Dealer-importer relations under pressure
Brand dealers in Germany are more dissatisfied with their relationship with their importers than ever measured before, and the average relationship between brand and dealer in the Netherlands also deteriorated last year. The delivery problems and the switch from a dealer to an agency model in particular are responsible for a drop in satisfaction among dealers, both in Germany and in the Netherlands.
In Germany, the Institute for the Automotive Industry (IfA) has been presenting the Brand Monitor every year since 1998: a survey of the relationship between brand dealers and importers. For years, this showed that the relationship between brand dealer and car brand was improving. Until 2020. Since that year, a change has been visible and dealer satisfaction is falling rapidly. This year’s brand monitor, published today, even marks a new low. Since 1998, dealers have never been so dissatisfied with their relationship with their importers.
In particular, the delivery problem, which causes many uncertainties, and the switch to an agency model of some brands are causing the average satisfaction to decrease, according to the IfA. That body divides the results of its brand monitor into all kinds of categories, whereby it is striking that brands that fall under the same group also score differently. For example, Volkswagen scores highest among the German volume brands, but Audi does downright disappointingly among the ‘premium brands’. It should be noted, however, that the volume brands do not score very high anyway.
Stellantis brands have relatively dissatisfied dealers
The fact that the Stellantis brands in Germany mainly score poorly on dealer satisfaction is all the more striking, because they also have relatively dissatisfied dealers in the Netherlands. In both countries, Opel also has the most satisfied dealers of all Stellantis brands.
The Dutch results come from the most recent RODI survey (dealer and importer relationship survey) of the Bovag, in which dealer satisfaction was tested for the whole of 2022. This shows that the average Dutch dealer gives the importer a score of 6.4: a slightly lower figure than the year before. In the Netherlands, too, the transition to the agency model and the delivery problem are seen as important causes of dissatisfaction.
Transition to agency model can cause friction
More and more brands are switching to the so-called agency model, in which dealers no longer sell cars themselves, but merely become intermediaries for direct sales of a car brand to a customer. Dealers thus lose some of their entrepreneurial freedoms and responsibilities, but also run fewer risks. Ford, Jaguar Land Rover and some Stellantis brands are already working or even finished with the transition to the agency model – something that not every brand aspires to.
For example, Porsche – the brand with the most satisfied dealers in Germany – is happy to continue working with the dealer model, while BMW and Volvo in the Netherlands seem to be switching to the agency model fairly smoothly. With other brands, it appears that this switch can lead to dissatisfaction among dealers. The agency model is becoming increasingly popular with manufacturers, because it gives importers more control over pricing.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl