My Thoughts on Production Guide Numbers

[JMAN311]

Originally Posted by RPO_Z28

GM has been using a "Turn and Earn" system forever. The more you sell, the more you get. Makes sense.

Right, but the least they could do is give the guys their 1 car early on instead of waiting til after the larger dealers have received multiple shipments.

[SandiCandi]

Originally Posted by RPO_Z28

GM has been using a "Turn and Earn" system forever. The more you sell, the more you get. Makes sense.

While I agree from a purely business point of view that might make sense, but from the customer's point of view its unfair. Besides how many customers knew that where they ordered made a difference when they would see their car?
Most figured if I ordered early, then I'm high on the list of pulled orders. Think how annoying it must be for those who ordered th V6 from a smaller dealer after being told there would be some kind on constraint early on. And now they find out that smaller dealers (and their customers) were getting shafted. I think there needed to be a rule of reasonableness here. My .02

[JMAN311]

I think most people that preordered knew it would take a bit longer to get a car from a smaller dealer than from a larger one but that doesn't make it right. I knew it would probably happen, but the problem for me is location. I didn't want to have to work with a dealer from Denver since it's over 3hrs away and I don't care for dealing with things like this just by phone or email. I also have built a good rapport with my local dealer and like to support local businesses when possible. But I don't think there is any reason they shouldn't have been able to get their allocation this month for April builds. Orders should be more about "when" and less about "where".

[RPO_Z28]

If your dealer invests more in their facility, orders more cars from GM, pays more to advertise, employs more people, etc., why shouldn't you get more of any new vehicle?

Case in point. We are a smaller Corvette dealer and will not get a ZR1 based upon the current situation. Now, had we stocked more Corvettes over the years, we would be getting ZR1's. Same with the Camaro. If you invest in the overall product, you get more of it.

It sucks for smaller dealers but they are the one's that cause their own situation which affects you, the consumer.

Every dealer has their own business philosophy and now the Camaro gets reintroduced, everyone wants them. Ask your small dealer how many 2000-2002 Camaro's they sold. I'll bet it's a pretty small number because no one wanted them.

[trm0002]

IMO, there's really no excuse that the "small" guys aren't being taken care of. There are dealers who have already had 1,2,4 cars produced. I would have thought before someone got #4, a small dealership should have gotten #1. They are trying to "advertise" the car aren't they? It's unfortunate enough that the US car makers have a "bad" rap; why they wouldn't do a smart PR move like getting everyone involved and happy is beyond me.

[RPO_Z28]

Originally Posted by trm0002

IMO, there's really no excuse that the "small" guys aren't being taken care of. There are dealers who have already had 1,2,4 cars produced. I would have thought before someone got #4, a small dealership should have gotten #1. They are trying to "advertise" the car aren't they? It's unfortunate enough that the US car makers have a "bad" rap; why they wouldn't do a smart PR move like getting everyone involved and happy is beyond me.

Easy for you to say, Mr. #74

[JMAN311]

Originally Posted by RPO_Z28

If your dealer invests more in their facility, orders more cars from GM, pays more to advertise, employs more people, etc., why shouldn't you get more of any new vehicle?

Case in point. We are a smaller Corvette dealer and will not get a ZR1 based upon the current situation. Now, had we stocked more Corvettes over the years, we would be getting ZR1's. Same with the Camaro. If you invest in the overall product, you get more of it.

It sucks for smaller dealers but they are the one's that cause their own situation which affects you, the consumer.

Every dealer has their own business philosophy and now the Camaro gets reintroduced, everyone wants them. Ask your small dealer how many 2000-2002 Camaro's they sold. I'll bet it's a pretty small number because no one wanted them.

I'm not disputing that they should get more....a dealer that can sell a ton more should get more.....IN THE LONG RUN. But why not let the guy that gets 1 have it when the other dealers are getting their 8 cars? Why should my dealer have to sit around with 0 month after month for their single car? I just want GM to throw them a freakin bone with 1 car right away to hold them over and reward the person that goes in Oct. to preorder. Then let all the rest the uber $$$$ dealers get their 50 cars through the months to follow. Then they can toss the small guys another 1 car after that.

Originally Posted by trm0002

IMO, there's really no excuse that the "small" guys aren't being taken care of. There are dealers who have already had 1,2,4 cars produced. I would have thought before someone got #4, a small dealership should have gotten #1. They are trying to "advertise" the car aren't they? It's unfortunate enough that the US car makers have a "bad" rap; why they wouldn't do a smart PR move like getting everyone involved and happy is beyond me.

Thank you trm

[RPO_Z28]

Originally Posted by JMAN311

I'm not disputing that they should get more....a dealer that can sell a ton more should get more.....IN THE LONG RUN. But why not let the guy that gets 1 have it when the other dealers are getting their 8 cars? Why should my dealer have to sit around with 0 month after month for their single car? I just want GM to throw them a freakin bone with 1 car right away to hold them over and reward the person that goes in Oct. to preorder. Then let all the rest the uber $$$$ dealers get their 50 cars through the months to follow. Then they can toss the small guys another 1 car after that.

I'm not saying it's right but, the smaller dealer didn't "earn" it.

If they are only building XX number of Camaro's, should the larger dealer sacrifice one of his units so a smaller dealer can have one? The larger dealer will argue that he earned it so he should get it.

I know it sucks but that's the system we have to work with.

[TJ91]

You gotta love GM for this

[1camaro4me]

I would agree that a large dealer gets more than a smaller one. But where GM is screwing up here is beyond guide numbers.

My dealer had a guide number of 5. That's smaller than probably most, but more than many dealers got. He is not a true "out of the way" rural dealer. But neither is he a city or suburb dealer. So all in all he's somewhere in the middle of the pack, albeit probably closer to the bottom that the top.

Even so, he has not received even 1 allocation yet. Now I understand that a dealer that has a guide number of say 15 probably deserves that many. But isn't my dealers 1st order as important as say the first 3 to the other dealer. Didn't he earn his 1st as much as the other earned his first 3? So shouldn't my dealer get his 1st before the other dealer gets 9 or 10? In fact, proportionally speaking, shouldn't my dealer get his first mixed in with the first 3 the other dealer gets? That would make sense to me, but that's not what's happening.


A higher guide number is no reason for proportionally shorting the smaller dealers.

Just my opinion.

[RPO_Z28]

I would just divide the number of months divided by the guide number and then that's probably, in a nutshell, how to figure it out.

Let's say the period up until Q3 was October 2008 thru September 2009.

12 months divided by 9 (larger dealer guide) = one unit every 1.3 months.

12 months divided by 3 (smaller dealer guide) = one unit every 4 months.

The short story is if you wanted your car earlier than later, then you could have ordered from a dealer with a larger guide number. Ordering from a smaller dealer makes you wait longer.

Again, if a dealer only stocks 100 new Chevrolets, he's not getting his Camaro's faster than a dealer that stocks and sells 300 new Chevrolets.

That's the dealer's choice and it affects their customers. GM will give cars and trucks to dealers who ask for them. That's what "CONSENSUS" is.

[JMAN311]

Originally Posted by RPO_Z28

I'm not saying it's right but, the smaller dealer didn't "earn" it.

If they are only building XX number of Camaro's, should the larger dealer sacrifice one of his units so a smaller dealer can have one? The larger dealer will argue that he earned it so he should get it.

I know it sucks but that's the system we have to work with.

You're right.....they didn't earn it according to GM's meaning of the word, there probably shouldn't be dealers in smaller communities. Everyone should live in big cities or have to go to them to buy cars. They shouldn't even get 1 car by default just for being a Chevy dealer since they aren't earning GM as much money as everyone else. I mean it's almost like GM is punishing them for trying to remain in lower population areas. There isn't much of anything in a 100 mile radius from where I live and so it's really nice to have this dealership around. Guess I'll just never get over the fact that we have to wait longer because of it. There really isn't a way I can think of that would make all the dealers happy so I'm sure that's why GM does it the way they do....they might as well keep the guys that make them more money the happiest.

Originally Posted by RPO_Z28

I would just divide the number of months divided by the guide number and then that's probably, in a nutshell, how to figure it out.

Let's say the period up until Q3 was October 2008 thru September 2009.

12 months divided by 9 (larger dealer guide) = one unit every 1.3 months.

12 months divided by 3 (smaller dealer guide) = one unit every 4 months.

The short story is if you wanted your car earlier than later, then you could have ordered from a dealer with a larger guide number. Ordering from a smaller dealer makes you wait longer.

Again, if a dealer only stocks 100 new Chevrolets, he's not getting his Camaro's faster than a dealer that stocks and sells 300 new Chevrolets.

That's the dealer's choice and it affects their customers. GM will give cars and trucks to dealers who ask for them. That's what "CONSENSUS" is.

That's really unfair of you to say. It's not like they choose to only carry 100 new Chevy's that's all thier market allows for.....should they just only be in larger markets....with that type of logic we shouldn't have dealerships in small towns at all, and trust me as a whole in the US...that WILL hurt their sales.

[RPO_Z28]

Please don't be offended by what I'm trying to say here. If you want me to make you feel better and say you're right, it's not fair, OK.

Just like most of my threads, I just thought it would be a good thing to try to explain it to those on the "outside".

My point is that a dealer can't always have the "hot" product when it's convenient for them. Most of the time they don't want to carry more inventory and try to grow their business due to costs, property, etc. Again, that's their choice and it affects you.

Please don't misunderstand as we are by far, not one of the larger dealers in our area. But when GM calls and asks us to take additional product to help them out, we do it.

Have a great day.

[JMAN311]

Originally Posted by RPO_Z28

Please don't be offended by what I'm trying to say here. If you want me to make you feel better and say you're right, it's not fair, OK.

Just like most of my threads, I just thought it would be a good thing to try to explain it to those on the "outside".

My point is that a dealer can't always have the "hot" product when it's convenient for them. Most of the time they don't want to carry more inventory and try to grow their business due to costs, property, etc. Again, that's their choice and it affects you.

Please don't misunderstand as we are by far, not one of the larger dealers in our area. But when GM calls and asks us to take additional product to help them out, we do it.

Have a great day.

Sorry RPO I'm not offended at all and I hope you aren't offended by anything I've said either This is just the 1 subject on the forum that always gets me fired up . It's getting harder and harder to keep my patience now that cars are rolling off the line. And it's frustrating when people that ordered last month will get the car before me when I've already been waiting 5 months with my order in the system.