Now's the time to be a car salesman.....

[gromit]

Just phoned a dealer to discuss a new car purchase.
No negotiation, lucky if you'll see it this year ! "we're not selling cars just taking people's bank details"

Reminded me of a program in the UK years back.
Sir John Harvey Jones visited companies and told them what they were doing wrong.
In Morgan cars he went to the sales director and told him "you don't sell cars you ration them !".

Troubleshooter: Morgan Motor Car Company. 1990 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtDA714SdgQ)



Colin

[3toes]

And that was one of the secrets of their success. Too small to go volume so manage the sales pipeline to your advantage

The family who had always owned the business sold out a few years ago

[gromit]

And that was one of the secrets of their success. Too small to go volume so manage the sales pipeline to your advantage

The family who had always owned the business sold out a few years ago

I don't think for a moment that they 'managed the sales pipeline'. They just got customers to form an orderly queue (10 years waiting list at the time of the filming ! )
They could have been much more successful with only a few changes which they refused to take on board.


Colin

[JDNSW]

A friend and former colleague of mine , in the 1960s, planned to get a Morgan while he was living in the UK - but the waiting list convinced him to get a TR4 instead. But he spoke at length about his factory tour.

[gromit]

A friend and former colleague of mine , in the 1960s, planned to get a Morgan while he was living in the UK - but the waiting list convinced him to get a TR4 instead. But he spoke at length about his factory tour.

Hi John,
If you get time have a look at the link I posted earlier.

I haven't seen it for years but remember the cars being pushed from building to building zig-zagging around the site. No production flow.
The single most expensive item was put in first then spent 3 months being pushed around in the chassis.

I guess a 'catch 22', huge waiting list and couldn't afford the disruption to sort out the workflow and improve methods.

The Troubleshooter program was interesting as Sir John Harvey Jones visited a number of companies and those that listened to his advice typically increased their turnover. He was the Chairman of ICI for a few years in the early 80's.John Harvey-Jones - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvey-Jones)

Morgan carried on 'successfully' but how much more successful could they have been......


Colin

[350RRC]

............

Morgan carried on 'successfully' but how much more successful could they have been......

Colin

The Freeman model was very successful but only came in black.

[POD]

Had a chat with the owner of an MG dealership about 6 weeks ago, he told me that they are the only make at present that can supply a new car without any waiting period. Other manufacturers cannot get sufficient supply of electronics components to be able to turn out cars at a rate to meet demand. All of the electronic components used by the vehicle manufacturers are supplied (or not supplied, as is the current case) by china. MG are wholly made in china.

[3toes]

In the UK MG has stopped taking orders for new cars as they have sold out the entire 2022 stock allocation and cannot source more from the factory

[3toes]

Hi John,
If you get time have a look at the link I posted earlier.

I haven't seen it for years but remember the cars being pushed from building to building zig-zagging around the site. No production flow.
The single most expensive item was put in first then spent 3 months being pushed around in the chassis.

I guess a 'catch 22', huge waiting list and couldn't afford the disruption to sort out the workflow and improve methods.

The Troubleshooter program was interesting as Sir John Harvey Jones visited a number of companies and those that listened to his advice typically increased their turnover. He was the Chairman of ICI for a few years in the early 80's.John Harvey-Jones - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvey-Jones)

Morgan carried on 'successfully' but how much more successful could they have been......


Colin

It was a good series which I very much enjoyed. While could agree with most of the recommendations I do not think he really understood the Morgan business

They are a small volume manufacturer who had an order book that was full. Agree perhaps too full but the business like all others is cyclical. The full order book protected the business from years when orders were less than optimal. No discounting on retail price of new cars. This also kept the price of second hand cars high which also added to the saleability of the new cars

Without the protection of the pipeline in the tougher times the cash flow would not be there and they would have long ago gone the way of so many small volume manufacturers

[JDNSW]

In the UK MG has stopped taking orders for new cars as they have sold out the entire 2022 stock allocation and cannot source more from the factory

To get back to more Landrover oriented - this exactly describes the Australian situation for Landrovers from late sixties to the 1970s, leading to Toyota ending up with most of their market.

And incidentally to Rover (or perhaps more specifically Leyland after 1967) failing to update their offering!

[gromit]

Without the protection of the pipeline in the tougher times the cash flow would not be there and they would have long ago gone the way of so many small volume manufacturers

I don't understand what you mean by "the protection of the pipeline".
They had a 10 year long queue. A 'sales pipeline' is usually a means of turning leads into sales which is something they didn't have to do.

Colin

[gromit]

Had a chat with the owner of an MG dealership about 6 weeks ago, he told me that they are the only make at present that can supply a new car without any waiting period. Other manufacturers cannot get sufficient supply of electronics components to be able to turn out cars at a rate to meet demand. All of the electronic components used by the vehicle manufacturers are supplied (or not supplied, as is the current case) by china. MG are wholly made in china.

If correct does that mean LDV, GWM & Haval also have no waiting period ?

I think it's a combination of reduced production due to workers being off with Covid, supply problems due to workers being off with Covid and the chip problem.

I fired some questions back at the salesman by email and they obviously don't need my business as 4 days later no reply.
About to try another dealer.



Colin

[V8Ian]

Many businesses were compulsorly closed down, to reduce pollution during the Olympics. I don't know if that had any impact upon automotive production.

[POD]

If correct does that mean LDV, GWM & Haval also have no waiting period ?

I think it's a combination of reduced production due to workers being off with Covid, supply problems due to workers being off with Covid and the chip problem.

I fired some questions back at the salesman by email and they obviously don't need my business as 4 days later no reply.
About to try another dealer.



Colin

I have absolutely no idea about that Colin, it was a brief chat I had as I put my equipment back together after a job at the dealership. I had previously been unaware that MG are now a chicom brand, I was appalled. They are taking the world by cunning.

[Saitch]

I have absolutely no idea about that Colin, it was a brief chat I had as I put my equipment back together after a job at the dealership. I had previously been unaware that MG are now a chicom brand, I was appalled. They are taking the world by cunning.


My wife has two co-workers, who own/owned Oriental MGs (OMG[wink11]) and the owners' experiences are less than flattering, apparently.

[3toes]

The sales pipeline varies depending on demand. At the time of the show the pipe line was very long and arguably too long. It is not always that long and can shorten down to 12 months in times of less demand.

Morgan cars like most products go through periods of higher and lower demand due to trends in what types of cars people want. If they ramp up production and investment they need to maintain that volume or the factory is loss making when demand is less

[gromit]

The sales pipeline varies depending on demand. At the time of the show the pipe line was very long and arguably too long. It is not always that long and can shorten down to 12 months in times of less demand.

Morgan cars like most products go through periods of higher and lower demand due to trends in what types of cars people want. If they ramp up production and investment they need to maintain that volume or the factory is loss making when demand is less

They could have implemented changes back then but were very set in their ways. The changes would have minimised the build time (for example pushing the vehicle from shop to shop).
The fact that they survived was down to having a product that was in demand, I still don't accept that they 'managed the pipeline'.


Colin