Ya know, GM did the same thing in 2002 when they first started offering cashbacks. The price of the DeVille in 2002 was Cdn$2,000 more than 2001 and guess what? There's a $2,000 cashback offered for the 2002 model! What a DEAL!!!! (not)
Most of the incentives do not matter putting the deals together. If you poled 100 sales managers at 100 GM and Ford stores most could not recite what the incentives even are. How on earth does a customer know?
I know, they depend so much on trickery it's amazing that they're still in business. They can't build cars that are worth anything, they can't service them, they treat the car-buying public with contempt and loathing, they beat up on their suppliers. This is just their latest legerdemain tactic. I'll never buy a car from them again because, among other things, I can't trust them. Thanks for coming back to the original thread.
Is GM any more tricky than Toyota? What if I told you I could get a 2006 RAV4 for less than an '05 does that make toyota tricky? There are far too many variables in the automobile business to just blatently say manufacturers are tricky, let alone say only domestic manufacturers are tricky?
It's not a problem. The troublemakers come in to a thread and just trash it and highjack it and I don't believe that it's malorn as much as it's the ones who like to argue with him. My ignore list got a few more additions today.
How do I know? simple. Check the 2001 Buyer's Guide, compare it to the 2002 Buyer's Guide and then watch TV for GM ads. What, do you think we're that dumb just because dealers don't know, customers don't either?
That's it in a nutshell though, isn't it? GM doesn't care what the consumer feels or thinks, even when the consumer's thoughts and feelings are backed up by a publication such as Consumer Reports. It's such a fundamental attitude that I really don't see how GM is going to ever get back on the road to profitability.
Before the recent changes at GM, the rebates changed sometimes multiple times in a week. GM could not keep track of it, the dealer couldn't keep track of it , and I know the customer could not keep track of it. As far as GM trying to screw the customer? It has been pretty common in the auto business since Sept 11 to be able to get a sweeter deal at the end of the month relative to the beginning. I think that is fairly common even with Toyota and Lexus. the urgency has been created with special deals form the manufacturer.
This is not good business practice. And, if they couldn't keep track of the rebates, what else have they lost track of?....customers? Oh wait, I meant 'lost touch' with.
In fact you are right on. At a manufacturing level, GM and Ford got so wrapped up in the deal they forgot how to build value in the brand. The same thing happened to a lesser extent at the dealer level. Do you know that third party companies exist to help GM and Ford dealers keep track of and collect the various incentives?
I have not been contacted for awhile. I would hope with the changes, especially at GM, that they would cease to exist. GM's distribution system is finally being reworked after several years of disaster. There are also third party companies that exist to assist in the distribution system. In fact one of them called me today. Check out: www.gmtrades.com There are several of these distribution companies. Pathetic isn't it. There really have been major changes at GM for the better. More has changed at GM for the better in the last 6-8 months than had changed in the last 15 years.
GM owes its dealers between 1 and 2 billion dollars in uncollected incentives. Yes it has been amazing the last few years. ANd yes that is with a "b".
LOT of that going on around here... Too many people simply regurgitate one-sided perspectives as "fact" and "supporting evidence"...
