semperfi65

I was out to the local dealer last Saturday. The folks out there seem to think that they will be able to mark the Shelby GT above MSRP, sort of like the GT500, only by a smaller amount (Shelby GT- the poor man's GT500!). This from a dealer that has a large number of 06's left, and are now offering a 07 GT/CS marked down by $2500 from sticker, and a 07 GT $2600 off MSRP. One-price shopping is great, until that same dealer elects to put a GT500 on eBay. I guess that means they let the market determine what that one-price should be.

Here at this forum, we are so worried about color, content and pricing from FoMoCo and Shelby, yet we still have to worry about the dealers!

1 COBRA

I assume Shelby Autos willl be paid regardless whether the cars sell in one week or sit on the dealer lots for six months. It'll boil down to economics and how much interest dealers want to pay. There was a lot more excitement and anticipation for the '03 Mach 1 and we all know how that went.

Hey, if the dealers want to swim with concrete fins they should go for it. The worst we can do is discourage them.

StangFreak

Unfortunately this is going to happen with any SE Mustang that is released.

RIHarley

The issue of ADM has to effect how quickly cars are ordered and that effect Shelby Autos bottom line. It is simple economics. Some day FORD will realize that they can do a better job "selling" specialty cars on the internet! LEt the old ladies "shop" at the dealers. We know what we what and are informed.
Why let dealers add ADM and let cars sit in the showrroms while they stroke their egos. Higher prices don't help Shelby sell or build more cars.... it slows down the whole process. Volume makes it work.
The idea that a car that they make 10,000 of is "rare" is laughable.

I say get the cars to the people that will drive them (!) and the way to do that is at msrp.

Hollywood_North GT

Except that most people - myself included - like to kick tires, and will never buy a car sight unseen...especially without ever having driven it.

Hollywood_North GT

Not much swimming going on in that circumstance, I'm thinkin'.

On a corporte note: "Wait, wait, is that ice on the deck that I see? Uh-oh."

Blip

Just a reminder. Unfortunately Ford can't sell a car to you or me. The following is from a LiveDesign article:

"I think it's important to point out that, in the United States, it is illegal for automakers to sell directly to the public. Ford Motor Company can't decide to open a Ford Store in your local mall and have Ford employees standing in the parking lot trying to sell you a brand new Escort. Therefore, they operate via a system of franchised dealerships, individually owned and operated businesses that sell the vehicles."

And for the reason why, from thecarconnection.com:

"The one thing you can't have for now, by law, is a car directly from the manufacturer. Why not? Why can't educated consumers with a laptop and Internet service provider buy a car or truck directly and possibly save thousands of dollars?
The answer is almost simple. Long ago, automakers cut a deal with the government to avoid antitrust violations. They sold off all of their company-owned dealerships, which means that today, all cars and trucks must be sold through independent dealers. Yes, of course you can buy a car or truck over the Internet. But there are intermediaries - you're prevented by law from purchasing directly from Ford, GM, Toyota and the like."

Ford sells to the dealer, not to us.
If you want this to change, go to your congressional reps,
but just remember, most dealers are larger contirbutors to the political parties.

Humm, maybe that's may the GT 500 ADM is so high, it's election season
again and the dealership groups have to make payoffs,.... uh I mean...., make contirbutions
to their favorite politicians.

We would have to change a very old system to allow us to buy directly from the auto-makers.

End of my soapbox speech.......
And yep, I would like to buy a Shebly too, but...

JETSOLVER

[quote=Blip]
We would have to change a very old system to allow us to buy directly from the auto-makers.
quote]Great info. Unfortunatly the best leverage we have with lawmakers is not buying Fords so they have to hue and cry to Congress. Gotta be a better way huh? No, I think the best way is for Ford to grab its public front (the dealers) by the scruff of the bank deposits and remind them of the forest and the trees parable. Ford must make the sales customer at least as important as its manufacturing customer. If they start limiting second and third cars to delaerships which scar thier public perception, and rewarding dealers who pride themseves on long term repeat customers, they might just see an old school advantage to it. As opposed to short term reaction by day trader analysts causig knee jerk stratetgic thinking. Ford is in so deep they may as well fix as many problems as possible, or even the faithful will walk away sadly. Change or die Ford, you said it yourself.

rarecat

I have to believe that Ford Corporate is neither actively encouraging or discouraging the ADM's on Shelbys as a matter of policy. Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised to find that at certian levels within Ford, they are OK with it because the profit from the ADMs help offset the weak sales from the rest of the product line. At the end of the day, it's all about making money at the retail level, customer comes second or third in the scheme of things.

jacostang

Got a call from my dealer here in Mesa, Az Ford just announced 0% for up to 72 on all 06' models except for the Ford GT! If you are waiting on a good deal on a 2006 Mustang well now may be the time! I counted 18 06' GT's on the lot 2 days ago and they are honoring the increased upgrade 07' warranties now too!

dotbomb

Well I know in the case of Saleen, Ford sells the car to Saleen and Saleen is therefore regarded as the dealer. I would imagine it'd be the same relationship with Shelby. Now that isn't to say that Ford won't require these cars to be sold via their dealer network... or that it makes the most sense to sell the cars in an established sales channel regardless of how one defines a "dealer".

futuresvt

I agree with most of this, except that there is no money to be made at the retail level without customers.

semperfi65

Just how many surving Ford dealers are there now?

mark1

4300 before dealer closures.
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2...uts_deale.html

semperfi65

With that number in mind, I would suspect that any given dealer would see two to three if every dealer had the opportunity to order. So just how much markup should we expect?

semperfi65

I'm starting to see a number of comments from members regarding their frustration with dealers and dollar signs. If truly each dealer will only receive 2 or 3 Shelby GTs, the market price (or eBay price) will move higher. All of a sudden, holding off for the Bullitt may look more attractive. Perhaps modifying the GTCS with FRPP for those who can't wait. Both Shelby and FoMoCo need to review the monster they are creating. Or, the next question, do they care? I wonder what AmyB thinks about this?

Hollywood_North GT

That's how Ford got themselves into the mess they're in to begin with - because of precisely that attitude.

"The customer always comes first." It's not just a cliche, it's the hallmark of any successful business. Somewhere along the line Ford lost touch with this concept. And judging from a lot of the complaints about Ford dealers and service departments on this site, there's still a lot of room for improvement.

Sharp

well said

semperfi65

My guess is that my local dealer knew what he was doing back in August. Interesting to hear that they still have a number of 2006 Mustangs and Saleens stored for the winter. I'm wondering how many others are as frustrated with this circus as I am?

hi5.0

Heh, I must admit that I wasn't sold on the Shelby GT being "affordable" or a good "value" for the price - other than for the badges. Hey no one is forcing anyone to buy it, if you can - go for it. Still, I wanted to be proved wrong in this case. What people are starting to see with this car surrounding the pricing and availability (color/transmission choice) kind of damps my enthusiasm that the company will "get it" as far as SE's go. Sometimes I can almost imagine the "FoMoCo" rearranging itself to spell - hint: switch "Fo" and "Mo".