Parker777

I know that dealer allocations are frequently discussed here and that allocations are the name of the game when it comes to ordering a new C6. My question is, just how does a dealer get an allocation!? I place an order last weekend with a fairly large dealer that assured me that they had allocation. Today, the inventory manager said that the order was not picked up because of "no allocation". Is allocation based on sells of other Corvettes (sell one, get allocation for another) or on other factors. Can anybody clear this up? Thank in advance for your help!

Z-51

From what I understand the more Vetts they sell the bigger the allocations they have . If I'm wrong somome will let me know

cec58

I'm wondering the same thing myself. I "ordered" a silver z51 coupe on 9/19 and my dealer is waiting for an allocation to then see what can be done with my "order". When I was making the deal, he siad he shjould be able to have me my car in a month. No wonder some car salesmen have a bad name.

Corvette Junkie

It's all based on Corvette sales from the pervious year.

not08crmanymore

(but i believe the previous year as opposed to the pervious one!)

7 OUT

Which may be limited by that years allocation.

Since most vettes are ordered, just find a big dealer who has a big enough allocation to take your order and have it courtesy delivered to your local dealer. There are plenty of dealers on this forum who would be happy to take your order.

Dana

MontereyRed

It's also based on current unsold inventory. My car will be at the dealer soon, and they asked me to pick it up before the end of the month so it does not impact their allocation.

dbdave

Ok, so if a dealer has no allocation and has never had one and has a customer that wants to buy a Vette, then he has no hope of ever getting an allocation? Kind of a catch 22 scenario. How does a dealer get his initial Corvette allocation?
Toward the end of the C5 production in '04, it seemed like almost every Chevy dealer had at least 1 car where they never had any before. I guess that was their opportunity to develop their Corvette allocation process?
Beyond that, I guess they would have to suck up to their zone rep? Can the zone rep move allocations around? With '05s still sitting at dealers, I would think they'd do that because if the dealer with the unsold cars can't sell them, then it would seem better to move the cars and the allocations to dealers who can. If a dealer has all the allocations and can't sell the cars, get the allocations to the dealers with prospective orders.

But I don't work there.

MontereyRed

I think it's like you describe. I went to my local (small) dealer in April, ready to order. He called the zone rep and was told he could not order until next year. In June, GM offered him a loaded vert to order, which he accepted. No MN6, no polished wheels, etc. The big forum dealers are selling 60+ cars each month, and they seem to get what they want. Not all dealers accept all of their allocation, so maybe those are the crumbs that get passed to the smaller dealers.

rm50

This seems like a very complicated process where an individual wants to purchase a product and goes to a franchised dealer of GM but has to wait a long time because that dealer didn't sell a lot of Corvettes last year.
Basic economic law of supply and demand doesn't seem to work here.

AMF

For what it's worth, my (small) dealer told me that every dealer that meets the GM requirements for servicing Corvette's can get at least one.

Interestingly, he also said that every qualified dealer in Colorado got a red '05 convertable (above their usual allocation) because they had some sort of suggestion to GM that GM particularly liked. (Forgot what the suggestion was).

Buffy

As I understand it, it's based on the number of cars sold last year, how many cars the dealer thinks they can sell this year, demand for cars, availablility of cars, inventory level, phase of the moon and a few other things.

There is a process sort of like bidding for allocations that happens at least twice during the model year, once before the cars are out and once more at "build out" time - that is, for the last couple month's production.

My dealer tried to explain this; he was very careful to tell me what he could and couldn't promise based on allocations, constraints, etc. but had to admit that it is pretty complicated and somewhat arbitrary.

A dealer can get additional allocations in some cases; mine did. As I understand, he talked to the folks at BG and told them he had a sale if he could get an allocation, they found one for us. Apparently having a customer wanting a car (as opposed to ordering for stock) counts for something in sorting this out, as it does in prioritizing constraints, etc. for a "sold order".

AMF

Apparently having a customer wanting a car (as opposed to ordering for stock) counts for something in sorting this out, as it does in prioritizing constraints, etc. for a "sold order".


That is what my dealer told me too but I wonder how that fits with large dealers having bunches of cars sitting around in stock?

Buffy

Well, the larger dealers are going to get attention. I think the other helps offset that a bit. Like many things it doesn't work perfectly, but it does work. Sort of like the U.S. government - it works very badly, but better than anything else anyone's ever managed to come up with.

AMF

Like the government reference

ben dover

Allocations are also affected by constraints. So if you ordered a Z51 car for example, your dealer might not have an allocation available for that constraint. Constraints and their allocations are updated once a week.

millpond

I agree. Z51 is on constraint right now, so a non-Z51 order would be accepted first.

Ken Fichtner

Good afternoon,

Though I am presently out of state attending a conference, I am still monitoring the forum and posting information as time allows.

Please go the the forum: Kens Newsletters. You will see a post that I have refreshed on Dealer Allocations. You will find everything you wanted to know and more there!

Have a great day,
Ken Fichtner, Dealer
Fichtner Chevrolet
Laurel MT

Boozman

It's all based on Corvette sales from the pervious year.

Tommy T.

I found out about the allocation process from this forum. When I was ready to order (Sep 04), I visited 5 local dealers on a Friday. The dealers get their allocations on Thursdays. The largest volume Corvette dealer claimed he didn't know when he would get an allocation. Most others said the same. One small volume inner city dealer had an allocation. He showed me the paper work including constraints. Nothing I wanted to order was on constraint. I wrote out a deposit check, watched the sales manager enter my order in the computer, coded as pre-sold. He then printed out my accepted order with number and gave it to me. I drove away with my car 34 days later.

The real key is to find a straight-up, honest dealership (like forum dealers), ask if they have an allocation, what is on constraint and go for it.

Tom T.