Dealer Announcement Timing Confirmation

[kwagar]

Wrote to Ken Kettenbeil to try to confirm the info floating around regarding dealer announcements. Below is his response.

It is true dealer announcements will be made in January. The decision was made last week.

The reason is once we announce our dealers, customers will begin calling, etc. We are currently in the middle of dealer training and our stores are not ready to handle calls, etc.

We are still on target for January openings and deliveries.

Ken Kettenbeil
Director Communications & Community Relations
Penske Corp
2555 Telegraph Road
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
248.648.2582 - office
248.648.2585 - fax
ken.kettenbeil@penskecorp.com

[eqwalker]

Ah, well I guess that explains that..

[2micro4u]

Thanks for the news.

[Gortok]

I went by my dealer today, MB of Buckhead, to see if anything has been done...They have an area set aside, but it's nowhere near ready.
I was told that the smart sales manager, Emily, is in training this week.
The fellow I spoke with was friendly and attentive, but kept insisting that I probably knew more about everything than he did.
He did tell me that they are expecting some 600 cars to be shipped in. (Presumably the whole year's allotment) He also admitted that they are predicting a "drop rate" of 30% (since the "deposit" is only $99) because he thought that since not so many people have driven them, that once they do, they won't want to buy one...
I just said, "Uh, yeah, OK..."
He did not seem to know how "orphans" would be handled. (Sold to a "walk-in" or held for the next person waiting...)

Oh well...still nothing new...

[SmartBob]

he thought that since not so many people have driven them, that once they do, they won't want to buy one...

Is there a typo here? Test driving is probably the biggest selling factor. I think that 70,000 people HAVE and 34,000 now have reserved one? I'm sure there will be much more this coming year.

[Gortok]

I was a bit confused, as well.
But, rather than argue, I just let it slide. He's obviously NOT a fan...

[lhoboy]

Originally Posted by Gortok

I was a bit confused, as well.
But, rather than argue, I just let it slide. He's obviously NOT a fan...

Maybe he's thinking he can upsell a walk-in to a Mercedes. HA! I can hear the pitch now:

"For just another $40k you can get twice the car";)

[smart1]

There's no denying that the decision to not announce dealerships until January is a delay at best. We were told clearly that dealerships would be announced in the second half of this year. The thing I don't understand is the why. Yes, I can read the reason above that they have to train the dealers- but that's not anything new. I imagine that PAG knew all along that dealer taining would be needed. So, my question is what step in the process caused the delay in the dealer announcements? My guess is that they had difficulty reaching agreements with the dealerships- that kind of thing is real easy to miss a schedule on.

I went by the Smart Center in San Jose (Stevens Creek Rd) today, and still no sign of any construction. I stopped in the adjacent Land Rover dealership, and the salesman there told me that the Smart Center wouldn't be ready until February, at least. He also said that they weren't going to sell cars there- they would be sold "down the road" (pointing towards Santana Row). He didn't say where down the road. On the other hand, he said that they would do maintenance at the Smart/Land Rover facility. That sounds kind of strange to me. I drove towards Santana Row, and stopped at a Mercedes dealer along the way (Smythe European), and the salesman didn't know anything about Smart cars coming to the US at all. Also, they didn't have any floor space separated out or cleared out, so I'm guessing they won't be sold there. Didn't see any other signs of any Smart facility. I'm beginning to wonder if this is still going to happen. Having a 3+ week slip in the schedule of dealer announcements this late in the process doesn't give me confidence there won't be further slips. I'm irritated that PAG hasn't/doesn't see any value in keeping us informed. It's inconceivable they didn't know weeks ago that dealerships couldn't be announced this year.

[spdickey]

Originally Posted by lhoboy

Maybe he's thinking he can upsell a walk-in to a Mercedes. HA! I can hear the pitch now:

"For just another $40k you can get twice the car";)

I talked to the guys at Beverly Hills Mercedes about all the extra traffic smart will generate. I said it might be hard to upsell, but remember they can get you in a low mileage used C Class for not too much more.

Along with the new smart space BH Benz is also building space for the Maybach. Now that is a hard upsell... $11,000 smarts next door to $350,000 sedans.

[SMART]

Sounds like they are doing everything right in my eyes. I think Smart USA is doing a great job and I can't help but believe its a incredibly hard job for everyone at PAG and Smart.