petrol head 46 Posted February 25, 2021 Just seen MBR 75M loss last year and 2 obvious questions spring to mind: 1. Have MBR ever made a profit? 2. Are there any manufacturer sites that make money? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bmx Bandits 52 Posted February 25, 2021 I’d image MBR have rarely ever made a real profit. The only one I can think of would be Porsche Retail Group Ltd which does very very well. I'm sure most retail groups would argue that they are just there to represent the brand in areas were no one else can afford to. It proves that car manufacturers should stick to making cars and leave selling them to the car dealers !! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frank Cannon 812 Posted February 26, 2021 Surely this is simply very proficient accounting? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
petrol head 46 Posted February 26, 2021 16 hours ago, Bmx Bandits said: I’d image MBR have rarely ever made a real profit. The only one I can think of would be Porsche Retail Group Ltd which does very very well. I'm sure most retail groups would argue that they are just there to represent the brand in areas were no one else can afford to. It proves that car manufacturers should stick to making cars and leave selling them to the car dealers !! Good point on Porsche Retail I think they are well run. MBR have closed all there central London sites, if I remember correctly they closed Park Lane first, around 2002, around the same time they close Piccadilly and moved everything to Portman Square. That didn't last long and became a Fiat Dealer, Canon Street lasted a couple of years as did Canary Wharf, last year Chelsea closed. I agree they should stick to making and distributing and leave the Dealers to sell the bloody things................... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bmx Bandits 52 Posted February 26, 2021 They also used to have their Mercedes Benz Direct used car sites, they were more like car supermarkets and I’m sure they used to sell the unwanted deflected management/daily rental cars. They have all disappeared over the years too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
petrol head 46 Posted February 28, 2021 On 2/26/2021 at 8:19 PM, Bmx Bandits said: They also used to have their Mercedes Benz Direct used car sites, they were more like car supermarkets and I’m sure they used to sell the unwanted deflected management/daily rental cars. They have all disappeared over the years too. You had Mercedes Direct competing with their own retail dealers, how crazy was that? Back in the day I bought a few cars from them pretending to be a retail customer as they had completely under priced them, if memory serves me correctly a couple of CLK cabs, a CL500 and an SL500. Not sure if they do know but every employee was entitled to a subsidized lease car, a second car if they already had a company car, Porsche Retail used to do the same too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trade vet 702 Posted February 28, 2021 58 minutes ago, petrol head said: You had Mercedes Direct competing with their own retail dealers, how crazy was that? Back in the day I bought a few cars from them pretending to be a retail customer as they had completely under priced them, if memory serves me correctly a couple of CLK cabs, a CL500 and an SL500. Not sure if they do know but every employee was entitled to a subsidized lease car, a second car if they already had a company car, Porsche Retail used to do the same too. There might be method in their madness.Bumped into a top Ford sales guy last year who has stayed with the same dealership for many years.because he has a massive repeat customer base.He said that when Arnold Clarke took over they have a deal where ‘ sales executives ‘ as they are now called could lease a new Merc for a low rate which was proving very popular and reduced staff turnover.It appears that the mentality of your average millennial ‘sales executive’ ( with pointy toed shoes no doubt ) would prefer to go home in a new Merc than earn a big lump of commission. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
petrol head 46 Posted March 1, 2021 19 hours ago, trade vet said: There might be method in their madness.Bumped into a top Ford sales guy last year who has stayed with the same dealership for many years.because he has a massive repeat customer base.He said that when Arnold Clarke took over they have a deal where ‘ sales executives ‘ as they are now called could lease a new Merc for a low rate which was proving very popular and reduced staff turnover.It appears that the mentality of your average millennial ‘sales executive’ ( with pointy toed shoes no doubt ) would prefer to go home in a new Merc than earn a big lump of commission. Good god! If I look at the sales exec jobs, technicians and other roles the salaries have stood still for 20 years. GM/DP salaries have risen, although I'm sure they are coming down given the times we live in? Now call me old fashioned, but if you sell Ford's, you drive a Ford? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Casper 272 Posted March 24, 2021 On 3/1/2021 at 1:27 PM, petrol head said: Good god! If I look at the sales exec jobs, technicians and other roles the salaries have stood still for 20 years. GM/DP salaries have risen, although I'm sure they are coming down given the times we live in? Now call me old fashioned, but if you sell Ford's, you drive a Ford? Makes sense to me thats like selling iPhones and working for apple but using the latest Samsung galaxy yourself 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
