I have experienced the same fussing around when I drop mine in for a service. It must be driven by Audi as it's so scripted and prescribed, there's no sincerity to it at all. In contrast Mrs CF's 8 year old 3 series touring is serviced by a local independent where I am on first name terms with them, there's no free frothy coffee but their service is genuinely impeccable and £45 plus vat an hour. Personally I would rather take my bike to a garage like the one below rather than an Audi main dealer
Funny how different garages are so different, I also own an Audi, for the last 4 years, and has had it's problems, and I can only say The Audi Dealer I bought the car from has been fantastic, I even hassle with them with the service costs, and they match other garage prices, always give me a courtesy car, and really make an effort, sure there is some scripted banter, but they also are very friendly and happily chat about all manor of things dodgy to Audi to I might add I also did own a BMW bike, and once again the dealer who I did not buy the bike from went out of their way to help me, and gave me discounted prices for services, parts and accessories. I see some people prefer their bikes serviced by non bike dealers, same as cars, think that is the same all round. I suppose who old said car and bike is.
It could work though. There are some dealers which are integrated with both cars and bikes. You have BMW Park Lane and BMW Oxford. Chiswick Honda so everything Honda, even the lawnmowers. However, these examples are, as you can see, the same brand. What happens in 5+ years when Audi sell Ducati again? It will happen
I think there's a lot of truth in this. VW are the same around here at least. A mate at work gets shocking service from them but somehow puts up with it. It's the same designated person who deals with the car when it's in and if they are busy then all that happens is the call back never happens, or he doesn't get time to go and see the service guys or whatever. I have no time for this at all, I want a human with a brain and some knowledge, not a robot in a suit who has no power to make decisions. Anyway, the point of the thread has been lost a little. I also agree with Matt's point that Audi will sell Ducati in the (relatively speaking) short term so I can't see it being worth the investment for them to integrate dealerships.
PSA for a long time kept Peugeot and Citroen strictly separate, for sales spares and servicing. But lately they have given up on that, so the two badges are running together for nearly all purposes. This always happens in the end, when one corporation owns and manages multiple brand names.
But VW own Audi, Skoda, VW, Bentley, Lamborghini and... I'm missing something. I see no integration of those brands so far. Integrating Ducati and Audi dealerships would make less sense than VW and Skoda, or Bentley and Lamborgini.
Aren't 99% of motor vehicle dealerships robbing twonks? lol I think how you are treated by these dealers is massively dependent on who you 'the customer' are. My boss has a couple of Audi's and because he changes car regular and known as a very well off man financially - Car dealers both Audi and Porsche are always all over him like a rash! Even gave him an RS8 for the day once just to prat about in, for no cost! They even gave him a full tank of juice! When ever he services with his Porsche he comes into work with a brand new car for the day, full tank of juice & no costs for the curtsy car and we're never talking your STD Boxster either lol If I went to either dealerships I'd get messed around like hell because I tend to buy 3-4 year old car's drive them for 5 years sell them private and then start from scratch again, they simply aren't interested in the average man! They do how ever bend over backwards if you appear to be well off! How false & transparent! I recall a few years back I bought brand new Seat Leon Cupra, I had some grief with two separate dealers over issues that were easily fixed after going through the mill with them, If it had been known that I was well off I'm sure they would have been around me like fly's around a pile of crap! lol I'm no expert but I can't see Ducati outwardly allowing Audi to mold them in this way in front of their loyal customer base. From a management level behind doors, 110% yes. Audi may own them but Ducati are still Ducati, it's quite a niche brand that most Audi car dealerships probably wouldn't want involvement with anyway - As the sales person and/or the dealer would you want to move 10 Audi cars a week and make 40% GP on each of them? Probably all well in excess of 25k+ each or maybe sell 5 Ducati's per month and make probably somewhere in the region of 25% GP on them? most of which are sub £15K Plus in order to do this the car dealer would need trained bike mechanics in house and additional facilities etc... I can't see it really happening to be honest. I did hear though that Audi were wanting to have a motorbike branded 'Audi' but that it would be completely separate from Ducati.
my old boss at a fiat dealership recons he only made £500 per punto. made more on selling the finance.
The only thing is a brand new Punto is aimed at completely different customer base than Audi and the likes of. They make big money on some models of Audi I promise you that. A brand new Audi A3 1.2TFSI is best part of 20K. & an A3 2.0 TDI S-Line is knocking on 30K. RS5 60K 1.2 Punto brand new around 7.5K
I`m generalising here but in my experience motor cycle dealers of any brand are more customer friendly than car dealers. I`ve got to disagree with the comments above about Porsche though. I have owned a Boxster that I bought privately at 4 years old and took it to my local dealer (Hatfield) for the next 4 years for servicing. It was usually the lowest value car on the premises and I am a fairly scruffy person. All of the staff were fantastic , from the receptionists to the sales people and the service team. I made it clear I was not after a new car but even then the courtesy car they gave was practically new and I was on occasion allowed to keep the car overnight even though mine was ready. They just asked me to enjoy it. I really recommend them and they certainly don't judge on appearances.
I agree about bike dealers being more attentive than motor dealers. Spent half an hour in Swindon Yamaha today looking at new MT 07 which I am thinking of buying, young lad who I dealt with was friendly, helpful and really knew his stuff.
Sorry guys maybe I came over as being 110% totally negative across the board. I spent an hour in Fowlers in Bristol talking to the guys on the KTM counter a short while ago. They were really decent knowledgeable people. I told them I was just window shopping and in fairness to them they still seemed just as chatty and friendly. I guess the bike industry has to be a little more this way though as the vast majority of customers are buying bikes for pleasure not through necessity. It's a toy for many riders a pure pleasure item, whereas most people need a car in fact the volume of cars in the UK in comparison to bikes would be like comparing lose change in your pocket to10 suitcases full of £50 notes! lol I suppose finding a decent car dealer is still totally possible, it's just not that easy. it's just a shame that a large percentage of them are not so clever at the after sales. Most of them can talk a glass eye to sleep especially if they think they are about to get you to part with a chunk of money, but the aftercare is all too often a forgotten thing! It's a bit like when you call up a mobile phone provider, BT or anyone providing a service, they do their best to charm you and make you feel special. But later down the road when something goes wrong when your already in contract they silently stick their fingers up at you. You still get sales calls at 9pm at night though, but try to speak to them about an ongoing contract, or rather forget even trying! lol There is far too much focus on the sale side of things, and far too little attention given to ongoing service or aftercare. It's just a sign of the times I guess lol
Er... My nearest Audi dealer / service outlet ( where my Missus had great service with her old A2 BTW ) is now a joint Audi / Bentley service outlet. So I will be sitting in my scruff leathers next to a Russian Oligarch and Lord Fawkestone, sixteenth Earl of Boomfook??? Silly me of course not - they will send their 'man' to sort it out...
I take great exception to this....I'm an Audi Master Technician...I bend over backwards everyday to give our customers the best service possible...as do most of the people who I work with!!! No doubt not every person who works in every dealer is the same...but I feel it's unfair to tar us all with the same brush!! Audi's & Ducati's will never be sold/serviced in the same dealerships..car technicians & motorcycle technicians recieve different training etc. Just for the record...I'm more than capable of servicing my own Ducati's, but I don't...I send them to JHP for the experts to look after!!
PSA are going the supermarket route as they have such a drop in market share, they have to combine brands or no one wants them. Also dealers don't make much money. Its a margin poor buisness. Check out any of the trade press, its ROI generally of low single digit amounts overall, with parts contributing 60%, labour 50-80% margins against direct cost/revenue. Now used car dealers, thats a whole different ballgame... Not sure if that is the same for bike dealers, likely not
It's a slow process, taking decades. As with FIAT/Lancia/Alfa, it starts with using common floor pans and common engines across the marques, spreads to common electrics, suspensions and brakes, until it reaches the stage when all the bits you can't see are identical; just the external body panels and interior trim are different, along with the badges. Eventually even the bodies start to look similar, so there is no perceptible difference between the marques. Then it becomes absurd to have two separate spares and service networks for what is essentially the same car, so they have to be amalgamated. The final stage is for the less popular name to be dropped altogether as a marque, and relegated to being a model name or just the name of a trim level.
I have never had a brand new car or bike and I dont get either my bike or A4 serviced at a dealers. My only real dealing with Duacti and Audi dealers are usually for parts and to be fair cant complain at all. Always found them helpful, Preston Audi always has a big bowl of posh biscuits for customers to have with a coffee. Naturally I will put on my coat with the biggest pockets that day and clear them out
But Pete, that would just destroy one marque - the cheaper or more expensive one. There would be no point for a manufacturer to buy a brand simply to shut it down, unless for tax purposes. VW haven't closed anything, preferring a broader range of brands to suit many markets. In fact, they can use the spread to their advantage, developing technology for a premium brand and trickling it down over the years. As for costs, have a look at Land Rover. That's not cheap!
It is a VW group policy that there is no integration of the brands, they have a global strategy to be the Worlds largest motor vehicle manufacturer and cannot achieve this by merging brands as it is well known and accepted that customer loyalty is key to maintaining market share and by losing a brand they will lose customers. You will also see a very distinct separation in their brands in that Seat do not compete with Skoda in southern or eastern Europe whilst in the rest of the world that competition is about customer preference and the local workshop, as for VW this is a step up in terms of perceived quality and a large volume marque that does not compete with the more exclusive Audi that similarly does not compete with the very exclusive Bentley or hyper car Lamborgini or Bugatti. Obviously there is commonality of components and shared R&D but this is not always obvious as the new technology is mainly launched in Audi, rolled out to VW and then to Skoda & Seat over a 4 or 5 year period, we may see some commonality of some components but this will probably be limited to small electricals and fasteners as no Ducati has much in common with anything else in the range. Sorry if this post sounds condecending as it was not the intention, but I have written it and can't be bothered to change it.
