Merry Christmas said the Turkey. I'm really looking forward to it this year.
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Indeed, but you can perhaps see their point?
If they hold their prices steady then they are taking a huge, huge loss - not viable in anything other than the very short term.
Ironically, my company is enjoying the opposite, we sell in the US and the exchange rate shift has transformed our pricing the other way.
It's all very well to wail (daily), but have you any ideas about what else they could do?
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Ford raises RRP but continues to discount heavily.............the market will set the street price of new cars.
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Car supermarkets are thriving due to moves like this, the value of nearly new cars is increasing.
IMO manufacturers ought to concentrate more on gaining more customers by giving better service, more comprehensive warranties and better quality products rather than trying to rake in more money for the product.
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Ford raises RRP but continues to discount heavily.............the market will set the street price of new cars.
I'm sure you're correct. Why do the car manufacturers so fear setting a reasonable price for a car...and mostly stick to it. Are there significant numbers of people who turn up and pay the usually unrealistic 'list' price?
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What's the betting, these price rises are being slapped on stock that was made anything up to a year ago and which has been sitting in a muddy field or on an old runway some where for the best part of that.
I can understand the stuff rolling of the production line today being increased but a year ago dollar / euro / pounds were fine.
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Somebody has to pay for the manufacturers' contribution to the "something for nothing" scrappage scheme.
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...For the first five months of 2009, it reported like-for-like sales down 21%, compared with falls of 27.9% for the whole of the market....
People (still) like Fords.
The company has made some of the UK's bestselling vehicles for as long as I can remember, they know how to get their product right and the marketing must be pretty good, too.
Don't forget, it's not compulsory to buy a Ford, so if this is the gigantic heads-in-the-sand turkeys-voting-for-Christmas mistake some on here think it is, we will see in the sales figures.
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"People (still) like Fords."
I am yet to meet a company car user chooser who picks a Ford (or a Vauxhall)
I understand that Ford need to keep profits up but it comes accross as a cynical exercise given that they must have old stock kicking about.
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I am yet to meet a company car user chooser who picks a Ford
Pleased to meet you, I did. Long time now since anyone else bought my cars but....I had a BMW 320 saloon as a company car. Very nice but...when it came time to change it I ordered a Mondeo estate 2.0 ghia. Couldn't get my mountain bike in the beemer and certainly didn't care then or since about the image thing. Good cars too.
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... I am yet to meet a company car user chooser who picks a Ford...
mr freezer,
Maybe not, but you might be surprised how attractive the blue oval becomes when it is you who is paying the bills.
Fleet managers and savvy private motorists know this.
Edited by ifithelps on 24/06/2009 at 21:48
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Elderly parents have just scrappaged-in their S reg 1.0 Micra for a brand new Ka, despite me suggesting they look at Kias and Hyundais. I think they'll like it - not sure whether they've driven it yet [sigh]. No discount - Dad doesn't do haggling [sigh again].
Edited by Focus {P} on 24/06/2009 at 22:08
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so if this is the gigantic heads-in-the-sand turkeys-voting-for-Christmas mistake some on here think it is, we will see in the sales figures. <<
Hopefully, of British built units which should be less affected by the £/? ex. rate.
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"Hopefully, of British built units which should be less affected by the £/? ex. rate."
Am I right in thinking that since Dagenham closed there are no Ford cars manufactured in the UK??
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>> Am I right in thinking that since Dagenham closed there are no Ford cars manufacturedin the UK??
Correct. Halewood is still open but run by JLR and makes Freelander and X-Type.
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> am yet to meet a company car user chooser who picks a Ford (or a Vauxhall)<
I could introduce you to dozens. There are few better cars in their respective markets that are better than the equivalent Ford model.
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People (still) like Fords. The company has made some of the UK's bestselling vehicles for as long as I can remember they know how to get their product right and the marketing must be pretty good too.
I'm not sure that many of their (Fords) Vehicles are "Sold" many of them are given away or very low cost short term leases. Interesting to note that Hyundai and Kia are each "selling" more cars than ford (or anybody else) under scrappage with people spending their own money.
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I'm not sure that many of their (Fords) Vehicles are "Sold" many of them are given away or very low cost short term leases.
This is a few mths out of date now, but the father of one of my daughter's friends runs a Ford dealership and he reckons he could have sold twice as many Fiestas as he can get. Ford are limiting the niumbers they send here as they can get higher prices for the cars elsewhere in Europe.
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We can expect similar price increases from other motor manufacturers (as well as many other products) as a result of the weaker pound verses euro & dollar.
It's commonally known as inflation or another way of putting it is we're starting to pay the real price of years over spending and living beyond our means.
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This is a few mths out of date now but the father of one of my daughter's friends runs a Ford dealership and he reckons he could have sold twice as many Fiestas as he can get. Ford are limiting the niumbers they send here as they can get higher prices for the cars elsewhere in Europe.
A friend of mine had a Fiesta Titanium 1.6 Tdci 5dr (which at RRP is £14,795!), he had ran it for 3 months and 6k miles. Its now gone back to Ford UK (so it can be sold nearly new), He could have bought it for just over 8k. Now got a Mondeo which apparently is cheap to have than a Focus.
Edited by carl_a on 25/06/2009 at 01:20
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A friend of mine had a Fiesta... he had ran it for 3 months and 6k miles.
Does he work for Ford?
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Am I right in thinking that since Dagenham closed there are no Ford cars manufactured in the UK?? <<
That's an affirmative Fullchat!
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So
1. Car prices hear are at the mercy of the Pound/Euro rate.
2. There would be no benefit from Europeans purchasing cheaper British cars because we dont make em any more.
Loose all round then?
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This is an old article Fullchat, but you'll get 'the picture' ~ tinyurl.com/medh7t
but be quick before its made un-clickable :)
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Thanks. And so true! Ryton - a pile of rubble.
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Ford marketing are acting on the wishes of their bankers, who are so full of themselves and stuffed up with cocaine, they think price rises will ensure their bonuses keep flowing.
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Even their second hand stock is getting pricey.
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"Good news, Nigel, the financial crisis is over. The bad news, however, is that we are £15,000,000,000,000.00 in debt.....any ideas?"
"err.....we put prices up?"
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I hate to say it, but I can see Fords point here.
I work for a technology company which buys most of its products in the Euro Zone and re-sells in £sterling.
We are now at break-even point trying to hold prices at late 2007 levels and it is killing our competitiveness.
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SFAIK the £ has strengthened against the Euro by about 10 cents in the last 2 months so Ford's pricing changes are either too much or too late or a bit of both!
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...so, people should surely begin to 'vote' with their wallets and look at other manufacturer's?
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so, people should surely begin to 'vote' with their wallets and look at other manufacturer's? <<
People? yes, but Sheeple = Baaaaaaaaaaaa!
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It's too easy for Ford to just blame currency for their woes. Clearly, if they sell a top notch product at the right price then customers will bite.
It's up to them to price it right and make us want it, not just say thats the price, lump it or like it.
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...so people should surely begin to 'vote' with their wallets and look at other manufacturer's?
There's always something cheaper, but people don't really buy on price - otherwise everyone would be driving the cheapest car available.
What is annoying is how difficult it is to compare prices as you don't really know what the transaction price is going to be. We looked at Toyota Aygo for youngest dayghter a couple of years ago and it became apparent that £2000 was available off some Yaris models which we'd never have considered at list price.
It just served to confuse things and we ended up buying a Mitsubishi Colt - they'd actually lowered their list pricing across the board so it was very transparent.
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"...they'd actually lowered their list pricing across the board so it was very transparent."
The words 'car trade' and 'transparency' ? appearing in the same sentence? No, sorry...
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I inhabit a world where dealing and negotiation on price are and always have been the norm. Recently though I always quote my best price from the outset and never budge. I offer good value and my customers know that. Most of them say they prefer it that way.
My business while not booming, has stabilised and is growing again gently. I think we need to have a culture of transparency to get through all this. We need to stop chasing the fast buck and or the big discount and focus on getting to "win win" fair all round deals.
I wish the car industry and their customers for that matter, would recognise that.
Edited by Humph Backbridge on 26/06/2009 at 13:02
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I agree Humph. Although, for instance, there must be a few mugs who pay the RRP for a Ford car, I can't really see the point of them listing such inflated prices.
On a similar vein about transparency - in these internet enabled times, why is it that my local Volkswagen independent has a website detailing the prices for each of its different type of services, but I have to ring up my main dealer for a quote which appears to change every single time?
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Have "bought" two new cars from Ford in the last year. Wife and Daughter.
My approach is to go in and tell them the discount i want and wait for them to agree to give me it, took a while in January, Last July it was too easy, beat what all the magazines were saying we should get!
Would not have a Ford as a company car because I would be paying tax on a ficticious/ inflated price. My car IS a company car.
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A trick I tried a few years back when I bought a new VW Transporter for my mobile tuning game - I went to the local dealer, road tested the critter for a whole day, then asked for his very best price for pound notes (business was good!), then - I phoned around (pre ww) all the dealers I could find until I got the price *DOWN* and some.
... went back to local dealer - and he matched it.
Could (I wonder) Fiords price increases be 'a ploy' so'as to make 'attractive' price reductions later - Just a thought!
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"I inhabit a world where dealing and negotiation on price are and always have been the norm. Recently though I always quote my best price from the outset and never budge. I offer good value and my customers know that. Most of them say they prefer it that way."
...then you sound exactly like the type of individual that I would like to do 'business' with HB. Somebody who is upfront about pricing from the 'off' (and who won't budge) is indeed a rarity in this day an age, thereby obviating the need to 'play the tiresome game'!
However, I suspect that you are going to tell me that you trade ball-bearings or something similar, and as such, our paths are unlikely to cross? Mind you, I once had a senior salesman in John Lewis look me sternly in the eye and tell me in no uncertain terms that the price of his sale sofa was absolutely/categorically set in concrete, by head office pricing strategies, etc. 10-mins later I'd knocked him down by £80 ? hah!...
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The euro/pound issue is not as bad as Ford say. This time last year it was 1.26 euros to the pound now it's 1.17.
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I think its all about doing your homework when buying a car know what your trade in is worth and what is the lowest price you can purchase your new car for !!
I always give my local dealers chance to match the price I want !! if they don't I just go elsewhere or use a broker !!
Regarding the price increase by Ford are they just being a bit clever ?? people who are sitting on the fence to order a Ford for September delivery will maybe jump in now before the price increase !! when July comes they can use the extra to attract new business as in giving customer incentives .
I have been looking at the S-max for September delivery I may order before the increase I may not !! if I wait until July and the incentive is not right I will just look at an alternative manufacturer
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