Top Factory Issues for Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge Dealers - CY 2012

[XDCX]

The purpose of this thread will be to identify the top issues the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealers have with the Factory in Calendar Year 2012 and then review what progress was made toward resolving those issues by year's end.

This thread will remain in the open section of DealershipForum and the second post of this thread will be updated with the latest issues identified by our members. A separate thread discussing the ranking of these issues will be created in AREA 51 if needed.

[XDCX]

This post will be updated with the top issues the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealers have with the Factory as identified by our members. The ranking of the Top Issues will also be based on the input provided by our members.

1. Fair distribution of new product to all dealers, reguardless of size or prior sales of vehicles in any particular segment.
2. "Tiered" or "stairstep" incentives of any kind wholesale or retail, including any device that pays cash or equivalent for meeting any "standards" performance attainment criteria.
3. Better quality advertising.
4. Details on Chrysler's product pipeline - when are the replacements for the Chrysler 200, Jeep Liberty and Jeep Patriot due?
5. Detials on Chrysler's future branding plans - What's the future for the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram brands?

[79LilRedExpress]

Originally Posted by XDCX

This post will be updated with the top issues the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealers have with the Factory as identified by our members. The ranking of the Top Issues will also be based on the input provided by our members.

1. Waiting for the first issue to be identified.

~>Fair distribution of new product to all dealers, reguardless of size or prior sales of vehicles in any particular segment.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by 79LilRedExpress

~>Fair distribution of new product to all dealers, reguardless of size or prior sales of vehicles in any particular segment.

Great comment - thanks for being the first to provide some input.

I've added your issue to the list.

[jayhawk]

" tiered" or "stairstep" incentives of any kind wholesale or retail, including any device that pays cash or equivalent for meeting any "standards" performance attainment criteria.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by jayhawk

" tiered" or "stairstep" incentives of any kind wholesale or retail, including any device that pays cash or equivalent for meeting any "standards" performance attainment criteria.

Great comments - I've added them to the second post in this thread.

Stair step programs (and the resulting two-tiered pricing) was one of the hottest issues that Mike Jackson from AutoNation was pushing last year. In a recent interview he conceded that although the topic generated a lot of conversation there was still a lot of work to do.

[79LilRedExpress]

This thread has some good potential so I thought I'd give it a little bump

[chryslersrt8]

Fair distribution and stairsteps have sadly been an issue for well over 20 years. I sadly feel they are and always will be part of the system.

Better quality advertising, and replacement for badly needed vehicles for the dated 200,Avenger, Patriot Liberty, and Compass. While they are better than 2010 and earlier vehicles, they are sadly lacking compared to our competitors.

Also, we need to be in the loop once and for all regarding the future of Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep and SRT.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by chryslersrt8

Better quality advertising, and replacement for badly needed vehicles for the dated 200,Avenger, Patriot Liberty, and Compass. While they are better than 2010 and earlier vehicles, they are sadly lacking compared to our competitors.

Also, we need to be in the loop once and for all regarding the future of Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep and SRT.

Great comments - I've added your thoughts to the list in the second post of this thread.

Concerning the Dodge Avenger and the Jeep Compass, I'm pretty sure that both of those vehicles will be killed-off at the end of their current production run.

[chryslersrt8]

In the earlier post I mentioned better advertising. This weekend Chrysler launches 4 new ads that can be seen on www.allpar.com. Personally I believe they are outstanding.

[Moparguy]

What s the home office doing to retain our customer base and keep them coming back ? Frequent buyer program, free LOF for 5/50 or 7/70 to keep owner from migrating to mass service merchandisers. What are the doing to keep our owner body loyal dispute poor consumer reports ratings ?

[chryslersrt8]

We can't fix the past...we can only learn from it. These results are based on vehicles built 3 years ago when Cerberus was penny piching our vehicles into sloppy quality products and they used cheap vendors. In addition that was when we 789 had our lives ruined forever due to corporate and governmental bullsh*t. Every time a customer has to go 5-10 or more miles to another dealer than from whom they originally did business with, they are reminded how much they hate their vehicle and what Chrysler did. The customers from that period will always be affected by those things.

The problem with these reports are they are not current. How big a headline today is "obama beats McCain to become President"? That was 3 years ago. The press would not think of publishing that today. But the press thinks because it is the almighty JD Power it must be hot current news. How sad.

[elmdodge]

Thing's sure have not changed, How much are sign lease charges ?

[steve_biegler]

Originally Posted by jayhawk

its on our statement too. tried to remove it in jan., was told its now a mandatory chg. even though we dont use it. theft, plain and simple.

I think we called it "Cost Shifting" in the past, but the factory said they did no such thing.

[steve_biegler]

Originally Posted by elmdodge

Thing's sure have not changed, How much are sign lease charges ?

I think the dealers are required to buy the signs now. I guess Chrysler would rather make the big gross up front rather than a little every month. I wonder what the new franchise agreement says about how quickly a dealer has to change his sign faces when there is a color or other change in the sign design? I remember seeing some "Plymouth" signs still out there because the factory decided that it was not a "priority" to change them. Of course these signs were on leases, so it was Chrysler's responsibility. I'm guessing that the priority level may change when they belong to the dealer.

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