Tiggs

i know very little on this other than what popped up when i typed IM into goggle (so correct me if i'm wrong) but isnt IM owned by one bloke who also imports isuzu, dahatsu (sp?) etc as well as having property interests and finance tie ups with some of the big banks- i gather they were turning over £300m a couple of years back?

while SN is an excellent thing/place it wouldnt hurt to step back and understand that theres a whole world out there who dont care to much about whether its speed or inappropriate speed that kills, they arent fussed over whether a dump valve vents to atmos. or not, slip angle isnt part of their vocab and a paint chip doesnt send them into spiraling depression.......it doesnt mean these things arent important to those who value them...it just might help ppl not get so excited at what they see as a blatant ignoring of their needs and wants if they understood that not everyone gives a monkey!

T

ps- if i turned over £300m i wouldnt reply to any of you!

mutant_matt

Agreed wholeheartedly with Tiggs (something must be wrong with me ) except I think they turned over something like £184 Million last year....

The trouble is, IM have shown time and time again that their priority is on making money and not on keeping the customer happy, and if you're in it to make money, as they would appear to be, you can't really blame them for that can you? It would be "nice" if they were more "enthusiastic" about the brand but I doubt any other importer/distributor is either.

They have far more interest in the charity work they fund and carry out and presumably only see the car import business (of which Subaru is just one of several) as just a "nice little earner" (and there are plenty of other IM owned companies making them lots of cash too!! )

On a personal level, whilst they are entitled to run their business however they like within the law, I don't agree with it so I have voted with my feet and bought both my Scoob's via Europe and give my aftermarket business, wherever possible to aftermarket suppliers and if enough people did this, it *may* just make a difference, but then again, probably not.

Luke is right, it would take some ***** but you never know, if they were a little more open about why they are the way they are, people might be a little more accommodating. IMHO, they have already lost the respect of anybody who has had to deal with them, dealers included, and you see this come across on this board with the comments that are usually, not at all constructive.

One last thing, I think the proportion of SIDC and Scoobynet members who own a Subaru is probably a tiny minority of IM's user base so I'm not surprised they choose to ignore us, I don't see how it would benefit them in anyway, other than to cause themselves more grief to acknowledge us! That's just the way it is, as I see it!

Now Prodrive on the other hand, they are enthusiasts who are just like many people on here and I think would love to get involved more, but can't because of their contractual commitments to IM....

Just all IMHO!!

Matt

Dave T-S

Tiggs

Pretty accurate. The "bloke" is Bob Edmiston. He is the sole director of IM Group Ltd, the holding co for the Subaru/Isuzu/Diahatsu franchises, and as far as I know the owner too.

IM Group turnover for 2001 (the last year's accounts filed at Companies House) was £285,766,000.

Net profit after tax £8,710,000

Shareholders funds (the net value of the company) are £184 million.

At the end of 2001 it was cash rich, holding cash at bank and in hand of £75,407,000.

Mr Edmiston's salary was £6.7 million, and pension contributions were made on his behalf of £12 million (yep, you read that correctly).

In the year it made charitable donations of £10,437,000 to Christian Vision, a charity formed by Mr Edmiston, his family and close associates - christianvision.com

Seems their teachings have not gone down too well in some areas though http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/24/252.html

DISCLAIMER - all of the above information is in the public domain and freely available

[Edited by Dave T-S - 2/14/2003 1:27:07 PM]

Dave T-S

As to my comment as to how long that IM will continue to be the UK importers and distributors of Subaru vehicles, I have no factual information on this.

I was really using other manufacturers as a yardstick, and looking at what has happened elsewhere. Nissan had a company handle their imports, and in around 1990 set up their own offshoot to bring Nissan vehicles into the UK (or down from Sunderland ).

IM was set up in 1991, and at the time Subaru had a very small presence in the UK and it was not worth setting up their own distribution network. The market is mature enough now, and sales are high enough, that no doubt they will have looked at the economics of setting up their own distribution network in the UK.

They may well choose to leave it with IM in the long term, but it is a fact that sooner or later the majority of overseas vehicle manufacturers set up their own import and distribution company in the UK. Mitsubishi have recently changed their setup in the UK for instance.

All IMHO, naturally

[Edited by Dave T-S - 2/14/2003 1:41:17 PM]

Tiggs

"Mr Edmiston's salary was £6.7 million"

cor, just think how much better of he'd be if he chatted to us, blokes a faliure

Dave T-S

LOL

Hey, you jest, but he took a pay cut in 2001, in 2000 it was £7.7 million!

Nice work if you can get it

Now what was the question I asked Ed Swatman at IM a few weeks ago? Oh, yes, if you can drop the price of the MY03 STi by £2500, don't you think you might therefore have overcharged us a bit for our MY02 STi's we bought a few months before?

Bet you can't guess what the answer was

Neil Smalley

Mod mode off

Dave,

What does it matter what he gives his money to and what they believe? All charities have to abide by the law and I really can't see what IM as a company donates to as an issue.

There's enough wars based on what people believe without starting another one.

IM is in buisness, I like you bought an STI 7 and in hindsight it was overpriced. However people paid it and went away happy. Why should'nt IM try to make money?

The issue under discussion here is what we can do to persuade IM to participate more in the community.

Mod mode on

[Edited by Neil Smalley - 2/14/2003 3:19:08 PM]

Mungo

Dave T-S - I did complain to the dealer. He said he could sell 7-8 tomorrow.
I guess that pales into insignificance on the grand scale of things, much as we'd like to think otherwise.

ARRON BIRD

Dave you geek

Dave T-S

Neil

I said in one of my earlier posts "I do not personally think they are in the slightest bit interested".

I'm merely providing some facts to support that.

Personally, I like to build a profile before forming a judgement on people, and i've probably done more research on the subject of IM than most

I still stand by my comments in the first sentence. That's my personal view, i'm comfortable that others might see it a different way

Dave T-S

And let's not get on to the subject of religion, the cause of the majority of strife, war and misery on this planet

Neil Smalley

Dave

I thought it was people

Dave T-S

True - the world would be a happier place.....without people

Neil Smalley

It soon will be, if things carry on as they are

ARRON BIRD

Dave you need to take a chill pill today mate.

Dave T-S

Birdy mate, i'm more chilled than a polar bear's knackers

You should see me when i'm [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

ARRON BIRD

LOL.