I don’t see it as lying, they’re just trying to keep their options open to sell stock for the best profit. Strictly speaking all MB orders are supposed to be factory orders with whatever wait time is applicable. No dealer is going to reserve a stock/pipeline car for you without a firm order in case a retail customer walks through the door five minutes later offering them a much better margin than MB’s handling fee.
I’ve always gone into MB orders expecting a factory order with several months to wait and anything quicker is a bonus. The only exception to this is the few cars made in the UK, I got a Nissan Juke on factory order in 5 weeks (pre-pandemic obviously).
If I seem a little strange, that's because I am.
Skoda Karoq SEL.