The Agency Sales Model

Skoda UK have now confirmed that they are also moving to the 'Agency Sales' model where buyers of new cars deal with Skoda UK rather than a dealer (albeit only for electric cars for now).

I don't know about you, but I'm highly suspicious of this idea. 

For the last 20 odd years, I've bought new VW or Skoda cars as factory orders, built to my exact requirements and purchased as cash deals plus P/X, financed by either a personal loan or from savings. This has given me the car I want, with the flexibility to keep it as long as I want as it's not tied to an H/P or lease deal. I've also negotiated an average 8% discount on list prices with the dealer. 

Will I be able to negotiate similar discounts from Skoda UK? I doubt it.

Will they reduce list prices by 8%? Again I doubt it. 

I realise that I'm not a typical buyer as most private sales seem to be financed by 3 year lease agreements, but the general move by car importers to take dealers out of the sales loop seems to be aimed at protecting their profit margins and preventing private buyers like me from negotiating good deals. (Fleet buyers of course will still get big discounts from the importers.) But will discounters like CarWow etc still be able to provide factory orders at discounts? 

With the already exorbitant cost of electric cars now protected from dealer discounts, I think I'll be sticking to petrol cars for any future purchases!

Chris