Who's Mitsubishi kidding with prices???

[747]

I obviously wish the 380 all the best, but have a look at the pricing structure compared to a few VZ models. I am sorry but the pricing is way over the top and I can GUARANTEE you within months they will be offering some big factory rebates to dealers.



380 Exec? Auto $35990 OR a Lumina $32990
VRX $38,490 (for the manual) OR a SV6 $39690
LS $40,990, OR ACCLAIM $39490
LX $46,490 OR Berlina $43,450
GT $47,990 or a SV8 $43990


Meantime I bet you can get all the margin and holdback off the price of a 380 if you really tried. At the moment Holden dealers are discounting VERY heavily plus of course there is still the $4000 GM Crad rebate too.

Sorry the 380 doesnt stand a chance of ever holding resale once the discount kings start. Just have a look at Magna values

[phat-dave]

All Mitsubishi Australia franchises have been warned that there is to be no discounting on the new 380 without the expressed permission from Mitsubishi Japan.

A certain dealership in Toowoomba offered the 380 with free on roads and it was released nationwide to every dealership, of which he received a phone call/fax/email/telegram from each dealer principle expressing their anger.

They also received a call from Tokyo with various threats, so it appears they are very serious about 380 resale values. I've been in the GT and I believe whilst it isn't as appealing to us LS1 fans (SV8 etc) - It will appeal to the Mazda 6 Luxury Sports target audience.

[747]

phat-dave- For Mitsubishi to tell dealers no discounting that represents restriction of trade. Anyway wait until the rental car companies get supply at $10,000 under list and then start off selling in 12 months.

All a dealer has to do is over allow on a trade to discount and I can GUARANTEE that has already started. Mitsubishi have really F%&%&% over so many people in the past with the heavy discounting. I bought a new Pajero last year and they are advertisng them now with a $12000 discount.

380 - off to the fleet/governmnet/rental market you go

[lowriding]

It's not restriction of trade at all .Mitsub however, is kidding themselves if they believe this is a way to address their poor resale.

[LS1UTE]

The 380 GT was never designed to compete against the SV8, for starters it doesnt have a V8 engine, it was designed to compete against a car such as a 6 cylinder Calais

Working for Mitsubishi i know of 1 dealer in the south east suburbs of Melbourne which has already been audited and found to be selling underprice. This dealer has had there entire stock withdrawn from them apart from vehicles already registered. Although dealers are allowed to use there holdback to discount.

[smoov GTS]

It is against the law for a supplier to dictate pricing to a retailer. There is legislation covering this law, it's called "retail price maintanance". Retailers cannot even discuss pricing with each other without trouble brewing. Which covers dealers ringing up other dealers and complaining of their discounting.

[747]

LS1UTE, ok lets compare the 2 models and major differences. Firstly when you buy a Calais you perceive that you are not buying a Commodore, like your poorly neighbours. Calling a model a 380GT, which is supposed to be a top line model, doesnt not significantly distinguish it from a mere 380. Hence my automatic comparison to a SV8

HOLDEN CALAIS VZ $53,290 (Less Discount of say $5000=$4000 GM CARD) = $44,290
Rear Wheel Drive
10-disc CD player
Side skirts
190KW
Sunroof $2390


MITSUBISHI 380 GT $47,990
Front Wheel Drive
6-disc CD player
NO Side skirts
175KW
Sunroof STD

I have not driven the 380 yet so the rest is debate, but on the surface my arguement still stands that MITS will be discounting these babies very soon

[AWD 62L]

Anyway wait until the rental car companies get supply at $10,000 under list and then start off selling in 12 months.

Dont think it will be happening too soon. MMA didnt release Fleet pricing, so if rental car co's can get them it will be at RRP price. Apparantly they only need to sell 25k - 30k to break even, so thats what they are aiming at!

James

[VT Convert]

The term is "resale price maintenance" - a maximum retail price can be stipulated, but stipulating a minumum price, or preventing a dealer dsicounting is against the Trade Practices Act

[Danv8]

Mitusbishi or Calais. hmmmmm


Calais. ;)

[ssberlina]

[QUOTE=747]LS1UTE, HOLDEN CALAIS VZ $53,290 (Less Discount of say $5000=$4000 GM CARD) = $44,290
Rear Wheel Drive
10-disc CD player
Side skirts
190KW
Sunroof $2390 ]


Its been a while since a calais had a 10 stacker. They have the six stacker as well.

[BlackClubbie]

Can't really bitch about the Mistu boys, what they did with the recent Magna, Holden did with the VT, VY, VZ ..... a 10 years old car with an old engine...

[andrewdisco]

The Magna being a new generation vehicle would be considered or at least marketed as a premium vehicle over the "old" model holdens wouldn't it ? the VE's will prob come out more expensive (and not discounted initially) making the magna look like the cheaper/value option out of the new generation large cars ?

that's my guess...

[SSBarney]

The magna's resale values havent got a hope :rolleyes:
Mitsubishi are hanging on the edge ready to jump away from Austraia, their CEO couldn't even wait for the coming failure.
The petrol price issue is one more issue to whack the new 380, let alone the fact that a front wheel drive family size car in Australia has never been popular.

Mitsubishi is trying to win people with a 5 year warranty, whilst great in theory, its worth sh*t when everyone knows there's a slim chance of them even being in this country in 2 years! :rolleyes:

like having a renault... miight as well offer a 50 year warranty, cause no one is going to be here to stand by it....... certainly not the CEO that u saw in the ads :rolleyes:

[Pickles]

As far as the 380 is concerned, I wish it all the best. But, it is going to need a lot more than that!! It is a F.W.D. vehicle & is never going to achieve enough sales to challenge the traditional commodore/falcon market in Aus. It may be a sensational vehicle, but if it doesn't sell enough, it will not save Mitsubishi. A good effort for sure, but to succeed in Aus. they should have gone all the way & made it rear wheel drive. Cheers, Pickles.

[speedyocca]

As far as the 380 is concerned, I wish it all the best. But, it is going to need a lot more than that!! It is a F.W.D. vehicle & is never going to achieve enough sales to challenge the traditional commodore/falcon market in Aus. It may be a sensational vehicle, but if it doesn't sell enough, it will not save Mitsubishi. A good effort for sure, but to succeed in Aus. they should have gone all the way & made it rear wheel drive. Cheers, Pickles.
They also don't really have any standout features such as ESP, curtain airbags, 6or 7 speed gearboxes, AWD, hi performance engines etc

[jeff3205]

The term is "resale price maintenance" - a maximum retail price can be stipulated, but stipulating a minumum price, or preventing a dealer dsicounting is against the Trade Practices Act

Correct.

For anyone interested you can read more here:
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/322982/fromItemId/6129

[heikz_h]

although i am a holden man through and through i really want this car to succeed just for the sake of the workers down their at the mitsubishi tonsley park plant i mean holden just cut 1000 employees from their workforce + with the current problems in the Australian automotive parts manufacturing industry it really is make or break... but i do agree that the value of the car will take a beating come resale time

[who_me_?]

It doesn't look good, isn't cheap and has no standout features. There is no confidence in the company and resale values aren't good. Um... Why buy one ?

Had to laugh at a radio cross to a dealer raving about the car - "There is nothing this car doesn't have.." and so on. I suppose no other Mitsubishis have ESP so he wouldn't think of this important safety feature as just one of the many things that a 2000+ year engineered car would have. ESP stops people losing control of their cars and now in my third car with it, I wouldn't (or let my partner) get a new car without it. On gravel it is simply a life saver.

[Growler]

I suppose no other Mitsubishis have ESP so he wouldn't think of this important safety feature as just one of the many things that a 2000+ year engineered car would have. ESP stops people losing control of their cars and now in my third car with it, I wouldn't (or let my partner) get a new car without it. On gravel it is simply a life saver.
Umm.. if I'm not mistaken no ls1 has ESP only the lowly v6's. Anyway I think you are missing the point it is pretty safe to assume a died in the wool Holden buyer is not going to look at a 380 and vice versa. I have seen the car and it is rather impressive. The fact that they are sacrificing volume for profit is IMO is worth a shot. Lest be honest here the old magna was not a bad car it just hung around a little too long and was ruined by a French man with no styling ability.

[daabido]

SSBarney, anyone who buys a 380 can rest assured Mitsubishi will still be here in five years time. Whether they are manufacturing locally is another matter. Just because you shut up shop as a local manufacturer doesn't mean you scuttle away with your tail between your legs. Just look at Nissan.

Pickles, a quick read of Wheels last month and you would realise why RWD was not even a possibility. The 380 was completed on the smell of an oily rag, including the purchasing and reconditioning of second hand plant equipment to save costs.

What Mitsubishi acheived on the limited budget is quite amazing and for the sake of the local industry, I do hope they keep manufacturing here.

Would anyone here buy one? Probably not. But considering a lot of Australian component manufacturers rely on all the local car manufacturers to have the economies of scale to exist, we should all be cheeing them on.

[Stevotski]

Correct.

For anyone interested you can read more here:
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/322982/fromItemId/6129


so by my understanding as long as the dealer doesn't sell below THEIR cost (ie: Loss Leader selling) then Mitsubishi cant prevent it... seeing as dealer margins are typically 20% then there is a lot of room to move.

Ultimately the market will dictate the value - one of the benefits of a capitalist economy. Verada's with 35,000 km's have been going for $13K at the auctions.... Fleet managers have already been burned by Mitsubishi, they won't be going back for more in a hurry

[daabido]

Technically yes, loss leading is the only way to withhold supply. Practically, however, there are many examples of companies suriptiously withholding supply.

[VRIIClubby]

The term is "resale price maintenance" - a maximum retail price can be stipulated, but stipulating a minumum price, or preventing a dealer dsicounting is against the Trade Practices Act

So why is there no discounts on iPods as stipulated by Apple?

I personally hope that the 380 does do well, I dont feel that it will bring the traditional Ford/Holden drivers away from there fav marques, as someone else said, it wil compete more against the Mazda6 buyers...

[muzza]

Hmmm - cant see the dyed -in -the -wool RWD enthusiasts flocking to buy a 380, but fleeters are where some big numbers of sales are. There's also lots of private Magnas, Mazda 6, Honda Euros, Camrys and Avalons out there and by all reports the 380 is a cut above them.

Looks are a pretty subjective thing, but given as how the VE is shaping up, the 380 looks to be broadly similar so get used to it!

Prices - well any new gen car will be more than the older out or on going models - I reckon we will see plenty of savage discounting from Holden next year as they try to clear out the VZ's

Despite fleeters burnt fingers with the magna (you buy cheap you sell cheap so what real losses have they had?) I have read that lots of fleets are going to "mid-size" more to give the impression of being economical - this maybe better for Mitsu, but with no 4 cyl option (yet) they wont be able to fight the new Camry on even ground for a slice of the action.

The biggest thing that will hurt Mitsu is the lack of a higher power engine to give the VRX/GT some extra poke and spread the hero car image down the range. Given as how they could access some nice mivec engines from Japan this may still occur later though you have to wonder how a FWD chassis will handle this - we might still see the return of the AWD set up from the Magna but as $ are short it's not likely soon if at all.

Still I hope it succeeds as it is Aussie made, keeps lots of locals employed and at least gives the market another choice of an Aussie-tough vehicle.

[VRIIClubby]

- I reckon we will see plenty of savage discounting from Holden next year as they try to clear out the VZ's

Already here, My dad just picked up a brand new SV6 (Phantom, 6 Speed) on the road for $32K :eek: .......try and beat that! awesome bit of kit for that price aswell! :cool:

[VYBerlinaV8]

A bit O/T, but how cheap have people seen base model Commy execs for recently?

[NinetySix]

So why is there no discounts on iPods as stipulated by Apple?

if you have ever seen a price list from an apple whole saler, you'll know it (must be) a store policy not an apple policy. whole sale prices on pretty much anything apple are barely 5% under the RRP.. at least when your not buying in bulk any way

[VRIIClubby]

if you have ever seen a price list from an apple whole saler, you'll know it (must be) a store policy not an apple policy. whole sale prices on pretty much anything apple are barely 5% under the RRP.. at least when your not buying in bulk any way

Nah, im referring to the massive stink that was caused around last xmas if anyone remembers about the fact that retailers where not permitted by Apple to reduce or have sale prices for the iPods...but anyhoots, back to the topic, FWD's bite arse in large cars! :D

[dave_au]

I think everyone needs to take a step back and watch what this car does in it's first 6 months.

To the people complaining about the price of the vehicle to the Commodore - what about the Vectra compaired to Calais? What about the Camry Azure, the Volvo S40/V40s, the SAAB 9-3s, Mazda 6s, the Accords? Clearly there is quite a market for the mid to large front drivers, and clearly it's got prices equal to or above those of the large RWDs.

Apparently this car has build quality, it's supposed to be better than what Holden and Ford can produce, doubt it would beat Toyota. I guess like the Accord Euro, there may be some premise that you pay a little more for quality, but it will be interesting to see what those cars look like after fleet use.

Its got some really good features too - like a bluetooth system in the upper models and apparently the center display module advances on the system used in the Falcons, Reverse parking assist on the GT etc. These features will get some quite good sales - either from fleet buyers or the Bowls club bunch, but a sale is a sale.

The comments about the car not having ESP - it's got traction control, its got EBD, its a FWD - I really doubt you'll mess it up to such an extent on gravel or wet roads or whatever that it would require input from an ESP system.

[fester1]

Agree with you dave_au. Took a 380 for a spin yesterday and must say I was pretty impressed. The hype about the build quality seems pretty right to me - big step up from my commie - clean straight lines everywhere inside and out and bugger all gaps. Seemed to be a lot more room inside too?? And a smooth competent engine to boot.

No doubt the VE will hit back but hope it does well. Another 1000+ jobs lost from the auto sector is not what this country needs.

[muzza]

To pick up on a point raised by others earlier, we seem to have an assumption that big cars should cost more cos they're bigger, more stuff in them, cost more in materials, but this aint necessarily so.

You think it costs any less to design/develop a smaller car than a bigger one? Nup. And this is where most of the costs of a vehicle are incurred. The actual raw materials value is not a huge difference.

But buyers are reluctant to spend as much on a smaller car generally as a big car for this basic psychological reason.

So makers offer basic models at the right perceived price (eg: Astra at $20K, Commodore at $32K) where they might make a little profit or maybe a bit of a loss, but price the higher models with all the options in such a way that the big profits are made on them and all the extra options people want for their cars - it's the trinkets that bring in the dollars, as well as the outrageous prices on some spares and servicing.

All combined they help offset the R&D/tooling costs which are the biggest cost of making a car.

Why do you reckon our manufacturers like to keep the same architecture for around 6-10 years? VT came out in 97, VZ will finish in 2006 - 9 years!!!!!!!