Ford wants to move from dealer stock to BTO

This is great as long as the dealer network is onboard. Ordering a car nowadays seems like pulling teeth. I had to talk to 8 different Toyota dealers before one would agree to custom order my RAV4 Hybrid.
 
I think this program is poorly defined. Another thing: if you can truly order a detailed configuration, Ford's procurement and manufacturing will become a costly nightmare.
 
What about the MSRP is $55K but you can have it for $43K without trying? My business partner bought his F150 ib 2016 and at least back then you could get $12-15K off of MSRP just walking through the door. While this is true of many vehicles, the difference between MSRP and actual sale price in some trucks seems extreme.
This "build to order" concept by Ford will result in much higher transaction prices-which is what the CEO of Ford wants. This has been widely quoted. You are not going to build a $50,000 truck and have the opportunity to buy it at $40,000.00. The concept of massive rebates and excess inventory is exactly what they want to get away from.
 
For the Electric Mustang E the only way to order one is online, for the most part salespeople are out of the picture. The VW ID4 is basically the same way as well. Having just dealt with a sleazy Ford dealer on the Mustang E ( Ordered on line, price set etc) and then the delaer wants his add ones. Sorry, would not deal with them and they took the add ones off. No sleazy salespeople and managers sounds good to me! The finance guys are bad enough to deal with, need a warranty, right?
 
I ordered my first vehicle ever but it was mainly due to inventory shortage and will hopefully get it this week. No incentives on Raptors in non-COVID times so it didn’t impact me much but I’m sure Ford would love to minimize rebates and incentives. I believe they already had the higher sale price of the big 3 truck makers based on my prior purchases and research. High trim level Rams were easily $12k off, Chevy and GMCs 8-10k off and Fords $5-8k off. Who knows how much it will cost them in impulse purchase if other makers don’t follow suit.
 
My local dealers are so predictable as to how they order vehicles for their own stock, that I can spot a vehicle that they took in on trade from another dealer (or an undelivered special order), without even looking at the dealer name on the window sticker.

The last dead obvious example was this one. I knew from 20 feet away, that the dealer didn't order this for themselves.

 

They mention that the market has changed and customers want to spec trucks the way THEY want them.

is it just me or has the buyer market not changed, rather sales managers/distributors don’t know how to spec a vehicle people want?

go to any new car lot, even pre COVID, and outside of the bread n butter cars( Civic LX, Corolla LE, Grand Cherokee Laredo, C300 etc.) how many are actually spec’d close to how you want it? Not even talking colors or wheels, but option packages.

for example I looked at Jeep wranglers pre covid. None of the wranglers locally were any less than 42k. I get the dealers want stock that sells...except those units typically sit longer than the base stuff.

Toyota is the worst with their Tacomas. I’ve had a few attempts on buying one over the years and the dealers only stocks high spec units. 40k plus trucks. Then like once every 3 years I’ll come across a SR like the one I own.

and it’s not like all of these dealers are willing to order a car for you either.
I like it, although it will make it take longer to get the vehicle that you want. If you are in a pinch, you may not have the time to wait for a BTO.
 
If you want what you want no matter the cost or the wait time, the BTO method is perfect.

OTOH, if getting a vehicle sooner and cheaper outfitted the way it sits at the dealer is better, than not so much on the BTO method
 
It's a rare, unicorn-dancing-under-a-full-moon occasion that I find the exact car I want on a dealer lot. I've flown all over the country to get what I want, and blame it on the Dallas market's lack of vision or imagination. Silver, white or black, automatic. Those are your choices here.

I'd like to just jump on a computer and order a car the way I want it, but the wait would put me off. Maybe they'll eventually reach a point of 2-3 weeks. Ha, that's hilarious. Never mind.....never happen because COVID.

Why does everyone think BTO means no rebates? I realize they most often rebate the old leftovers, but that mentality can change right along with everything else that's changing. Flash sales, discounts on certain options, loyalty discounts, etc. can all come into play in the new world of car ordering. A total lack of rebates would send people running to GM, Chrysler, or the imports. Ford can't afford that.
 
Why does everyone think BTO means no rebates? I realize they most often rebate the old leftovers, but that mentality can change right along with everything else that's changing. Flash sales, discounts on certain options, loyalty discounts, etc. can all come into play in the new world of car ordering. A total lack of rebates would send people running to GM, Chrysler, or the imports. Ford can't afford that.

Indeed. My last two SRT's were both factory ordered and had all of the standard rebates and stuff applied to them.
 
If they went BTO, could they also move away from the franchised dealer selling new? Existing dealers can be service centers and used car flippers.

I would have purchased every one of my new cars online without the dealer being involved at all. How much money is wasted on these giant car lots?

Ford could even have designated demonstrator vehicles sent to the [Ford Store] for people to look at. They are doing this now with the new bronco, units on the lot only to look at and test drive. You could still go to the ford store and place an order, and that dealer could get a bonus for that. Or you could know exactly what you want and have it delivered. Manufacturer Direct.

Existing dealers could expand their service side, do more CPO, more used flips, they could survive. They might not be happy about it.
 
It's a rare, unicorn-dancing-under-a-full-moon occasion that I find the exact car I want on a dealer lot. I've flown all over the country to get what I want, and blame it on the Dallas market's lack of vision or imagination. Silver, white or black, automatic. Those are your choices here.

I'd like to just jump on a computer and order a car the way I want it, but the wait would put me off. Maybe they'll eventually reach a point of 2-3 weeks. Ha, that's hilarious. Never mind.....never happen because COVID.

Why does everyone think BTO means no rebates? I realize they most often rebate the old leftovers, but that mentality can change right along with everything else that's changing. Flash sales, discounts on certain options, loyalty discounts, etc. can all come into play in the new world of car ordering. A total lack of rebates would send people running to GM, Chrysler, or the imports. Ford can't afford that.
It's 4-5 weeks for a US built (Greer SC) BMW X5 which IMO isn't that bad. IMO the majority of new car buyers have known for awhile that they needed a car and have instead opted to wait for as long as possible. For example we have a C300 coming off lease in Nov '21 and I'm hoping my better half starts looking for a replacement rather than a redux of picking one off the lot which has 20" rims and RFT :mad:
 
Ford will flame out on this horrible idea. People now will be willing to buy a vehicle sitting on the lot when their old one blows. Rather than order & wait. Nobody wants to wait these days, for ANYTHING.

This!!! They must be pretty stupid to think that a significant percentage of consumers can plan ahead or wait. Their "lean dealer inventory" idea only works if all the automakers do it, which won't happen. Also, automakers are historically terrible at managing inventory, so I am expecting the usual oversupply at some point (just not anytime soon).
 
This!!! They must be pretty stupid to think that a significant percentage of consumers can plan ahead or wait.
Your right. So many car sales are unplanned, emotional and or manipulated events. Somebody shows up to a lot on a whim and gets sold. This makes up for a lot of the business.
 
This is great as long as the dealer network is onboard. Ordering a car nowadays seems like pulling teeth. I had to talk to 8 different Toyota dealers before one would agree to custom order my RAV4 Hybrid.
This is worth noting while Ford wants to go back to the 60’s with custom builds (that likely will have very few actual options)

Toyota corporate pushes for a total ban on custom orders



This!!! They must be pretty stupid to think that a significant percentage of consumers can plan ahead or wait. Their "lean dealer inventory" idea only works if all the automakers do it, which won't happen. Also, automakers are historically terrible at managing inventory, so I am expecting the usual oversupply at some point (just not anytime soon).

My guess is they figure that their supply issues are going to continue on for many years meaning they won’t have any inventory to ship to dealers anyway so consumers will have to take what they can get or order.

If they can’t make enough pushing custom orders to fill full out of limited supply is all they can do.
 
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This!!! They must be pretty stupid to think that a significant percentage of consumers can plan ahead or wait. Their "lean dealer inventory" idea only works if all the automakers do it, which won't happen. Also, automakers are historically terrible at managing inventory, so I am expecting the usual oversupply at some point (just not anytime soon).
You may known somebody-but I have never known anybody whose vehicle blew up and needed a vehicle ASAP. I sure it happens-but it's not frequent. The dealers will ever lock in your trade amount-assuming it is in the same condition as when you ordered your new vehicle-and the projected miles are what they should be.
 
BTO, is a great idea, i do it with PIZZA, and Subway etc. The dealers still need to carry some inventory, a mixed bag of options for the try order it move from a different dealership if possible etc. With PTO, Factory production will be non-linear, floating staff, screwing with the Unions
 
You may known somebody-but I have never known anybody whose vehicle blew up and needed a vehicle ASAP. I sure it happens-but it's not frequent. The dealers will ever lock in your trade amount-assuming it is in the same condition as when you ordered your new vehicle-and the projected miles are what they should be.
I'll bet you know someone who had a vehicle totalled.
 
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