With inflation around 30 percent, interest rates over 20 percent and fuel at all-time highs, auto dealers in Sri Lanka are facing worse times than their American counterparts. (And that's saying something; ChyrCo's U.S. sales are down 19.3% year-to-date, 25.4% in May.) One dealer is trying a time-honored tactic to move the metal: a buy-one-get-one-free promotion. Lanka Business Online (LBO) reports that Diesel and Motor Engineering company (DIMO) is offering a free Tata Xeta when you buy a new Jeep 4×4 or Chrysler Grand Voyager van. Chryslers aren't selling in Sri Lanka because of "their high prices and maintenance costs and consumer preference for cheaper rival brands." LBO also points out they have lower fuel economy ratings than other cars, because "Chrysler is a US firm, where fuel has been lightly taxed compared to the rest of the world." DIMO said the promotion should also "help liquidate the stock of older models of the Xeta." Perhaps U.S. Chrysler dealers should try a reverse tactic: buy a Caliber, Sebring or Compass and get a Durango, Aspen or Commander free.
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Where do I sign?!
I suspected sales were down pretty bad, dealers are starting to tap their other source of revenue;warranty!
My parents just took in their Grand Caravan for a tire check, leaky rims on a 2006 with only 11,000 KMs. They have been waiting 4 days to get it back as the dealer decided it needed a rear A/C condensor and a new A/C compressor. This is Canada and the AC runs about 1/3 of the cars lifetime. Of course while he is in the show room they are all over him to trade in his low mileage vehicle for a great deal on a new one.
didn’t kia or hyundai do this in the USA several years ago??
(maybe just a regional thing)…
something like: buy a sedona, get an accent…
That would be one way to offset the massive first-year depreciation on both of them. And give you something to drive while the other one is in the shop.
Perhaps U.S. Chrysler dealers should try a reverse tactic: buy a Caliber, Sebring or Compass and get a Durango, Aspen or Commander free.
Ya know, post Chapter 7 or 11 or whatever filing, I wouldn’t be surprised to see that kind of deal. What would the market value of a new Durango be sans warranty?!?
A few years back, rebates on SUVs and pickups were so high and small car sales so poor that there were some Chevy dealers (as I recall, primarily in Texas) that offered a free car (a Cavalier) if you paid sticker for a new truck and signed the rebates on the car and truck over to the dealer.
A few years ago? This year Kia of Huntsville offered by a Sorrento and get a Reno free!
“Detroit’s Shrinking Sales Take a Toll on Dealerships” by Nick Bunkley in the NYTimes on June 18, 2008:
Columbus, Ohio — In the glory days of Detroit carmakers in the 1960s, Leonard J. Immke Jr. used to sell 200 new Buicks a month from his vast downtown showroom here filled with gleaming Electras, Rivieras and Skylarks. Now, it takes Len Immke Buick at least a year to sell 200 new cars from its smaller location on the city’s blue-collar east side. In May, it sold 10.
Most days, only a handful of customers wander in; in rain or snow, there might be none. The pace slows even more at dusk, when the salesmen turn their attention to emptying wastebaskets and vacuuming the carpet. They assumed nightly chores two years ago when the store had to lay off the janitors and other workers to stay in business.
I still don’t think that I would want one.
Maybe Immke should open a dealership in China. Columbus’ East side has gone predominantly African-American. Wonder what the demographic is on Blacks and Buicks?
I’m not sure what it means, but this past weekend I saw both a Chrysler Aspen and a new Sebring with disabled plates (meaning they were privately-owned, not rentals.)
A Nissan dealership on Rt 1 in New Jersey (somewhere near Woodbridge if memory serves right) did something very similar. When the current gen Sentra first came out, he was offering Buy 1 Get 1 Free deals. Buy 1 new Pathfinder/Titan/Armada, get a 3 year old off-lease Sentra free.
If you could get a good price on one of those (which were the hot, hard to get vehicles at that time), it would have made sense. Now, it would be the other way around.
Re: buy a Caliber, Sebring or Compass and get a Durango, Aspen or Commander free.
Yuk.
Isn’t this headline stating what is already blatantly obvious? If you mention Chrysler and Dealer, the “Sucks” part is implied! =) Poor SOB’s!
Sedona: Rio
Hyundai: Accent
Kia: Rio
Suzuki: Reno
Sorento
Why does this promotion sound suspiciously like they are selling lifeboats (or backups)?