The average cost of new cars in the U.S. is higher than ever, and some of the largest automakers are starting to blame dealers selling their vehicles.
For example, about 10 percent of traders in the Ford Network announced a higher price than the automaker offered, says CEO James Farley. According to him, dealers can get fewer models already.
General Motors also issued such a warning to dealers. According to the company, some of them raised car prices last month.
Recently, the trend indicates that the relationship between automakers and merchants is changing amid growing competition for customers in the market, writes Quartz.
Cars will become cheaper by 20-30%
When will this happen?
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Automakers usually recommend a retail price when selling their cars to dealers, but dealers are not required to adhere to it. Previously, it was rare for dealers to sell cars at the price recommended by companies, but this trend began to unfold last year. 80.3% of U.S. auto sales were higher than the suggested retail price in January, compared with 0.2% of auto sales in 2019.
In the past year, companies have struggled to produce enough cars to meet customer demand amid a shortage of microchips and other supply chain constraints. Prices of both used and new cars have risen to record levels.
According to various experts, one new car was sold to the United States for more than $ 47,000 in December, which is $6,000 more than in the previous year.
The models with the highest margin are, as a rule, models of a more luxurious class. Mercedes-Benz, for example, recommends dealers a price of $168,868 for a Mercedes-Benz G-Class car, but they currently sell it for an average of $176,299 to customers.
Companies like GM, Ford face competition from automakers that sell directly to customers. This is, for example, the policy of Tesla. Against the background of the electrification of the American market, this becomes an even bigger problem.
Last month, Ford warned merchants not to raise prices for the electric model F-150 after reports that they were advertised for up to $30,000 above the company’s proposed price.
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