mistareno said:
From what I have seen of Renaults sales expectations they want to be selling 10000 units by 2007.
Actually, the comedians were aiming for 25,000 :roflmao:
VW has passed 10,000 for the year.
Mercedes is sitting on over 17k for the year (take away 3.5k for various light commercials though).
BMW are sitting at 12k.
mistareno said:
This would be more than Peugeot, Renault and Citroen combined in 03. 10000 units is heading well and truly into volume sales.
Not quite. 11,830 Froggies sold YTD.
mistareno said:
10000 units based on current pricing? Forget it. People these days aren't stupid. It took me ess than 2 minutes to find out that Australian Renault prices are inflated by 20%. Do you think non-Renaultphiles about to fork out 20K would just go in blind folded?
Now, if we believe the guy that runs the 206gti.net mailing list:
Thanks for that Justin, very interesting. Most of it makes a lot of sense:
- 307s are great cars - the dealer in Adelaide just sells every car they
get.
- Not surprised a lot of Golfs get sold - they're good cars - my other car
(wife's) is a Golf.
- Not surprised the Echo's sell a lot - my family has a few as well as a few
Corollas - they're very good value for money for small run abouts.
- Not surprised about the Renaults - they're just ugly (Sorry Dave).
:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
I don't know whether pricing is really the main issue, after all Peugeot has managed to succeed with its positioning and I suspect people downunder don't perceive a Euro marque such as Renault to be a bargain basement car. You don't want to turn Renault into France's Kia overnight.
Renault has some very good value products on the Aussie market. Whilst the entry price may be higher in a Clio, than a Barina, a Barina will also cost more. Does Renault need to get down and dirty and advertise the Clio with A/C as an option. Sure it's cheating (because any sane person wouldn't buy a car without A/C, little wonder VW only brought in 5 non A/C Polos at its launch), but everyone else seems to do it in that segment. I'd argue a Clio is better value than a C3 or 206 - last month the 206 & C3 beat it in the sales charts.
It's similar with Peugeot and the 307. You pay more for a 307 than a Corolla, but you get more. Spec a Corolla up to 307 levels and then you pay more than for a 307. The Megane is basically priced at 307 levels.
A lot has to do with the brand and the product. I'd also throw in the distribution network.
The Scenic is old, the interior feels cheap and old, it just doesn't feel as impressive as the competitors, as the benchmark has moved on. It'll be replaced, and the replacement isn't as polarising than the Megane hatch (in terms of appearence).
The Megane Cabrio - again, old, old, old. You need to compare it with what is currently being offered in the market place. I would say pricing hurts it a little too, it doesn't feel like a $40k car. Again, being replaced. Sales have crashed, as the rental fleets aren't buying them anymore. I wouldn't be too flustered about this model anyway, just wait for the replacement.
The Clio - yesterday's car in terms of packaging, something which is becoming very important. Barina, 206, C3, Jazz, Mazda2 have much more room inside. Sure it's a fun drive, but some people actually prefer light steering (I'm thinking female customers here, I've got friends that think that way). The trim in the Expression model is plain horrible. It's got that funny face - a few of my female friends wouldn't touch one because of that. You can't blame bad press - this car has had a honeymoon period with the local press. The local press like it more than the Euro press!!! They should push the fact there is driveaway pricing much harder. That makes the price much more palatable (in doing so you effectively have a car with a RRP of ~$17,500). Now perhaps you could bring out the povo pack model, but if you throw in a 1.2l engine, you won't be popular. In Australia, people have a fixation on engine capacity.
The Laguna - you put an entry level V6 model, but put in trim that's as bad as the Clio Expression??? In a car that's RRP over $50k on the road? I don't care that it's the base model Laguna V6, that trim makes it feel like a taxi. At this end of the market, when you're paying more than $60k for a Privilege LX, you need credibility with that badge. I don't think Renault is there yet. I don't know whether Renault could sell a Laguna profitably at Camry price levels. A Laguna with pricing that starts in the $20s?
Can Renault price at Toyota levels and be competitive? They're a much lower volume seller here (let's be honest, in the foreseeable future, they always will be). Toyota's sold 170k cars this year. Renault hasn't even sold 2% of that. Renault's offerings are still good value. Downunder, they're what I term a transitional brand, they don't have the volume to do Toyota pricing. It's above your standard Toyota, Ford, Holden, but not up there your Saab, Audi, Volvo, BMW, Mercedes, etc.
The main hope lies in the Megane. On paper it should do well. It's a nice car to drive, it has showroom appeal, as long as you can get over that funny derriere.
Dealers. If you're going to position the brand a notch above 'normal' offerings (ie. your Toyotas, Fords, Nissans, etc) you need the network to match. I don't like the old fashioned, 'push em hard', mass market, basic customer service attitude prevalent in some of the dealers. We seem to have a plethora of complaints here about lousy Renault dealers.
I don't think Renault needs a radical change in pricing, some small tweaks here and there for pricing would do. Radical shifts downwards aren't going to impress existing customers. At the end of the day, Peugeot has proven that you can price at a higher level, but offer more, and still do very well. Time will certainly help Renault, as the brand develops credibility and new models come on stream.
But, hmmmn, if they really want to sell 25,000 cars p.a. by 2007, maybe they better start Toyota pricing
