I think it's a combination of both honestly. They have a profit they want to make and they seem prepared to sit on a car forever to make it happen. The sad thing is, sometimes the market changes and their gamble bites them in the ass.
For example, take the new Camaro. The 2014 has a slightly different nose and tail, some prefer the new look, some like the 2013 or older better. Shopping for a 2013 yields prices equal to new 2014+ cars which is silly. If you offer less, they get offended but the reality is that the 2016 model is on the horizon too. It seems like most dealers are less about volume and customer service and more about max profit on each and every sale.
Edit: They also don't know the cars very well either. I've seen some pricing 1SS Camaro models the same as a 2SS. Base model corvettes more than a grand sport. Sometimes if you cross shop, they try to tout useless features of a "higher" model like the HUD on a 2SS but when you point out the fact that it is useless or something you aren't interested in, they bail. Most don't even want to talk because an informed consumer isn't an easy sale, and that's all they want. Who cares about a happy customer right?