RE: Subaru Plug into Autotrader
Monday 9th August 2004
Subaru Plug into Autotrader
They're still bothered by grey imports
Subaru continues its fight against imports with its latest offensive being to place its used car stock on the Auto Trader website.
One third of Subaru’s 90 dealers have already signed up for the scheme which links their stock to the site.
Subaru is one of only a handful of brands to use the Auto Trader site. Most vehicles are advertised on the web by large dealer groups or smaller traders.
"We believe this gives us a distinct advantage as it distances our cars from dubious ‘grey’ imports and cars of uncertain history," said Subaru National Fleet and Used Car Manager, Harvey France.
Since Subaru began the pilot programme in March with a small number of dealers the scheme has grown extensively and is currently registering 450,000 views per month.
Discussion
perhaps if the UK priced stock more reasonably (sp), offered extras in the same way as Japan (air con was standard in the early 1990s) then perhaps people wouldn't have to go to Japan for their bargains.
Back in 2000, I got a GTfour from Japan, with aircon and a sunroof, Oz wheels, momo interior and many more bits for £2k less than the closest equivalent UK model
Back in 2000, I got a GTfour from Japan, with aircon and a sunroof, Oz wheels, momo interior and many more bits for £2k less than the closest equivalent UK model
I find it really irritating that manufactures get so self riteous about gey imporing "undermining" their products. The main reason the grey market exists for anything is a disparity withing global pricing models. This usually means hiking up the prices in the UK to subsidise more competative prices elsewhere. Resorting to buying through the grey market is about the only way people in the UK can protest against being ripped off in this way. The IT industry is rife with grey markets, and the manufacturers who protest the most are also the most guilty of creating the problem. In truth, if it wasn't for the availaibility of grey products, these manufactureres market share would be significantly lower.
Dealers attitudes to grey imports is so stupid. If they worked with it, it would sort itself out. Like many other parts of the economy, it should be a self leveling system. If the dealers were very accepting of greys (maybe even doing it through themselves), then lots more people would do it, demand in Japan for these second cars would rise and so would their prices to the point that it would not really be worth it anymore and thus people would stop doing it so much.
I'm surprised subaru dont import them themselves. Think about it, they could give them a manufacturer check over, offer the customer better choice, sell them as only a little bit under the uk price so they pocket a large profit themselves. More subarus in the ukl market then means more spare parts and servicing for them - an area where they make a much bigger profit margin than the actual cars.
If the manufacturers had half a brain, they could really make some money and improve their 'customer experience' through grey importing. And after all, they're only in it for the money.
I'm surprised subaru dont import them themselves. Think about it, they could give them a manufacturer check over, offer the customer better choice, sell them as only a little bit under the uk price so they pocket a large profit themselves. More subarus in the ukl market then means more spare parts and servicing for them - an area where they make a much bigger profit margin than the actual cars.
If the manufacturers had half a brain, they could really make some money and improve their 'customer experience' through grey importing. And after all, they're only in it for the money.
Gazboy said:
Wonder if they withold parts like Toyota?
My local Toyota garage had absolutely no issues servicing my import at £59 + vat an hour, finding parts (again at full list price). When I asked them about grey imports the service manager said, "We love them - servicing makes more money than sales"
mcflurry said:
Wonder if they withold parts like Toyota?
My local Toyota garage had absolutely no issues servicing my import at £59 + vat an hour, finding parts (again at full list price). When I asked them about grey imports the service manager said, "We love them - servicing makes more money than sales"
Same here mate. Mr T in Swindon couldn't care less where the thing came from.
Besides, the GT-Four is pretty much *identical* in spec here and in Japan.
Remember that Subarus are NOT sold in the UK by Subaru or Fuji heavy industries. They are sold by International Motors instead. So I don't believe it's Subaru doing the stiring here - more likely it's IM being difficult (again) When will they learn?... 
IM do not like to sell parts to grey import cars (even though they're 99% the same in most cases) and the dealers I've spoken to have been very difficult.
I don't use them any more as a result (even for my UK car) There are far better (and cheaper) specialists out there. I have been known to do work on other people's Subarus before now, so IM have lost more than 1 customer for being difficult with me.
The comments about the standard spec are correct too. I'd much rather have had a JDM WRX than my UK turbo. It was more powerful as standard, had climate control as standard etc... My UK car came to me at the right price and the insurance (even heavily modified) is still considerably less than a WRX.
TBH I haven't seen too many problems with JDM cars other than dodgy crash repairs and the like (but then you get that on UK cars too), then there's the people that think that heavily tuned turbo'd cars can run on 95 RON fuel and after that, there's the people (some dealers/specialists included) who don't follow the sensible procedure for oil changes - it's much like the Griffith /Chimera procedure for ensuring oil pressure on first start up after the change.
This is an essay now so I'll shut up!
IM do not like to sell parts to grey import cars (even though they're 99% the same in most cases) and the dealers I've spoken to have been very difficult.
I don't use them any more as a result (even for my UK car) There are far better (and cheaper) specialists out there. I have been known to do work on other people's Subarus before now, so IM have lost more than 1 customer for being difficult with me.
The comments about the standard spec are correct too. I'd much rather have had a JDM WRX than my UK turbo. It was more powerful as standard, had climate control as standard etc... My UK car came to me at the right price and the insurance (even heavily modified) is still considerably less than a WRX.
TBH I haven't seen too many problems with JDM cars other than dodgy crash repairs and the like (but then you get that on UK cars too), then there's the people that think that heavily tuned turbo'd cars can run on 95 RON fuel
and after that, there's the people (some dealers/specialists included) who don't follow the sensible procedure for oil changes - it's much like the Griffith /Chimera procedure for ensuring oil pressure on first start up after the change. This is an essay now so I'll shut up!
eein said:
I'm surprised subaru dont import them themselves. Think about it, they could give them a manufacturer check over, offer the customer better choice, sell them as only a little bit under the uk price so they pocket a large profit themselves. More subarus in the ukl market then means more spare parts and servicing for them - an area where they make a much bigger profit margin than the actual cars.
If the manufacturers had half a brain, they could really make some money and improve their 'customer experience' through grey importing. And after all, they're only in it for the money.
Thats what Toyota do over here. They import them and give them a full going over then they sell as a Toyota Signature Class car for a premium over other imports but still cheaper than domestic stuff
A grey import market is a symptom of a problem, normally caused by manufactures trying to rig a market.
The rigging of the market (i.e. DVDs) should be illegal - maybe if people (like us) campaigned enough we could get it adopted by one of the parties as it IS a block to free world trade. On the other hand maybe they are more interested in big business. There was a recent judgement banning the sale of chips for XBOX and PS2 - once again in the interests of big business over the consumer. (I wouldn't buy an XBOX if I can't write my own applications for it or run Linux for that matter)....
The rigging of the market (i.e. DVDs) should be illegal - maybe if people (like us) campaigned enough we could get it adopted by one of the parties as it IS a block to free world trade. On the other hand maybe they are more interested in big business. There was a recent judgement banning the sale of chips for XBOX and PS2 - once again in the interests of big business over the consumer. (I wouldn't buy an XBOX if I can't write my own applications for it or run Linux for that matter)....
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