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So sounds like this is a JLR marketing and brand management issue. Their overall sales model just seems outdated for 2021.
To address some of the concerns/points of interest you presented I would say the following:
If JLR has dealers who do not follow whatever requirements they have then that's on them to keep their dealership network "in line." Consumer should not be penalized because JLR wont regulate their dealers and implement safeguards to stop the situations you mentioned.
I don't know the ins and outs of the car business or have prior experience like I believe you do, but again these sales systems don't make sense in functional actuality in todays world. JLR should control pricing of their brand. Pricing in the auto industry is very murky and not clear to the consumer. Dealerships get incentives on top of the amount they sell over invoice which add another layer of complexity to the true cost the vehicle. This is a product of the manufactures production and supply levels. Again if we lived in a world where you could simply order your defender at a set price this would eliminate the typical auto transaction. This might upset the "wheelers and dealers" of the world but I think the majority of people hate car shopping due to the way dealership pricing structure works and how negotiating back and forth typically ensues.
I can understand your part about a dealership needing be proportioned to provide warranty service. I think that is reasonable. I think that if a dealer is selling a certain amount of vehicles a year then they need to meet a quota for staff for potential warranty work. JLR can improve their reliability and maybe those numbers can be a lower ratio? I mentioned in another thread that I think it would be great for all auto manufactures to have independent shops be certified to perform warranty work. Certain auto manufactures have body shops who get certified to meet the standards for body work repair.
In a FIFO sales system smaller dealerships would be in the same position as every other dealership. Their demand will be relatively lower, else while the playing field should be even? I also think a brand like JLR should be trying to sell whatever they can vs saying "sorry all out of defender allocation for the year, would you like a Evoque instead?". I don't think JLR is actually operating that way since they seem to be<!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->cannibalizing production of the lower selling units to build their more popular ones like the Defender.
I realize this is just me dreaming....
Good points, AND in Minnesota, you can't buy and sell more then 5 cars a year or you need to apply for a dealer's license. So, local laws help with some of what has been described in this thread....assuming people follow the law these days.
Drove my '22 Defender home this morning. Friday before Labor Day was not really my preferred travel time, but I left early and it wasn't TOO terrible. The new Defender made it much more tolerable! '22 pangea green / white top P400SE. Ebony interior with ebony headliner. Clearsight mirror, heated/cooled seats, off-road / advanced off-road packs, adaptive cruise. Came exactly as ordered!
I think you've created a new color scheme. Even though you got Pangea Green, in this photo it looks more like hint of green with champagne.
So sounds like this is a JLR marketing and brand management issue. Their overall sales model just seems outdated for 2021.
To address some of the concerns/points of interest you presented I would say the following:
If JLR has dealers who do not follow whatever requirements they have then that's on them to keep their dealership network "in line." Consumer should not be penalized because JLR wont regulate their dealers and implement safeguards to stop the situations you mentioned.
I don't know the ins and outs of the car business or have prior experience like I believe you do, but again these sales systems don't make sense in functional actuality in todays world. JLR should control pricing of their brand. Pricing in the auto industry is very murky and not clear to the consumer. Dealerships get incentives on top of the amount they sell over invoice which add another layer of complexity to the true cost the vehicle. This is a product of the manufactures production and supply levels. Again if we lived in a world where you could simply order your defender at a set price this would eliminate the typical auto transaction. This might upset the "wheelers and dealers" of the world but I think the majority of people hate car shopping due to the way dealership pricing structure works and how negotiating back and forth typically ensues.
I can understand your part about a dealership needing be proportioned to provide warranty service. I think that is reasonable. I think that if a dealer is selling a certain amount of vehicles a year then they need to meet a quota for staff for potential warranty work. JLR can improve their reliability and maybe those numbers can be a lower ratio? I mentioned in another thread that I think it would be great for all auto manufactures to have independent shops be certified to perform warranty work. Certain auto manufactures have body shops who get certified to meet the standards for body work repair.
In a FIFO sales system smaller dealerships would be in the same position as every other dealership. Their demand will be relatively lower, else while the playing field should be even? I also think a brand like JLR should be trying to sell whatever they can vs saying "sorry all out of defender allocation for the year, would you like a Evoque instead?". I don't think JLR is actually operating that way since they seem to be cannibalizing production of the lower selling units to build their more popular ones like the Defender.
I realize this is just me dreaming....
edited for some formatting error
Oh I do hear you. There could be better ways to structure it for sure but I think a lot of this is involves layers of local, state, & federal laws and consumer regulations along with restrictions on how manufacturers can and can not dictate retail pricing (Bose is an example of a company that has been able to do that but they operate in a much less regulated sector and they, arguably, are FAR less consumer friendly with 90%+ gross margins).
I think there's also a good deal of "legacy" involved. Some of these dealer agreements are decades old and I'm not sure how possible it would be to try to upend the system with hundreds of independent franchises who probably wouldn't have any collective agreement whatsoever if they were brought together to renegotiate.
It's not ideal for consumers but the car industry has traditionally not given a damn about the buyer. Land Rover especially has a corporate culture that is very much not focused on the warm and fuzzy.
A lot "could' change. But it won't.
Last edited by _Allegedly; Sep 4, 2021 at 04:43 AM.
I am Colorado. Denver. Hope they don't take that long way around. Wish they would go to east coast and then cross country but I really have no idea. Mine is supposed to be built on 9/17. With hud, clearsight mirror, interactive driver display, 11 inch screen.
I'm in Denver too, not sure why but I was thinking I saw another CO post that they dropped their car in Tacoma for delivery. Hopefully I'm wrong about that though! I'm with you, hopefully they drop it on the east coast. Mine was built last week, we will probably end up on the same ship if your build date holds!
Nice! Was yours built to all your requests? My dealer said they have not had any push back yet on my requests. Mine is scheduled build 9/17 with delivery 12/3. Let's hope they push up the delivery date. I got HSE godwana stone with acorn/lunar 2 tone interior.
Don't kick me out of the group I didn't order a Defender but rather a Range Rover Sport. I check this forum often for all the details and updates on shipping/tracking/delays and such. There is some really great info here. They are built in different factories so I'm sure a decent amount of this doesn't apply to me but it seems as though they are all shipped together from the same port. Are you working with LR Denver? LR Flatirons? As far as I know it was built with all my specs but again, different models/factories so that probably isn't much help to you.
I didn't order a Defender but rather a Range Rover Sport. I check this forum often for all the details and updates on shipping/tracking/delays and such. There is some really great info here. They are built in different factories so I'm sure a decent amount of this doesn't apply to me but it seems as though they are all shipped together from the same port. Are you working with LR Denver? LR Flatirons? As far as I know it was built with all my specs but again, different models/factories so that probably isn't much help to you.