well if they dont merge eventauly, (sooner rather then leter) they will die anyway. merging would likely help boost sales.

Would merging boost sales or would it decrease competition in local markets for commodity products? I don’t think it would impact car sales numbers whatsoever. It would impact the the possible incentives required and the local Ford store v Ford store competition that can hurt brand image and store profitability.

More importantly from a Ford Corporate perspective, they would likely decrease their incentive dollars required, decrease store v store competition and be able to spend time competing against Honda and Toyota, et al.

Additionally, it would make the wholesale/distribution process more streamlined (less expensive to support as many dealers from a distribution perspective for the Corporation/Regional levels and fewer employees required to service the smaller number of dealers).

Consolidation would aid the ease with which they distribute their products. Imagine the infrastructure expense required if Walmart were to not increase their volume but increase their outlets by 2-3x… logistics, transportation, support.

lots of you may see the UAW as the **** in the soup, but i see the dealer network as the real issue for the big three. the only thing they do for the manufacturer is to take *some* of the general ledger burden for inventory off the companies – otherwise, they add virtually ZERO value other than their service departments (which, of course, are often rape rooms with Mr. Coffee machines while MSNBC blares from an overhead screen).

good riddance.

Yeah I heard many horror stories with the dealer service departments…I think there’s lots of cleaning up to do in there.

My local – Sherwood Ford – service has been great. However, I have people working for me that will take a car to one of those ‘Jiffy Tune’ places rather than a dealer because they’re afraid of the cost – when they’re getting hosed by people who are not trained on their particular car?! I even go the the Porsche dealer almost 3hrs away because I know the tech’s last three jobs we not on three different brands. Dealers generally get a bad rap.

You want 600 Ford dealers to close: simply ship them the same-old. MORE MUSTANGS PLEASE…

j i m

$300K for a merger? They better pay up much more than that. Great idea that can’t be executed due to limited resources.

Many dealership service Departments take away the personal experience. You hand your car off to the person at the desk and you never know who did the work and if anything strange happens to your car (dent scratch, something broke that wasnt before) they deny it could possibly of happened while in their dealership.

If you really think that the dealership mechanics are somehow better at fixing your brand of car I think you are in most cases severely misguided.

You did however mention Porsche which is a differant animal all togeather. I am mostly speaking of domestic cars, however some dealerships are full of half-trained idiots that do not really knwo what they are doing.

I found a shop full of people I trust that works on my cars that are not in warranty. I would never let anyone else touch my cars.

Zan, or you can learn to do most things yourself. Cheaper anyway…

I won’t miss any of the price gouging mark-up dealers at all.

While I support the idea of slashing dealerships (look at what Toyota does with a fraction the number of dealerships), they will inevitably have to expand the service and sales departments of many dealerships. Take a town with three Ford stores, close one, and 1/3 of the Ford-owning citizens are going to have to find a new dealership for warranty repairs, creating even bigger service backup.

Veda: I challenge you to find one Ford Fusion buyer who changes his own oil…

If they lay waste to Witt Lincoln Mercury in San Diego, I’ll pop open a beer.

So, this is an opportunity. They can do one of two things: close dealers and cause worse customer service, or combine dealers and create more profitable centers that offer higher-levels of customer service on par with say, I don’t know, Toyota and Honda. That means top-notch warranty support, no nickel and diming over vaguely warrany issues (because ultimately, it costs you more than it saves) and quick, comprehensive service.

What I’d also like to see is a better regional dealer network that can pool resources to create commercials and run marketing campaigns that are targeted to the region’s interest. Stop telling people that you have the best prices on Ford’s at your dealer and start telling them how your Fusions are competitive with the Camry for $6000 less.

Ahhhh, more American car manufacturers laying off more workers. Typical.

Robert makes a good point about warranty. Ford needs to reduce warranty cost by sourcing parts from high quality first world countries instead of lowest common denominator countries such as China or Mexico. I quit buying Fords because the brake rotors would warp after 15000 miles and the steering would fall apart, well within the warranty period. Enough is enough. A Fusion costs 5000 bucks less because it is worth 7000 bucks less in terms of depreciation, maintenance and operation costs.

Andrew, like I said, start learning to do simple things yourself if you don’t trust the dealer mechanics.

I have tried to do brakes. It turned into a fiasco and I had to take the car to a shop. On the other hand, I minnimize my trips to shops by doing what I can.

Jameson: join the club. Don’t feel too bad, you’re far from the only one who botched up a job like that.

Veda: Sometimes you *need* to take your vehicle to an experienced professional because either the job is too big and uses specialized tools or you simply don’t have all the knowledge required to perform such a job. And finding trustworthy people to work on your car(s) is a PITA!