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Now you can buy a Ford car, truck, SUV, or minivan in Canada on the Internet as if it were a Dell computer. No more tire-kicking, test drives, and haggling with salespeople. Just specify the vehicle you want at BuyerConnection, authorize a $168.12 charge (Canadian $250) on your credit card, and presto! You can get the vehicle immediately if it’s in stock at a local dealer or in 6-8 weeks from the factory, where Ford will build it as a custom job.
Best of all, the online "ePrices" being charged by Ford are less than its manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MRSP). For instance, a Ford Windstar with an MRSP of $20,854.09 has an ePrice of $19,668. That’s a saving of $1,186.09 just for buying online. Granted, you could probably get the same price at a dealer, as those on hand for the Ottawa launch confirmed, but only after hours of negotiation. Need financing? You can apply for it through BuyerConnection as well. A handy online program will help you calculate your monthly payments.
The all-new BuyerConnection site gives the customer total control over the purchase, said Dean Tesser, director of Ford Canada’s ConsumerConnect program, during BuyerConnection’s official launch in Ottawa’s National Press Club on May 12. It’s a level of control Ford hopes will attract new customers and give the carmaker a commanding e-commerce lead over GM, DaimlerChrysler, and Asian carmakers.
CROSS-BORDER SALES.
Ford is experimenting with BuyerConnection sales over the next year in Ottawa and Hamilton-Niagara, two prosperous high-tech communities centrally located in Canada. Then, the auto maker intends to expand BuyerConnection sales to other cities in Canada, said Tesser, with the goal of eventually taking it to the U.S. and then globally.
So what’s it like? Well, a lot like buying from Dell Computer. You select not only the model but you also configure it as you want using available options, from engine size down to seat covering. Then you order it direct, paying federal and provincial sales taxes but not title and other local taxes. A buyer from Detroit or Buffalo could order online and then cross the border and pick up the vehicle, but only at a Canadian dealership in the two test cities.
The local dealer handles the paperwork with you and delivers your car. For doing so, the dealer gets a cut from Ford. Plus, it will have first shot at providing you with lucrative after-sales service.
LOWER OVERHEAD.
The Ottawa dealers at the BuyerConnection launch seemed enthusiastic about online direct sales. In the short term, Ford’s program should help them move their inventory faster and cultivate new customers. In the longer term, BuyerConnection may also help them cut their overhead while still making a profit. After all, the more cars people order directly from Ford, the fewer cars the dealers will have to keep in stock. This could prove to be the best of both worlds for them: getting a cut of the sales without having to carry the expensive inventory.
Business models are one thing. But market trials are another. Over the next 12 months, Ford will learn if selling direct will increase profits or if consumers will simply use the ePrice to haggle dealers down in the showroom. But direct online sales have sure worked for Dell. Why shouldn’t they work for Ford?
James Careless and Susan Trott in Ottawa EDITED BY DOUGLAS HARBRECHT
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