# U.S. Auto retailers just...don't...get....it!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 16, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070 "2008-06-16T01:44:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/1 "2008-06-16T01:44:38Z")
It’s funny, gas prices are $4+, and seem to be on an unending upward spiral, so what have the last 4 vehicle ads on TV been?
Ad 1; Toyota, hawking the Tundra full-size truck, going on about how tough it is, and how it’s Truck of the Year and somesuch
Ad 2; Ford, hawking their Employee Pricing on their thyroidal gas-hogging F-150
Ad 3; Toyota, crowing about their ultra-reliable “fuel efficient” Camry (31 MPG is _not_ exceptional fuel mileage, it’s mediocre)
Ad 4; some local dealership selling the aforementioned Ford F-150 gas guzzler, and being desperate enough to offer a $1500 discount on top of the “Employee pricing”, bringing the price of this guzzler down to less than I paid for my Saturn Ion, I guess they must really be desperate to get rid of these thyroidal monstrsities that nobody’s buying
if it wasn’t so depressing, it’d be hillarious, the automaker response to skyrocketing fuel prices seems to be;
“Nothing’s wrong, go about your business, and keep buying guzzlers, yes, yes, be good little consumer drones…”
“oh, you’re concerned about fuel prices, here, we’ll pay for your gas for up to 3 years, just keep buying those gas guzzlers like good little sheep…”
“Dammit, they’re getting smart, and not buying, here, lets dangle an “employee discount” in front of them, that oughta get them to fall in line”
“Crap, the “employee discount” ploy isn’t working, lets add _another_ discount on top of that, that oughta move these stones around our necks, after all, there’s no need to make fuel-efficient vehicles, after all, the American Public “wants” big, fuel-thirsty cars…”
Heads up, Detroit, the demand for guzzlers is drying up, get with the program, or get left behind, not everyone wants a vehicle that you need a second or third mortgage to pay for the weekly fuel bills, some of us want small, fuel efficient cars, and our numbers are growing…
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### Author:  [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/2 "2008-06-16T01:56:29Z")
Oh, they get it all right. They get that a reliable, safe vehicle with mega MPG is going to fly out the door. No need to sell it. The humongous fuel slurper? Gotta tell everyone all the wild, exciting fun times they’ll have with it. 'Cause otherwise the thing is going to sit in your showroom forever.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/3 "2008-06-16T02:11:14Z")
Exactly. There is no need to sell something that everybody wants. Marketing is all about convincing people to buy something they don’t want/need. Besides, what else are they going to do with all those monsters?
Actually, there’s an answer for that. Some people are making bank by purchasing F-150s and the like for rock-bottom prices, shipping them to Latin America, and selling them for 500% markup.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/4 "2008-06-16T02:12:47Z")
You know, I kinda think you don’t get it.
Gas prices haven’t been that high for all that long, really. Certainly not long enough for Detroit to retool and make a 90 degree turn and revamp all their product lines, anyway.
Add to that the idea that any market forces that would be driving more gas efficient cars haven’t been fully felt yet- sure Priuses are flying off the lot, but so are a great many other cars that aren’t hybrids.
There’s a lag between something putting pressure on the auto market, and its response to it- if gas prices stay high enough long enough, you can bet your bottom dollar that MPG will be, if not the main point, then one of the top selling points of a new vehicle. If prices decline, the product lines may not change a whole lot.
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### Author:  [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/5 "2008-06-16T02:13:04Z")
I don’t have sales figures, but I imagine US auto retailers know exactly what they’re doing.
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### Author:  [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/6 "2008-06-16T03:25:05Z")
Taft made it a point to eat 5 course meals in the middle of the depression. Maybe it’s the same sort of thing.
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/7 "2008-06-16T03:38:13Z")
You sell what you have. What the heck do you want them to do with their current inventory, crush it for scrap value?
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### Author:  [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/8 "2008-06-16T03:44:03Z")
Profit per unit is enormous for the road whales. They will sell all of them they possibly can.
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/9 "2008-06-16T03:53:54Z")
I don’t watch too much TV but I listen to the radio a lot. All I hear are ads for the Focus and their low MPG ratings. That’s what’s on the Ford homepage right now too “Focus: MPGs meet MP3s”
And, for the record, the only people I know with Big Ford Trucks are people who use their Big Ford Trucks to do Big Truck stuff like moving Big things. They didn’t buy them for the express purpose of guzzling gas. In fact the one dude mainly drives a motorcycle or his wife’s Focus.
It’s truck season, dude. Get over it.
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### Author:  [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/10 "2008-06-16T03:54:43Z")
They retailers have to move the inventory they have already on ground. They know the market sucks. At least the manufacturer is offering some help for the retailers in the way of incentives. Several of the truck plants have closed or are slated to close. There is a dealer down the street from me that has over $4 million in Hummer inventory on ground. He has no choice but to sell them any way he can.
There are people out there who still need trucks for their business, and people who will still buy trucks because they want to, just less of those kind of people than before. I feel really bad for the retailers out there who are stuck. The dealerships are paying interest on those vehicles until they sell them, so of course you are going to see tons of advertising and deep discounts. It’s not like they can stuff them in the back of a closet and wait for them to be fashionable again.
For today’s vehicle with today’s safety standards, 31 mpg is pretty good. Saturn used to have a car that would get 42 mpg with a stick shift, but now the best mileage available on the new models is 34. The new safety requirements have added weight to the cars. You would think that the Smart Car as small as it is would get great mileage, but it doesn’t. The manufacturers made fuel efficient low horsepower cars and America didn’t want them. America wanted it’s get-up-and-go.
America’s auto retailers are shitting in their pants right now. The manufactuers can’t respond to the market in a meaningful way anytime soon.
Sorry if that was all rambly.
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### Author:  [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/11 "2008-06-16T04:17:36Z")
It’s kind of funny. The spike in gas prices came in the middle of the auto year, so retailers were caught with their pants down and the manufacturers were already polishing up the 2009 line. Right now the SUV dealers are dying for lack of sales, while the motorcycle dealers are getting really low on their popular stock: part of the reason I’ve been having so much difficulty finding the bike I want is because everyone had the same freakin’ idea I did, to get a motorcycle license this year, and the motorcycle dealers weren’t prepared for the demand.
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### Author:  [@The\_Them](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Them)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/12 "2008-06-16T11:42:41Z")
If I had any money…
Grabbing a huge SUV at a _severe_ markdown appeals to me. I’d outfit the thing so as to make sure I won’t have to be homeless when things get worse.
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### Author:  [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/13 "2008-06-16T11:50:44Z")
Chrysler is taking what may be perhaps its last gamble on this $2.99 a gallon for the first 12,000 miles each year over the next 3 years campaign. If gasoline keeps going up they’re going to lose their asses depending upon how many cars they sell.
While I know that people aren’t too fond of Chrysler, that is a tough deal to give up if you’re anticipating $7 a gallon gas.
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/14 "2008-06-16T12:48:44Z")
[QUOTE= Airman Doors]
Chrysler is taking what may be perhaps its last gamble on this $2.99 a gallon for the first 12,000 miles each year over the next 3 years campaign. If gasoline keeps going up they’re going to lose their asses depending upon how many cars they sell.
[/QUOTE]
Is Chrysler actually going to BUY the gas? Because some auto dealers around here are doing “Free Gas For the Summer!” and when you read the fine print, they’re giving you a rebate based on _x_ number of (actuarially determined) miles at \*y \*mpg for 3 months= $rebate amount. It’s pretty good marketing, if you ask me.
As to the automakers not getting it, here are rationalizations I’ve heard:
“If you can afford the Escalade, you can afford the gas.”
“Some people just NEED a truck.”
“I’m too tall for small cars.”
I’d also agree that you advertise what people aren’t coming in for- You can’t bargain on a Prius, because they’re going out as fast as they come in. But a salesman will do what he has to do to get a big-ass truck off the lot for purpose of profit, commission, and the fact that he’s actually got to work to sell one.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/15 "2008-06-16T13:23:05Z")
[QUOTE=BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed]
Taft made it a point to eat 5 course meals in the middle of the depression. Maybe it’s the same sort of thing.
[/QUOTE]
[Taft](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard_Taft) died in March, 1930, before the Depression [really hit.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression#The_downward_spiral) (Although if any President was in the habit of eating five course meals, it would be Taft…)
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/16 "2008-06-16T13:30:37Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF]
Chrysler is taking what may be perhaps its last gamble on this $2.99 a gallon for the first 12,000 miles each year over the next 3 years campaign. If gasoline keeps going up they’re going to lose their asses depending upon how many cars they sell.
While I know that people aren’t too fond of Chrysler, that is a tough deal to give up if you’re anticipating $7 a gallon gas.
[/QUOTE]
I bet that Chrysler fuel hedges, so they’re out a certain amount of money based on how much the fuel hedge costs but after that it doesnt matter what the price of gas does.
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/17 "2008-06-16T16:17:25Z")
You know the weird thing? You’d expect to see TONS of ads for scooters. Nothin’. Lots of reminders that hey, we have motorcycles! Not a thing. Himself and I went down to the Honda store to pick up a tire for my scooter, and we were looking at EXPENSIVE NEW MOTORCYCLES. There had to be at least ten salesmen wandering around, and he _sat on one of them_ and still nobody so much as asked if we wanted any help. I mean, we ain’t buyin’, but if I got that close to a car on a lot they’d have been on me like white on rice.
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### Author:  [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/18 "2008-06-16T16:25:23Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia]
You know the weird thing? You’d expect to see TONS of ads for scooters. Nothin’. Lots of reminders that hey, we have motorcycles! Not a thing.
[/QUOTE]
Like the others have said, there’s no need to sell what’s been flying out the door already. I can’t find any scooters at the motorcycle dealers near me; none of them predicted how many people would switch to two wheels this year. Demand is outpacing supply pretty nicely, so why waste money on advertising?
Also, that Honda shop was probably an anomaly. Both times I’ve set foot in a dealership, a salesman was on me immediately. One let me be after he said they were out of scooters and I could just have a look around, while I had to work to shake off the other.
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### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/19 "2008-06-16T16:44:53Z")
Interesting how the japanese didn’t see this one coming-I mean why did NISSAN, HONDA, TOYOTA decide to build full-sized trucks? They are not selling at all! Which leads me to believe that this fuel price jump blindsided everybody.
Either way, it is proof 9at long last) that the Saudis are tapped out-they can raise their daily output 9at most) by 200,000 barrels-a far cry from their claims of (being able to double their output).
yep, the oil is running out-this time, its for real! :eek:
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### Author:  [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-auto-retailers-just-dont-get-it/453070/20 "2008-06-16T17:32:40Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c]
Interesting how the japanese didn’t see this one coming-I mean why did NISSAN, HONDA, TOYOTA decide to build full-sized trucks? They are not selling at all! Which leads me to believe that this fuel price jump blindsided everybody.
[/QUOTE]
Lead time for new designs are 5+ years. What was gas at five years ago? Definitely the automakers can tinker with their production, but revamping their whole lineup on the fly to be more fuel efficient isn’t possible.
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