Cunningham Higgins in trouble

Discodog

turbojunkie wrote: »

Any idea how their stock is being sold? Public auction?

You could PM this boardie and ask ?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/member.php?u=95932

dell1211 wrote: »

Its called a recession. Its no coincidence that the country has seen a lot of the high end dealers(MB, BMW, Lexus, specialty dealers like maxwells, gilsen etc) shut up shop. You can have the nicest attitude, the nicest showroom, the best service but if the customer base that you rely on doesnt have the funds then there is little chance for you.

Most of the garages that have survived have done so for reasons like they dont have the overheads; eg showroom was built/bought when prices wernt crazy, have a range of cars that are selling(diesel / cheap small cars being the most popular).

I worked for a very high end franchise during Thatchers recession & we increased our sales consistently. One of the problems especially in Ireland is that high end dealers didn't sell cars - they took orders. You had to virtually beg them to let you buy at their inflated prices. The deal was take it or leave it. Many of these dealers have never sold. They haven't had to get off their backsides & drum up business.

They are now reaping the consequences of never having to care about their customers. People do buy in a recession but they buy more carefully & they tend to remember where & when they were ripped off in the past.

An MB franchise has always been & will remain a license to print money. CH must of made a fortune in the good times & common sense would tell you to invest & prepare for bad times. Any drive around Galway will reveal a lot of Mercs - they still make a lot of economic sense. Some lucky person will get the MB franchise for Galway & sell a lot of cars.

scholar007

"Any drive around Galway will reveal a lot of Mercs"

Maybe so, but how many were bought in Michael Moores?

Discodog

scholar007 wrote: »

"Any drive around Galway will reveal a lot of Mercs"

Maybe so, but how many were bought in Michael Moores?

emptybladder

scholar007 wrote: »

"Any drive around Galway will reveal a lot of Mercs"

Maybe so, but how many were bought in Michael Moores?

Lots, but it was the attitude of Western Motors when they has the franchise that drove people to the midlands for their Mercs, and I don't think Galway ever got a lot of that business back

Sponge Bob

WM getting the Merc dealership back won't change too many attitudes either. Al Hayes was able to deploy 2 VW garages in the county such was the business he could get....does he still have that mad farm as well as the shiny tin box in Portumna ??

I know a lot of people who buy their Mercs and Audis here nowadays.

StonedRaider

dell1211 wrote: »

Its called a recession. Its no coincidence that the country has seen a lot of the high end dealers(MB, BMW, Lexus, specialty dealers like maxwells, gilsen etc) shut up shop. You can have the nicest attitude, the nicest showroom, the best service but if the customer base that you rely on doesnt have the funds then there is little chance for you.

Most of the garages that have survived have done so for reasons like they dont have the overheads; eg showroom was built/bought when prices wernt crazy, have a range of cars that are selling(diesel / cheap small cars being the most popular).

Recession..not really..a few cars that belong to staff at my work place include 2x 10reg 3series and 1x 11reg 5series

I'm in no real hurry to change..will try all these 'mint' private cars on donedeal :rolleyes:

dell1211

StonedRaider wrote: »

Recession..not really..a few cars that belong to staff at my work place include 2x 10reg 3series and 1x 11reg 5series

I'm in no real hurry to change..will try all these 'mint' private cars on donedeal :rolleyes:

are you denying a recession:eek:

From Cunninham Higgins website

Revenue in our company went from €22m in 2007 to what would have been circa €6m this year.

Cunningham higgins got the mercedes dealership after the recession took hold, their original customer base for high end cars(ferraris/porsche/bentley/masaratti - how many 09/10/11 reg of these cars are there in ireland?) was wiped out so they tried to diversify and fair play to them for giving it a go. The fact that there are a few mildly expensive 10 and 11 reg cars around wont save a dealer that sells cars that start at EUR40k.

Its like saying that jewler that sells 10k watches(and needs to sell 100s to pay the overheads that are associated with running a high end watche store) can survive because it sold 4 EUR10 bracelets.

scholar007

emptybladder wrote: »

Lots, but it was the attitude of Western Motors when they has the franchise that drove people to the midlands for their Mercs, and I don't think Galway ever got a lot of that business back

Western Motors - Bought a car there (Not a Merc / Audi or VW).
This was just before the recession hit and I was spending about 20K on a straight deal. Made an appointment to meet one of the reps. Left sitting in the showroom for about half an hour. We finally got a young guy who wasn't there that long because the guy we were originally supposed to meet was too busy trying to flog a car for 100K to another couple.

While the young guy was very personable, he didnt seem to have the authority to get anything done with the car - it was totally unprepared for sale when I went to collect it - I agreed a tank of fuel to be included - the car was almost empty. I was looking for this particular model for about six months so I bit my tongue and just put it down to experience, but there is no way I will ever go back there again. I'm a firm believer that the attitude of senior management of an organisation permeates down to those interacting with customers. Not a pleasant experience.

jackblac

jimbobaloobob wrote: »

Jeez the cynics are alive and well in here.

I get the feeling people gloat at seeing a high end business fail.

Its unfortunate that the demand for such high spec cars isnt there anymore.

i agree with u , people are just loving this . all giving out , nothing els to do,
cunn and higgs were good operators
costs just went out of control..
i m sure they wil be back.

Robbo

Sad to see it go, I had no dealings with the place but the 2 people I know who bought cars from them were very happy.

There's no industry that lends itself to quickly starting over again than the car industry though.

Discodog

jackblac wrote: »

i agree with u , people are just loving this . all giving out , nothing els to do,
cunn and higgs were good operators
costs just went out of control..
i m sure they wil be back.

Several posters have made comments based on direct interaction with the company - that's not "giving out".

Their costs will or should have come down, not gone out of control.

thecivvie

Discodog wrote: »

Several posters have made comments based on direct interaction with the company - that's not "giving out".

Their costs will or should have come down, not gone out of control.

I bought 2 vehicles through CH and would go back to them anyday, always found them helpful. Will be missed

impacted

I bought a second hand Merc from them 2 years ago and was well looked after, with a professional service. Their spare parts dept could not have been more helpful giving top class service and going to great lenghts to find difficult to source parts. Some of the above comments do need to be taken on board, some 'Celtic tiger boots were a couple of sizes too big' the wearers not realising it until they were tripped up. Companies have to look at the horizon when planning strategy to see whats coming and not leave it too late to adapt to the new environment. Undoubtedely the massive economic downturn has bitten far and wide but businesses in this end of the market need to become far leaner. Survival as Darwin showed is not about the strongest, but about who could adapt best to the environment.