RE: Breaking News: 3-Day Week at Aston
Wednesday 28th January 2009
Aston Martin has put its production line staff on a three-day week in a bid to save money, it has been reported. The carmaker said the move was temporary and around 500 staff would be put on the new Monday to Wednesday shift.
Breaking News: 3-Day Week at Aston
Further measures to battle economic downturn...
Aston announced 600 redundancies in December and 300 staff have already left. Unions have been consulted over the later cost-cutting measure and the employees’ hours will be ‘banked’ and claimed back later.
A spokesman said: ‘Like other premium car brands, Aston Martin has been forced to take action to respond to the unprecedented downturn in the global economy.
‘Following detailed consultation with our trade union partners we have agreed further measures to help manage our way through this challenging period, while minimising the impact on our employees as much as possible.’
Discussion
noble3r said:
Offer better trade-in prices on part exchanges and you might find you may sell a few more new cars....
I love it when the salesman attempts to justify having a mark up of 10 grand on a used car.
10k? Even if that's on a 50k car that only equates to 20% BEFORE any prep work, discount, warranty, VAT and dare I say it... profit!I love it when the salesman attempts to justify having a mark up of 10 grand on a used car.
Get in the real world.
Edited by escargot on Wednesday 28th January 13:13
escargot said:
noble3r said:
Offer better trade-in prices on part exchanges and you might find you may sell a few more new cars....
I love it when the salesman attempts to justify having a mark up of 10 grand on a used car.
10k? Even if that's on a 50k car that only equates to 20% BEFORE any prep work, discount, warranty, VAT and dare I say it... profit!I love it when the salesman attempts to justify having a mark up of 10 grand on a used car.
Get in the real world.
Edited by escargot on Wednesday 28th January 13:13
You've obviously not tried to get a sizable/feasible discount off Aston Martin lately!!
nickfrog said:
Or maybe he realises that businesses also have fixed costs, like staff, premises, etc etc.?
another one trying to justify why motoring companies have such a mark-up on part exchange/trade-ins.you guys either have bucket loads of money or work in the trade yourself.
When I talk about trade-ins - that does equate to buying a new car off them as well.
I like Astons although can't afford a new one, even in this climate. However, I was serious about buying 'part-used' until I learned about the appallingly low service intervals. As another lead article says today, speed camera revenue is up with more cameras in operation, so I do not believe for one momement that all performance cars like Astons are driven at any where near their performance threshold for very long, so why the short period [and high cost]between services? My suggestion is to redeploy the workforce to address such mechanical issues to improve the customer experience, or open more showrooms in the UAE/China/Brazil/India etc where many would-be buyers might be lurking!!
Anyone know how Bristol are doing by the way?
Anyone know how Bristol are doing by the way?
escargot said:
noble3r said:
Offer better trade-in prices on part exchanges and you might find you may sell a few more new cars....
I love it when the salesman attempts to justify having a mark up of 10 grand on a used car.
10k? Even if that's on a 50k car that only equates to 20% BEFORE any prep work, discount, warranty, VAT and dare I say it... profit!I love it when the salesman attempts to justify having a mark up of 10 grand on a used car.
Get in the real world.
Edited by escargot on Wednesday 28th January 13:13
Warick Hunt said:
escargot said:
noble3r said:
Offer better trade-in prices on part exchanges and you might find you may sell a few more new cars....
Your example only works if a dealer is selling a handfull of cars a year instead of almost daily. They charge what ever they think they can get away with, in which case its not 'justifiable' at all, its market forces. Always always check the private price before being ripped off by a dealer, they cant charge what people are not prepared to pay.
Wise words indeed... however surely the Autotrader is seen as market force. in there defense they did encourage me to sell privately and then approach them with regards to a new car. Your example only works if a dealer is selling a handfull of cars a year instead of almost daily. They charge what ever they think they can get away with, in which case its not 'justifiable' at all, its market forces. Always always check the private price before being ripped off by a dealer, they cant charge what people are not prepared to pay.
For those that think dealers are robbers dogs, have you ever seen the rents charged by landlords on showroom premises recently? myself and my partner were toying with opening a specialist dealers before the market collapsed, even for a half decent 5K sq ft plate glass the rent was 250K+ a year in a nice area with a another 125K in business rates.
7K a WEEK before you even turn the lights on or hire the local ex-page 3 girl to sit on reception.
The problem with trade in residuals is not dealer markup, its oversupply at new, check out car prices on finn.no - in norway a used DBS would set you back about 3.25 Million NOK - 325 grand compared to 119K here. whats most interesting is something that depreciates like a safe falling out a plane like a Audi S8 - 2002 audi S8 UK price maybe 7K on a good day, over 55K still in Norway.
They sell less new cars due to huge import duties and therefore there isn't oversupply.
I love cars but having done the economics I wouldnt be a dealer for all the tea in tescos tbqfh.
7K a WEEK before you even turn the lights on or hire the local ex-page 3 girl to sit on reception.
The problem with trade in residuals is not dealer markup, its oversupply at new, check out car prices on finn.no - in norway a used DBS would set you back about 3.25 Million NOK - 325 grand compared to 119K here. whats most interesting is something that depreciates like a safe falling out a plane like a Audi S8 - 2002 audi S8 UK price maybe 7K on a good day, over 55K still in Norway.
They sell less new cars due to huge import duties and therefore there isn't oversupply.
I love cars but having done the economics I wouldnt be a dealer for all the tea in tescos tbqfh.
lambogenie said:
The problem with trade in residuals is not dealer markup, its oversupply at new
Agreed. Friend of mine was up until recently a buyer for Mercedes.
What hope had he of offering decent prices for used cars, when the site was full of demos and unsold new with more arriving by the truck load on an almost weekly basis.
However, Aston Martin exclusivity does seem to be at odds with the reported stories of loads of unsold cars - if they are true. Stock control anyone?
Put put 10k over a 70k aston is not alot when you take away the vat ( leaves 8700 ish)
do the prep work ( may be another) 1000
and have some movement on the next part exchange 1000-2000
and dont forget these cars are losing 2-3k per month in value
so if the car is there a month that leaves you with not a great deal after wages and overheads are payed.
people who make sweeping statements have no idea how the market works.
and these people are the first to ring and expect a big discount on a car, and then also want ALOT more than theyre part exchange is worth.
do the prep work ( may be another) 1000
and have some movement on the next part exchange 1000-2000
and dont forget these cars are losing 2-3k per month in value
so if the car is there a month that leaves you with not a great deal after wages and overheads are payed.
people who make sweeping statements have no idea how the market works.
and these people are the first to ring and expect a big discount on a car, and then also want ALOT more than theyre part exchange is worth.
The prep work is likely to be far more than 1k when you potentially have to budget for a service, PDI, MOT, tyres, bodywork, warranty + any unforseen stuff to bring it up to approved standards.
As it clearly shows with the comments above though, people only see the 5 figure margin & assume it's profit.
As it clearly shows with the comments above though, people only see the 5 figure margin & assume it's profit.
lambogenie said:
For those that think dealers are robbers dogs, have you ever seen the rents charged by landlords on showroom premises recently? myself and my partner were toying with opening a specialist dealers before the market collapsed, even for a half decent 5K sq ft plate glass the rent was 250K+ a year in a nice area with a another 125K in business rates.
7K a WEEK before you even turn the lights on or hire the local ex-page 3 girl to sit on reception.
£50 per sq ft?!? Where the hell were you looking??7K a WEEK before you even turn the lights on or hire the local ex-page 3 girl to sit on reception.
escargot said:
The prep work is likely to be far more than 1k when you potentially have to budget for a service, PDI, MOT, tyres, bodywork, warranty + any unforseen stuff to bring it up to approved standards.
As it clearly shows with the comments above though, people only see the 5 figure margin & assume it's profit.
Not sure anyone was applying the whole 10K was profit.As it clearly shows with the comments above though, people only see the 5 figure margin & assume it's profit.
You seem to be talking about the worst possible car to trade-in. What if the car has a fresh MOT on it, new tyres, recently extended warranty etc. You won't find a used Aston Martin out there that needs all this so called prep work.
mayheir cars were not so expensive in the first place they would be able to sell more and if they had fewer warranty issues and better dealerships across the world more buyers would return.
Ever looked at how many buyesr never repeat purchased from Aston Martin? Compare that to Porsche, Ferrari,Maserati and Audi? Even Bentley are doing better globally.
Ever looked at how many buyesr never repeat purchased from Aston Martin? Compare that to Porsche, Ferrari,Maserati and Audi? Even Bentley are doing better globally.
noble3r said:
escargot said:
The prep work is likely to be far more than 1k when you potentially have to budget for a service, PDI, MOT, tyres, bodywork, warranty + any unforseen stuff to bring it up to approved standards.
As it clearly shows with the comments above though, people only see the 5 figure margin & assume it's profit.
Not sure anyone was applying the whole 10K was profit.As it clearly shows with the comments above though, people only see the 5 figure margin & assume it's profit.
You seem to be talking about the worst possible car to trade-in. What if the car has a fresh MOT on it, new tyres, recently extended warranty etc. You won't find a used Aston Martin out there that needs all this so called prep work.
Sadly not every Aston owner is a self-proclaimed car enthusiast, some are used and abused. But yes, you're right, not every example will need fortunes of prep, my point is that you shouldn't underestimate the potential costs. To give you an idea, the average prep cost of a 3 year old XK when I used to work in the dealer network was approximately £2k.
An Aston Dealers return on sales is somewhere in the region of 1.5-2% (before tax). Not a huge amount given the value of the products I'm sure you'll agree.
It's fairly common knowledge that the profit centres in most franchised dealerships are the service & parts departments.
Still, all the customers see is a whacking great big £10k margin and think there's some profiteering going on. It's simply not the case.
Astons have such low interval servicing that these cars are virtually 'always' being looked after (at high cost!).
When was the last time a Aston passed you looking 'abused'?
They 'always' look like they just left the showroom.
Is it common place to see an Aston with the 'Waiting for Prep' sign in screen?
When was the last time a Aston passed you looking 'abused'?
They 'always' look like they just left the showroom.
Is it common place to see an Aston with the 'Waiting for Prep' sign in screen?
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