12/05/2010

Up to Shepshed for a rather hurried look at how the VW stock is faring. Apparently it was all going swimmingly until Thursday afternoon, when suddenly everyone left to
a. vote
b. queue up to vote
c. watch other people queueing to vote on the telly

That said, there was a good attendance and they were out to buy. New Polo has been a solid hit, and the waiting time for a new Golf has meant that late-plate examples are strong, although interest is all around the high-spec variants; no-one seems to want entry-level at present. 4x4s are still fine, although there's now a suspicion that we must be close to the point where they run out of steam.

Concerns were mostly about price levels, for new and used. Dealers are worried that we're now near a line that customers can't - or won't - cross. The levels of discounts available on new product from just about everybody suggests that a big realignment can't be far away.

The conversation also went, via the new Sharan, to the subject of badging. No manufacturer likes to see their lovely (and expensive) new design sullied by trim badges and clutter, but they refuse to recognise how much this might lose them per unit when these cars come on the open market. If the traders in the hall can't identify the car quickly, they'll offer the price of the lowest-spec car: so not having a badge could easily cost £1,500 a time after three years. As I said to some product managers last week, if you were offered a bottle of wine with no label ... how much would you pay? Would you offer £50 in the vague hope that it was Lafite, or £3 in case it's Chateau Pis-du-Chat?