Strong November
Despite all the doom and gloom in the automotive industry, we’ve just recorded a very strong month in terms of enquiry. In fact for the first time since 2003, last week we actually deliberately put the brakes on some of our online activities to ensure that service levels didn’t drop due to us being too busy with fresh enquiries.
Unfortunately sales have not quite kept pace with this flood of enquiries. Whilst they are up around 20% on this time last year, enquiries are really going gangbusters & have recorded an increase closer to 50%.
Ironically it seems as if its the economic environment which has affected this fall in conversion. Quite simply, dealers and manufacturers are desperate and many are offering discounts the like of which have never been seen before. Just this morning I got an email from a Ford dealer offering a discount of 40% on a new car! Sure that was a fleet only deal (ie just for Private Fleet clients) but is still way in excess of what we would have previously expected in our wildest dreams. The price they were offering retail clients was not all that much higher.
When deals are that good, there’s not that much more we can do in terms of pricing. Delivery dates maybe, convenience almost certainly but if it’s down the the bone price-wise, our hands may be somewhat tied.
Moral of the story: There has never been a better time to buy a new car. For the vast majority of makes and models it’s a buyer’s market and there’s fantastic value to be had. You will probably be able to get a great deal negotiating independently… give us a call by all means just don’t expect the impossible and remember, if we can’t save you money there’s no obligation whatsoever to go ahead. Last but not least – Happy Shopping!
Level 2, 9 Help Street