Quote of the Day II: Truck Month Strikes Back Edition

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: September 24th, 2009

quote of the day ii truck month strikes back edition

This is good — the money on the trucks. The money on the 2010 models is a nonevent because there aren’t any of them in stock . . . The incentives are good advertising to get people in the door, then we can sell them whatever we have in stock.

Tommy Brasher, owner of Brasher Motor Co. of Weimar, Texas, on GM’s decision to hold a “Truck Month” sale after all. Maybe we didn’t get the memo, but GM’s Bob Lutz said last week that GM would forgo the celebration of lost profits for fear it would hamstring the “May The Best Car Win” campaign. After all, the whole point of “May The Best Car Win” is to convince consumers that GM products are worth shopping even when they don’t have cash on the hood. But with trucks cramming the lots and in-demand models nowhere to be found, GM went ahead and sacrificed perception for what spokesfolks call a “competitive response” to Ford’s Truck Month. Old habits die hard.

Edward Niedermeyer

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4 of 13 comments

Pch101 on Sep 25, 2009
MSRP is pure fiction. This statement makes no sense. It's an asking price. You can pay it if you want, or negotiate it if you want. It's up to the seller to either adjust the price or not. Make it easy, good value, and stress free, and I’ll buy from you. You need to buy your cars through an auto broker. You may leave me out of your desires to "reform" the system. I am an aggressive buyer, and I want to pay as little as possible. I don't need your schemes to interfere with my process, just because you don't like to or don't know how to negotiate. If buyers wanted what you wanted, then the Saturn sales model would be universal. As turns out, it isn't, and it isn't for a reason.

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Andrew van der Stock on Sep 25, 2009
I am an aggressive buyer, and I want to pay as little as possible. I don’t need your schemes to interfere with my process, just because you don’t like to or don’t know how to negotiate. I know how to negotiate. I know the tricks (now that I've done it a fair few times). I've never paid top dollar for any of my cars. I just hate it. You and I may be an aggressive buyer, but most folks aren't. I have a friend who has a 12 year old Mazda 121 (a car not sold in the USA) who outright refuses to get rid of it even though she has driven it into the ground. Why? The last dealer 12 years ago left her with such a negative experience that she has panic attacks every time I suggest we go visit a dealer lot, and is actually terrified of doing another deal. I doubt she'll buy another car in her life time once this one dies for the final time. We don't have Saturn or Carmax here in Australia, so they're simply not an option. Although many folks can't do without a car, I bet the dealer experience so puts off so many folks, that car makers could make a lot more money if they simply stopped trying to screw us over *every* *single* *time* we have to deal with them. The model is broken. It's bankrupted two major US car manufacturers so far who wallowed in this exceedingly poor customer experience. It's killed thousands of dealers. It has to change.

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Pch101 on Sep 25, 2009
You and I may be an aggressive buyer, but most folks aren’t. If Americans did not want the opportunity to get a better deal than the next guy, then we wouldn't have the system that we have now. It's like poker. Most people lose in the long run, but they play anyway because they want the chance to win. It's not the outcome, it's the opportunity. Those who learn the game can win the game and do well with it, but people have to be willing to learn. If you don't like it, then don't haggle, it's that simple. Go to an auto broker and let them handle it for you. Obviously, you can't hate it that much, otherwise you would be willing to pay real money for the benefits of avoiding negotiations.

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26theone on Sep 25, 2009

BMW and Lexus dealerships have been the most professional dealerships I have been in by far. I actually found a good salesperson at a large Toyota dealer as well here in Houston. Volvo was better than average as was VW and Honda. Worst experiences were at Ford and Nissan, Chevy and GMC were average.

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