RE: Challenger markup
There is a difference in making a profit and gouging. When you have little respect for the consumer base and charge obscene mark ups it goes beyond making a profit. For example all the sudden Exxon deems it necessary to make 100 billion in profits. Excessive? Even some analysts say it is. There is no justification for Ford to charge 20K in mark up fees, NONE. It's "justifiable" greed. I agree customers will dictate pricing but the few who are willing to be taken are the examples and reasons dealers try and justify their rationale. Defending unreasonable markups is like defending profiteering. Can anyone fault a business owner for wanting to make more? NO, but then some go beyond. Why are farmers capped with a ceiling on milk? Why can't they make obscene profits? The guy who sells a hammer to the federal government who charges them 4 thousand dollars for it, then the government cries foul. If the government paid the 4k for the hammer then they have no reason to put that guy under investigation but they do, then fine him......Gas station owners are handicapped as well they can only make so much. I read in NC a gas station owner decided to give a 2 cent a gallon break to the elderly and handicapped. The NC state government threatened to fine him if he did not charge the going rate for gas. Why? It's his business. If wants to take a hit on profit why can't he? NC would lose tax revenue on it that's why.
The automakers can blame unscrupulous dealers for some of the lagging sales. Some mark up the cars then after a while they run a special selling the cars at the intended price set by the manufacturer. Until consumers show dealers they are not willing to be taken advantage of you will have dealers hosing people. Funny, people are furious over the high cost of health care but many of those people justify huge profits for oil companies and others. I don't think anyone can fault a business for making a nice profit. Then there are those who go to the extreme.