Lincoln dealers have had a bit of a rough couple of years after ranking below average on J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Consumer Index (CSI) Study and the 2022 Pied Piper PSI Internet Lead Effectiveness (ILE) Study, though FoMoCo has been working on revamping its customer experience in that regard by opening Lincoln’s first boutique showroom after setting up a number of standalone dealerships. Now, in a world where many new vehicles are being sold with markups (except most Lincolns, it seems), Lincoln dealers won’t be able to advertise those additional fees on inventory anymore, according to a dealer letter seen by Cars Direct.
This doesn’t mean that Lincoln dealers aren’t able to mark up inventory, but it does at least discourage them from advertising the fact that they’re selling vehicles over sticker price. The letter notes that “selling above MSRP negatively impacts the Lincoln Brand” in terms of “client satisfaction,” “favorability opinion,” and “client word of mouth,” adding that “dealers may not advertise a lease, retail sales price, discount, or financing offer that is derived from a retail sales price that is above MSRP.”
Dealers that break this rule face some repercussions, too, in the form of losing out on manufacturer-subsidized advertising funds. Interestingly, it was only roughly one year ago when Ford was asking dealers not to advertise vehicles below MSRP, even though dealers were still allowed to sell those vehicles for less than sticker price. Of course, finding a vehicle for MSRP is hard enough these days, let alone one that’s listed below sticker.
Regardless, there are many changes on the horizon for both Ford and Lincoln dealers as the automaker works to reinvent its business model. Ford recently decided to split its business into two distinct entities – Model e, which will focus on EVs, and Ford Blue, which will handle the ICE side of things – and FoMoCo dealers will also be asked to specialize in one of those areas, or in the Ford Pro commercial business. Additionally, dealers that choose to specialize in EVs may be asked to sell those vehicles at fixed prices, which is something Tesla and Rivian already do.
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Comments
Doesn’t this make the mark up situation worse? Effectively hiding the mark up from the customer until later in the sales process?
Just order using the X-plan and you won’t have any issues.
Recently looked at a base model Maverick sticker price @$22k then had another dealer add on sticker that said “market adjustment” which added $10,000! So much for the least expensive truck on the market. I mean people are being raped by prices on everything from bread to gas. This dealer adjustment would be like Walmart charging an extra $1000 per loaf of bread just because one brand is harder to get than another!
I’m not sure how this request is legal. If dealers are forced to advertise a price lower than what they’re actually selling a car for, that’s false advertising in most jurisdictions. It’s one thing if the manufacturer advertises the car with their suggested retail price, because they don’t sell directly to the consumer. But if the dealer advertises any price at all, state laws typically require them to sell the car at that price. I would not want to be the dealer’s attorney, stuck defending this in court.