Agree. Good cars will only get you so far. A dealer network that is motivated with decent coverage; and a committed distributor are essential.
INCHCAPE To Show Us How To Sell Citroens?
- Thread starter Greg
- Start date
February 2022 Car Sales:
Citroën C3 9
Citroën C3 Aircross 0
Citroën C4 13
Citroën C5 Aircross 11
Citroën Total 33
Peugeot 2008 24
Peugeot 3008 80
Peugeot 5008 16
Peugeot 508 23
Peugeot Partner 17
Peugeot Boxer 2
Peugeot Expert 21
Peugeot Total 183
Renault Arkana 118
Renault Captur 114
Renault Kangoo 89
Renault Koleos 504
Renault Master 104
Renault Master Bus
Renault Megane 16
Renault Trafic 69
Renault Total 1,018
Citroën C3 9
Citroën C3 Aircross 0
Citroën C4 13
Citroën C5 Aircross 11
Citroën Total 33
Peugeot 2008 24
Peugeot 3008 80
Peugeot 5008 16
Peugeot 508 23
Peugeot Partner 17
Peugeot Boxer 2
Peugeot Expert 21
Peugeot Total 183
Renault Arkana 118
Renault Captur 114
Renault Kangoo 89
Renault Koleos 504
Renault Master 104
Renault Master Bus
Renault Megane 16
Renault Trafic 69
Renault Total 1,018
Renault are doing ok. Well in front of Skoda now. Peugeot sales are nearly as good as 1955. On those figures must be a big mark up on Peugeot and Citroen to cover the cost of the import operation.
'33 Citroen sales - they're basically the new white corolla'
1 up on last month! The marketing manager's job is assured ... (you complete the sentence)
1 up on last month! The marketing manager's job is assured ... (you complete the sentence)
Hello everyone
I really tried to buy a new Citroen, honest I did…….
Our 2010 C5 with 210,000km was caught in a basement car park in the Brisbane flood and submerged to the roofline for days. Still dealing with insurance and to be fair the Towies could only collect it yesterday.
Had no intention of selling it anytime soon and at the moment daughter #2 has had her C4 commandeered by my wife for daily duties.
Anyway back to trying to buy a replacement. Last Saturday I test drove a new C4 and thought it was very nice. Roomy and comfortable for front row, however headroom for rear passengers very compromised by the styling. Boot storage not that impressive. But definitely worth considering.
When I got back to the dealership chatted to the salesman and the manager. Set out that I was buying, no trade within 2 weeks (to allow for insurance to settle). Asked three questions for them to get back to me:
- price of the Ice Blue demo (my preferred colour)
- colour availability and delivery timeframe for MY21 C5 Aircross (current offer)
- out of curiosity, when will the C5X land? I would kick myself if they are released soon.
But after 16 year of Citroen enjoyment, that may be it. I called the dealer Tuesday afternoon because they were to call me Monday this week.
Only info I received was that the C5X may be released in July, but it might not be imported at all. What is that supposed to mean???? As to the other two question, ummm, ahhh, nope don’t know. Will have to get back to you. Radio silence.
My wife put down a holding deposit on a Skoda yesterday.
If you can’t sell a car to someone who has drunk the Kool-aid, cash in hand and MUST purchase a car what chance has the marque got? I hope you all have a better experience than what we had.
cheers
Jason
I really tried to buy a new Citroen, honest I did…….
Our 2010 C5 with 210,000km was caught in a basement car park in the Brisbane flood and submerged to the roofline for days. Still dealing with insurance and to be fair the Towies could only collect it yesterday.
Had no intention of selling it anytime soon and at the moment daughter #2 has had her C4 commandeered by my wife for daily duties.
Anyway back to trying to buy a replacement. Last Saturday I test drove a new C4 and thought it was very nice. Roomy and comfortable for front row, however headroom for rear passengers very compromised by the styling. Boot storage not that impressive. But definitely worth considering.
When I got back to the dealership chatted to the salesman and the manager. Set out that I was buying, no trade within 2 weeks (to allow for insurance to settle). Asked three questions for them to get back to me:
- price of the Ice Blue demo (my preferred colour)
- colour availability and delivery timeframe for MY21 C5 Aircross (current offer)
- out of curiosity, when will the C5X land? I would kick myself if they are released soon.
But after 16 year of Citroen enjoyment, that may be it. I called the dealer Tuesday afternoon because they were to call me Monday this week.
Only info I received was that the C5X may be released in July, but it might not be imported at all. What is that supposed to mean???? As to the other two question, ummm, ahhh, nope don’t know. Will have to get back to you. Radio silence.
My wife put down a holding deposit on a Skoda yesterday.
If you can’t sell a car to someone who has drunk the Kool-aid, cash in hand and MUST purchase a car what chance has the marque got? I hope you all have a better experience than what we had.
cheers
Jason
Interesting article about Renault's sales going up:
www.drive.com.au
And the independent distributor? Ateco.
It's all been downhill since Ateco stopped being the Citroen distributor, although Inchcape is responsible for the complete nose dive of the past 3 years.
Renault posts sales record in Australia after switch to independent distributor
The French car company has posted its best February sales result on record in Australia after switching to an independent distributor.
www.drive.com.au
And the independent distributor? Ateco.
It's all been downhill since Ateco stopped being the Citroen distributor, although Inchcape is responsible for the complete nose dive of the past 3 years.
Renault sees the importance of country dealerships. New one in Warrnambool is doing well. Country dealers and service centres continue to disappear from the Inchcape list.
Whilst I still think it’s pretty dire, there ought to be some small defence of Citroen here as maybe not being utterly terrible in sales (or at least trajectory.)
Anyone who spoke to a Citroen dealer over the past year to two years has known that there has been a litany of problems with importing stock: there was the stink bugs fiasco, the general enormous impacts of COVID with cars sitting on the docks of France unable to get to dealers here, I have a feeling there was some sort certification issue with a lot of euro cars in the mix too.
Now hear me out - excuses, excuses you say. But much of last year they sold about 7 cars a month. But if you had spoken to a dealer (as I did, enquiring about C3), they said they couldn’t get stock. One dealer said he had cars on order that had been sitting on the docks in France for months.
Excuses, excuses.
But, now these issues are (somewhat) out of the way, there is an uptick in sales. 33 a month, and it’s been a few months in a row of around 30.
Nobody is going to argue these are great figures - but what is interesting is that pre-pandemic, Citroen also had a long spell of selling about 30-35 a month. But THEN, that figure also included the Berlingo, which actually sold quite “well.”
So, in many ways, selling 30 cars a month, verses selling 30 (cars+mainly Berlingos) a month is a definite improvement. At a time when the pandemic still makes for a messy market, and the price of new Citroens has increased, not decreased, isn’t that at the very least a small win?
On the points about dealers and poor sales:
It’s maddening. Is there no way stories like FNQ1000’s above reach head office?
I have had similar experience: walked into a dealer on North Shore (Sydney) a few years back with quite a keen eye on purchasing a new C5 Aircross. The dealer-kid knew absolutely nothing about the car: I had to point out to him that it has interesting features, like the progressive hydraulic suspension. He had absolutely no idea, and despite me quite clearly being interested in purchasing the very car in front of him, turned around and tried to sell me a Peugeot instead.
Are there perverse incentives at these dealers? Do they get better commission on other makes of cars? Are they somehow actually discouraged in selling them? Maybe given Citroen is known to be a tough sell, some dealers don’t WANT the Citroen franchise, and if they have been landed it, they try to get rid of it by trying NOT to sell cars??
I’m not sure, but basic salesmanship is to pick up the phone and follow up an interested customer like FNQ1000 above, and stories like that just shouldn’t happen; and Inchcape should be jumping on stories like this and disciplining their dealers.
Anyone who spoke to a Citroen dealer over the past year to two years has known that there has been a litany of problems with importing stock: there was the stink bugs fiasco, the general enormous impacts of COVID with cars sitting on the docks of France unable to get to dealers here, I have a feeling there was some sort certification issue with a lot of euro cars in the mix too.
Now hear me out - excuses, excuses you say. But much of last year they sold about 7 cars a month. But if you had spoken to a dealer (as I did, enquiring about C3), they said they couldn’t get stock. One dealer said he had cars on order that had been sitting on the docks in France for months.
Excuses, excuses.
But, now these issues are (somewhat) out of the way, there is an uptick in sales. 33 a month, and it’s been a few months in a row of around 30.
Nobody is going to argue these are great figures - but what is interesting is that pre-pandemic, Citroen also had a long spell of selling about 30-35 a month. But THEN, that figure also included the Berlingo, which actually sold quite “well.”
So, in many ways, selling 30 cars a month, verses selling 30 (cars+mainly Berlingos) a month is a definite improvement. At a time when the pandemic still makes for a messy market, and the price of new Citroens has increased, not decreased, isn’t that at the very least a small win?
On the points about dealers and poor sales:
It’s maddening. Is there no way stories like FNQ1000’s above reach head office?
I have had similar experience: walked into a dealer on North Shore (Sydney) a few years back with quite a keen eye on purchasing a new C5 Aircross. The dealer-kid knew absolutely nothing about the car: I had to point out to him that it has interesting features, like the progressive hydraulic suspension. He had absolutely no idea, and despite me quite clearly being interested in purchasing the very car in front of him, turned around and tried to sell me a Peugeot instead.
Are there perverse incentives at these dealers? Do they get better commission on other makes of cars? Are they somehow actually discouraged in selling them? Maybe given Citroen is known to be a tough sell, some dealers don’t WANT the Citroen franchise, and if they have been landed it, they try to get rid of it by trying NOT to sell cars??
I’m not sure, but basic salesmanship is to pick up the phone and follow up an interested customer like FNQ1000 above, and stories like that just shouldn’t happen; and Inchcape should be jumping on stories like this and disciplining their dealers.
And to the poster asking about when the C5X will come - common sense is that dealers never know and never promise. They’re allowed to say no more than we know from public statements by Citroen in Australia:
“UPDATE, November 17: The 2022 Citroen C5 X has been confirmed for Australia, with a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variant also potentially on its way.
Citroen Australia General Manager Kate Gillis told media on Tuesday that the model will be arriving locally in the third quarter of next year.
No further details about pricing or specification have yet been confirmed, other than to say a PHEV version is "still being evaluated".”
And Citroen can still change their mind.
3rd quarter is July-Sept this year.
Given that the C5X isn’t even on sale in Europe yet, and first reviews are only just trickling in, I would say July to be very optimistic for Aus, and that we’ll be lucky to see any on Australian roads before November; but never say never.
But until there’s a launch date, all dealers can say is “yeah might be coming” and I wouldn’t expect any more from them.
“UPDATE, November 17: The 2022 Citroen C5 X has been confirmed for Australia, with a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variant also potentially on its way.
Citroen Australia General Manager Kate Gillis told media on Tuesday that the model will be arriving locally in the third quarter of next year.
No further details about pricing or specification have yet been confirmed, other than to say a PHEV version is "still being evaluated".”
And Citroen can still change their mind.
3rd quarter is July-Sept this year.
Given that the C5X isn’t even on sale in Europe yet, and first reviews are only just trickling in, I would say July to be very optimistic for Aus, and that we’ll be lucky to see any on Australian roads before November; but never say never.
But until there’s a launch date, all dealers can say is “yeah might be coming” and I wouldn’t expect any more from them.
That may all be true, but why then did other Euro brands do much better?
The Citroen C5X is a controversial build. A Chinese built car at a European price. Some in France see it as the death knell of French motor manufacturing.
God knows.
Firstly lots did poorly compared to their usual stats.
If you sell 1000 cars a month and only manage 600 a month, then it’s a dire situation for that brand, but it doesn’t look anywhere near as dire as Citroen.
Secondly, I would imagine that importers like Inchcape were daily faced with decisions about usage of cargo space that was suddenly difficult to secure. Fewer ships travelling out of ports, cost of shipping containers absolutely skyrocketing etc: when they put in their orders knowing they might only get 30% of what they order actually delivered - if you’re a big Inchcape Subaru dealer who sells hundreds of Subarus a month, and struggle to sell 1 Citroen a month, then when push comes to shove and decisions are down to the wire, you fill that shipping container with Subarus, and Citroen gets pushed to the back of the queue repeatedly.
I don’t know - I don’t run a car dealership, I’m only guessing. Perhaps someone in the industry can chime in and tell me how off base my suppositions are…
It's all a matter of perspective. Citroën sales are 450% up on Feb last year and 169.6% YTD on last year.
Clearly Inchcape are smashing it this year.
Clearly Inchcape are smashing it this year.
All-electric would be total death at this time. Most city cars have no garage, and a very large proportion have no driveway parking.
Teslas sell well around here, but none are street parked.
Teslas sell well around here, but none are street parked.
Obtaining stock is a problem for multiple manufacturers / importers and made worse by the chip shortage, which has seen various features deleted in production and sometimes, say, a reversion to an analogue dash cluster. Used prices can even exceed new if it is available now vs waiting 6-12 months.
So this is not good news:
www.drive.com.au
Citroen C3 hatch, C5 Aircross lose key safety tech, parking sensors amid semiconductor shortage
Citroen has become the latest car brand in Australia to cut driver assistance features to navigate the semiconductor shortage – but there won't be a price cut to compensate.
www.drive.com.au