Marketing textbook, chapter 7

Consumers can look forward to high discounts in the German car market. This is the conclusion of a study by the CAR Institute at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

According to the researchers, the high discounts on new car purchases are primarily the result of the aggressive pricing policy of volume manufacturers. For example, market leader VW offers additional discounts on various models, from the Up subcompact car to the Golf, Passat and Touareg SUV. Almost a third of all new VW cars are also registered to the manufacturer and dealers so that they can be sold as „young“ used cars. A pricing policy that enables significant discounts with internet brokers - and thus makes life difficult for dealers.

Competitors are trying to keep up with the market leader. In order to stand up to the new competition on the Internet, Ford had urged its dealers to offer their cars in dealerships at the same conditions as on the Internet. This campaign was intended to steal a march on the Internet brokers, but did not bring the hoped-for success. According to the study, the Ford Fiesta, for example, is currently discounted more heavily than any other model on the German market. The discount level at dealerships has increased massively as a result of the campaign. In addition, the Federal Cartel Office is now also investigating Ford.

The Opel, Peugeot and Citroen brands are also being targeted by investigators due to a similar discount policy at dealerships. Nevertheless, Opel has recently been able to reduce the proportion of its own registrations. More than a third of all Opel brand vehicles sold were registered to dealers, manufacturers or car hire companies. This is a larger proportion than for any other German brand, which the manufacturer attributes to increased sales in employee leasing.

Overall, however, the high proportion of owner registrations, which are sold on the market as „young“ used cars at a high discount, remains a problem for the sector. Although their share has fallen slightly, it is still very high overall. Volkswagen and BMW in particular are cheating much more than in previous months.

Sources:

• http://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/industrie/vw-ford-opel-rabattschlacht-im-autohaus/11879646.html (as at 27 June 2022).