Has Ford changed the way it calculates the holdback? In the past I thought it was ~3.0% of the MSRP. For a 2010 GT Premium the MSRP was $34,810 with a holdback of $1,020 - numbers come from the invoice I was given when talking to the dealer about the X-Plan pricing. The price list for the 2011's shows at holdback of $1285 dollar or 3.91% for the Prem GT w/o any options. So for at MSRP of ~ $2000 less the holdback has gone up over $250.

 

Hey bud, just remember, that PDF I posted, DOES NOT include the FDAF advertising fee and the fuel charge. That closes up the gap on the cost end in the amount of close to $600 or so. This charge is included on EVERY deal, but its not included on the price list I posted.

And remember what I and Brian post, holdback is NOT extra profit that is to be negotiated. Its what pays for flooring the cars, and "keeping the lights on". A few hundred over invoice deal is a good deal where everyone is happy.

 

I am not trying to negotiate away the holdback as most salesmen and sales managers won't even talk about it they just talk about the invoice amount or the X-Plan amount. I was just wondering if Ford had changed the way they do the holdback - for my own knowledge.

In the past I was told that the holdback paid for three months of interest for the loan for the car that the dealer had to pay. After three months the dealer starts to lose money on the car since he has to pay the nterest out of his pocket as the holdback money has run out. A local dealer evens puts a round dot sticker on the cars to indicate that it has been on the lot over 100 days and per the salesman - it needs to be moved.

 

That is what the Holdback is used for, very good. But with the margins shrinking, the markup gets smaller and smaller. There is more markup on those flat-screen tvs than on some cars now adays, which is truely sad!!!