Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus luxury division is about one month away from launching a no-haggle pricing experiment that it developed with 11 U.S. dealers who volunteered. A significant number of retailers are unwilling to go along.
“Many of our dealers, philosophically, are opposed,” said Jeff Bracken, group vice president and general manager for Lexus. “They’re saying, ‘You’re wholesale. We’re retail. Stay out of our business.’ ”
Lexus wants to experiment with the new system in part to woo younger buyers, some of whom regard haggling as a retail experience better suited for their grandparents’ generation. Interest in a less painful car-buying process have helped given rise to CarMax Inc., the largest retailer of used cars, and TrueCar Inc., which provides consumers information about what their peers are paying.
About 44 percent of consumers don’t want to negotiate the price of a vehicle, a survey by car-buying website Autotrader found last year. While respondents said haggling was their top frustration, most said it’s the only path to a fair price, so 56 percent were committed to duking it out.
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