13 years ago
SOME dealers have reported 58-plate sales are running at half last year’s levels. Alarming stuff, given how crucial a good September performance is this year.
The news comes from deal-hunting website Broadspeed – which has taken the opportunity to highlight some dramatic deals on new cars.
Such as? Well, it’s able to source half-price brand-new Subaru Tribecas, for one. Yes, half price. And brand-new. The £29k model can be sourced for £14,599 on the road. Gob-smacking in every sense of the word. There are also Mercedes E 220 CDIs with up to £10k off list.
Indeed, Broadspeed says it has never before offered deals like this before. Even in the height of its ‘car cruise’ import service of the 1990s, it never managed to source a ‘half-price’ car.
So, why now? Because, it says, dealers are facing unrelenting pressure to meet sales targets. The company can therefore negotiate what it describes as ‘highly unusual’ discounts. Dealers are, in return, hoping such prices can turn around dramatically declining sales – and help them meet vital manufacturer targets.
But it’s not just deals on outright purchases that are flooding in. Broadspeed also reports that dealers are keenly driving finance deals, too – and offers some startling illustrations:
Mercedes E 220 CDI Avantgarde auto
£299 per month PCP over two years with a £1794 deposit
Subaru Tribeca S5
£199 per month over two years with no deposit
Land Rover Discovery TDV6 XS
£299 per month PCP over two years with £1794 deposit
So how does it work? Broadspeed has a network of over 300 UK franchises, and placed 5000 orders with UK dealers last year. The company negotiates the discounted price, but buyers place the order with the main dealer: Broadspeed gets a £299 arrangement fee.
And it’s rather successful – 5000 unique web site visitors a day make more than a million web searches each month.
