These are the industry posts I do enjoy the most. I just find it interesting.
First, my bias: We are selling cars at MSRP and then taking the rebates off, if there are any. Since the early shutdowns ended, I never sold less than 10 cars a month until September. 10 cars is when I get my bonus kick in. Discounts had been going down over the months, so profit per car was higher on new cars... but on used cars we're paying more for them as well, so they are more or less the same. The exception is, I no longer have cars that have been on the lot for 9 months with heavy discounts that sometimes are a loss to the dealer. We have one old (new) 2020 S90 and everything else is pretty fresh on the used side. In the first 11 months I sold 124 cars but the last few months I haven't hit my bonus, so that was a pretty front loaded figure.
I've seen both big and small dealers go over MSRP. If that's where the market is that's simply where it is. Across the street at the Ford store I used to work at they've been over MSRP for months on trucks and some SUVS, and there are five other Ford stores within about 20 minutes... so it's not lack of competition. Some of the big city dealers that normally advertised under invoice are now over MSRP, but of course have not reduced their hidden fees and packages. Used cars are the really crazy thing, for some models often selling for more than MSRP as well.
Volvo has a mega crush on Tesla. I think there is a massive failure on Volvos part to recognize much of Tesla's success was simply due to a lack of competition. While some folks do like the online model, I think many do not. Personally I would be fine with it as a customer. I think we in the industry would need to see a merger of sales person and service advisor. Generally I find most service advisors deflect any how to tech questions up to the sales department and we often look silly when we determine it's a fault and send it back down to service. But if sales shifted towards customer experience, that could easily transition into service, especially with electrification. The technical understanding needs of both sales and service has gone up over the years, and there is far more overlap. Yes, Volvo wants an online method and believes in holding gross via single regional pricing. I'm okay with that too. Not because it means selling the cars for more money, but it means less hidden surprise costs that artificially lower the advertised price. It would make whatever sales is, be focused on value of the product, not the deal. As a more customer service oriented sales person that is appealing to me. I don't car how much we make on a car so long as I make a good living, which obviously has to come from profits. For every deal hunter lost to another brand, I think the non nonsense "yes that's a fair value for what I'm getting" rational person we pick up that hates to haggle, I'd be pleased. So few people complain about the thousands of dollars of sales taxes are added, and it's not because everyone thinks government is a great value for the money and they feel lucky to contribute so much, but because everyone is taxed the same amount with sales tax. Not a single customer has ever shown me how they value a car other than to compare it to what they see online that others paid or what it is compared to another brand.
