Got held up in a traffic queue outside a Peugeot dealer in Ipswich last week, stationary for a good few minutes. My eyes wandered over to the rather large number of vehicles on the forecourt, all with the hatchbacks open to attract the punters.
Then I looked at the expressions on the car salesmen and they did not look happy at all. By the look of it, I reckon the last car they sold was last Easter.........!! Poor chaps, make ny heart bleed......not.
Still, anybody looking for a bargain and are a good negotiator could have cut a good deal there for sure. Even more so now....nearing the end of the month.
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In this economic climate the businesses (of any sort) who will be least affected are those with some form of USP. Sadly it's difficult nowadays to think of any outstanding reason to choose a Peugeot.
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ive just left the car trade after 4 years to go back into IT. Car sales were on the floor. Im glad im not working there now.
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. Sadly it's difficult nowadays to think of any outstandingreason to choose a Peugeot.
I don't know. 18 months in with my 407 coupe. Lovely car, great ride and not a thing gone wrong.
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Yes, you have a point! If you want a coupe, a 406 or 407 will look good and be a lot cheaper than German equivalents.
I was thinking of the bread-and-butter models: in the 1990s the 205 and 306 were best in their classes. Sadly, nowadays a Peugeot seldom wins a group test in the motoring magazines, and they aren't partiocularly cheap.
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Our local Citroen dealer has taken to parking a few cars and a bored salesman in the local garden centre car park - apparently they have to park them in peoples way now to get any attention! Sad to see.
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Sept sales figures now out on SMMT website
Total Sales: 330,295 (Sept 2007 - 419,290) - down 21.23%
"Diesel volumes fell (down 15.4%), but their market share rose from 39.4% a year ago to 42.8%."
"Only the mini segment posted growth in September, thanks to smart, Hyundai?s i10 and Vauxhall?s Agila. Large cars, in general, saw sharper sales falls then small cars - although both Audi and Jaguar bucked the trend and saw volumes rise in September."
Renault had very poor sales - 10,454 units, as opposed to 21,236 last September, down 50.77%, and were outsold not only by Ford, Vauxhall, VW, and Peugeot, but also by Toyota, Honda, Nissan (!), Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Citroen.
Top 10 sellers:
1. 15,647 - CORSA
2. 13,316 - FIESTA
3. 12,965 - ASTRA
4. 12,683 - FOCUS
5. 10,048 - GOLF
6. 8,417 - 207
7. 7,116 - MINI
8. 7,027 - 3 SERIES
9. 6,341 - MONDEO
10. 6,138 - POLO
Edited by Honestjohn on 06/10/2008 at 16:15
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Audi may claim to have sold more but to who? A visit to my local dealer last week saw me looking at a large number of cars (20 or so) with "NEW" on the reg plates.
I don't know if they are new or pre reg, but I've never seen that in an Audi dealership before.
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I think you'll find that after this week, its going to be a lot harder to get a loan on a car........
Expect firesales this November....
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I'm holding out for September 2009.
It is going to get a LOT worse..
By then home repossessions will be hitting the news.. and unemployment over 2.5 million and a third emergency rescue package will have come and failed..
FTSE sub 3500 by then...says my charts.
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I'm holding out for September 2010.
Unemployment will be at 30 million+ and I'll be doing a roaring trade bartering with my stockpile of luxury toilet roll! ;)
Seriously madf, how can you be sure the bottom hasn't yet been hit or that there isn't much further for it to go?
We haven't even seen any major car companies go bust yet, and if that started happening (which it will if sales don't pick up soon) then 2009 could be way too early to start thinking about profiting on others misery with the car market?
I'd love to see those charts...
Edited by TheOilBurner on 06/10/2008 at 16:06
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Some of the September figures are distorted by captive registrations.
Others by the fact the manufacturer has new models on the way and is consequently suffering from old model blight, as is the case with Honda (down 39.59%) and Renault (down 50.77%).
Jaguar did suspiciously well in September (up 3.56%).
Chrysler/Jeep had a catastrophic month (down 68.99% and 61.06% respectively).
Land Rover was down 49.7%, Lexus 43.98%, SAAB 46.62%.
SMART was up 9.26%, showing which way the market is going.
The year to date figures are more instructive.
HJ
Edited by Honestjohn on 06/10/2008 at 16:15
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Weird how Fiat and Citroën aren't doing so well with a good range of cheap, small cars and Volvo with slow selling smaller models and a heavy reliance on the old and thirsty XC90 in their sales figures are seeing sales grow?
Good old MG hitting back with an astounding 800% increase in sales!!! They must be the envy of every other manufacturer now...
Shame it's only up from 1 to 9 cars though...
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Fiat havent dropped in line with the rest of the industry though. They are pretty much on par with last year. Citroen, Renault and Peugeot seem to be suffering quite heavy sales deficits. Renault have dropped 20% a year for the last 2-3 years so its no surprise they have dropped considerably so far!!
As for MG and 800%!! Wonder what it will be next month when at least 400 customers are taking delivery of their LE500 over next 8-10 weeks!
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Out of the total sales how many are "really sales" at or near list price or how many are dumped at up to 50% as"daily rental fleets".
Then take away the Pre Reg cars that will sit for the next 3 months (until the VAT is due!)
21% fall might be the version through coloured spectacles - the truth might be a lot worse.
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Quote:..""Weird how Fiat and Citroën aren't doing so well""
Styling could be the problem. I can't think of any Fiats or Citroens that look good except for the Fiat Punto.
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As the recession deepens, money becomes tighter and unemployment rises, motoring is going to take a hit. Isn't it likely that multi car familes are going to get rid of the second car, third car or whatever ?
We need to replace both our cars, which are over 10 years old, but are thinking that we'll have to try and get by with one car, although that will be difficult at times.
Edited by Sofa Spud on 06/10/2008 at 17:57
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