The dealership model in the US is a financing vehicle for the auto manufacturers. The dealership will have a continuous loan of several million dollars and the manufacturer sends the dealer the cars the manufacturer makes, without regard with what that dealer can sell. So, a dealer in Miami who could sell Corvettes all day long may get one along with a defecation-load of unsalable lesser cars. The dealer then has to trade with other dealers to get the corvettes that went to a ten-car dealership in East Podunk and give them a heck of a deal on the eBolts and iJinks that will most likely sell in East Podunk. There are scads of laws intended to protect the system as it exists and companies that want to use a different model, like Tesla can’t actually sell you a car in lots of places.
For years and years the new car dealership actually made very little money on selling new cars. The majority of their money, the majority of their profit was from the sale of used cars. Used cars sold off of their lot and used cars they took as trade-ins when customers bought new cars.
So that leaves new car dealerships making all the rest of their profits selling new cars? Nope. Their sales and service department was their second biggest source of profit.
Then last and least was the profit made off of new car sales. And even that may be open for debate. As anyone who has ever been in a finance office knows; thousands and thousands of dollars can be added on by the finance manager in deceitful and crooked policies and protection plans.
Though I’ve never worked at a car dealership I have several friends who made nice careers of selling for new and used lots. In fact, I have a friend who has worked for the Toyota dealership for decades. In fact he’s the New Car Manager there.
Unless things have changed drastically manufacturers DO NOT force cars onto dealerships. Each dealer has a New Car Manager who is responsible for ordering the new cars from the manufacturer. He or she is usually a former salesman who has moved up. They order the vehicles they want for their lot choosing the color and trim packages, engines, transmissions, even down to the tires.
The manufacturer would be crazy to force vehicles onto a dealer if that dealer can’t sell them.
A small lot in “Podunk” may order some extra high end vehicles that are hot ticket items and then trade them to other dealers and make a killing on the trade. One Ford dealership did that for years just to stay in business.
Financing is a huge money maker for the manufacturer. GM didn’t start GMAC just to be nice. They did it for extra money. Why let a bank make that dough?
Each new car also has something called “hold back” which is a dollar amount the manufacturer pays the dealership as each car is sold. Higher end vehicles naturally have a bigger hold back than the cheaper cars.
If needed the dealership can use that hold back to make a better deal for a valuable customer.