Are OEMs the biggest enemies of dealers?

[Alex Snyder]

I was listening to a few podcasts about Digital Retailing this week and it seemed like the evil roadblock has shifted from DMS systems to OEM programs.

We all know how restrictive OEM programs are on dealers' marketing desires, but when you begin to think about margin compression it sounds like a disgusting double punch. Is the OEM fully aware of all the restrictions they put on their retail channels? Do you think they see the bigger picture? Or are dealers missing the bigger picture?

Things OEMs do to suffocate dealers (please add more to this list with your comments):

1. Taj Mahal showrooms
2. Maintaining an inventory count that isn't realistic
3. Pushing dealers to roach cars
4. Killing the dealer's brand for some bland OEM of City name
5. Co-op programs
6. Approved vendors
7. Pricing policies
8. Special tools for service to work on specific models

Can we make a list of positives?

 

[AdamMurray]

We used to get some really nice POP. Oh wait, they charged our parts account about 4x retail for that stuff...

 

[Alexander Lau]

Toyota and Lexus Central Dealership data center in Japan was hacked last week. Read the Forbes article below:

Might be a good time to look at how data flows through your dealership and website...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveyw...ustomers-at-risk-what-you-need-to-do-now/amp/