[business manager]

For those that don't want to be bothered with internet brokers and the problems they present I have decided to offer a discount only available to Scirocconet users. We will give a 6% discount to anyone who contacts me via a PM this applies to both factory orders and stock vehicles. If the vehicle benefits from marketing support (ie 17" alloy vehicles) then this will be offered on top on the 6%.

We are a small local dealership in Cirencester so will not be matching internet brokerage prices, however your order will be placed immediately rather than waiting for your broker to place and you will deal direct with us. We have 4 salesman selling on average 10-15 cars a month so decent service can be assured.

Finance will be available on low rate currently 3.99% flat for balances over £5k over 36 months on HP and £9k available over 48 months. 60 months will be 4.25% flat for balances of over £9k. Acceptance and option to purchase fees apply. Credit is subject to status. APR is available on request and personal to balance and term. We also offer PCP and Lease purchase. Contract hire is available but only recommended for businesses claiming the VAT back.

P/x is welcome but we usually advise selling privately as the best option if you can find a buyer. VW stock may be different.

This offer is available until the end of March 2009.

Jon Greenwood
Business Manager
VW Cirencester
01285 650222

 

[BigDawgBaker]

No wishing to be overly rude..but 6%!!

Does VW and the car dealers know we are in a recession and that the ROC has not been anything like the success VW had hoped for...NOT EVEN CLOSE to the success it craved.

Dealers need to get a grip and realise that with the power of the internet, consumers know what we really want to pay and can get amazing deals.

Tell us what problems the brokers present to us the consumers, I am intrigued.

I am glad I am not in the market to buy a new car, because I can see if would be amusing.

Sorry but you offered up 6% like it was some amazing deal..sorry but it aint !

 

[business manager]

Thanks for the advice.

Not everyone wants to travel for hours to pick up their new car. Internet brokers often take your order and then try and find someone who can do the deal which impacts on your lead time. A Scirocco only has 14.5% margin in total only 3% of which is guaranteed to retailer, and retailers currently only have an allocation of less than 10 for this year. Internet salesman are selling 50+ cars a month so service is different.

If you're right then later in the year I imagine we'll consider higher discount. If you're not all the dealers doing big % deals will run out of allocation fast and then it'll be no discount anywhere again as stock once again becomes gold dust.

 

[BigDawgBaker]

All the brokers I have seen offer free delivery anywhere in the UK.

That 14.5 % margin is only part of the story, there are monthly and quaterly kickbacks for overall sales.

Craig

 

[business manager]

14.5% includes all backend target money. Consignment money is only 3% because this is a niche model.

 

[business manager]

Actually just checked the business file and Niche now gets 5% on consignment this year. Overall margin is still the same though.

 

[olek]

BusinessManager - what is the likelihood of VW shutting down plants and if so how will that affect customers having ordered cars with factory fitted options i.e. loooooong waiting time already?

Cheers.

 

[business manager]

Low Currently

Redundancies have been made in Germany apparently, but VW is very service orientated these days. The brand is 35% down because although dealers are now hitting their new car targets most new cars being sold are outright purchases that VW claimed on their figures in 2008.

 

[penfold]

reuters news is here seen it on another site, no offence business manager but i'd but reuters as a reliable unlike some of the rubbish i've been hearing from delears when considering a roc

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssAuto ... 6520090127

 

[business manager]

This is expected as VW production is being cut by a third this year. All our targets have been re-aligned. VW doesn't want to force hundreds of cars into the market for obvious residual value reasons.

Dealers accept they won't sell the same amount of vehicles and have ordered less metal. I don't think anyone is pretending or even hoping to sell the same volume. VW targets have been set accordingly. This merely confirms we won't see hundreds of heavily discounted sciroccos surely?

Or have I got it wrong?

 

[BigDawgBaker]

VW make more money from finance than actually selling car..go figure !

 

[business manager]

er no they don't vwfs is facing huge losses from cars going back on pcp

 

[tallguy]

Business Manager, you seem to have had a bit of a hard time with this post!
I think the major problems in the industry are:
- massive overcapacity and even with significant production cut-backs there will still be more new cars than customers
- falling trade-in car values and limited credit are putting off motorists that are still interested in a new car purchase. Unless trade-in prices firm-up and credit becomes more available, new car prices will need to fall
Realistically, I can see only 6 or so really big manufacturers (including VW/Audi) surviving this recession.In terms of the Scirocco although this is a niche model there has to be a minimum number pa to make it worth producing and the (unlikely) 'worse case' scenario is VW stop making it.

 

[business manager]

Tallguy speaks a lot of sense.
The real problem is the values of the used vehicles. When I'm selling Golf GT Sport 170ps 1yr old for £15995 when it was £20k+ new then thats a bitter pill for someone to swallow who has to p/x it. Partucally as we need a profit margin in it as well. We've just been sold another load of cheap new cars by vw (and no not any mk6 golf or scirocco b4 anyone asks) this just prolongs the pain for vw as we sell these instead of new cars out of vw stock.

Most manufacturers are in a much worse position though. How much more will people pay for a Golf over an Astra that is probably now half price?

To be fair the Golf is an entire class apart and an Astra is junk compared to mk6. The Astra has also probably been sitting somewhere for the last 6-12 months.

 

[olek]

Well after a week of trying (credit crunch, what credit crunch) I finally got hold of the dealer today and as I suspected it was bad news. I was told week 9 back in November when I ordered the car, the dealer said he deals with so many people that he cannot recall what he tells them all but anyway it is now week 12-14 and not to worry. I asked why, he said he does not know. I suggest that he finds out, he says no one can tell him why and that they are not a in position to put pressure on VW for delivery time. I suggest to him that there are problems with sun roof supplies, he says he had not heard of any but that he ordered a car similarly spec'd to mine but without the sun roof and that had turned up within 8 weeks. I suggest that he check my delivery date again as VW had announced that the plant will be shutting down for 16 days this quarter, he said that is news to him but unlikely to affect my delivery date. I suggest that he checks when my delivery date was confirmed as the shut downs had only just been announced and if he didn't know how does he know it will not affect the delivery date?

Is it me being old fashioned and believing a large sum of cash should entitle you to a little bit of customer service or does VW not give a damn, reading some of the threads elsewhere on this site and Scirocco Central I am beginning to think the latter is the case. :x

BusinessManager - not asking you to spill the beans on your colleagues, but do we have a problem with the Scirocco or VW in general?

 

[BigDawgBaker]

I have owned loads of VW's over the years and I have to say the actually experience has been 90% CRAP ! As they have all been company cars I has not given that much of a monkeys to be honest. I took a Passat in for a service not so long ago, and it was collected by them. When I phoned to see if it was ready (God forbid they would phone me), I was told it was and could I collect it. I obviously told them that they had my one and only car and could they deliver it as they had collected it, I needed it for a trip to see customers in London the next day, I was told to get a taxi and they would not deliver it back, that was up to me to sort out. Willenhall Coachcraft take a bow you shower of sh*t

I was gobsmacked at the service, but thay all seem the same by me. Tamworth, rubbish, couldnt be bothered, Wolverhampton, RUBBISH.

When the times are bad like now, all they do is bleat on about low margins being made, targets, etc. Lower the list prices, give some decent customer service, take a reasonable margin, stop ripping us off for extras, oh and actually talk to us like normal people. Most of us actaully know more about the car we want than you do...GRRRRRRR

Phew, I feel so much better

 

[BigDawgBaker]

er no they don't vwfs is facing huge losses from cars going back on pcp

OK I will rephrase that, most of your t/o comes from finance

 

[business manager]

40% of turnover comes from finance. Its bizzare but consumer car finance is very easy to get at the mo. Secured finance against a motor is a safe bet compared to the house thats falling in price. The stuff you hear in the press is the dealerships finding it difficult to secure finance for their used stock. Manufacturer finance has to intervene.

There is good news car values are firming up, some cars have even risen in guides going into feb. The book dropped 4% in jan which is unusual as it usually goes up by 1%. We are now paying an average of £500 more per car than in jan. Convertables are still tough but 4x4 has stablised with increased demand as they are now so cheap.

A week of snow won't help things but the market seems to be recovering, we were over target for car sales in jan and the auctions recorded a £440 a unit profit last week.

 

[business manager]

Well after a week of trying (credit crunch, what credit crunch) I finally got hold of the dealer today and as I suspected it was bad news. I was told week 9 back in November when I ordered the car, the dealer said he deals with so many people that he cannot recall what he tells them all but anyway it is now week 12-14 and not to worry. I asked why, he said he does not know. I suggest that he finds out, he says no one can tell him why and that they are not a in position to put pressure on VW for delivery time. I suggest to him that there are problems with sun roof supplies, he says he had not heard of any but that he ordered a car similarly spec'd to mine but without the sun roof and that had turned up within 8 weeks. I suggest that he check my delivery date again as VW had announced that the plant will be shutting down for 16 days this quarter, he said that is news to him but unlikely to affect my delivery date. I suggest that he checks when my delivery date was confirmed as the shut downs had only just been announced and if he didn't know how does he know it will not affect the delivery date?

Is it me being old fashioned and believing a large sum of cash should entitle you to a little bit of customer service or does VW not give a damn, reading some of the threads elsewhere on this site and Scirocco Central I am beginning to think the latter is the case. :x

BusinessManager - not asking you to spill the beans on your colleagues, but do we have a problem with the Scirocco or VW in general?

The problem is most of this is communicated through a website called desktop which everyone is supposed to look at every day. Most don't though so don't have up to date information. In the olden days a year ago when you could sell a low volume product like Scirocco dealers could afford to be cavalier with their attitude. I think we all need to be more switched on now. I agree anyone spending money with us on a car should be treated as gold dust because the product we sell is not cheap. Salespeople forget that even £5k on a 5yr old polo is a lot of money. The problem is the same in every industry, when I sold kitchens sales people were obsessed with updating people who spent £10k every five minutes, the ones who spent £1500 got told "its getting there". I don't believe this is the right way to view things.

I'm not perfect but I do try and stay in contact wherever I can.

 

[business manager]

I have owned loads of VW's over the years and I have to say the actually experience has been 90% CRAP ! As they have all been company cars I has not given that much of a monkeys to be honest. I took a Passat in for a service not so long ago, and it was collected by them. When I phoned to see if it was ready (God forbid they would phone me), I was told it was and could I collect it. I obviously told them that they had my one and only car and could they deliver it as they had collected it, I needed it for a trip to see customers in London the next day, I was told to get a taxi and they would not deliver it back, that was up to me to sort out. Willenhall Coachcraft take a bow you shower of sh*t

I was gobsmacked at the service, but thay all seem the same by me. Tamworth, rubbish, couldnt be bothered, Wolverhampton, RUBBISH.

When the times are bad like now, all they do is bleat on about low margins being made, targets, etc. Lower the list prices, give some decent customer service, take a reasonable margin, stop ripping us off for extras, oh and actually talk to us like normal people. Most of us actaully know more about the car we want than you do...GRRRRRRR

Phew, I feel so much better

To be honest your comment about knowing more about your individual model and spec is probably right. Service departments are getting better due to customer experience management by VW. I can only hope your next VW purchase provides you with a more satisfying experience.