RE: Challenger markup
IMO.....Commissions are built into the sticker price. Anything above that is greed. Marking your product up beyond the fair intended profit margins set by the manufacturer is gouging your customer. I don't care if it's 500 dollars or 20K. Saying well, we are going to gouge our customer just a little does not justify reasoning. Your reputation, and credibility takes a hit. Defending it for whatever reason just makes the dealer look worse and this adds to the mystique of dealers being labeled rip off artists. If a dealer is going to gouge customers then they deserve all the negativity they get.
Mustang GT's were to be marketed in the high 20's. Dealers marked them up 20K. The Shelby's were to be marketed in the 40's, again 20K mark ups. The real fools are those who pay it. Ford an alike should cap the ceiling price for their product but they won't. When you have a CEO raking in tens of millions in bonuses, the greed factor trickles down.
Increased sales, or increased profit margins? The way the auto industry is right now, you'd think increased sales would generate more revenue, but when you have dealerships gouging people, cars will sit. Then the finger pointing as to why.
This is just my 2 pennies.