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The Pub For General Automotive Related Talk |
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#91 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 11,285
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#93 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Victoria
Posts: 7,854
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At least Toyota are selling in volume, if they are making hardly any profit, what are the small players doing.
no amount of price transferring would cover the rent of the car yards selling 7 cars a month let alone the sign out the front.
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______________________________ 2015 Territory Titanium RWD Diesel - SOLD 2016 BMW X5 xdrive 30D Msport Seadoo Challenger 210SE 310HP |
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#94 | |||
Thailand Specials
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Centrefold Lounge
Posts: 49,052
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I guess if you got spuds in sales you have less work coming through the workshop ![]() Being in sales would be a dicey game I reckon, your potential income is limited by a small sales area, the manufacturers range, marketing and promotion efforts. Who the **** would be a Renault or Citroen sales person? Wouldn't do it even if it was the last job on earth. I don't understand the need for car sales people when there's fixed pricing models. Hats off to car sales people, you're a better person than me ![]() Last edited by Franco Cozzo; 12-10-2022 at 01:53 PM. |
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#95 | |||
BLUE OVAL INC.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 8,645
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Being hassled by a salesman before you've even shut your own car door is what I hate. Few weeks ago my Daughter asked me to look at an ASX with her after work. Got to the dealership, jumped out of my car and before I'd walked a full lap of the ASX the sycophant was attached. 'What you looking for mate?' Pretty obvious I thought considering I went straight to the ASX. 'Whats your budget?' Pretty obvious considering im looking at your $23k ASX. Turns to my Daughter, l'ooking for something for you love?' My Daughter says yes. Notices the company insignia on my uniform, 'I know your employer, let me do you a great deal'. 'Do you like it?' Its ok says my Daughter. 'Great, I'll grab the keys and you can take it for a drive'. No thanks we're just looking today. 'We sell 80 cars a month and have already discounted this one, wont last at that price'. Oh well, says my Daughter, if its not meant to be its not meant to be. Thats my girl. 'But its what you want, you like it and its priced right, whats the problem?' I turned, looked him straight in the eye and said 'your pushy bull**** sales tactics, thanks for your time, we'll keep looking. As we walked away another salesman stopped him and asked what the go was, I heard him make a comment about wasting his time. The other salesman said who, Steve? I sold him a Mazda last month, signed within half an hour. Old mate mumbled and walked off. Matt then came over and asked how the Mazda was, I said Wife loves it. He says thats great, if I can help in future hit me up. Thanks mate I said. See he knew what to expect, when I bought the Mazda I walked in, looked at it, checked the books and approached him for a drive. Wife drove it, signed the contract, gone in half an hour. He said he liked customers like me who know what they want. I said I like salesmen like you who give buyers space. He agreed but said their practice is to approach the customer asap and would have done the same with me if not for being busy at the time. I said if you did it'd still be for sale and explained why. He understood and said it was obviously meant to be. Thats right. If old mate had kept his distance there'd probably be another digit on his target/sales board. |
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#96 | ||
Rob
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Woodcroft S.A.
Posts: 21,530
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I'm surprised you didn't reply, 'big deal, so do I'
I expect your ranger will be just about the longest you've owned a car...
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UA2 TREND 4WD BI TURBO |
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#97 | |||
Donating Member
![]() Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,662
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I agree, the dealer we use (for new cars) has staff that “stay back” and work with customers when they’re “ready”. There are no “Hyenas” looking for “flesh” when they see someone coming in the door, and it’s all very respectful (after a few minutes there might be a “can I help you”). The dealer in question, has multiple franchises (including premium German, and other premium brands), these are all run brilliantly, the staff are absolutely professional and they know EVERYTHING about their new car specifications. There is also zero pressure for “a sale”. |
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#98 | |||
Donating Member
![]() Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 12,215
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I hate it when I walk into a business, and then instantly hounded by sales staff. And I hate doing that to other people. I prefer to nod, say hello or offer a smile and then give the customer a chance to walk in and around. I then like to approach them in passing, rather dive bombing them the second they step into my space. From my experience, if a customer is in a hurry to be served, then they will approach you directly themselves. If a customer wanders through in a relaxed manner, then generally they are just looking or willing to take time to consider purchases. Sure, I approach people, but only when I feel like it's appropriate.
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PX MK II Ranger FG XR6 FG X XR8 Mustang GT T3 TS50 - gone but not forgotten |
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#99 | ||
Donating Member
![]() Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 12,215
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PX MK II Ranger FG XR6 FG X XR8 Mustang GT T3 TS50 - gone but not forgotten |
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#100 | |||
Donating Member
![]() Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,308
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My Ford Family... 2014 GT-F, Manual, Kinetic with Black Stripes 2021 Mustang Mach 1, Manual, Velocity Blue |
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#101 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Geelong
Posts: 1,717
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My favourite sales people are the ones who come over, ask if I need a hand, and if I don’t, just give me a ‘my name’s Shazza, if you need a hand I’ll be over there if you need anything’. That’s perfect. But when they won’t leave me alone I get mad straight away and nine times out of ten will just leave without making a purchase.
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#102 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 5,048
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#103 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Melb.
Posts: 4,441
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More than we realise...Citroen brought in some Mid size vans for press & demo work before official release and then changed tack and decided at the stroke of mid-night here Peugeot would sell their branded version instead...Holden brought in Cadillacs ready to sell and dropped the whole thing, iirc sending the cars here to NZ....except with no Holden now I wonder if GM will ever bring in Cadillacs for rhd conversion?
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#104 | |||
BLUE OVAL INC.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 8,645
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Time is precious and theres a lot of yards and cars to sort through, if you stopped and had a chat to every salesman you come across and take everything for a spin you limit your opportunities. Truth is its a tactic they use to limit you as the longer you spend with them the less time you spend with the opposition. At the end of the day I would have sought out Matt who sold me the Mazda as I consider myself his customer and appreciated his work. If old mate had stopped for breath Id have made that quite clear but once he annoyed me it was done. |
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#105 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,354
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Holden & SAAB no longer exist & Opel was sold to PSA. Dr Terry |
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#106 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 885
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The Camaro sold in bucket loads ........ not. The Silverados are for what I would call 'Special People' with strange needs. The Corvette ? For drug dealers and ultra rich 'look-at-me' poseurs. Australia is a lost cause for any GM offering. |
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#107 | ||||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Brisbane (Southside)
Posts: 1,151
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When I bought wifey's Kia, the first (and my local) Kia dealer where a pain.. I told them I just wanted to look at it, and I would come see them for more info/test drive if I was interested. Bloke would NOT go away.. Kept at me about how hard they are to get, the wait time, etc. I dont care.. If I like it, I'll buy it, regardless of wait time. I left pretty quickly... Dealer I bought from, left me alone to look as long as I needed. Took it for a drive and signed the deal that day, all within an hour. At least with the ranger, when I put my $$$ down they didnt have something for me to look at/drive so it was as simple as Deposit and then phone calls from there....
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2008 FG XR6 Turbo ZF In Sensation - Gone, but not Forgotten.... Hers: 2024 Ford Everest Platinum in Equinox Bronze His Daily: 2020 (MY21) Kia Sorento GT-Line in Mineral Blue His Weekender: 2017 Commodore SSV Redline manual in Light My Fire Orange |
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#108 | |||
NOT A TOYOTA :/
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Eastern Suburbs, Melb
Posts: 2,554
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Non luxury car dealerships in general pre COVID ran at approx 2% return overall with the exceptions of Toyota and Mazda dealerships being a bit higher (around 4% on average.) You could say service & parts were percentage wise holding up few dealerships with the front end profitability on new car sales being absolutely in the toilet. These days post the tougher parts of COVID, a combination of vehicle supply for myriad of reasons means your minnow dealership is now running at anywhere up to 5% return which was unheard of. What COVID enabled car dealers to achieve was a highly reduced level of stock meaning demand climbed as we all know - but instead of carrying 3+ months worth of stock at any given time, some are barely able to get through a month without having to submit backorders. This has in turn, again as we know, driven profitability on carsales through the roof. Will it last? I don't think it will return to pre 2020 levels but it won't continue to ride this high for the long term.
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06 Land Managed to remain in the v8 fraternity |
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#109 | |||
Thailand Specials
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Centrefold Lounge
Posts: 49,052
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Quote:
You're an example of a group of people who put down money without needing to drive/see a car first, so why couldn't they offer online as an option? I feel like a car dealership could basically be a workshop with a small sales showroom attached where they just have one of each of the range and let people who want to look at/test drive take em out on test drives/look at and feel them. Then you basically have one sales guy who also helps out the service department and runs admin when there's no customers around. So we have a couple people here who want to do the traditional method of car buying process with the sales guy, but you also cater to the customer who doesn't want to leave the house but knows what they want to buy before they've even come to the dealership and one of the workshop guys and the sales guy can come out and deliver the car to this type of customer. So much less overheads - they don't need that huge showroom with a bazillion sales guys in suits waiting for you to step foot on the yard before they start pestering you and using high pressure sales tactics from the Donald Trump 1980s playbook. Last time I bought a new car was a new Colorado on behalf of work when Holden announced its departure, I knew what I wanted and saw the car in the yard, it still took about 4 visits to the dealership and 10 phone calls just to buy the ****ing car in the yard - absolutely ridiculous. Could have had it done in a couple emails and an EFT transfer without me needing to come back to the dealership, I still had to come out to the dealership to pick it up afterwards, why couldn't they deliver it to me? We were only 10km down the freeway from the dealership. Last edited by Franco Cozzo; 14-10-2022 at 04:36 PM. |
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#110 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Brisbane (Southside)
Posts: 1,151
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I was dealing with a car broker for an I30 N Line that I'm grabbing for my mother and that was good. They arranged for one to be delivered to her place for a test drive and the price from them included delivery to her door (and at a great d/c from retail as well). Dealer contacted us, deposit was paid and the car is due to be delivered to her place in 8 weeks when it arrives. We have never met the salesman, nor even been into their place of business.
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2008 FG XR6 Turbo ZF In Sensation - Gone, but not Forgotten.... Hers: 2024 Ford Everest Platinum in Equinox Bronze His Daily: 2020 (MY21) Kia Sorento GT-Line in Mineral Blue His Weekender: 2017 Commodore SSV Redline manual in Light My Fire Orange |
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#111 | |||
NOT A TOYOTA :/
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Eastern Suburbs, Melb
Posts: 2,554
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You still get this from manufacturers whereby they themselves are targeted from a wholesale perspective before the retail perspective even becomes a consideration. When I started with one of the brands I work for back in 2017, they had thousands of cars unallocated cars sitting in holding yards around the country because they were being pushed so hard by the parent company on volume that they'd receive the cars even without a dealer for it to go to. Then, you would have incentive payments based on how many vehicles were invoiced to you as a dealership over the course of a month, regardless of what stock position (even if dire) you were in - you simply had to take the payments to stay viable. Fortunately most of this is changing (mostly in part to what has happened since 2020) but I still struggle to see a large scale switch to agency style selling, ala the Honda strategy.
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06 Land Managed to remain in the v8 fraternity |
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#112 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 11,285
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low hanging fruit, those BMW/MB return buyers who are moving to EVs. Not saying all is lost for those franchises but without compelling products, they’re in trouble. People buying those Teslas in the $70k to $90k are the main targets, be that cash sale or lease, if 6,000/mth of those buyers are off the table, that has huge consequences to other existing brands. Last edited by jpd80; 15-10-2022 at 11:13 AM. |
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#113 | ||
NOT A TOYOTA :/
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Eastern Suburbs, Melb
Posts: 2,554
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Yeah, agree with that.
I ruled out luxury car dealerships in what I was saying because I haven't had any experience working in them. I'm not sure what their return is like, although I'd expect it to be reasonable.
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06 Land Managed to remain in the v8 fraternity |
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#114 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 11,285
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It was just an observation of buyers going to Tesla both here and overseas and that’s why Tesla’s sales success will probably not affect Toyota, Ford or the other main brands as much as say, luxury brands. Ultimately, Tesla needs more than 3 &Y but amazing how much sales penetration those two vehicles have. If Tesla does start producing Cybertruck in mid and full size, that could start really impacting Ford, GM and Toyota…the fur will fly then. |
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#115 | ||
NOT A TOYOTA :/
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Eastern Suburbs, Melb
Posts: 2,554
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I think they're under a time threat now. Cybertruck is polarising enough with its looks but it appears that EV utes will make it here within a close enough time frame to be serious competitors. Ford will have F150 here soon enough, Hyundai is rumoured to bypass ICE and finally bring a dual cab to market which will be EV. Rivian might arrive, there's plenty happening!
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06 Land Managed to remain in the v8 fraternity |
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#116 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 11,285
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Tying that back into our VFacts monthly sales report, the bump in Tesla sales shows what’s
possible when the right types of vehicles are presented to the right buyers. At the moment, Hilux and Ranger take top sales positions but suddenly Tesla Y is up there too, so hopefully with more good choices, we will see new players coming into the market and making significant changes to buying patterns…fuel prices will also play their part…. |
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#117 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Melb.
Posts: 4,441
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I wonder if the US will get an EV Ranger before us...and they don't get new gen Ranger until MY2024 so late 2023 sales I assume. Last edited by Dr Smith; 17-10-2022 at 11:42 AM. |
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#118 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: nz
Posts: 1,846
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Fgx xr8 winter white manual, gone but not forgotten 22 mitsubishi outlander XLS PHEV Au11 fairmont Ghia ported gt40p heads ,comp springs and locks Xe 264 cam,custom intake,pacemaker tri y headers 524nm torque 19 Triton GSXR manual |
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#119 | |||
Peter Car
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: geelong
Posts: 23,145
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Ford are kind of in a holding pattern till their battery plant opens, then they will have the battery supply to really start pushing out EV's. But as it stands now, they are the number 2 seller of EV's in North America. |
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#120 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: nz
Posts: 1,846
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Fgx xr8 winter white manual, gone but not forgotten 22 mitsubishi outlander XLS PHEV Au11 fairmont Ghia ported gt40p heads ,comp springs and locks Xe 264 cam,custom intake,pacemaker tri y headers 524nm torque 19 Triton GSXR manual |
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