For buyers looking for the “deal of a lifetime” on a brand new car the smaller, less recession proof brands are definitely the best places to start. However that is OK if you are just into buying a good deal, not so good if you are into buying a great car and a great service. Regrettably, it is almost inevitable that at least one or two car makers will go to the wall before this recession is over and that could seriously devalue your new car if you have chosen one of these. In a perverse kind of way, although it really seems to defy logic, it would almost be better if a potentialbuyer has to work really hard for a good deal and the salesman is in no way desperate to sell his product at ‘any cost’ as some are. Indeed if on entering a showroom a salesman offers thousands of pounds off the list price before even demonstrating the car, it will only indicate that dealers are desperate and this kind of distress selling will do nothing to inspire confidence or value in the brand. Our best guess is that during these “challenging” times certain car makers and the network that supports them will do everything possible to keep the cars turning but now, more than ever, should be a time when offering a good deal for a good car should not mean desperation.
Distress selling leads to the erosion of value in a product, value that may have been built up over many years and is jeopardised or, in some cases, completely wiped out by these tactics. The brand then becomes something that is seen as not worth consideration, if the company selling it don’t feel the value themselves, after all isn’t that saying if I don’t love myself how can I ever expect anyone else to love me!
