Audi’s by the thousands

[SW18]

Those cars on the google maps view can’t all be Audis can they? I mean: some of them are not grey or white?!

 

[Deleted member 37751]

BMW’s depot up here:
Google Maps

 

[wivenhoe]

Brings back memories, 50 years ago, my first job out of Tech College. Chainboy for a survey company from Wales checking the levels on the main runway.
USAF airbase then, flying Phantoms. The only cars I remember seeing there were mainly Ford Mustangs.

30 years ago I was on the project building the hardened shelters for the TR1 spy planes - you can see them on Google Maps.
All American base - there were signs everywhere - asked a Yank what the Social Action Center was - it was the bar ! The food in the commissary was all imported from the States and a fraction of the cost in the U.K. They used to fly in a Galaxy Tanker every week into Lakenheath full of nothing but milk for distribution to Alconbury and other bases. Not very eco friendly !
As you say, all American cars, very rarely did the drive locally bought ones.

 

[Deleted member 126251]

All the usual conspiracy theories ..........

 

[bob6600]

Storage - a mixture of new cars awaiting PDI, 19 plate cars that have een PDI'd and are ready to go, 18 plate cars can be company or other cars that are ready for de-fleet.

They could well have a PDI/de-fleet centre on site

 

[219]

So the manufacturers are churning out vehicles by the thousands only to have them sitting in a field with no buyers?

Nothing new there ...

 

[clk208]

Every other VAG car you see over about 3 years old seems to be belching out black smoke, surprised they are still selling any at all.

 

[renault12ts]

*Audis*

 

[SlimJim]

The probability, despite many suggestions, is that there is a glut of them and a sign, given one poster got a 30% reduction, that great deals are to be had if you negotiate hard.

 

[Mrbottomend]

Economics 101 says that as times good mfrs ramp up production to meet demand ...then when a slump in sales, or even a dip, stock can build up quite quickly on standard fleet type models esp (not so much the JIT upper end models to order...then it's expensive to slow down/stop production quickly, and often the false but alluring hope that a pick up not far off...eventually Ford as example of outcome.

Fact is over capacity been a problem worldwide for long time now, but combo of politics of jobs etc means the market not working like my engine at mo!

So given deal on Audi above, maybe combo of anti-German sentiment in market (?) and slowdown in economy they are stockpiling high not planned, and partly at least selling cheap to try to offload?

 

[wivenhoe]

Economics 101 says that as times good mfrs ramp up production to meet demand ...then when a slump in sales, or even a dip, stock can build up quite quickly on standard fleet type models esp (not so much the JIT upper end models to order...then it's expensive to slow down/stop production quickly, and often the false but alluring hope that a pick up not far off...eventually Ford as example of outcome.

Fact is over capacity been a problem worldwide for long time now, but combo of politics of jobs etc means the market not working like my engine at mo!

So given deal on Audi above, maybe combo of anti-German sentiment in market (?) and slowdown in economy they are stockpiling high not planned, and partly at least selling cheap to try to offload?

This doesn’t explain the ‘plated’ cars, but German manufacturers could have ramped up deliveries ahead of the March Brexit date. The Brit manufacturers pre planned suspending manufacturing ahead of then in case they couldn’t get the cars out of the country or problems getting the parts in. Ironic really because in fact there just isn’t the market for the cars anyway.
Global manufacturers are hit by their own goal of dieselgate, turmoil due to trade wars, government taxes on usage, buyers waiting for EV’s to become more affordable and other political interference - the French government just vetoed the Renault / Fiat Chrysler merger to protect jobs that really shouldn’t exist & Nissan’s pursuit of Ghosn to gain more influence of the alliance.
Over capacity is only one problem for them, the second hand market is declining and all the cars coming back from PCP’s (their invention) which they own will have to be stored at great cost to avoid destroying the market by dumping them.

 

[GeeJayW]

The result of a mass production process with a certain optimum 'flow' that doesn't always match demand.

Changing the rate of production to match variations in demand is not easy to manage, incurs more cost, has repercussions right down the 'just in time' supply chain and draws more attention to a potentially non existent problem than having a few thousand cars sat in a field or two somewhere, or White goods in a warehouse etc.

Big volume producers do this sort of buffering all the time.

 

[Scooby_Doo]

I looked at the airfield via Google Earth over a year ago and it was full of cars even then, so obviously not a "new" situation.

 

[unimog]

It's not quite correct to say Brexit has resulted in factory planned shutdowns. Brexit is a good excuse to bury bad news as far as the car industry is concerned, like Ford ceasing engine production as engine supply contracts to JLR end and the fact demand is falling for certain types built there, or the fact that Nissan (which is owned partly by Renault, which is 15% owned by the French government which is supposed to be illegal under Maastricht treaty rules) and moreover, Japan, now has a trade treaty with EU which means they don't need to build cars in the UK for the Euro market, exactly the same reason Honda is ceasing production in the UK. We can thank the disgusting centrist, Napoleon complex cretin Macron for that.

The shutdowns had been planned well in advance due to WLTP testing protocols requiring all possible variants of cars to be be physically tested, meaning cars with hundreds of mechanical/wheel options had to be ready to conform by April, and there simply wasn't time to implement such a structure on models already in production. Have a look at the new E class range for 2020 MY as an example and see how thinned out the options list compared to previous years, this is to avoid costly production shutdowns due to having to test all variants in all body styles on regular basis. I'm still waiting on a build slot for a C class such has been the shut/slow down for the same reason, there is a backlog of cars still on hold waiting to be certified at the Bremen plant, and it has to be done with in a certain period after manufacture or the vehicles have to be destroyed.

Germany is in a technical recession, what are they going to do, give cheap car finance to the Spanish, Portugese, French and Italians like they did with the Greeks? Look where that got them, all of Europe is broke. The fact of the matter is that the UK is the second largest import market for German cars (source:Leading import countries for German cars 2017 | Statistic) so its definitely a wise move to keep a number of cars available here in the UK, after all we still openly trade with all the countries which also drive on the left so its logical. I firmly believe that Brexit will not be as bad as remainers portray as the Germans are on our side these days and would expect them to step in and smooth the way, Merkel was the one who suggested the new October deadline anyway. The uk is also the biggest export market for expensive German made household appliances... Try finding Siemens or Gaggenau white products in France!

Back to the topic though, I know Audi are quietly discouraging factory orders at present, my local JCT600 is pushing hard on delivery miles cars and the discounts are as much as £10k on certain models.

 

[400ixl]

Alconbury is used by some fleet management / lease companies for storing lease cars as well

 

[Eddy77]

When I went to buy my A6, I wanted brand new. The dealer told me that at present the production line for A6s was shut down, so I'd need to wait quite a while to order the exact spec I wanted. But, Audi order in loads of models in the most popular spec and colour combos, and keep them in storage. Would that be of interest?

I said I wanted a Daytona Grey S-Line 40TDi and he had a look on the system. Choice of three popped up, some with the basic S-Line spec, others upgraded with dynamic suspension etc. I chose one which was pretty much what I wanted, include the interior options I really wanted. In return, an unregistered car (registered for me) and a hefty discount.

 

[PenelopePitstop]

Mercedes is keeping a lot of pre-registered cars too. When I get emails from leasing companies, most pre-registered cars are from Mercedes and BMW. BMW sometimes have cars upt o 1 year old. Audi is usually in stock, but not pre-registered. I'm driving one which was waiting for 9 months to be driven off forecourt ... And my other car waited 2.5 years before it was registered, don't know if it was stored in Japan, Italy or UK.

 

[Mrbottomend]

May be controversial but glad so many Auds parked up. Anecdotally but does see more Audis tailgating me a**e than other models these days...apart from whatever the collective noun is for hot head driven hatchbacks! Maybe a FOOL of.....

 

[wivenhoe]

May be controversial but glad so many Auds parked up. Anecdotally but does see more Audis tailgating me a**e than other models these days...apart from whatever the collective noun is for hot head driven hatchbacks! Maybe a FOOL of.....

Clarkson used to describe that as "the full Audi" !

 

[Mrbottomend]

I liked that but didn't mean Clarkson. Mind he did punch Piers Moron Morgan once so cannot be all bad!