"Gary Dilts, Chrysler's senior vice president of sales, said the company decided to match GM's offer because customers were attracted to its simplicity."
What customers were attracted to was not having to deal with weasel maggot slimebag sales people trying to pork them on price. And a discount is supply and demand, instead of maintaining an illusory MSRP by manipulating finance rates and bogus cash back offers.
That's what I liked about Saturn. They took a bigger margin, but at least they were honest and not pushy about gouging you.
Unfortunately their cost-cutting games have ruined the car, culminating in the multiple-recall disaster known as the Ion. Not to mention their logo could sure use a redesign to appeal to the "Under age-98" demographic.
"What customers were attracted to was not having to deal with weasel maggot slimebag sales people trying to pork them on price."
In my case, that is exactly correct. When I bought my last vehicle (Ford Ranger 4x4), I bought it from a one price dealer. No dickering.
My wife recently bought a new car. It was a Scion XB, made by Toyota. All Scions are sold at sticker price. The dealers aren't even allowed to make more than one offer on the trade-in. You can look up the price on the internet and that's what it will say on the sticker.