Scott, Paul, anyone that works at a Chevrolet dealership...

I keep reading posts saying that someone wanted to order a Camaro, but that a Chevrolet dealer can only submit an order for a new Camaro if he has an unused allocation for one.

Is this true? If so, why? It seems wrong to me. If there is a customer who wants a Camaro, why shouldn't he be allowed to submit his request for one at his dealership of choice at his convenience, and let the question of allocation sort itself out after that? It seems like allocation becomes a simpler question when there is a list of unallocated orders to be filled.

 

I thought they got new allocations monthly.

 

i know the local dealers said they got new allocations now in june.

 

Okay, so let's say a dealership just got ten allocations for June. Then let's say that fourteen people come in during June and want to order a new Camaro. Do the last four have to wait until July before the dealer can even put the order in the system?

That seems to be how it works, but it doesn't make sense to me.

 

I agree it doesn't make sense, but that appears to be the way it is.

I'm simply holding off for a confirmation on HUD before I order mine.

 

I ordered mine in Temple, Texas yesterday evening. We'll see how long before it's accepted for production and starts working it's way through the process. The dealer said it would be submitted this week.

 

I haven't really dealt with VOMS, POMS, or any other systems that are in volved with orders and processes for a fairly long time now.

In general, it's a favor to a customer to let them know what chances the dealer they are looking to buy from has of getting the car the customer wants.

The system was capable of acknowledging a dealer's desire to order a car and giving it a code number which basically said as much "Order acknowledged, not accepted".

Once an order is accepted it is given a targeted production date. If it's not accepted, it can sit in the system unchanged. If the dealer who places the order never gets allocation, the dealer will never get the car built.

Maybe the dealer is being straight with the customer and doesn't want to string someone along. I figure that's good.

If the system has been altered to ignore orders if allocation isn't there? I still don't see that as bad news for the customer. The customer needs to order where an actual car will be the result.

I'm still recovering from surgery, so maybe I'm missing something.

Dealers can place orders every week. The system acknowledges them.

Believe me, I was involved with mant situations where a customer had an order number, but the dealer did not have allocation.

Someone at the dealer knows what their horizon is regarding allocations. Not everyone at the dealer knows, but SOMEONE does.

GM is very big on dealers not stringing a customer with false expectations.

As I'm not privvy to the conversation the customer said took place, I am hesitant to make guesses.

When I'm a little more "with it" I'll find out what the systems will and won't allow regarding orders. Right now I need to go recline myself.

 

Glad to see you back Paul! Get that rest though!

 

From the standpoint of a dealer doing the best he can with the system he's given, I agree.

What I'm asking about, though, is why the system that GM provides works the way it does. If an order is submitted and acknowledged, what else has to happen in order for it to transition to "accepted"? Going a step further, why would GM allocate an order to a dealer with no acknowledged-but-not-accepted (I'm going to call that ABNA) orders, when there are other ABNA orders waiting at other dealerships? I don't know if the latter is indeed the case, but that's the impression I've been getting and that's what I'm asking about. Seems to me that those ABNA orders should receive priority allocation.

 

It has to be in the dealer's allocation and not have anything specified which is on constraint at the time the order is reviewed.

As a couple of example scenarios:

Dealer has no allocation for a ZR1, dealer tries to order a ZR1. The order will be acknowledged but not accepted. The order will not be accepted until the dealer has an allocation for a ZR1.

OR...

Dealer reviews the constraint list. A customer wants a car with an option that is constrained. As an example, a wheel option. Dealer puts the order in ignoring the contraint warning. Order acknowledged but not accepted.

 

Okay, the constraint part makes sense, but in any other case, why wouldn't a submitted, acknowledged order trigger an immediate allocation to the dealer in question?

 

Jake, go back about 3-4 weeks ago and listen to the Podcast interview we did with John Fitzpatrick. I asked him to describe allocations and he gives a great response about how they work.

 

i recommend u fone Bud's Chev- st marys OH - 866 766 8417 and ask sales dept how many months to get a 2010 Camaro-- and they will estimate that for you-- i bought a new vett from them and they were very fair in ordering and pricing .....

 

Yeah, I'm way behind on my podcasts right now; I need to do that.

 

I'm not trying to order a new Camaro right now (I only wish I had that kind of money), and how long it takes to get one isn't relevant to my question.

What I'm trying to learn here is why some dealers will refuse to even take a customer's order. That indicates to me that something is wrong with the acknowledgement->allocation process (or perhaps those dealers' understanding of said process), and I'm trying to figure out what it is.