Penske Automotive Group Inc. has backed off a no-haggle pricing experiment. The nation's second-largest dealership group has returned to a traditional sales model and a commission-based pay plan at Toyota of Surprise (Ariz.).
Penske made the switch in the latter half of 2016, finding the no-dicker policy did not deliver the cost savings and sales volume they had hoped, executives said.
"We failed from the standpoint of being able to grow" that business, Penske Chairman Roger Penske told Automotive News.
Since the switch, "volumes have increased, although the sample period is only a few months," Tony Pordon, executive vice president of investor relations and corporate development, wrote in an email. "We are tracking it monthly, so I want to wait for another three to six months before making any further comments about the volume."