grandpamike

The following is from the latest Auto Spies. Make of it anything you want:


What is dealer cost on the 2004 Audi A8?
Are they following Mercedes-Benz?


So here's the story you can expect from your Audi salesperson, when you try to buy an A8.

First, they'll cry the blues and tell you their profit has been cut on the new A8 to only 6%.

And they will be telling you the truth...THEIR profit has been cut (the salespersons, not the dealers).

So here's the scoop:

MSRP on the new A8 is $69,190
Invoice is $64,740

Which works out to 6% or so.

What they haven't told you is Audi is pulling a Mercedes-Benz.

Instead of giving the dealer the profit up front (reflected in the msrp to invoice scenario), they are hiding it and giving it to them on the back end, dependant on customer satisfaction scores, etc.

So the dealer will still get the 12% total profit on each car, but the salesperson will only make their 20% of profit commission off the 6% number and YOU will get less of a discount.

Ahh, the rich get richer....

April

Long before the new A8, Audi has had a program were by the top 3 or 4 ( customer ) rated dealers in each region ( CA has two regions ) will get a quarterly bonus IF they exceed a standard set by Audi. It is by no means guaranteed unless the dealer can exceed the base rating, and be in the top 3 or 4 dealers for ratings. Even then it is a sliding scale based on placement, scores, and sales volumes.

Different yet similar to holdback - and much more limited in scope.

Just the usual Auto Spies supermarket tabloid spin....

harinder

But April, how do you really feel? :-)

April

self important spin on everything they post. Especially dubious now that they are offering some kind of car selling service.