Wednesday 6th February 2002

Block Exemption

RMI hope car supermarkets won't get access to brand new cars

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[dann]

I cannot believe that the ruling insists, that the supermarkets buy the cars, from the manufacturers dealers network, this is not going to decrease the prices we pay nearly as much as it could have done.

There are few reasons i can see for this,
The manufacturer restricts the number of cars to dealers anyway, so its difficult to see how a dealer can negotiate a contract on a bulk basis with a supermarket.

Introducing another player in the chain can`t be good.(even though they will pay bulk prices originally)

The contract for a dealer with a supermarket would probably be for i`d say, a minimum of 2 years, this will ensure they have a steady income, and keep the prices on an even keel

No Manufacturer likes to see the Used market values of their cars demolished ie:Mercedes. So a gradual lowering of price ie:keeping it the same as inflation increases would be more sustainable in the long term for both parties.

The Brands of the dealers would be worth less than they currently are due to less people going anywhere near the dealer apart from the occasional servicing, (and we all know thats where the real dross of the company are)

Dann