Dealer margins are falling.

Automotive News Europe,  July, 2002  by Wright, Chris

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Expensive promotions designed to lure reluctant customers back into their showrooms are eroding the profit margins of European dealers.

The European Council for Motor Traders and Repairers in Brussels, which has 108,000 franchised dealer members, said margins now average just 0.5 percent, or 75 on a 15,000 vehicle.

In Germany, Europe's biggest new-car market, the average is 0.4 percent.

The dealer group says 1.5-2.0 percent is an acceptable margin.

Axel Koblitz, secretary general of the German dealer organization ZDK, acknowledged the 0.4 percent figure.

But he ...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.