Mercedes-Benz says it will fix the price of certain models to avoid rip offs and buyer remorse.
But industry insiders say customers could be paying more on a vehicle and could drive up prices. The new EQC electric vehicle will be directed to customers via an online ordering system and a dealer will do the handover.
Mercedes says it wants to introduce fixed pricing on more models, CarAdvice reports.
However, a car industry expert told CarAdvice that buying cars online removes the opportunity to negotiate on price, so the customer would be paying more.
Mercedez-Benz chief executive Horst von Sanden says customers lose trust with a brand after finding out someone else paid thousands of dollars less for the same car.
He says customers have called up, accusing the dealers of ripping them off.
“It doesn’t mean that dealers are ripping anyone off… if you shop around you always get a better price,” von Sanden says.
An industry veteran told CarAdvice that prices vary because some models offer bigger bonuses than others, or if it’s old stock.
Dealers have said that often, selling a vehicle at a lower price means getting a newer model to replace it and making more money on the next one, according to CarAdvice.
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Having worked in the auto industry in finance, price always varies based on customer persistence especially when it comes to monthly sales figures, usually the polite customers pay the highest premiums, and desperate dealerships let the other customers almost screw them over for the sake of getting another unit out the door, I have always said that a much fairer system should Include fixed price (like Apple) then customers will purchase according to service and location without the apprehension of a sales person screwing them over on price and remove that stigma…this would greatly increase the efficiency of the entire buying process as negotiating can take hours at times, discounted particular vehicles should be on an online register available to all dealerships controlled by the brands head office, this transparency would certainly be a mutual win for both sales and customers.