With the ongoing chip shortage, production delays, and global parts backlogs not yet fully resolved, the automotive industry is struggling to keep up with consumer demand. In many cases, this has led to insane dealership mark-ups. We've seen it happen with the Ford Bronco, and GMC Hummer EV, and now it's the turn of the Cadillac Lyriq.

Cadillac's all-new EV recently entered production, and demand for this sleek electric crossover is already sky high. Naturally, this means that dealerships have started adding significant markups to the asking price, because that's how capitalism works, and there's not much you can do about it.

When orders opened for the new Lyric earlier this month, Cadillac offered new owners some sweet deals, including two years of unlimited public charging credits at EVgo, or a $1,500 credit towards a home charger installation from Qmerit, but buyers are now facing some big mark-ups.

GM's suggested retail price for the Lyriq is a cool $59,990, but as we all know, dealers tend to ask a bit more, and one dealer is asking $5,000 more. Posting on markups.org, a customer of a Thousand Oaks dealership named Melanie said that she placed a pre-order for the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq Debut Edition when the order books first opened last year. After making an inquiry to the dealer, she was told by a sales representative of Silver Star Cadillac that they would be adding a $5,000 "market adjustment fee" to take into account the high demand and limited supply of Lyriq vehicles.

"I was able to independently confirm a preorder for Lyriq and was asked to select a dealership," Melanie said in her post. "I had inquired online and was told nothing of this mark-up until they received MY allocation. No way, no how! I don't suffer fools gladly, especially greedy fools!"

GM has previously warned dealers about excessive markups, and has stated that demanding money above and beyond the reservation amounts set in GM's program rules would "force GM to take action if it learns of any unethical sales practices or brokering activities that undermine the integrity of its brands."

These actions could include diverting future Lyriq vehicles to other dealerships. We're seeing more and more manufacturers moving towards a direct sales strategy to gain more control over product pricing, but for now, customers will have to brave the storm.