TMW - Car pricing and why you should keep away from main dealerships, or should you ?

Buying a new car is probably the second biggest purchase the majority of people make in the UK, so, making sure that you buy the best car, at the best prices is something that you should take your time in working out, so, where is the best place to get your nice new car from ?

The Dealership

Buying from your main dealer is always a consideration, they like to make out that you can not buy your car any better than from them, but they have to make money so they will try and make out they are the best, but that's not strictly true, the dealership, will have a lot of overheads, they will have to abide by the brand's terms and conditions, the way that building looks, how many cars they have in the showroom, decoration and so on, all this has a value, and this has to be paid for.

And it is you, the customer that pays for this out of your nice new car, so when you see that sticker price, advertising your nice new car, you are paying for far more than the car, however, you get the backup of that brand, when you have any issues, or you would like to think you do, if you have any issues within the warranty period, the dealership should be the first point of call to go to, to get your issue sorted, but these days, you will find a lot of dealers will try their best to get out of repairing the fault, especially when it is a recall issue, time is not your friend in that case.

The Car Supermarket

The Supermarket is a relatively new way of buying a car, up until the last few years these businesses have mainly dealt with second hand car sales, but more recently they have been selling new cars, MG is one brand that has moved into the Supermarket arena to sell cars, unfortunately number are not available to see if this is working or not, but for a Supermarket like Motorpoint to have a brand on their books it gives them some kudos.

But can it work, well, it is far harder to sell a nice brand new car from these sites that from a main dealer, why, well, say for argument sake you have £10k to spend and you go to one of these sites, do you buy a nice top of the line MG3 or do you buy a 2015 (65 Plate) Volkswagen Polo, personally I know which one I would go for, a supposed quality brand, with the remainder of it's warranty

Online Purchase

The best way to get a car in my opinion, as I have gone the route and purchased a car online, quite successfully, the dealership was dire, but the online company could not have been any better, it was simple, to the point and you have the price take it or leave it, as an example for this report I have chosen one car make and model, the 1.5 Litre. TDCI, Ford Fiesta Five door, 

Dealership      -   £16,795

Supermarket   -   £12,699 -£4,096
Online Purchase £12,252 -£4,543

So you can clearly see the price difference, £4,543 difference between the dearest and cheapest for the same car, all three are brand new, unregistered, UK cars, with only one option, the city Pack, and the this is just the tip of the iceberg, there are other differences that amount to in excess of £10,000 in savings, in fact, a quick check found this car, the AUDI A8 with a discount of nearly £20,000 on dealership forecourt pricing.

But just because you can get a discount online, does not mean that you can't take that figure to your dealership and get them to match it, or, to offer a range of benefits to equal the price through Zero % APR, free servicing, free grade uplift etc, not that I am saying every dealer will be able or willing to do this, some are able, others are not, so, it depends on the relationship you have with that dealer.

If you don't have a relationship with a local dealer, and are happy to buy at the best price possible, and you don't mind travelling to collect your car, then online is probably your best bet, like I said, the Online company, Carfile.net, where we chose to purchase our car through could not be any better, unfortunately the Citroen dealership, Bristol Street Motors, could not have been worse. 

The lack of communication, the lack of pleasantries, the general rudeness of the salesman and the fact that we didn't even get anything as a gratitude for spending so much money with them, shows the total lack of care and concern from this dire business, we won't be using them again, even if it means spending more elsewhere, they put enough fuel in just to get us to the petrol station, as the low fuel signal was on as soon as we started it up, there was NO hand over.

The salesman refused to even show us, yes REFUSE to show us how various switches, dials and buttons worked, his comment that because we bought it through the Internet, we were not entitled to be shown how the car worked, was really dangerous, and to be honest if anyone has asked us to rate the dealership, they get told without any shadow of doubt that these people should be avoided at all costs.

Overall Verdict

Online is the way to go, regardless of the issues we have had, the pricing is simple to understand, you can get all the info on the car from the brand's website, and then from there you can get a price from the main dealer, which you can use to compare against the supermarket, if you have one local to you, or online, if you chose that route, but this is the route we will take next time around when we are due to change cars.

However we will enquire more so, into the dealership that is selling the car, and to make sure that they are better suited to dealing with customers from an online sale way, so, whatever option you chose, you can see that there are savings to be had on virtually every single brand and model, if you are willing to put in some time and effort, and we wish you luck in whatever option you choose, and please do let us know what option you chose and how much you save.

The Motoring World Blog

Jon Mower

No brand, model, Car Supermarket or Online sales outlet are being promoted within this report, all pictures are used for illustrative purposes only, and no affiliation is to be considered as part of this blog post.

Audi confirms that the Q2 will go ahead and a revised Q5 is in the process of being finalised.

• Capital expenditure of more than € 3 billion in 2016 
• Audi CEO Rupert Stadler: “Continuing with high levels of investment in future technologies to enhance strong position” 
• Axel Strotbek, Board of Management Member for Finance and Organization: “Gaining financial scope through further cost optimization” 
• Audi Board of Management Member for Human Resources Thomas Sigi: “Looking for experts in areas important for the future” 

Audi will lay the foundations for future growth in 2016. In the coming financial year, the company plans to continue with its high levels of investment. Along with further process and cost optimization, the planned capital expenditure is to amount to more than € 3 billion, and will support the Ingolstadt-based company along its successful path. 

Half of the planned investment will take place at the German sites in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. Furthermore, Audi will recruit additional experts in the field of future technologies once again in 2016.

The company intends to push forward with its growth strategy with the approved investment program in 2016: “We are continuing with our high levels of investment in future technologies to enhance the strong position of our brand,” emphasized Audi CEO Rupert Stadler

The pictures below are for illustrative purposes only and are not to be considered

to be the actual car that may or may not be due for release in the future.

The car producer also plans to enter a new market segment with the Audi Q2 model next year.

In addition, Audi will present the successor of the Audi Q5 next year, thus continuing with the next chapter of its SUV success story. “A significant proportion of our investment is naturally in the field of alternative drive systems,” stated Stadler. In 2018, the first large‑series battery‑electric vehicle of the brand with the Four Rings will be launched, based on the Audi e-tron Quattro concept. By 2020, Audi will expand its model range to include 60 different automobiles.

While Audi is consciously investing in new models and technologies, as well as in the expansion of its worldwide production network, CFO Axel Strotbek also sees potential for continual cost improvements: “With the current investment program, we obviously want to enhance the brand’s strong position, but at the same time, we aim to achieve additional financial scope by means of further process and cost optimization.” According to Strotbek, the company will not save at the expense of its future, but every investment will be carefully examined. The Board of Management has therefore decided to postpone the construction of a new wind tunnel for one year.

Audi continues to accelerate in the area of digitalization. In early December, the company acquired a one‑third interest in HERE, thus safeguarding the cooperation with a leading provider of digital maps and location-based services. Audi’s share of the purchase price amounts to € 0.85 billion. In order to maintain its “Vorsprung durch Technik” also in the future, the company will strengthen its workforce as it progresses along its growth path in 2016. Thomas Sigi, Board of Management Member for Human Resources at AUDI AG, stated: “We are looking for experts in areas important for the future.” Demand is particularly strong for specialists in alternative drive systems and lightweight construction, but also for IT specialists, who will further develop the fields of Audi connect, Audi mobility and smart factory in the context of digitalization. 

USA - BMW and Nissan join forces to allow both i3 and LEAF drivers dual charging at public locations.

• A total of 120 dual-port 50kW fast-charging stations have been installed across 19 states to support longer distance electric vehicle travel for Nissan LEAF and BMW i3 drivers.
• These publicly available Greenlots-networked charging stations include both CHAdeMO and SAE Combo connectors, suitable for all fast charging-capable electric vehicles in the U.S.

Nissan and BMW are joining forces to offer public fast charging at 120 locations across 19 states in an effort to support Nissan LEAF and BMW i3 customers and to promote increased adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) nationwide.

With this partnership between two of the top EV manufacturers, Nissan and BMW address the growing demand for additional public fast-charging options in markets spanning the country, giving drivers the ability to easily extend the length of their electric travels.

The breadth of Nissan and BMW’s fast-charger buildout is expansive, with fast chargers now available in California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, North and South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.

“Nissan takes a three-pronged approach to growing public EV charging options for LEAF drivers by installing quick chargers in the community, at corporate workplaces and at Nissan dealerships,” said Andrew Speaker, Nissan’s director of Electric Vehicle Sales and Marketing. 

“By working with BMW to increase the number of available public quick-chargers, we are able to further enhance range confidence among EV drivers across the country.”

“BMW continues to pursue new ways to support the development of a robust public charging infrastructure that will benefit current and future BMW i3 owners across the country. This BMW-Nissan project builds on BMW’s ongoing commitment to participate in joint partnerships designed to expand DC Fast charging options nationwide for all EV drivers,” said Cliff Fietzek, Manager Connected eMobility, BMW of North America. 

“Together with Nissan, we are focused on facilitating longer distance travel so that even more drivers will choose to experience the convenience of e-mobility for themselves.”

Each of these new locations will offer a dual 50 kW fast-charging station with both CHAdeMO and SAE Combo connectors, serving owners of both Nissan LEAF and BMW i3 electric cars, as well as all EV drivers in the U.S. whose vehicles are equipped with quick-charge ports. 

These 50 kW stations can charge EVs from Nissan and BMW up to 80 percent in about 20-30 minutes, as compared to the longer time required to recharge at a Level 2 (240V) charger, currently the most commonly available public charging station.

Drivers can easily locate the chargers with ConnectedDrive in the BMW i3—either using the in-vehicle Navigation or by using the BMW i Remote App—or via the Nissan EZ-Charge smartphone app. Additionally, these chargers are compatible with the Nissan EZ-Charge cards.

Since the launch of Nissan LEAF – the world’s best-selling electric car – Nissan has reinforced its commitment to zero-emission mobility with investments in EV charging infrastructure to serve the needs of LEAF drivers in markets across the U.S. 

Nissan also recently introduced the new 2016 LEAF, which has available best-in-class range of 107 miles, making it the first affordable EV to get more than 100 miles on a single charge. Nissan LEAF gets 126 MPGe city and 101 MPGe highway on S models, and 124 MPGe city and 101 MPGe highway on SV and SL trim levels. 

All LEAF models feature an 80kW AC synchronous motor that generates 107 horsepower and 187 lb-ft of torque, providing a highly responsive, fun-to-drive experience.

BMW i is focused on the development of visionary vehicles and mobility services, inspiring design, and a new understanding of premium that is strongly defined by sustainability. 

The BMW i3, the first all-electric vehicle from the BMW Group and winner of the 2015 Green Car of the Year award, has been the standout in the electric vehicle field since its launch in 2013. With a 170 horsepower synchronous electric motor powered by a 22-kWh lithium-ion battery, the BMW i3 can travel emissions free for 80-100 miles. With a combined rating of 124 MPGe, the BMW i3 is the most efficient EV as rated by the U.S. EPA.

Major financial restructuring to BMW to account for poor 1-Series and MINI sales.

With the automotive market becoming more and more competitive, automakers are pushing to create new product to help keep market share. The downside to this? Costs rise, and when products don’t do as well as expected, that money goes down the drain. 

To help solve this problem, BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer has hired consultants from McKinsey to create a cost-saving strategy that will potentially save the company between $4 billion and $5.4 billion annually. Already, BMW has a few ideas in where they can cut costs. 

The need for this plan stems from poor sales of the BMW 1 Series and for the Mini brand as a whole. Earlier this week, BMW made an announcement that in order for the company to remain competitive with other automakers, it would need to lower expenses "by several hundred million euros a year." Further helping to offset the dismal sales figures, BMW hopes to increase global vehicle sales to around 2.5 million by 2016. 

But with strong competition from Mercedes-Benz and Audi, that may be easier said than done. To make this strategy work, BMW will cut $136 million in German labor costs annually starting in 2015, according to the Munich newspaper, Muenchner Merkur.

REPORT HERE