INCHCAPE To Show Us How To Sell Citroens?

Greg

Active member
Fellow Frogger
Joined
Sep 24, 2001
Messages
635
Location
MAITLAND NSW AUSTRALIA
Hi Aussie Froggers,

It saddens me to write this:

It appears that Inchcape are sacking most Capitol City Citroen Dealers, and replacing them with their Subaru Dealers selling Citroens

In a very brutal fashion, Inchcape is dumping Citroen Dealers with very high profiles and huge Citroen history.

I could say I've seen it all before, but never to this extent, and most previous importers that were going to show us how to sell Citroen failed dismally.

Bryson Citroen, Franzcar, and Sime Darby all failed, the one importer that came closest to recent success was Ateco. But they seemed to drop the ball running?

It was Maxim Motors (Jim Reddiex) that convinced Citroen to start producing cars for Australia again (after the Bryson catastrophe), in the mid 1980's, only to have the the importation taken from them, and given to Franzcar.

The telex to sack Maxims came into Maxim's Sydney, as Jim was in Sydney at the time. I tore the telex from the machine and handed it to Jim. It literally ripped his heart out, He was Mr Citroen!

So for one Citroen dealer in Sydney, and can honestly say I think I know how you feel. You have runs on the board that no one will ever come near. Inchcape won't succeed with out you!

Given Citroen's present poor range of models, the future for Citroen in Australia doesn't look all that healthy?

Best regards,

Greg
 
Yes it is sad.....they decided to cut the 6 year warranty ? Honda has been advertising ....yes advertising that they offer a 7 year warranty . why would you buy a new Citroen? I also notice in Carsales the total numbe of Citroens for sale is now about 470 ? upto about 3 mths ago it was running at 620. not sure what that means.
hopefully we are proven wrong.
Greg, I was going to give you a LIKE but decided to reply with a comment as a LIKE wouldn't have conveyed the right message.

cheers
Colin

Hi Aussie Froggers,

It saddens me to write this:

It appears that Inchcape are sacking most Capitol City Citroen Dealers, and replacing them with their Subaru Dealers selling Citroens

In a very brutal fashion, Inchcape is dumping Citroen Dealers with very high profiles and huge Citroen history.

I could say I've seen it all before, but never to this extent, and most previous importers that were going to show us how to sell Citroen failed dismally.

Bryson Citroen, Franzcar, and Sime Darby all failed, the one importer that came closest to recent success was Ateco. But they seemed to drop the ball running?

It was Maxim Motors (Jim Reddiex) that convinced Citroen to start producing cars for Australia again (after the Bryson catastrophe), in the mid 1980's, only to have the the importation taken from them, and given to Franzcar.

The telex to sack Maxims came into Maxim's Sydney, as Jim was in Sydney at the time. I tore the telex from the machine and handed it to Jim. It literally ripped his heart out, He was Mr Citroen!

So for one Citroen dealer in Sydney, and can honestly say I think I know how you feel. You have runs on the board that no one will ever come near. Inchcape won't succeed with out you!

Given Citroen's present poor range of models, the future for Citroen in Australia doesn't look all that healthy?

Best regards,

Greg
 
As one who has always admired the difference and elegance of the Citroen, but has never owned one, that is a sad indictment of the Australian Market place and a blow to the loyalty of Citroen owners. Rather sad.
 
I think Inchcape has the wrong idea.

The general public need to be taught how to buy Citroen, rather than the dealers taught how to sell Citroen.
 
Isn't there a saying that runs along the lines: if it looks like a nail, a sledge-hammer should be the tool of choice?

What say does PSA (France) have in the appointment of its Australian distributor? What are the criteria in making such an appointment? Does Inchcape understand Citroen? Will they apply a mainstream brand approach to sales and service and if/when it fails, blame everyone else? Or is this a somewhat bizarre way of the distributor ultimately removing an (albeit small) competitor from the marketplace?

There are(were?) indeed some great Citroen dealers around the country, who have invaluable corporate knowledge in a local Citroen context.

Assuming they ultimately determine the distribution appointment, perhaps PSA have decided that to generate mega-sales - and provide excellent after sales service - it's time for a fresh approach.

Those of us who own contemporary Citroens will watch with (vested) interest.
 
Remember they are to concentrate the Citroën brand on light commercial vehicles to differentiate from Peugeot and eventually DS.
 
Remember they are to concentrate the Citroën brand on light commercial vehicles to differentiate from Peugeot and eventually DS.

That sounds suspiciously like a strategy.....

All well in your camp I trust.

Regards
 
Their approach to Peugeot dealers is also appalling. How can they get it so wrong as both brands have a very solid bank of loyal owners. Lose our 'family' dealers who were/are the name of Peugeot Citroen and what have you left?
 
I'm confused. There is only one Sydney dealership of long standing. Are we talking about them? Names please.
 
Hi Seasink,

I started the post with "It saddens me to write this......"

Your not confused. Yes that's who they sacked, and I thinks that's criminal! Don't get me started!

Best regards,

Greg
 
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Then Inchcape have shot themselves. Nowhere else has the loyalty.
 
It is sad to hear this and it's making me a bit nervous on what Inchcape have in their plans .....

We only have one Peugeot and one Citroen dealership represented in Adelaide ... heck, in the whole of South Australia! Just recently Australian Motors gave up their Peugeot franchise at Wayville, which they held for 12 years, to the Jarvis Group and now Jarvis have the Peugeot brand sitting in the same showroom as their Subaru dealership at Medindie . Not only is the new showroom a whole lot smaller than the previous showroom they were in, they have only 4 cars on display, a 208, 308, 2008 and the new 3008 and that's it! At least with Australian Motors, they had their own showroom which was a good size, with vehicles on display both inside and outside on the yard. They also had servicing done on site at the dealership, now you have to drive to a different location, Jarvis Ford at Trinity Gardens, to get your Peugeot serviced!

Citroen are handled by the Belcar Group and that dealership is at Frewville and shares showroom space with Fiat and Abarth, with a few other exotic Euro brands. Not sure if they're going to continue to sell Citroen in the future, but I would've thought Inchcape would've at least tried to keep the brands together and have them selling from the same site and all servicing done at that location, making it easier for people to buy and service their cars all at the same place.

I know now that this has made us think about where we're going to buy our next cars from, as the locations for both buying and servicing will now impact on our decision. The old Peugeot dealership was local for us, but not anymore and until the new Citroen C3 was released, we had never considered a Citroen. Even now, it's probably not on our shopping list anymore. We have a Renault and Volkswagen dealership which are close by for us and we've owned Renault and Volkswagen in the past, so we'd be happy to buy from them again, we're also considering Skoda.
 
I believe the Skoda dealership is also changing over,so if Skoda is a possibility you may want to check out their new location first,?
 
In a situation where I have never bought any new car other than Renault between 1967 and 1978 (4) then again in 2001 and 2017(4) after I/we could afford another, I'm pretty happy. I've had enormous reliability, excellent service and a fantastic overall experience with all our new Renaults. There is a humungous difference in vehicle quality, I have discovered, between those two eras. The service I have received has been very good, and once the servicing people discover how many we've owned (including another 5 Renaults second-hand) and over such a long time they begin to understand what you expect..... If you don't get treated "special" at your local dealer, you've bought the wrong car....
 
I believe the Skoda dealership is also changing over,so if Skoda is a possibility you may want to check out their new location first,?

You're right Mark, the Solitaire Group are no longer going to be selling Skoda, another strange move and apparently there is a new location and owner for the new Adelaide Skoda dealership, though not sure if it'll still be at Medindie? Apart from Jarvis Skoda out at Tanunda, Solitaire Skoda was the only other Skoda dealership in Adelaide, after Southern Skoda down at Reynella closed a few years back.
 
For the benefit of interstaters - the hints are about Australia's principal Citroen dealer, and by far the most reliable dealer for getting a repair done. No Inchcape outlet would have this degree of trust (some I would run from).
 
In a situation where I have never bought any new car other than Renault between 1967 and 1978 (4) then again in 2001 and 2017(4) after I/we could afford another, I'm pretty happy. I've had enormous reliability, excellent service and a fantastic overall experience with all our new Renaults. There is a humungous difference in vehicle quality, I have discovered, between those two eras. The service I have received has been very good, and once the servicing people discover how many we've owned (including another 5 Renaults second-hand) and over such a long time they begin to understand what you expect..... If you don't get treated "special" at your local dealer, you've bought the wrong car....

While I haven't owned as many Renault's as yourself Kim, I've owned a few and up until recently, I had been taking all my Renaults to the same dealer to have their servicing done, but after having to take the Latitude back 3 times to have jobs done properly, I've now gone and taken my money to the 'other' Renault dealership and the experience has been a breath of fresh air! I'm one of those people that if I buy a car from your dealership, I'll also do all my servicing and repairs there. If you don't treat me right and I'm not one of these people that demands the red carpet special treatment every time I take my vehicle back, then I'll go else where and I'll more than likely buy my next car from them too.
 
For the benefit of interstaters - the hints are about Australia's principal Citroen dealer, and by far the most reliable dealer for getting a repair done. No Inchcape outlet would have this degree of trust (some I would run from).

Which makes you wonder what in the hell Inchcape are up to? Why would they not keep them?
 
While I haven't owned as many Renault's as yourself Kim, I've owned a few and up until recently, I had been taking all my Renaults to the same dealer to have their servicing done, but after having to take the Latitude back 3 times to have jobs done properly, I've now gone and taken my money to the 'other' Renault dealership and the experience has been a breath of fresh air! I'm one of those people that if I buy a car from your dealership, I'll also do all my servicing and repairs there. If you don't treat me right and I'm not one of these people that demands the red carpet special treatment every time I take my vehicle back, then I'll go else where and I'll more than likely buy my next car from them too.

And you have the right and ability to purchase your service anywhere you like...
 
THIS DECISION WOULD HAVE BEEN MADE BY ACCOUNTANTS!!. Eg.
I suspect, no surveys of customer performance and satisfaction were made. No assessment of good performing dealers with expertise and knowledge of the products. The only criteria may have been the distribution costs $$$$$. ( can be shipped along with their other "in house" brands)
I certainly won't miss the way our current dealer in Tasie represented the brand. My hope was the current Peugeot dealer would be the new agent for Cit ( common parts etc.) Would this be logical?.

The Subaru dealer here has multi franchises :- Merc., Land Rover, Jag., Renault, Great Wall. Lavish showrooms etc. They charge like wounded bulls. However the seem to be successful because of their high profile.
 
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