So the salesman should’ve said…we are still waiting on more Denali allocations to be given so we can get your order acccepted?
That's exactly what he should have said - but the sad fact is most of these people in car sales aren't educated on the product/process, much less educated at all.
A dealer will get allocation for a vehicle model AND trim level. Let's say they get 5 Yukon allocations later this week. Of those 5, likely only one or maybe two of them will be Denali's. GM has a labyrinthine process buried deep in the Renaissance Center and it's not for any of us to get our hands on. It is well known that more allocations are given to larger dealers that move more product. I also believe that higher trims (Denali's) are given to more affluent areas. You won't see an SLE to speak of at the big city GMC dealer, but you'll see them in more rural dealers. These are just a few of the factors that go into the allocation process - like I said you'll never fully figure it out, and it's best to just find a dealer with either A) an open allocation or B) close enough to what you want on their incoming inventory and unspoken for.