There's no doubt that variance exists among franchises. But how much leverage do manufacturers have over their dealer networks?

I imagine if Toyota is going around building their Lexus brand around "concierge" level service, they could attach bonuses to this metric—maybe weight the bonus more heavily in that direction than they do for their Toyota brand—and punish dealerships that disappoint their customers.

Then again, a lot of dealerships are owned by huge dealer groups now, so the power balance isn't always tilted toward the manufacturer.