What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
Is this the end of Jamjar.com - Gary Bain
Highly delighted to hear the the Royal Bank of Scotland is buying out DIXONs motor group which also owns the jamjar website. After the banks experience after investing into the internet car company and it being eventaully sold onto oneswoop. Is it just time, before Jamjar go the same way?

Just goes to show that millions of pounds advertising does not work in such a competitive industry.
Re: Is this the end of Jamjar.com - Sorrera
RBS owns JamJar not Dixons.
JamJar will now get stronger as it will have Dixons to service, prepare and offer test drive cars.

Jamjars success and its stregthening positon Just goes to show millions of pounds advertising works in such a competitive industry
Re: Is this the end of Jamjar.com - Gary Bain
OK Jamjar work in direct partnership with Dixons, now that the Royal Bank of Scotland are taking Dixons over and with their own bad history involving an internet Company they invested heavily in, will they want to stand for more losses? Jamjar are losing thousands of pounds week in week out.
I notice you work for Totalise another partner group and maybe you will be a little biased in your opinion, ask the members of this forum they will all tell you Jamjar are too expensive and try and sell old model year vehicles and describe them as new to the unsuspecting customer.
I am not pointing the finger at Totalise, I do not know of you nor have heard anything bad said about you, I merely am tryining to understand whether the Bank of Scotland will continue to invest in something that has in their eyes been a flop in the past ie the internet car company
Re: Is this the end of Jamjar.com - Sorrera
Gary,
Totalise are an ISP I have no professional connection with them, little bit naive of you to think that.

According to the published results JamJar, sold over £83 million of cars in 2001, making it the UK?s largest internet car retailer. Doesn't sound too shabby to me, bet b4c would like that kind of turnover.

Buying Dixons assets is going to improve Jamjars performance with lower cost of sales and faster turnaround of stock.

Customers are not mugs, if they are prepared to use the internet to buy their cars they have obviously done their comparisons. JamJars success proves that they are offering what the customer wants. Not neccessarily the lowest price but service, trust worthiness, availability, profile.

Be prepared for further consolidation in the industry once block exemption comes in. I imagine that HBOS and Sainsburys/ Tescos will be buying up some of the other larger dealer groups
In my opinion now is not a good time to buy a new car as the industry is going to be shaken up over the next 6 months and prices will fall inline with Euro prices.
RBS buying out Dixons - Gary Bain
This was taken from the Times:

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBOS.L), owner of insurer Direct Line, has emerged as the mystery bidder for car and motorbike dealers Dixon Motors (LSE: DXM.L - news) (DXM.L). A formal offer, expected to value Dixons at more than £108m could come as early as this week and is expected to value the car retailer at more than £108m. Direct Line and Dixon already have an online car retailing venture called Jamjar cars.

So it appears the RBS have had enough of Jamjars ever increasing losses!
Re: RBS buying out Dixons - Matt Kelly
I don't understand - RBS have had enough of the losses sustained by their joint venture internet car retailer so they buy their car retailer partner in the joint venture.
I'm no economics wizard but surely if RBS had had enough of jamjar they would be trying to sell their stake in it to their joint venture partners, not buying them, thereby increasing their stake in car retailing.
Re: Is this the end of Jamjar.com - Jud
Advertising attracts enquires but price sells the product
Re: RBS buying out Dixons - JB
I know that many visitors tothis forum will know Gary Bain's connection with Brokers4Cars. However, as not all will be aware, he should have declared that in this post.
Re: RBS buying out Dixons - Gary Bain
I have been advised not to quote where I am from
Re: RBS buying out Dixons - Pete
He doesn't need to mention a connection with anybody if he wants to quote from The Times, or does he?
Re: misquoted surely? - JB
Fine if he quotes "verbatim". But as I read it, he misquoted the paper in his first post.

If he then adds his opinion regarding a competitor, to be fair he should mention that he is in the same business - without necessarily naming his business, if MBRM has forbidden that.

Anyhow, the matter is now cleared up so we can rest.
Re: misquoted surely? - Honest John
Bloody hell. Seconds ago I was on BBC Radio Cumbria against a guy called Cris from Jamjar and I hadn't spotted Gary's posting. Even drove past the Dixons compound of the M18 today on my way back from Yorkshire (which explains why I didn't see the post). I could have done some real shoch-horror radio if only I'd known. (Nevertheless, still managed to say lots of nice things about broker4cars.)

HJ