Mercedes C pricing

Capri

Met a girl who worked for a motor distributor in ireland who told me that manufacturers price their cars to reflect the taxes payable in the destination country , and what the market will pay :P

Example was a Land Cruiser (Amazon/100) that retailed for €30k in Japan, €35k in Australia, €50k in the UK and €90k here :eek: Why the high price here? " Because that's what the market will pay based on what they pay for the 'baby ' LC " !

Just looking at the Mercedes C class in the US - base model is €27k ,while the C63 AMG is €45k - a difference of €18k . Now fast forward to Mercedes Ireland where the base model is €37k but the C63 AMG is €98k - a difference of €61k :eek::eek::eek:
Now either MB Ireland is taking us for a ride or there's a Revenue angle, but my 99 S320 was imported from the UK in 2000 so even back then there must have been a 'mark up' angle to Mercs here judging by the number of private imports. ;)

http://used.mercedes-benz.co.uk/used

MuppetCheck

Pre-tax prices of cars in Ireland were some of the lowest in Europe as a result of VRT being placed on top. I'd imagine the pre-tax price of "clean" diesels has increased slightly as a result of the 2008 decrease in VRT rates but that's just guessing.

galwaytt

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Pre-tax prices of cars in Ireland were some of the lowest in Europe as a result of VRT being placed on top. I'd imagine the pre-tax price of "clean" diesels has increased slightly as a result of the 2008 decrease in VRT rates but that's just guessing.

Indeed - since the introduction of the CO2 regime, I'd say mfrs margins have increased here, despite retail pricing being more competitive. That and the elimination by some brands of distributors - several distribution chains are now owned directly by the mfrs, so that's a margin they can keep for themselves if they need to.

Sure isn't Revenue's own OMSP based on 'what they market pays' anyway ?

Anan1

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Pre-tax prices of cars in Ireland were some of the lowest in Europe as a result of VRT being placed on top. I'd imagine the pre-tax price of "clean" diesels has increased slightly as a result of the 2008 decrease in VRT rates but that's just guessing.

A bit OT, but this is a principle that people never got in relation to stamp duty either. Cutting the tax take often benefits the seller more than the buyer.

R.O.R

There are quite a few examples where the "bare metal" cost of a vehicle is lower, depsite it having a higher retail price. Quite a few manufacturers have lower margins on Auto's just so the price difference between manual / auto isn't too high.

Price that vehicles are advertised for bare very little resembelance to what they cost from the factory.

Anan1

R.O.R wrote: »

There are quite a few examples where the "bare metal" cost of a vehicle is lower, depsite it having a higher retail price. Quite a few manufacturers have lower margins on Auto's just so the price difference between manual / auto isn't too high.

Price that vehicles are advertised for bare very little resembelance to what they cost from the factory.

I was selling VW when the Mk4 Golf came out - despite having a higher list price, the 1.6 8v was costing us less from the factory than the 1.4 16v.

munchkin_utd

Capri wrote: »

Met a girl who worked for a motor distributor in ireland who told me that manufacturers price their cars to reflect the taxes payable in the destination country , and what the market will pay :P
<snip>

I also heard this on a documentary a number of years back when comparing German and Danish prices.
The end price for a car is normally the same but the make up of that in what the manufacture+dealer vs the government gets is completely different.
i.e. a car costing 20k in both Germany and Denmark would in germany be say 17k base price plus 3k tax or in Denmark 11k base price plus 9k in taxes.
(so.... if you import a Danish car tax free and then pay German VAT youre laughin!!)

The car manufacturers just make up the prices and its not just in Ireland.

MuppetCheck

The prices are not just made up to be fair. There's a lot more thought put into it. They need to meet a certain margin obviously (making the car, shipping, specification), but the taxation in a particular country controls how far they can push above that level without pricing themselves out of their target market.

Capri

MuppetCheck wrote: »

The prices are not just made up to be fair. There's a lot more thought put into it. They need to meet a certain margin obviously (making the car, shipping, specification), but the taxation in a particular country controls how far they can push above that level without pricing themselves out of their target market.

Here's an example for you - in Denmark, AFIK, taxi drivers buy their Mercs tax free ,but must keep them for 3 years, after which they're allowed to sell them, which they do and usually get their money back because the s/h price for a 3 yo Merc is equal to the tax free new purchase price :cool::cool:

( Just listening to RTE News at One now - they're saying '...the '131' reg hasn't boosted car sales as was predicted....' - NO BLOODY SURPRISE, NOBODY has money to blow- except sales reps in company cars, retired bankers and public servants we see in '131' cars :mad::mad: )

Seweryn

Capri wrote: »

( Just listening to RTE News at One now - they're saying '...the '131' reg hasn't boosted car sales as was predicted....' - NO BLOODY SURPRISE, NOBODY has money to blow- except sales reps in company cars, retired bankers and public servants we see in '131' cars :mad::mad: )

Just to make things clear - some of these "131 cars" are actually I3I's, which makes things even worse for the "reg plate snobs". And some people will have to change their cars twice a year now. Just to keep up.

MuppetCheck

Capri wrote: »

Here's an example for you - in Denmark, AFIK, taxi drivers buy their Mercs tax free ,but must keep them for 3 years, after which they're allowed to sell them, which they do and usually get their money back because the s/h price for a 3 yo Merc is equal to the tax free new purchase price :cool::cool:

Plenty of people doing that every two years on the disabled driver scheme too.

ba_barabus

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Plenty of people doing that every two years on the disabled driver scheme too.

Not any more they're not. It was stopped a few weeks back. It's a pity that a minority of people wrecked it for those who really needed it.

galwaytt

ba_barabus wrote: »

Not any more they're not. It was stopped a few weeks back. It's a pity that a minority of people wrecked it for those who really needed it.

It's only stopped while they re-invent it - it'll be back.