Is the general motor trade, slightly xenophobic? And if it is, has that proven to be a bad thing for the countries that are slightly ‘more’ than others?
Not trying to be contentious, but the motor trade, like its buying public has always been slightly xenophobic, you only have to watch American films covering the last 30 years to see the shift away from Detroit iron to euro boxes as they used to call them over the pond.
The move has certainly been bad for Detroit and Michigan as a whole.
But across Europe, did the British stand out as ‘less’ xenophobic? We welcomed innovative design from our European neighbours with open arms through the 70’s and 80’s at the sad loss of our own Motor Trade. As Birmingham will attest.
Can we honestly say that the Triumph Dolomite or Austin Princess were worse than the Renault 12 or Fiat 128. Or a decade later was the Maestro much worse than a Renault 11 or a Fiat Strada.
Yet, these two countries probably lean towards ‘more’ xenophobia, France is still awash with Renault, Peugeot and Citroen, while Italy is strongly Fiat and Lancia. Have they done better out of a slightly nationalistic stance?
The concerns this week in the mainstream press, with France unwilling to bend over Chinese EV imports into Europe. I can see why. Out of all the European manufacturers producing today, the French machines are likely to be the most competitive against the emerging Asian brands.
I think Italy would be standing firm alongside France, except Italian politics is a law unto itself at the moment.
So where does it leave UK retailers? Over the next few years I won’t be surprised if they embrace the EV’s from China and Korea, we have done it before, we will do it again. Certainly with our handover calls, or service follow-up calls we are not seeing worse customer comments than the more UK established brands.
If new makes drive customers through the showroom door, it can only be a good thing for the retail motor trade. We need products that can be sold, or rather bought by the general public. Not just as a first car, but as a second or third.
The future is rosy, complicated, but hopefully profitable. Retail dealers are very good at finding a profit where there doesn’t always seem to be one.
#ev, #aftersales
