Audi’s by the thousands

[Petrol Pete]

I thought one reason for the Bridgend closure was because the demand for the engines built there was falling.

Correct, but the demand has not gone completely, just that Ford will save more money shutting Bridgend and keeping the cheap(er) to run foreign factory open. Just like they did when they decided to build Transit vans in Turkey.

 

[400ixl]

Consolidation, other factories equally have spare capacity and it is more cost effective to consolidate to a smaller number of factories.

 

[Scooby_Doo]

They were clearing stock before the facelift model came out , my nearest dealer covers all of SouthWales but they didn't have any of these cars. I think all the 220's had distronic plus fitted but the 250's had 19" alloys instead.
As an aside , I notice that electric seats are a very rare item even on Premium Plus facelift "C" class cars.

 

[Deletedmember130310]

looks like the manufacturers don't expect any significant pick up in sales any time soon..

'Dramatic' fall in car output hits UK economy

 

[rf065]

looks like the manufacturers don't expect any significant pick up in sales any time soon..

'Dramatic' fall in car output hits UK economy

That was entirely due to them bringing forward the summer maintenance shutdowns to coincide with the date we were supposed have Brexit.

 

[Deletedmember130310]

That was entirely due to them bringing forward the summer maintenance shutdowns to coincide with the date we were supposed have Brexit.

"Brexit is now scheduled for 31 October. How do companies plan for that? Repeat the whole operation again or not bother? Certainly the car industry won't want another shutdown, it has already had one this year and Brexit could still be delayed again....."

 

[wivenhoe]

They were clearing stock before the facelift model came out , my nearest dealer covers all of SouthWales but they didn't have any of these cars. I think all the 220's had distronic plus fitted but the 250's had 19" alloys instead.
As an aside , I notice that electric seats are a very rare item even on Premium Plus facelift "C" class cars.

I had 68 plate C200 PP hire car last week and found it strange that it had only partial electric seats but Burmeister system. I have distrionic plus and wouldn't be without it !

 

[Deletedmember130310]

Has anyone else seen the new Mini ad on TV and noticed it flashes up "The model shown is only available to order until 30 June 2019"???

 

[aybracers]

The word inside the trade is that Audi dealers are really hurting. Most are upside down due to trying to meet the ever increasing and unreasonable demands of the Manufacturer to keep increasing their quarterly targets. The kickbacks for meeting the targets make the differance between profit or loss even though the dealers resort to "The black Arts" to register more cars. A registered car is a "sold" car in the manufacturers' eyes. This is a widespread practice but it seems that Q1 & Q2 of 2019 are particularly bad for the Audi dealers.

So it's a great time to buy an Audi as long as you are armed with this information and as noted in a previous post a customer getting 31% discount on essentially a brand new car albeit he will be the "second" owner.

 

[Darrell]

The word inside the trade is that Audi dealers are really hurting. Most are upside down due to trying to meet the ever increasing and unreasonable demands of the Manufacturer to keep increasing their quarterly targets. The kickbacks for meeting the targets make the differance between profit or loss even though the dealers resort to "The black Arts" to register more cars. A registered car is a "sold" car in the manufacturers' eyes. This is a widespread practice but it seems that Q1 & Q2 of 2019 are particularly bad for the Audi dealers.

So it's a great time to buy an Audi as long as you are armed with this information and as noted in a previous post a customer getting 31% discount on essentially a brand new car albeit he will be the "second" owner.

I think we all know that a registered car is a sold car so how does the payment system work between dealer and manufacturer?
At the airfield were hundreds and hundreds of registered cars. Does this mean they are sold? And will Audi have their hands out?

 

[aybracers]

They have met their target if they (the dealers) have sold their individual target for the the given quarter. That activates their extra per car bonus. For example, say the standard authorised dealer gets somewhere between 9.5% and 12.5% discount from the manufacturer. The on target bonus can either be an extra percentage or more normally £xxx pounds per car. There is also a sliding scale where if you sell more than 110% of your target the rebate/payment increases. Note that, as far as the manufacturer is concerned, the registered but unsold vehicle is the dealers problem. There is also the secondary practice where the manufacturer registers vehicles as company vehicles for staff,press,etc. These are the often sent to these massive car parks and allow the Audi man in the previous messsage to get his fantastic deal. The car was already there and waiting for him once the deal was sweet enough. Once the supply demand equation is out of balance these tactics prevail.

 

[Darrell]

Complicated stuff this car selling malarkey then!

Seems like smoke and mirrors then.

 

[GeeJayW]

Complicated stuff this car selling malarkey then!

Seems like smoke and mirrors then.

Not just selling cars. The car we all take for granted to get us from A to B, to take the kids to school etc. is one of the most technically complex and pervasive devices we will ever use in our lives. The whole car manufacturing, distribution, selling, disposal and economic processes are hugely complicated.

 

[Deletedmember130310]

Not just selling cars. The car we all take for granted to get us from A to B, to take the kids to school etc. is one of the most technically complex and pervasive devices we will ever use in our lives. The whole car manufacturing, distribution, selling, disposal and economic processes are hugely complicated.

which is, I suspect, why newcomers such as Tesla, and possibly/probably, Dyson struggle

 

[Petrol Pete]

^^^ It is also the reason they all jump into bed with each other and share engines/brakes/wheels/infotainment or the whole bloomin' platform the car is built on. It is fiendishly difficult and very expensive to start from scratch. It is almost as difficult with a new model when you are planning the face lift car just a few months after you launched the 'best thing since sliced bread' you are already planning for its replacement.

When you are making cars for the world market it's not just a case of left hand drive or right hand drive. Mirrors,lights,air bag size and action, crash protection , wall thickness of tubes used to make seat frames, infotainment systems, tyres, emissions,number plate positioning.......the list is endless...as is the cost.