Change.org Petition: Car prices - Let’s Put a STOP to Car Dealership PRICE GOUGING

New car prices have reached a record high, with the average price nearing $50,000.  Factory-authorized dealers are making the problem worse. Dealerships regularly charge prices far above the MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price) to make extra profit.  Racer started this petition to ensure this price gouging is reigned in. Sign to stop dealerships from making extra profit off the backs of hardworking Americans. Let’s Put a STOP to Car Dealership PRICE GOUGING 35,187 have signed Racer X’s petition. Let’s get to 50,000!

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If you are frustrated by price gouging tactics employed by automotive manufacturer FACTORY AUTHORIZED DEALERSHIPS this is your opportunity to be heard.   We are currently experiencing one of the largest paradigm shifts in automotive history.  The electric, or EV movement is in full swing.  Cars are in short supply and new car prices have soared to an average of nearly $47,000.  This represents an increase of more than 54% compared to just 10 years ago.  With the cost of fuel and insurance also increasing, private transportation is becoming less affordable with each passing year.  In today’s market, many factory dealers are taking full advantage of the changing market conditions.  With the exception of EV giant Tesla, and a few select small independent manufacturers, the public is forced to purchase their vehicles from independent factory authorized dealerships and are prohibited from buying directly from the manufacturer.  This traditional model enables these dealers to essentially set their own prices.   Most manufacturers, such as Ford, General Motors, and Mopar spend billions of dollars each year to produce and market their vehicles.  They establish pricing strategies that ensure both the factory authorized dealer and the manufacturer are profitable.  This is known as the Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP), or sticker price.  Manufacturers advertise this price to the consumer through a multitude of social media platforms.  This allows buyers to obtain a baseline vehicle cost should they chose to buy one.  Factory dealers are afforded the latitude to reduce this price, should they so choose, in order to earn the business of a prospective buyer.   It is now COMMON PRACTICE, industry wide, for factory authorized dealers to disregard the MSRP set by the manufacturer and set their selling price significantly higher than MSRP.  This is particularly common for high demand vehicles.  Dealers are able to continue this practice due to a lack of repercussions from the manufacturers.    For example: a customer can go to Chevrolet’s website and use their vehicle configurator to build the exact car desired.  It provides a base price of the vehicle, and the price for all of the selected options.  An MSRP for the vehicle is provided directly from the website.  A buyer can also go to a factory authorized dealer where they can view the sticker, required to be posted on the vehicle, which details how the vehicle is equipped and the resulting sticker price of the vehicle.  Many factory dealers are inflating their prices from $5000 to, in some cases, $100,000 over MSRP depending on the vehicle.  This has the effect of pricing many, if not most, car enthusiasts out of the market and the overwhelming majority of end consumers regard this as an unfair practice.  In many cases these potential buyers have saved for years to buy their "dream car", only to have the factory authorized dealer inflate the price beyond their reach.   If manufacturers continue to allow their authorized dealers to set prices significantly over MSRP this problem will continue to worsen.   Some steps to combat this practice might be: Manufacturers enforce their MSRP by enacting meaningful penalties on their authorized dealers who refuse to comply  Manufacturers can move to a "direct sales model" similar to that used by Tesla, whereby their customers can bypass the dealer as a way to purchase their vehicle at MSRP.   Car makers have the ability to do much more to protect their customers from price gouging by their dealer networks.  These changes will only come about if the automotive manufacturing segment hears from their customer base.   By signing this petition, you are adding your voice to many others.  The hope is to give the car manufacturers a good reason to do the right thing and get this unfair practice under control.

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