Ford CEO Farley Says Dealers Who Gouge Could Get Fewer Vehicles

(Bloomberg) -- Some car dealers are taking advantage of lean inventories as a result of the semiconductor shortage by charging well above sticker price -- and Ford Motor Co.'s chief executive officer isn't happy about it.

“We have very good intelligence of who they are and their future allocation of product will be directly impacted because of that policy,” CEO Jim Farley said Thursday on a conference call with analysts. “We have about 10% of our dealers last year in the supply constrained environment that we're in charging above MSRP to the best of our knowledge,” he said, referring to the manufacturer's suggested retail price. 

Read more: Ford Sinks as Supply Shortages Lead to Earnings Shortfall (1)

The markups come as dealers' leverage over buyers has increased with shrinking stocks of vehicles. Ford finished 2021 with 247,000 vehicles in inventory, down from 426,000 at the end of 2020. That reflects a limited supply of semiconductors and other key components, which has forced automakers to curtail vehicle production.

Average transaction prices for new vehicles hit an estimated $44,905 in January, a monthly record, according to J.D. Power.

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