Keep the U.S. consumer in the dark.
 
There's a "special credit" dealer around here that takes your info online.

I'm sure on the back end it just prints out in a sales droid's cubicle, he runs the credit the "old way" and then hounds the sucker over the phone from then out.
 
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