Ford Rolls out online shopping

[Godson]

https://amp.clickondetroit.com/automotive/ditching-the-dealership-ford-rolls-out-online-car-shopping-in-michigan

"If you're tired of going to the dealership, Ford has some great news for you.

The Dearborn-based automaker announced Monday the plan to roll out online car-buying in the Midwest with the goal of rolling it out nationwide by the end of 2018.

“Our customers are busy people, whether with daily work demands or spending time with their families. Quality time is scarce and downtime is even more so,” said Mark LaNeve, vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. “Ready.Shop.Go. allows them to find the perfect vehicle online, spend significantly less time at the dealership and drive away with their new ride sooner.”

Launching in several Midwestern states this month ahead of becoming available throughout the country by the end of 2018, Ready.Shop.Go. offers:

Pricing transparency – participating dealers set vehicle pricing, including taxes and fees
Personalized incentives
Finance and lease options
Consumer promise honoring quoted deal for 48 hours (subject to vehicle availability)
Pricing comparison - review actual prices with the Kelley Blue Book® Price Advisor and Trade-In Values
Options for scheduling test drives
Online credit application process through Ford Credit
Ability to save a deal and return later to complete the process
Customer selects preferred method of contact by dealership
Assignment of single point of contact on the dealer end to ensure the experience is well managed for the customer throughout the process
Future iterations of Ready.Shop.Go. will include customizable purchase and lease options powered by AutoFi, a fintech company in which Ford Motor Credit Company has invested. Customers also will be able to remotely review and digitally execute contracts with Ford Credit in the future.

“As we worked with our dealers to develop Ready.Shop.Go., it was important to make sure the experience benefited both our customers and our dealers,” said LaNeve “This experience delivers the functionality and flexibility customers need to select a vehicle at their preferred dealership, then apply for financing before ever stepping into a showroom, saving both customers and dealers valuable time.”

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This will be interesting to see unfold.

[Kchrpm]

Subject to vehicle availability is what the dealers will try to take advantage of. They'll get you in on a deal for one car, say it's not available, and then start the process over with their normal methods with whatever they need to get off the lot.

That prediction is based on how they've acted with TrueCar and similar services, hopefully I'm wrong.

[Godson]

I'm willing to bet Ford will suggest against those tactics. Judging by the last paragraph on how you choose a vehicle from their lot.

That being said, people are people and what you are talking will happen at some places.

[dodint]

Aight, imma let you finish, but first...

'significantly less time at the dealer'

So, still at the dealer, then?

Feels like Ford has developed their own 'TrueCar' platform to sell dealer inventory as this operates almost exactly like my credit union car buying service (a skinned TrueCar experience).

I'll be interested when I can login, buy a car, have the keys overnighted to me and then go pick it up without talking to someone (or even delivered).

[Godson]

On mobile, so I can't edit posts.

The thing I'm curious about, is how are the salespersons getting credit with the online side. I'd doubt they would get paid for the delivery. That's what's intriguing to me.

[dodint]

I'll be happy to admit that I'm probably in the minority of people that want a zero touch dealership experience, so I'll share what new car 'online car shopping' should really look like to me.

Logon to BMWUSA.com or whatever brand.
Create the build sheet I want, this capability has been on manufacturer websites for years.
Pay for it, through their financing or bank wire.
They build my car and ship it to BMWUSA in Spartanburg.
I take factory delivery (similar to the NCM Corvette delivery).
If I don't want to go to SC to get my car it should be shipped to my house or, at least, the local dealer.

It's bonkers that this isn't a thing yet. The Ford plan is just an inventory management front end that users can operate. You still can't go and spec out the Ford you want, you have to hope a local dealer has one in stock exactly the way you like it, and then you still have to go to the dealer to compete the transaction (beyond just picking it up). That's crazy in 2018.

[Cam]

Agreed. I should be able to buy a car online like a buy a pair of shoes or whatever. I purchase online and have it delivered to my door without having to talk to anyone.

[Kchrpm]

We'd have to get rid of the laws that prevent manufacturers from selling directly to consumers.

[Jason]

I just want to log in, build a car, pay a price (or agree to a loan) and have it delivered to my home. After my last dealer experience, I never want to buy a car from a dealership again.

[shakes]

I really wish my boss was reading this thread. He's owns the dealership where I work and is also the president of the association of new car dealers in Ontario. He's a firm believer in customer service trumping everything else and at first I believed him. But now after putting 6 years in at 2 different dealerships and having close to 20 years of retail experience in general I believe that customer service doesn't matter at all. That's why places like McDonalds, Wal-Mart and Amazon are so successful...its not about customer service its about the lowest price.

[Kchrpm]

You're missing the third party of that equation: convenience. The flip side of customer service is having to deal with a stranger whose job it is to make money off of you and explain complicated things to you.

Amazon isn't successful just because it's cheap, the fact that you can reasonable expect for anything you order from them to be delivered to your house in a couple days, and that if anything goes wrong they will actually care about making it right, is why Amazon beats out other online stores in addition to hurting local retailers.

In my interactions with salespeople do I want to receive great customer service? Of course. But I'd much rather just skip the sales person completely in most cases, because they are in the way of my convenience. You have to establish a rapport with them, explain what and why you want something, figure out a negotiation tactic, deal with getting approval from them, and the manager, and financing.

For someone that doesn't know what they want, a good, informative salesperson can be vital, but not the kind of sales people that typically get hired to sell cars. They are sales people, working on commission, needing to sell what they have on the lot to pay their own bills. Its not up to them to be an unbiased source of information, from all we known and see the most successful ones are the ones that take advantage of the misinformed rather than helping them.

So yeah, avoiding the dealership experience completely is what I think most people want to do. Dealerships did it to themselves with decades of their previous business model, and the only real reason they haven't been completely usurped already is the myriad of legal restrictions that exist to prevent manufacturers from selling directly.

[Jason]

Customer Service matters a lot to some people, I absolutely agree. But, that is not still all what happens at dealerships with salesmen that work off of commission. If I could walk in, not be hounded, and not be lied to, I'd absolutely love dealerships. Because there's a great value in sitting in/test driving a car before buying it.

[dodint]

Not good for test driving, but I use the auto show for that. They're not allowed to try and sell you anything at the show so you can crawl around all the stuff without any pressure.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I heard Saturn dealership experiences were awesome. Too bad it went under before I had a chance to try it...

I think current dealerships really do not have customer services... maybe customer fuck overs would be more appropriately named. This is why Costco is now selling more and more cars by actually helping customers making the process easier and stress free.

I can't imagine Ford can do better than Costco.

[IMOA]

The expectation is that we'll stop buying cars as well, instead we'll be looking for mobility solutions. If you look at the sorts of things like Care by Volvo, Porsche Passport, Mercedes Me Flexperience, these are the sorts of ownership (or better put access) models that we'll be using in the future.

[Rare White Ape]

Agreed. I should be able to buy a car online like a buy a pair of shoes or whatever. I purchase online and have it delivered to my door without having to talk to anyone.

Purchasing for introverts is the way I'd like it.

Here's my money. Just leave me alone and give me my shit.

[balki]

...For someone that doesn't know what they want, a good, informative salesperson can be vital, but not the kind of sales people that typically get hired to sell cars. They are sales people, working on commission, needing to sell what they have on the lot to pay their own bills. Its not up to them to be an unbiased source of information, from all we known and see the most successful ones are the ones that take advantage of the misinformed rather than helping them...
Yup. That's how I feel about real estate agents; good ones have a purpose, the other 80% of them are there to make a few grand for opening the door and stretching the truth

[Crazed_Insanity]

The expectation is that we'll stop buying cars as well, instead we'll be looking for mobility solutions. If you look at the sorts of things like Care by Volvo, Porsche Passport, Mercedes Me Flexperience, these are the sorts of ownership (or better put access) models that we'll be using in the future.
Yeah, I think manufacturers like Ford ought not only develop autonomous cars but also develop their own uber or lyft services... just to get ready for the future.

[Alan P]

If manufacturers can sell directly to consumers how will dealerships try and upsell you 'paint protection' and convince you into their finance deal with the biggest kickback?

[Mirage]

When I bought the ST I had a great salesman, it was the sales manager and finance manager that screwed things up and pissed me off. Sales manager didn't like his ford corporate survey results and wanted me to change them saying they took care of the problem, uh no you didn't asshole and you didn't offer me anything in return. Talked up the sales guy and nailed those 2 to the wall with it. I'd be perfectly fine with dealerships going away, I haven't had a good experience yet. There are way too many steps and layers to buying a new car that just don't need to be there.