Citroen Parramatta showroom

I agree it's overpriced, like the Citroen offerings, but most of the country live on the east coast, and that's quite enough to support decent sales numbers, if Inchcape is serious. The high prices and poor choices suggest they are not. I am starting to see more new Chinese stuff on the road than new Peugeots.

The turbo 1.6 has sufficient performance, but a 2.0 L diesel should be available to attract a larger group..

I doubt many prospective buyers are aware of the Inchcape involvement.
 
No, but they are aware of the price in comparison with its cheaper competitors. But it has moved into a new price class. Reminds me of over-pricing the 404. Indeed most people live on the East Coast but even there dealers are few. Only the brave would use it as a tourer over the vast mass of the continent with no prospect of dealer support. The prospect of driving hundreds of kilometres for a service is no longer attractive and in the last few months sometimes illegal. It has become necessary to buy vehicles close to home.
 
Over the cars I have owned I don't think I have had more than 2 or 3 dealer oil-change type services. Only the Landie was common in the bush, and I have driven them all inland.

Most long distance inland travellers here are using SUVs of one sort or another, as they mistakenly think they will need 4WD. Few sedans set out.

A 508 would be hard to beat around Sydney-Newcastle and for the interstate highway trips. That's a lot of people. Yet equally sparse dealership exotic cars outsell it.
 
All very well until one needs assistance. Then you need a dealer. One of the reassuring things about travelling with a 403 was that if help was needed it was never far away with a friendly dealer. With the present situation in Australia city people are attempting country routes to avoid border closures and are discovering the limitations of their vehicles in country road conditions, that ground clearance matters, low profile tyres don't like the rough and an SUV that looks the part isn't much good if it's not four wheel drive. As for dealerships, not having an Australia wide dealer network is a disadvantage for any make.
There are two types of $70000 utes. The tarted up ones and the heavy duty work vehicles like the LandCruiser. The tarted up ones are too often driven by hard working young men who should know better than to waste their money. The work vehicles are a different a matter and are income producing machines. The 508 has been moved into a price bracket higher than Peugeots like the 504 and 505 traditionally occupied and is more expensive in real terms than the 504 was. A major marketing mistake.
 
I agree with what you say about driving Brisbane-Birdsville-Melbourne, very few would do it, but sparse dealerships, though not ideal, don't sink sales in the cities, which is where the numbers are.

Mercedes has few outlets in WA, SA, or far inland, yet where I live it is probably the most common make. The Chinese migrants in particular love them. They are unlikely to want to drive to Birdsville, or even to western Victoria.

Audi would be the second most common make near me, and Sydney roads are full of them. Dealers are all in the capitals, not the regions. I would guess that few of these leave the bitumen too.

The price of new Peugeots is killing the make.
 
Peugeot was established in Australia by marketing Australia wide. It was never just a city vehicle. The first dealerships appointed in Australia beyond Melbourne were in the country. A narrow marketing focus results in limited sales.
 
Maybe with PSA and FCA officially merged = 'Stellantis', I wonder now if we'll see something happen (positive) for the Australian market?

The new dealership that's being built on West Terrace here in Adelaide, I thought and was told, was going to be Adelaide's new Citroen-Peugeot dealership, but it's not to be, it's actually going to be a Skoda showroom, right next door to the Subaru showroom!
 
Australia doesn't seem to register with French car executives. True for Renault too. Both French companies seem in retreat. But the recent Peugeot price increase indicates any policy of increasing sales has been abandoned.
 
The Peugeot 208 - what a great little car. Long story short, a friend bypassed Kia, Toyota and Mazda to buy the 208. I drove it for 20 minutes and loved it. Ditto the 5008 I had for a week whilst Citroen Australia borrowed my CX. The 1.6 puts me off too, particularly with the $$ they ask.

On prices, have you checked other brands? VW Golfs jumped from $22990 to $24990 and last I saw the 110 Comfortline was $33k! More tech and equipment, but essentially the same car.

I still like my 2012 Latitude, but prefer the 2ltr manual 2005 C5 - much better ride. Nothing beats the 1985 CX. The real Citroen! Also loved all my Peugeots too 504s, 505, 405s and 406s - alas the newer models have lost some of that magic.
 
Andrew D said:
The Peugeot 208 - what a great little car. Long story short, a friend bypassed Kia, Toyota and Mazda to buy the 208. I drove it for 20 minutes and loved it. Ditto the 5008 I had for a week whilst Citroen Australia borrowed my CX. The 1.6 puts me off too, particularly with the $$ they ask.

On prices, have you checked other brands? VW Golfs jumped from $22990 to $24990 and last I saw the 110 Comfortline was $33k! More tech and equipment, but essentially the same car.

I still like my 2012 Latitude, but prefer the 2ltr manual 2005 C5 - much better ride. Nothing beats the 1985 CX. The real Citroen! Also loved all my Peugeots too 504s, 505, 405s and 406s - alas the newer models have lost some of that magic.
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The market disagrees. The 208 was very difficult to sell and examples up to three years old were out the back of showrooms at one stage. Buyers make decisions based on their own comparisons and if you look at the sales charts few choose the PSA offering. Overpricing may hold up the Inchcape bottom line and provide employment for a few executives but the result is a sales chart that would look good fifty years ago.
 
Russell Hall said:
The market disagrees. The 208 was very difficult to sell and examples up to three years old were out the back of showrooms at one stage. Buyers make decisions based on their own comparisons and if you look at the sales charts few choose the PSA offering. Overpricing may hold up the Inchcape bottom line and provide employment for a few executives but the result is a sales chart that would look good fifty years ago.
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The 208 in question was a bargain at $17k with just 1300kms on it, just 4 months old. Not so good @ $25k RRP.
 
Look don't get me wrong, PSA makes good products but they have to be competitively priced. The 508 is certainly an attractive package except for the pricing.
 
Agree totally. I bought my Renault Latitude in 2013 for $30k. RRP was $47. She is 2012 build, first registered May 2013.

She had 1280kms on her when I bought it. 2.9% finance & capped price service for 3 years. A great car, totally reliable @ 128k. I drove 508 and C5, but they were $40k new. I'd have a hydraulic C5 in a heartbeat, but too much $ at the time.

Nothing at $30k matches equipment and performance in 2021. Ride is crap around town, but a good cruiser. Economy and performance is hard to beat.

I am not an SUV person. My almost 90 year old mother needs it, but I'd go cheap SUV for that.
 
Russell Hall said:
Perhaps people don't have $64000 for a medium sized car with a 1.6 litre engine with only East Coast dealer support. It didn't sell well against its competitors at the lower price so putting the price up substantially is a curious move. It is indeed a nice car but buyers are not enthusiastic about subsidizing the cost of an inefficient local import operation.
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Having only one model level (the highest spec GT) probably limits interest. I think Inchcape hasn't done enough to market what I would argue is a seriously good car. The 508 lacks for nothing in terms of equipment and spec and a decent test drive would convince many potential buyers. But I guess Inchcape know that SUVs are more of a sure thing and by comparison, the 3008 sales reflect that.
 
The market is competitive. The disadvantage the 508 suffered from even when cheaper was a service cost substantially higher than its competitors, a smaller engine with a timing belt and lesser performance and a need for a higher grade of fuel but no diesel option. The addition of a particle filter to a petrol engine is only a liability to a buyer.
A 504 in 1970 was in real terms $42000.
This is the old attempt to push a car into a higher sales bracket to increase unit profits instead of the hard work of selling quantity. Skoda now occupies the sales position Peugeot held only a few years ago.
 
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