The world of cars is changing and with it the way of selling cars. More and more brands and groups in the automotive sector are migrating to an “agency” model, with a direct sales system or a hybrid approach to customers. This new direction given by car manufacturers has raised quite a few controversies among traditional dealers but the big four-wheelers seem to have already taken the final decision. Confirming this are the positions of Stellantis, BMW and Mercedesall agree on the need to change the method of selling cars by making it more current.
“We merged with many brands with different legacies and this was an opportunity to rethink the way we were conducting operations”, explained Maria Grazia Davinosales and marketing manager for the Europe region of Stellantis during the Automotive News Congress being held in Prague. “We have to admit we were stuck in inefficient habits in the industry.” The group born from the merger between FCA and PSA has already announced the restructuring of its sales network, with a 40% reduction in the distribution costs of new cars, including retail and variable marketing. Stellantis aims to rise to a 50% sales system mix in Europe by migrating to the agency model as early as 2023. A position similar to that of Mercedes, which has already successfully tested this type of solution since 2019, to the point that customers often said they were particularly satisfied with regard to price transparency.
The position of Renault is different, however, and will continue to collaborate with its dealer network: “We have decided to keep the dealership network contracts and capitalize on a very valuable asset”, Raffaele Fusilli explainedCEO of Renault Italy, – “We don’t need another stress test in the system. Dacia for example has a fixed price and Renault can go the same way according to the dealership contract. There are different ways to achieve the same goals ”.
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