Removed.

Popped into my local dealer, and the owner was there. Started having a chat and asked waht was going on as far as Subaru is concerned. His forecourt used to be fairly full of Subaru's, as was the showroom. I knew he was building up the Fiat side, and that he'd dropped hints that he'd given notice to Subaru/IM.

"Haven't you seen today's paper?"



This a dire loss to Subaru owners here. Dave and his team have been absolutely brilliant. The sort of dealer we'd all like to have. I seriously doubt the new dealer will be anything like as good to deal with. Certainly servicing and parts prices will escalate, and the salesmen will have little or no brand knowledge, as it's something akin to a car supermarket. Along with the less than popular new models, this will return Subaru ownership to a niche/import market. From comments I've seen from other SNetters, I get the impression that dealers closing or dropping Subaru is becoming more common.

It is likely to be a few years before I change my car, but this is likely to be my last Scooby.

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

I used to use Listers, brilliant but they had same issues 3-4 years ago now a Lexus dealership.
TheyTried to keep Subaru repairs now most either have Imports or left Scooby ownership but not just "The new model" Problem although may not have helped, sales of the last 2007/8 four doors were shocking

1) Car TAX hikes
2) Fuel prices hikes
3) Everyone tightening their belts
4) Scooby ownership is an expensive Luxury

To put into perspective in the last 3months 17 Pubs close every day but only 5 new ones open.

IIRC IMHO

Tony

Microstar

This is very worrying.
I recently found out that the biggest dealer near to me (Research Garage, Nuneaton) have stopped selling Subaru. They are still selling Isuzu, so presumably still maintain a business relationship with IM Group.
The other dealer near to me (won't mention their name) are looking shakey IMHO, if ever I call in there the place looks 'dead' and the staff look glum.
With the price of fuel, VED costs and state of the economy I don't think Subaru have a viable product range and more dealers will surely close. A handful of sales of Diesel Legacy and a few Justy's won't pay the staff wages. I read that Subaru sold only 180 cars the UK in July.

Shark Man

Its a complex issue being a Subaru dealer:

IM only offer a very limited range of cars made by Subaru, Subaru have all sorts of versions and model variations. But not all have EU type approval, and IM aren't willing to do the donkey work to get it either. This is part IM and part Subaru's fault.

Hence no official Forrester Sti, nor any Legacy turbos.

Next is the price: Why buy a UK Impreza when you can get an indentical EU Impreza for less? At the end of the day, money talks; For every EU import sold, is a lost sale for a UK car.

Then there's parts. Genuine "Subaru" boxed parts are marked up considerably, where the identical OE parts (made by the same company in teh same factory - just in a non-Subaru box) are sold for significantly less. Now, I'm unsure as to who is doing the marking up, but I suspect its every person in the chain from the maker, exporter/importer, distributor and retailer. Same as any other non-genunine part. But with Subaru, a few too many people are taking too big a cut. This puts people off using main dealers to carry out work on their cars.

Add to that increased road tax, mixed opinions with brand recognition/awareness, fuel costs and shakey economy - which is just the iceing on the cake.

corradoboy

IM are a company going nowhere right now. Their profits have been pegged at IRO £14m for the last 4-5 years, apart from a slight blip to £18m in '06. The economy is hitting the Subaru marque hard, and their other products in their portfolio aren't exactly popular these days with Isuzu selling off-roaders which are going out of fashion fast, and Diahatsu a very low volume seller. They are also into property, but as we all know that is a very unstable and dangerous market right now too.

scoobyboy

i.m have managed to stop the import of malta and cypriot cars in the hope of gaining more sales and just reduced the dealer discounts by about 7% on parts, another nail in the coffin for subaru in the uk

Microstar

Not heard that? Still seeing new imports for sale. Can you tell us more?

scoobyboy

you will for a bit until the stock drys up, but basically i.m started to take the exporters in malta and cyprus to court and eventually they gave in and said they won't export anymore, you may still get some imports through proper importers but it was all something to do with block exemption and the malta/cyprus dealers were ignoring it or something like that. there was a letter sent round to all the dealers telling them about it all but the exact details were still kept secret.