just received a letter from my local dealer ,(brundles. tottenhill), to the effect that their servicing/repairs are moving to their vw site in kings lynn because of some new eu regulation. i dose,nt say why these changes have been made only that it will affect all franchise dealers & will come into force on 1 october 03.

has anyone else received similar information?

regds ect:cool:

Havent heard that one, but I know there are some new EU regs coming into force, which is scaring the likes of VW into buying their current dealerships complete then having them manage it for them . A not too far VW dealership in South London who has their head office and main dealership of long standing( at a well known site) told VW where to go and dropped them for Renault because of the way VW was going, trying to make them sell up the whole shebang to VW and then lease/manage back.

Cheers

Hasn't Mercedes just had a major shake-up of its dealer set-up too? I guess that if manufacturers buy up their dealerships then they can stop them from selling other makes of car - whereas if the manufacturers don't own the dealers, they can't. Am I on the right track?

Mercedes is about to or has started. I think they are going to have very large dealerships in major towns/cities and then have feeder servicing only dealers just where e dealers are at the moment. Thats my take on it. Personally I think it's a bad thing but then I hae been wrong before. And I think you are on the right track with the buying the dealers to stop other car makes being sold. However a dealer chain near me owns about 7/8 franchises and sells them all from a massive site as different garages so there are ways round it.

dgw/kentish........seen thats the general idea as brundles have other franchises on the same site(honda/kia/peogeot/toyota as well as skoda, it seems the manufacturers are setting up their own dealerships in nearby towns & cities

regds ect

I wonder how this will affect family-run and owned dealerships like WJH Motors in Bedfordshire which has sold Skodas for years and years?

Family run business can be some of the most profitable and give the best service. As such I would doubt Skoda would want to touch them. If people get good service from a dealer they are inclined to go back to that dealer again and again no matter what car they are selling. My dealer St Andrews in Glasgow is really profitable and they sell a tremendous amount of cars, with the streets in the area full of cars to be serviced etc. God help them if yellow lines are put in!

Looks like - locally at least - one family-run business (Langstone Motors, on the A48 between Newport and Caldicot) has lost the Skoda franchise.

Bad news for Langstone, but a consolation for me - the franchise has gone to another family-run business (Thompson & Thompson in Caldicot) together with at least one of the experienced mechanics from Langstone.

VAG is putting pressure on all dealerships to "smarten up to the corporate image". In other words, dealerships are being taken from small garages and given to the big chains/groups. I am told that the Skoda dealership is the one they want due to the brand growth. I feel the days of the small dealer are numbered..much to my dislike.

Cheers

oh and by the way, the VW ex franchise was Whitehouse, and the premises VW wanted was the Whitehouse head office/main site/original site. Anyone who knows of Whitehouse group will agree that that is really saying something about VW,s intentions.

Cheers

This is really bizarre!

Skoda's big selling point has been customer satisfaction with dealers (at least, in the last couple of J D Powers' surveys, this is where Skoda scored highest).

Now VAG want Skoda dealers to fit in with the corporate image (for which, read: big nationwide chains). Are they mad?

back home in argyll, there is a renault garage ( oldest in scotland i believe ) that has been ultra-successful for years and years that has recently lost its franchise - it was told by renault to smarten up - would have cost around 1million.

now, if you've seen where i'm talking about, there's absolutely no need whatsoever for a spanking new showroom. if you live there and you want local service from the supplying dealer, you basically buy renault!! not exactly what i would call a competitive area! anyway, he still sells renault but now sources them from arnold clark in glasgow.

on the downside though, his fuel prices are bloody extortionate :(

I think its just about charging more for anything carried out, seeing as how much the cars are VW components. Since I first had my Octy back in 98 to now with the Superb , I have noticed a destinct shift up in all service prices and VW group practises and mannerisms...not something I like as a consumer.

I dont want flash new showrooms with state of the art coffee machines, I want honest, decent, happy to help you dealers who have carpets and who dont have an abundance of stainless steel everywhere.

Cheers

Originally posted by Kentish in this post

I dont want flash new showrooms with state of the art coffee machines, I want honest, decent, happy to help you dealers who have carpets and who dont have an abundance of stainless steel everywhere.

Cheers

Exactly!

Back in my Citroen ownership days, I alwys (even under warranty!) had my car serviced at a local independent Citroen specialist. They always had some private project (stretch 2CV, etc.) on the go. The workmanship was excellent, and (subject to Health and Safety limits) I was free to go and watch the work being carried out.

This is (IMO) the sort of setup Skoda UK ought to be actively encouraging!

hmmm progress they call it me thinks local small/medium family run business are put under incredable pressure by the might of the vw empire (this year every single skoda dealer recieved letters of termination of contracts) this meant that if you didn't comply with there wants you were out. Vw would give there right arm or leg to get the level of customer satisfaction that "us" skoda dealers have. If this is what vw call progress then they can shove there progress up there *****

Tanfield in Oldham are no longer a Skoda dealer for this very reason - they couldn't/wouldn't afford to

build the new showroom which Skoda demanded of them.

Personally I don't like the new big glass and metal showrooms - they're very noisy and unsettling in

rough weather, and whenever you phone someone there's so much echoing background noise you can

never hear what's being said...

The world's going the way of corporates... :(

Rob.

Originally posted by robmawer in this post

Tanfield in Oldham are no longer a Skoda dealer for this very reason - they couldn't/wouldn't afford to

build the new showroom which Skoda demanded of them.

Personally I don't like the new big glass and metal showrooms - they're very noisy and unsettling in

rough weather, and whenever you phone someone there's so much echoing background noise you can

never hear what's being said...

The world's going the way of corporates... :(

Rob.

yes we are in the same postion only we opted to go along with it and stay with skoda (have been since 1979) so we have got another site (opening) soon in a town location like vw wanted. why we ask more overheads etc. more outlay so mean more price increases for you guys wots the point in that so that we can look smart like the nice big vw dealerships that couldn't give an arse about you. like i say is this progress?

I wonder what the future holds for my friendly local dealer who's dealership is located at an old petrol station in the middle of a housing estate and employs about 5 people at the showroom. Then theres the bodyshop in a different part of town on an industrial estate.

If this gets closed my nearest dealer will be 15 or 20 miles away depending on which way you go, and these are big dealers. At least for now I get that personal touch.

I feel like I could go in there and strike a good deal with whatever as nothing is ever to much trouble.

Saying that though, they did give the showroom an overhaul, new carpet, paint job etc.. so does not look to bad.

Putting in my irrepressible Dutch angle, I have found that Skoda branches within larger VAG dealer empires can still be an island of courtesy compared to their VW/Audi brethern.

Take the largest VAG dealer in Amsterdam - with VW/Audi, Seat and Skoda branches, all are the largest in the country, which you would expect, all of them being in Amsterdam. While the VW/Audi branch has been known for its huge arrogance and customer contempt - as seems to be the usual VW/Audi customer treatment, earning VW dead last position in the our version of the JD Power survey - the Skoda branch's people will roll out the red carpet for their customers. This is within the same group of dealer companies!

I have this idea that the VW/Audi branch has so many corporate customers, with the buying decision being taken by bosses and/or leasing firms, that the salesmen have stopped bothering. The sale's already been done in the boardroom. Then again, why have them?

Originally posted by robmawer in this post

Tanfield in Oldham are no longer a Skoda dealer for this very reason

I remember looking there and being a little disappointed because they were no longer an official dealer. Went to Claybank in Eccles instead who, in their own words, have a "pig ugly" showroom. Nice service though, and I got a great deal from them.

It's very unfortunate , but most new cars aren't sold to private purchasers any more , they are mostly on lease via companies , who take them on for 2 or maybe 3 years , depending on mileage .

Look out everybody for

Ah yes, look at Subaru... In NL last autumn, all official Subaru dealers were unilaterally released from their contracts, with less than half of the contracts renewed on stricter terms - with the importer-supported dealers coming out on top. Of course, these are the franchises with salesmen that do not want to sell and don't make any effort whatsoever. And their showrooms still look crummy!

The effect is that the ousted dealers have joined forces in a "Subaru Specialist Association", sourcing their cars elsewhere, going below the official Subaru NL service rates, and specializing in Subaru performance cars. You may guess only once where the loyal image-building Subaru customer will get his car and take it for service...

Big K, my dealer did tell them to stick it. They asked Skoda for a business plan, seeing as they were asking for a

Originally posted by Witchfinder in this post

I remember looking there and being a little disappointed because they were no longer an official dealer. Went to Claybank in Eccles instead who, in their own words, have a "pig ugly" showroom. Nice service though, and I got a great deal from them.

And I bet Claybank are on the hit list now, with Skoda prefering the 'corporate' style of the Horner's site in Manchester. Is that really progress?

Claybank have invested money in expanding their site though, so they might still be in compliance

with Skoda guidelines.

Personally I wouldn't mind an increase in service costs, so long as it was invested in paying the

mechanics better, improving their training and keeping the workshop in a good state. But I don't

seriously think this will happen!

Rob.