is it just me…
or is the Motor Industry living in cuckoo land? SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) are asking the Government for financial support to boost the sales of new cars.
The FACT is that for the past 5 years at least, the 2.3 million new cars registered in the UK have been “laundered” in to the market through heavy discounting to dealers, short-term hire companies and even though the back door to Used Car Supermakets.
The FACT is the market is not 2.3m cars but probably a natural 1.5 to 1.8m cars. Manufacturers accept this is so and reduce the build volume and number of dealers, of which the vast majority are making no money.
If car prices need to go up due to lower volumes, so be it. But stop trying to blame the problem on someone else, and stand up and accept your current distribution model and volume expectation is not fir for purpose.
Or is it just me?