Whats the Future Hold for Car Retailing?

Casati

We have seen a large number of garge closures in 2009 and through 2010, a significant number of which have been franchise dealerships where millions were invested in state of that art showrooms etc.

Will the next generation of garages forget the ('block exemptions?) rules' and can franchise garages in the future operate successfully out of humble premises like they did in the 80's or do customers that want children's play areas and good coffee still demand that garages invest more and more in facilities, and if so can the margins support it?

Atlantic Dawn

The price of land and leases has collapsed so for someone either coming in to the retail market or expanding their current operation it should now be the ideal opportunity to do so. Plenty of current retailers are locked in to massive leases or bought their premises during the boom and are struggling to pay for it now with the lower levels of sales.

I was interviewed for a job as a car sales man years back, for a new car retail park (4 or 5 new showrooms). I remember in the interview thinking the dude was off his head building all of these as it would take years and years of selling loads and loads of cars to make it pay. He knew this himself too as a good bit of the interview focussed on how I felt about working lots and lots of weekends. Didn't get the job anyway as he reckoned I wouldn't stick around as I was an engineer by trade with a degree and all that sh1t, he was right ish as my plan was to do a year / 18 months there and go rent a gravelly yard and a potocabin for myself :pac:

That crowd lasted about 3 years although I reckon they weren't short of a bob themselves.

I reckon garages that made money in the boom (from their old premises or soemthing) that they have used to finance some of their glass palaces can manage away, any crowd with a humongous mortgage must be fecked, car sales will be slow for years to come me thinks.

Casati

What do the average consumers want, will they pay a premium to buy a car one of these 'glass palaces' or will they be happy to collect their new car from a portokabin? With a (new) car being such a massive purchase some punters like been pampered but will they pay extra for it I wonder

Garages who made money during the boom and built the great showrooms from retained profits, will still at a minimum have to pay for the rates/ upkeep/ cleaning etc which must cost a fortune. I presume none of them are prepared to lose money long term so we will see more garages close as a result or will the customer support them?

Would the likes of www.autoquake.co.uk in England where the punter gets great photo's of cars but cant do a test drive and collects the car unseen from a warehouse work here or is the market too small and too local maybe?

Bigcheeze

Casati wrote: »

Would the likes of www.autoquake.co.uk in England where the punter gets great photo's of cars but cant do a test drive and collects the car unseen from a warehouse work here or is the market too small and too local maybe?

Well it would work for new cars. I'd say most people buy them without driving them.

Atlantic Dawn

Casati wrote: »

Would the likes of www.autoquake.co.uk in England where the punter gets great photo's of cars but cant do a test drive and collects the car unseen from a warehouse work here or is the market too small and too local maybe?

Yes Autoquake is a prime example of how to sell a car, I'd say the best in UK and Ireland by a mile. They have a system in place of how to sell a car and there's actually not a whole lot of extra work involved in their presentation than just having a system in place to take all the photos, record service history and record and defects with the car.

Anan1

We might see an increase in the professionalism of the sales staff? In the years i've been posting here the number one complaint about dealers has been the cluelessness and general incompetence of the sales staff. IMO people don't care that much about coffee & fancy showrooms, as long as the point of contact is knowledgable, courteous & professional.