Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben73
Worst price guaranteed scheme.
I will not support a business like this if I have the option.
We ordered a car for my wife that has a 9 month wait and still got a slight discount. The whole "demand outweighs supply so we can't discount" is just bull tried on by dealers to increase profits.
They know people will negotiation so they take that into account.
I have a question for people supporting the agency model, did those companies drop prices when they went to agency model since they know there will be no negotiating? Or did they keep prices the same?
Mercedes and Honda down double digit percentage every month. That's what I like to see.
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You won't have a choice sooner rather than later, you won't have humans working in traditional sales positions anymore, the automotive industry as a whole has been moving towards this model for the past 5+ years.
Something where humans have an advantage over computers is the ability to use initiative and think outside the square, but if you put them in positions where you take the initiative and ability to make decisions and think outside the square away from them, there's no point having humans doing it (not allowing price negotiations, you take away their ability to cut deals with customers).
When I buy a product, all I want to know is how much does it cost and when can I have it? And the when can I have it better be next business day at the latest or you're doing a **** job.
I don't see why cars have to be any different than any other products you can buy and it turns up to your workplace or house.
The guys here on AFF who have put down deposits on Ranger Raptors, imagine if they didn't even have to go to dealerships to have that conversation and the car just turned up at their workplace or driveway? They've literally committed to a car they've only read things about on the internet, that costs nearly 6 figures, they shouldn't have even needed to go to the dealership or pick up the phone. They sure as **** weren't getting discounts for their efforts either, you want one, this is the price, if you don't want to pay that price then someone else will.
For those that actually want to see a car and drive it before they commit, you just need a venue that acts as a showroom, where a potential customer can look at it in person, book a test drive, then the sale side of it can be done online.
Then maybe a few smaller workshops located around the joint near your population centres you want to provide good levels of service to, there's a Ford dealership workshop in North Melbourne that is literally just a large format workshop with a few loan cars hanging about, there's no showroom.
Or should I say - was
With 'retail' customers, you only need one price, then your other types of customers can fit into a price matrix where the price on this type of product depends on their spend, sales volume or sales potential if you wanted to grow a prospect, or maybe those ones you would allow to talk to humans to have price negotiations with (fleet customer for example).
Me and you buying one new car, website, this is your price if you want to talk to a human then its website price + 10%
One assumes the agency model would have your states broken down into sales regions, certain 'dealerships' would get the sales of the customers placing orders in those regions, or its an opportunity to completely rid yourself of dealership model and have the customer dealing direct with the OEM? Cut out a middle man taking a cut, thats the way the parts industry is going, the resellers are getting cut out and killed off with the wholesalers now selling direct to public via various methods.
Life experience tells me nothing ever gets cheaper, when they start throwing around terms like 'we're improving and simplifying your experience' it usually means you're getting less for the same amount of money, or there's a price rise coming.
I think this is a warning to anyone who owns a dealership franchise, the model is on deaths doorstep.