Market abuse

[Kodyray72]

Just emailed Ford corporate to expose a few local dealerships that are blatantly abusing the market. They are currently building cases against many dealerships that will end up resulting in them losing their future allocations and dealer stock and having them reverted to more honest dealerships that breed long term customer relationships. They said this is across ALL models not just Bronco or f150 lightning. I would implore everyone that see these absurd mark ups to email them as well. I don’t think 2k 5k or even 7.5k for a 37pp is out of the question in today’s market it is after all a free market and it is a SUGGESTED retail price but 10k, 20k, sometimes even more is absolutely absurd and just plain greedy. This doesn’t bode well for customers that have been loyal for many years.

The emails to send these complaints are

[email protected]

[email protected]

 

[BalorGrayJax]

Nah.

 

[BalorGrayJax]

Here's the deal. Who is ford or you to tell others how to spend their money? Why are you so damn angry that someone spent $50k over for their truck? Did it affect your life?

I seriously don't get it.

Further, Ford ain't gonna do NOTHING. The dealers that are out there with the biggest markups are Fords highest volume dealers. They're not going to take 20 raptor allocations from California and give them to Minnesota. Nothing is going to happen, it's hogwash.

 

[Yoshi]

Last time I checked it's a Free Market . Some dealers are just trying to survive. Have you seen dealer lots? Empty with a little used inventory. No company needs internal or external price controls, it's a free country. It's one thing that makes this country great. If you can't afford to play, then move on.

 

[osprey6]

The best part of having a free market is having the option to say no thank you and not pay more than you believe the item is worth. The reason dealers can get away with high markups is because the consumer is still willing to pay the price. I paid 5k ADM and believe it is worth the extra above MSRP. Look at the cost of a used 2020 Raptor. In a lot of cases 2020 cost about the same or even more then some paid for their 2021/22. If folks wanted to they can sell their brand new 2021 Raptor for 90+K. This is supply and demand. Now yes, it is frustrating I totally agree. This is the first time I ever paid MSRP and I actually paid above it. I look at it like buying a house. The owner can put whatever sale price on it they want. If a buyer wants it and sees the value, they will put an offer on it. If no offers the house gets reduced. I don't see many rebates or discounts out there which signifies a hot competitive market. It certainly does stink however it seems like there is a line out the door waiting for someone to drop their order and pay the high price. I guess we can boycott the dealers however I like my new Raptor and was happy to pay what I did.

 

[DFS]

It is a free market, which means Ford doesn't have to give these dealers allocations when they ******** the consumers with their product. It's bad for Ford, so I hope they actually follow through and make it hell for these dealers. Spend your money how you like, I don't care. When you call from CA, taking allocations across the country however, it becomes everyone else's problem that they can't buy a truck in their local market. That's something we are seeing a lot of.

 

[watisthis]

Yep, everyone loves a free market until they're the ones outside of the monopoly.

Good on you for being one of the few to report them, OP.

 

[RaptorWhoSaysNI]

Here's the deal. Who is ford or you to tell others how to spend their money? Why are you so damn angry that someone spent $50k over for their truck? Did it affect your life?

I seriously don't get it.

Further, Ford ain't gonna do NOTHING. The dealers that are out there with the biggest markups are Fords highest volume dealers. They're not going to take 20 raptor allocations from California and give them to Minnesota. Nothing is going to happen, it's hogwash.

Last time I checked it's a Free Market . Some dealers are just trying to survive. Have you seen dealer lots? Empty with a little used inventory. No company needs internal or external price controls, it's a free country. It's one thing that makes this country great. If you can't afford to play, then move on.

There are laws out there in some states to protect US against price gouging, although most of these laws were triggered by absurd price increases during natural disasters (Does Covid pandemic count as a natural disaster?). Are these "unreasonable" ADMs falling under the price gouging umbrella, that is above my pay grade to determine. Farley doesn't seem like a guy that will say something and not follow through with it.

The below excerpt is straight from Ford's earnings conference call on Feb 3:
Jim Farley: Thank you. I would say, the answer to your question for ICE and BEV would be slightly different. We have about 10% of our dealers last year in the supply constrained environment that, were charging above MSRP to our best of our knowledge. We have very good knowledge of who they are. And their future allocation of product will be directly impacted because of that policy. And we've seen really quick action by our team.

You can speculate all you want but I go by what he actually said, time will tell if he stands by his word or not. Seems like they have already begun addressing it.

 

[Kodyray72]

It’s unethical and bad for customers relations, plain and simple. These are supposed to be blue collar hero vehicles and these dealerships are pricing out the hard working people who would otherwise be able to afford them. If you want something to change then you need to do something about it. Idc that some think it’s pointless to do what I’m doing. And it’s sad that some people are willing to give in to ridiculous ADM. That only feeds the greed of these dealerships. I’ll say again I don’t think 5k or even 7.5k is out of the question but $10k or more is. These trucks are great but not when they’re unreachable by the very audience they were made for.

 

[belacyrf]

There are laws out there in some states to protect US against price gouging, although most of these laws were triggered by absurd price increases during natural disasters (Does Covid pandemic count as a natural disaster?). Are these "unreasonable" ADMs falling under the price gouging umbrella, that is above my pay grade to determine. Farley doesn't seem like a guy that will say something and not follow through with it.

All the price gouging laws have to do with commodities, utilities and essentials. A new car is not an essential and would not be included.

I'm of two minds on this subject. I hate the ADM, but I understand the reasoning behind it. Some do it b/c they need to make money somewhere having very little inventory. Some make plenty of money and are just greedy. I am a free market person after all and we all have the wonderful bargaining tool of the word "No"

With that said, I think dealerships are a dying breed. Ford is going to look for every possible way to cut out the middle man between them and the customer. Some will say it's just Ford being greedy, some will say it's b/c in the internet age, it only makes sense. All good arguments. But with that said, I dont think Ford will do anything "except" maybe an example or two of the worst defenders. But you can bet that action will not benefit current buyers in any way.