New car (Double Digit %) discounts - are they a thing of the past?

[davo245]

On line brokers appear to be offering similar discounts to what they were offering a year ago.

I received one of the generic emails from Drive the Deal today and yes, they’re still offering discounts. Lead times are likely to be long though, although unlikely to be any longer than they are if ordering a new factory build car direct through a dealer rather than a broker.

Here are the VW’s that were listed in the email that give an idea of the discounts currently available; 15% off a Golf GTI and GTI Clubsport and 14.5% off a Golf R.

Did a quote on car wow last week last year 14% same dealer same car this year 0.2% so I would say that's a no.

[ar899]

On line brokers appear to be offering similar discounts to what they were offering a year ago.

I received one of the generic emails from Drive the Deal today and yes, they’re still offering discounts. Lead times are likely to be long though, although unlikely to be any longer than they are if ordering a new factory build car direct through a dealer rather than a broker.

Here are the VW’s that were listed in the email that give an idea of the discounts currently available; 15% off a Golf GTI and GTI Clubsport and 14.5% off a Golf R.

Did a quote on car wow last week last year 14% same dealer same car this year 0.2% so I would say that's a no.

Funnily enough, did the same with CW yesterday and got 85 quid off an A3 which is 0.2%. Coast2Coast and DTD seem to still be offering sizeable discounts. I always found CW discounts to be less than others.

[Sootchucker]

I'd also read sometime ago, that post "chipgate" the general consensus is that the manufactures won't go back to the same business model they had before. They are already prioritizing models that net them the most margin, and apparently (if you believe what you read on line), that will continue, and by "artificially" limiting supply they can keep the prices inflated.

Not sure how this will work personally, because for every person that can afford a €40-50,000 plus car, there's probably 10 or more that can't or won't spend that amount of money on a new car. So if (for instance), VW make 100,000 cars a month, and they decide to produce only the expensive or high margin ones, then how many will they sell a month, 20,000-30,000 ?? Even with increased pricing and margins, can that make up the shortfall of 70,000 lower priced and margin cars a month that they won't be producing ?   

Personally I think think it will still be about volume and an even spread of upper tier though middle to lower tier models, but all with increased delivery times to make the market aggressive to keep discount levels offered to an absolute minimum. That's provided all manufactures do the same though. If one or more rivals think they can steal market share by under cutting the big German Marques though aggressive pricing strategies, then BMW, VAG, Mercedes etc. would surely have to follow suit ?

[SRGTD]

Interesting video at the link below regarding reduced volume of new car production and supply, and manufacturers profits. Link was originally posted by forum member @Yusee on the mk7 forum board;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=9ZlBNS4OmaI

[Sootchucker]

Very interesting and slightly depressing at the same time.

[valentino]

Spoke to the salesman at my dealer in Nottingham, an he says at the moment they are not taking orders for new cars

[HA54SYM`]

I do wonder how long some of the bigger retailers who work on "low margin mass sales" can continue without the inevitable job cuts if this carries on much longer. Something has to give....

[evo1986]

I do wonder how long some of the bigger retailers who work on "low margin mass sales" can continue without the inevitable job cuts if this carries on much longer. Something has to give....

From what I hear this is going to last till at least Q3 next year.

Now working for Select Car Leasing I can see delivery times across all the manufacturers.......

[SRGTD]

I do wonder how long some of the bigger retailers who work on "low margin mass sales" can continue without the inevitable job cuts if this carries on much longer. Something has to give....

From what I hear this is going to last till at least Q3 next year.

Now working for Select Car Leasing I can see delivery times across all the manufacturers.......

So are other manufacturers delivery times similar to VW’s Lee?

[Foxy367]

Really interesting videos and posts, when I drive past dealers and see so few cars on the forecourt it has got me wondering. I've read before that part of the reason that servicing was so high at main dealers was because their margins were so low. add in the fact that there are fewer cars to sell then a couple of things could happen.

1. Servicing prices increase to cover the dealership overheads
2. New and Used car prices increase further and less discount

but ultimatley

3. Some dealers (most of which are franchised) may have to close their doors as it no longer becomes viable.

I certainly agree that car supermarkets may become a thing of the past their business model has always historically been stack them high and sell them cheap if the supply isn't there and the prices increase to dealership levels where would you rather buy from a dealer and get warranty etc or a supermarket where you get balance of warranty at most?