Dealerships were, until recently, the only way you could buy a car. But with the rise of Tesla’s online purchasing model, the long-term sway of the once all-mighty showroom looks to be in doubt.
Some don’t bat an eyelid when it comes to premiums applied to hot new cars on dealer forecourts. The only problem is, for most customers it doesn’t fly in the age of digital consumerism. Savvy shoppers will hunt for the best prices online, and if you’re a dealer, you’re going to have to justify any markup over the MSRP — especially when it’s to the tune of $10,000.
See: All Of Volvo’s New Car Sales Will Be Online By 2030
The “Market Adjustment” in question was spotted at a Ford Dealership outside Chicago. It was applied to a Mustang Mach-E First Edition, a car listed at $58,600 on the manufacturer’s website. The dealership was not only offering the car at $69,400; it did so without permitting budding buyers a test drive.
Predictably, one prospect did indeed call out the pricing, posting images of the window sticker online. It was then tweeted by The Drive’s John Voelcker. Further investigation confirmed that there was literally no reason for the massive markup; it was a standard “First Edition” Mach-E with no notable extras.
However, Ford soon got wind of the dealer’s tactics. As The Drive notes, not only do legacy carmakers have to compete against the likes of Tesla’s dealership-less approach, they also need to get buyers accustomed to their EV offerings.
https://twitter.com/mrlevine/status/1369622075275575297?s=20
This is why when Ford North America’s Product Communications Manager, Mike Levine, saw the dealership’s antic, he presumably made the problem go away. Replying to Voelcker’s tweet, Levine simply said “The markup has been removed from this Mach-E.” A quick check of the dealer’s site confirmed that the revised asking was $54,400.
While we must give a truckload of kudos to Ford for acting to stop this behavior, this is undoubtedly just one example of this practice across the country. While we’re certainly not suggesting that we’d be better off without showrooms altogether, one does wonder if Volvo’s approach to channeling all sales through their website with a fixed price has some merit to it after all.