# How were cars sold in the past? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 28, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104 "2012-09-28T04:01:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/21 "2012-09-28T18:33:59Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Can you show us an example of a dealer selling competing brands at the exact same dealership? I have never, ever seen a new car dealer sell both Ford and Dodge at the same location. A dealership in my home town used to sell Volkswagens, Porsches, Audis, and Subarus. Their jingle still sometimes wakes me up in a cold sweat all these years later. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/22 "2012-09-28T23:28:50Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I agree that multiple brand dealerships as we know them today started when foreign carmakers partnered with existing ones, both to get around the huge expenses of starting their own systems and because no individual dealership was likely to sell a sufficient number of cars to make it through a year. That’s not exactly right. The partnerships (usually) weren’t being made at the corporate level, but at the dealer level, with the new company courting individual dealers. When the partnerships happen at the corporate level, it usually takes the form of “badge engineering” where cars made by one company get sold with the other brand’s badging on them. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/23 "2012-09-29T01:16:19Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > That’s not exactly right. The partnerships (usually) weren’t being made at the corporate level, but at the dealer level, with the new company courting individual dealers. When the partnerships happen at the corporate level, it usually takes the form of “badge engineering” where cars made by one company get sold with the other brand’s badging on them. Yes, I meant that it happened at the dealer level but that’s not how it came out. Thanks for the clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/24 "2012-09-29T16:55:12Z")
When I first moved to my town in 1983, there were a bunch of individual dealerships, most notably: Chevy/Honda dealer Cadillac/Buick/Olds/Pontiac/GMC dealer Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth dealer Ford dealer Lincoln/Mercury dealer Nissan dealer Toyota dealer plus some smaller dealerships selling brands like Jeep, International, etc. Things have greatly changed since then: The Chevy/Honda dealer took over Cadillac sales as well The 5-GM-brand dealer is now just Buick/GMC A big Kia dealership showed up and is doing well The Toyota dealer ended up doing _very_ well for itself and started buying up everybody else. So now the same company has multiple locations selling Toyota/Scion, Ford/Lincoln, Chrysler/Dodge, and Nissan. One of those lots sells Hyundai as well, but not sure which. And I’m not sure who handles Jeeps these days. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/25 "2012-09-29T17:58:42Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Can you show us an example of a dealer selling competing brands at the exact same dealership? I have never, ever seen a new car dealer sell both Ford and Dodge at the same location. I’ve never heard of [this place](http://www.millermotorsales.com/index.htm) (it’s in Burlington), but it appears to be selling brand new MY2013 Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram and Ford all out of of the same building (with the same address) and on the same lot so far as I can tell. It appears to be Miller Ford (Ford) and Miller Motor Sales (Chrysler), but they are “at the same location”. It wouldn’t surprise me if halfway through your sale you changed your mind from the Escape to the Liberty you’d have to walk to the other side of the building and start over with someone that had a Chrysler logo on their shirt (or a Miller Motor Sales logo instead of a Ford logo) and possibly use a different finance person…but still, two competitors, one location. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/26 "2012-09-29T18:32:03Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > A dealership in my home town used to sell Volkswagens, Porsches, Audis, Same corporate manufacturer > [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Cadillac/Buick/Olds/Pontiac/GMC dealer Same corporate manufacturer > [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth dealer Same corporate manufacturer > [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Lincoln/Mercury dealer Same corporate manufacturer > [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’ve never heard of [this place](http://www.millermotorsales.com/index.htm) (it’s in Burlington) Yeah. It’s a little weird, though. The building is split with one dealership on one side, the other on the other side. So it’s actually 2 different dealerships owned by the same company. One of my sons bought his house from a guy that works there. There is some history about that dealership but damned if I can remember what it is. I’m interested to know why auto makers allow an individual or corporation to own other dealerships that sell a competing brand. McDonalds wouldn’t allow a franchise owner to sell Whoppers. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/27 "2012-09-29T18:44:21Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Yeah. It’s a little weird, though. The building is split with one dealership on one side, the other on the other side. So it’s actually 2 different dealerships owned by the same company. One of my sons bought his house from a guy that works there. There is some history about that dealership but damned if I can remember what it is. > > I’m interested to know why auto makers allow an individual or corporation to own other dealerships that sell a competing brand. McDonalds wouldn’t allow a franchise owner to sell Whoppers. I wonder if they would allow someone to hold a McDonalds and Burger King Franchise on the same property? Separated by just a wall? What about with a door between them? There’s Taco Bell/Pizza Huts together now (Could be related, I really don’t know). Like you said, that dealer is rare, maybe there’s a loophole that allows them to do that that most other dealerships really don’t care to exploit for one reason or another. It could be because he’s out in the styx so he wanted to have more then one Make and it was easier to have them together then sprawled up and down the road like other groups do. It would sure keep overhead down. I wouldn’t be surprised if one Make will let you sell another one if that one isn’t sold (or maybe if there isn’t any at all) with in the city or X miles. I’m only wondering about that because I have a friend (that you’ve heard of) that owns quite a few dealerships in the area (including some in styx-y areas) and says he would much, much rather have a dealership in an area where there are a bunch of others up and down the road rather then him being the only one in a 20 mile radius. He can sell more cars that way. So (and I’m just thinking out loud here) maybe Ford is willing to say, “Okay, since you’re the only dealership in the area, if you want to sell Dodge as well, that’s fine. We think you’ll sell more cars since more people will come out the your dealership rather then go into town where there’s 5 dealerships on the main drag (and maybe none of them Fords)”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/28 "2012-09-29T19:18:37Z")
Part of the appeal of a one-manufacturer dealer to consumers is that the buyer feels he’ll get better/more informed maintenance service when something goes wrong. The mechanics at a Ford dealer are most likely Ford factory-trained people. If I’m buying from a dealer that is selling Chevy/Ford/Chrysler/etc. at one dealership, that means his mechanics may or may not be knowledgeable about the car I bought, and they are likely to be understaffed to take care of the workload. I’m pretty sure that’s why most large dealerships like the local Ron Tonkin dealerships keep separate locations for each brand. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/29 "2012-09-29T19:22:08Z")
Taco Bell and Pizza Hut (and KFC) are all owned by Yum! Brands. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/30 "2012-09-30T02:51:52Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Same corporate manufacturer Yeah, I’m aware. The point I was trying to make was that, 30 years ago, all those separate, “corporate manufacturer” dealerships in my town were all separate and individually-owned, and now one local company owns almost all of them. Although, granted, on separate sites. > [@Mdcastleman](#): > > Taco Bell and Pizza Hut (and KFC) are all owned by Yum! Brands. And A&W. There’s a KFC/A&W in my town, and a KFC/Taco Bell across the river. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/31 "2012-09-30T03:13:05Z")
Dealership service manager here. Back in the day, when imports were a small part of the market, the car companies didn’t really care if a second line was in the showroom or not. Along about the mid to late 1980’s this started to become a BIG thing with the car makers, with the stronger brands demanding exclusivity in the customer experience. Exclusivity means that what the customer sees is exclusive to that brand. The back shop might be shared, but the showrooms, and front product lines are separate. In extreme cases, I have seen a car maker force a dealer to either drop the second line or has made them move it off site. I have seen Mercedes force dealers to drop or move second lines all the way off the property. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/32 "2012-09-30T03:28:27Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > And A&W. There’s a KFC/A&W in my town, and a KFC/Taco Bell across the river. Not anymore, actually. Yum! owned A&W and Long John Silver for a while, but spun those two chains off a few years ago. You still see combo restaurants between the current Yum brands (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut) and the two spin-offs, but I would suspect that those will slowly go away. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/33 "2012-09-30T04:16:44Z")
I was overjoyed to recently discover a Long John Silvers/Taco Bell combo relatively close to where I live. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/34 "2012-09-30T05:54:22Z")
It used to be that the manufacturers insisted that the dealerships have a name that distinctly distinguished it from the brand. In other words, the name of the dealership had the name of the owner before the brand was named. Edward’s Lincoln Mercury, James Dean Chevrolet, Joe Stalin’s Pontiac. Names like that. Those names clearly distinguished the car dealers to create a distinct separation from the manufacturer. It also allowed them to become sleazy scumbags that would rip you off but the manufacturer remained apart from the antics of the car sales people. Hey, it wasn’t Oldsmobile that was ripping you off, it was Fidel’s Oldsmobile that was screwing you at every turn. That eventually did change. It may have been in the 80’s but I’m not sure. There may have been a lawsuit but I’m too lazy to research it. A lot of dealerships still carry the owner’s name but many, if not most, have a name not associated with an individual such as Great Plains Toyota or Earthquake Prone Ford/Lincoln/Mercury. That change allowed a lot of dealership owners to go to church on Sunday without getting stoned by the parishioners that they had ripped off. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104/35 "2012-09-30T14:05:46Z")
Nice threadshit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-cars-sold-in-the-past/636104.md?page=1)