Q&A with Nissan US Director of Corporate Communications, Dan Passe - Submit your questions for discussion!

[96_R33]

Fixed it for ya.

Well Chevrolet warned dealers against ADMs and price gouging last month in response to dealers who are abusing prices on the new Corvette.

 

[Drseckzytime]

"Hope" in one hand, crap in another, see which one fills up first....

I highly doubt Nissan USA will do a darn thing about dealership price gouging. When has Nissan USA ever acted in the best interests of the customer?

I remember there was a period of time they threatened dealers their allocations would be cut if they sold marked up the GTR.

Dodge, then Ford and Chevy of recent warned their stealerships to chill out or else allocations would be cut.

Remember manufacturers want to sell more cars, there's cases where people would buy something, them buy another car then or soon after. Nissan will make more profit if they sell two cars rather than one and the stealership making up excessive profits via ADM on it which Nissan doesn't see.

Nothing like stealerships ruining brand image all the while making 10-20x their usual profit per car sold.

I don't know why buying experiences have to be so terrible. Out of all the cars I ever bought, a Mitsubishi dealership was the best experience of all things when I was buying my Evo. Followed by my WRX.

 

[takemorepills]

I remember there was a period of time they threatened dealers their allocations would be cut if they sold marked up the GTR.

Dodge, then Ford and Chevy of recent warned their stealerships to chill out or else allocations would be cut.

Remember manufacturers want to sell more cars, there's cases where people would buy something, them buy another car then or soon after. Nissan will make more profit if they sell two cars rather than one and the stealership making up excessive profits via ADM on it which Nissan doesn't see.

Nothing like stealerships ruining brand image all the while making 10-20x their usual profit per car sold.

I don't know why buying experiences have to be so terrible. Out of all the cars I ever bought, a Mitsubishi dealership was the best experience of all things when I was buying my Evo. Followed by my WRX.

That's all good, except when demand outstrips supply. Every manufacturer is selling every car they can make, and they can't make enough

 

[bboypuertoroc]

I don't know why buying experiences have to be so terrible. Out of all the cars I ever bought, a Mitsubishi dealership was the best experience of all things when I was buying my Evo. Followed by my WRX.

Bro, buying my Evo back in 2006 was the best car buying experience I've ever had in my life. They literally tossed me the keys for my test drive and said to bring it back before they closed, no questions asked. 2.3 miles on the odometer when I left, something like 30 when I brought it back. Went back in the next day and left with my new car after the easiest buying process ever (literally under 30 minutes). Not a penny more than MSRP, no hassle, got a good deal on my trade (my '03 350Z). They made sure nobody else touched the car between when I brought it back and when I was handed the keys.

 

[West Aussie]

That's all good, except when demand outstrips supply. Every manufacturer is selling every car they can make, and they can't make enough

Don’t your dealers get a retainer?

 

[takemorepills]

Don’t your dealers get a retainer?

They get "allotments" which is basically the manufacturer letting them know what's coming to their dealership. Dealers can also order certain trims for their stock, and possibly for a particular customer, but that's only when orders open.

If a customer "orders" a vehicle, in most cases, that's just between them and the dealer. Especially with Nissan. Never is a vehicle made for the individual person, you have to get a dealer to agree to place the order for you, and it comes from their allotment.
Meaning, if the dealership is told "only 100 Z's for this year" your "order" is one of them. That's all they can get

Some brands selling in USA do allow customer orders all the way back to the factory. Especially Porsche and sometimes VW when they offered their custom paint colors for the Mk7 GTI.

 

[West Aussie]

They get "allotments" which is basically the manufacturer letting them know what's coming to their dealership. Dealers can also order certain trims for their stock, and possibly for a particular customer, but that's only when orders open.

If a customer "orders" a vehicle, in most cases, that's just between them and the dealer. Especially with Nissan. Never is a vehicle made for the individual person, you have to get a dealer to agree to place the order for you, and it comes from their allotment.
Meaning, if the dealership is told "only 100 Z's for this year" your "order" is one of them. That's all they can get

Some brands selling in USA do allow customer orders all the way back to the factory. Especially Porsche and sometimes VW when they offered their custom paint colors for the Mk7 GTI.

Nah I mean…Do they get a salary before dealer fee.
Like in Aus I don‘t know how much it is, but salesmen get a base salary …say it’s $800 a week ( I have no idea what it is by the way) and then they get their dealer delivery fee for every car they sell that is inbuilt in our set price and the same across the board…it means if there are nit many cars to sell them they still make enough money to eat and pay the mortgage

 

[therumblewagon]

Nah I mean…Do they get a salary before dealer fee.
Like in Aus I don‘t know how much it is, but salesmen get a base salary …say it’s $800 a week ( I have no idea what it is by the way) and then they get their dealer delivery fee for every car they sell that is inbuilt in our set price and the same across the board…it means if there are nit many cars to sell them they still make enough money to eat and pay the mortgage

Sounds like you're referencing a base salary + commission, to which I'm pretty sure that's how they operate. At least that's pretty common practice for other sales/business development roles in other industries.

 

[Donalex]

In the US, traditionally the salesperson gets 25% of net profit. The dealer subtracts a certain fixed amount, called a PAC, which accounts for dealership overhead. They usually are on pure commission, with a weekly/biweekly advance against commission so they can eat regularly.

The F&I people traditionally get 10% of profit from warranties and rate spread (bank sets "buy rate" at 3% and dealer contracts at 5%). With rate spread, the dealer typically retains 75% of computed "extra" interest and bank retains 25%.

Rate spread is a very good reason to get pre-approved at your local Credit Union. You know exactly what your buy rate is.

 

[timszee]

Bro, buying my Evo back in 2006 was the best car buying experience I've ever had in my life. They literally tossed me the keys for my test drive and said to bring it back before they closed, no questions asked. 2.3 miles on the odometer when I left, something like 30 when I brought it back. Went back in the next day and left with my new car after the easiest buying process ever (literally under 30 minutes). Not a penny more than MSRP, no hassle, got a good deal on my trade (my '03 350Z). They made sure nobody else touched the car between when I brought it back and when I was handed the keys.

Imagine this all the time..

 

[takemorepills]

Nah I mean…Do they get a salary before dealer fee.
Like in Aus I don‘t know how much it is, but salesmen get a base salary …say it’s $800 a week ( I have no idea what it is by the way) and then they get their dealer delivery fee for every car they sell that is inbuilt in our set price and the same across the board…it means if there are nit many cars to sell them they still make enough money to eat and pay the mortgage

Base+commission.

However, salespeople generally can't pay bills on base salary alone. The structure of commission in USA really rewards the greasiest of greasy salespeople.

 

[West Aussie]

Base+commission.

However, salespeople generally can't pay bills on base salary alone. The structure of commission in USA really rewards the greasiest of greasy salespeople.

So here in lies the problem then. In Aus and I’m sure it’s the same as Canada, the base is defuneyky enough to live on, therefore making the price gauging unnecessary, and they still get a binds for every car they sell, but it’s controlled so no one is killing the brand.

 

[Drseckzytime]

Bro, buying my Evo back in 2006 was the best car buying experience I've ever had in my life. They literally tossed me the keys for my test drive and said to bring it back before they closed, no questions asked. 2.3 miles on the odometer when I left, something like 30 when I brought it back. Went back in the next day and left with my new car after the easiest buying process ever (literally under 30 minutes). Not a penny more than MSRP, no hassle, got a good deal on my trade (my '03 350Z). They made sure nobody else touched the car between when I brought it back and when I was handed the keys.

It was basically the same. I was way younger then too. Literally threw me the keys, told me to take it down this fun road, came back gave a depo. The sales manager was out and the owner sold the car on me. The new one came in with SSL package soon after gave it to me under the sticker of the regular one they sold on me, and bumped up my trade. Was incredible.

Nah I mean…Do they get a salary before dealer fee.
Like in Aus I don‘t know how much it is, but salesmen get a base salary …say it’s $800 a week ( I have no idea what it is by the way) and then they get their dealer delivery fee for every car they sell that is inbuilt in our set price and the same across the board…it means if there are nit many cars to sell them they still make enough money to eat and pay the mortgage

Some sell on older PAC plans as they're called like described. Others do work on commission. For example one dealer here paid $400/wk, then $125 per car based on front and back end, then a percentage of accessories.

Now though my friend with mark up hold back percentages surpassing base, makes selling 2 cars a month what he did selling 14. And the dealership is making a killing pure added profit, no hold backs given up, PLUS back end financing.

They're making more profit now than pre-pandemic despite "shortages."

And this is why I despise stealerships more than ever. The sales managers, finance managers, and owners are the biggest greedy scumbags being handed a free pass to exploit people during a pandemic. Your car get totaled and not your fault, can't afford more than what you were paying? Too bad, time to not just downgrade a trim, you're downgrading a whole model.

Absolute filth.

 

[takemorepills]

So here in lies the problem then. In Aus and I’m sure it’s the same as Canada, the base is defuneyky enough to live on, therefore making the price gauging unnecessary, and they still get a binds for every car they sell, but it’s controlled so no one is killing the brand.

There is an upside to this unbridled capitalism.

During "normal" times, we can get quite a good deal if savvy enough.

We do have some dealers in USA that operate on fixed, no-haggle pricing, which would probably be comparable to Australia and Canada buying experience, and it works well for many people.

Before the pandemic hit, Dec 2019 I bought a brand new 2020 Toyota Corolla Hatchback for my wife. Fresh off the truck with wrapping still on it, all LED lighting, BSM, alloy wheels, Android Auto, blah blah all the stuff the wife likes. Almost every dealer I spoke with wanted $23K or more. No budging. I got it for $20,750 at a nearby Toyota dealer. That's the upside to our market.
Obviously, now we are seeing the most evil manifestation of it during a pandemic, but how often do pandemics occur?

 

[DevonK]

Actual question for @Dan_Passe:

I was told by a Nissan rep at the Nissan Studio in Toronto where the Z is on display that although the Canadian car does not get built-in nav or the 9 inch display, the nav mapping you use on your connected Android or Apple phone can be displayed on the main IP behind the steering wheel, not only on the infotainment display. The rep brought up the main IP display setting where he said this would happen - it's the one that has the tach and speedo pushed to the outer edges of the screen leaving a big blank area in the middle for the map. Can you confirm this feature will be available?