Today I am going to write on an issue which is probably portraying bad image about any brand which is a new entrant in India. Its about 4 wheeler dealers.And I am specifically writing down my review about high end cars and dealers for Audi, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Volvo.
I am not going to name any dealers but for your information all dealers are from Pune / Maharashtra.
This all happened when my close friend wanted to buy a high end SUV and I was guiding him through the seeing and shortlisting.
I know, I know, pune is known for its laid back attitude.its all about how same is reflected on these dealers. Lets move ahead.
Volkswagen.went there to see and test drive New Touareg. On entry, no one bothered to look at us(Its typical pune culture "customer is ignored"). I saw one female sales associate and told her, I want to see and test drive touareg. She was like blank as if she heard the name first time. In few seconds she realized VW has some product with this name and this dealer is suppose to sell that too. She said its not available on display, considering they might have only one vehicle which is doing test drives as well as display, I asked for test drive. She said nope, no vehicle is there for test drive too. Then PUNE attitude in me spoke, do you sell this? she said yes. Mean time her senior was passing by us where we were standing(ok, as of then, we were standing and she never offered us to sit), he came to us and introduced us as a sales manager. He said, they sell touraeg but you see the brochure and decide. I said, matter of 60+ laks, how can I buy it without experiencing it. He said this showroom owner has one and he need to check with him whether he can lend the car for test drive. He will get back to me when owner wishes to lend the car. I picked the broucher and walked out to not to enter again.
Volvo.In Europe, I have driven volvo XC60 & XC90. So I recommended to have a look at volvo. We entered the showroom. Both vehicles were on display, but we could not see a single person in the entire showroom. We opened both vehicles, sat in both vehicles at our own and around 7-8 minutes later one sales person appeared from sky. But he did not utter a single word as if neither he is a seller nor we are the buyers, he just stood there blankly. To break the ice I said, we need to check these both and test drive and need detailed information from about their features. It seemed he was less trained or educated about the products he is selling. The information which he was giving was too basic for the customer like us. Thank god he was not telling that it has 4 wheels and 6 seats and a steering wheel. but he was not able to highlight the features too. He gave a walk through of both vehicles. We asked, availability, then said no XC90 is available, the one which is there is showroom is the last piece they have and if you book, I can get you the approximate delivery period. Again we took leave from there by taking printed scrap/crap.
Mercedes.Mercedes has a huge and impressive showroom in Pune and they have put many models on display. Entered with lots of expectations. We were interested in ML 250 / ML 350 and GL 350. Unfortunately, none of those were available on display. He showed us some ML 250/350s from glass window which were being dispatched from servicing. There was only one GL350 in the showroom which was being prepared for delivery. Some 2-3 guys were cleaning and polishing it. Considering their effort, we didnt touch it and were trying to get glimpse of its interior whenever they used to open the door. But 6 years old son of my friend went to peep inside the car through the window and he touched it. Sales guy who was working on the car, almost shown agony and anger on his face and said loudly, dont touch. and he closed the car and locked it and went of. The sales guy who was attending us said justifying his colleague’s behavior, Sir, its final finish before customer comes for delivery. Then we talked about pricing, delivery period for GL350, he said the vehicle you are seeing is the last piece from pre-launch, and production vehicles will be made available in 5-6 months. ML 350-250 can be delivered little sooner but still 3-4 months.
I asked him one technical question and he was dead on that question. I asked whats the weight to power ratio of 350 & 250. He said its "same", written on the broucher. I was puzzled with his confidence. I was wondering how can a difference of almost 1 liter engine has same power to weight ratio. But said forget it, why to care for his knowledge.
I curiously asked a question to him, how so many vehicles are sold without even seeing it. He proudly said, there are buyer who just book it without bothering to see the vehicle. I thought in my mind, typical india, either people have so much money and have so many cars in their stable, they dont care what they are adding or they are just adding a MERC to their collection, or another scenario where politicians or land mafias are buying it for the sake of the have the money and want to show off that I have a Merc which carries my 7-8 chamchas. No thoughts or brains. Anyways.
My friend is leaned towards Merc so we said lets schedule a test drive during week and finalize it. So here there was no skill or effort from the sales person to get the customer but customer was pre-sold for merc.
Audi.Audi dealer in pune is a clear winner in terms of everything. We were warmly greeted by the sales person, he was overjoyed to show us the vehicles. He showed us Q5 & Q7, explained everything in much length and detail. He allowed us to sit, start and feel the car which was kept on display. He didnt stop us from touching anything. He had a great level of knowledge which was seen clearly. Later he demoed each feature of the car and offered for the test drive on Sunday too.(working on sunday is not a nature of Pune). The he took us to conference room, kept all brouchers in front of us, explained all service and warranty packages, finance options etc. Offered coffee, tea, softdrinks whole & kindheartedly. We were happy with him, with dealer as well, but Audi is kept as our second choice.
Audi dealership experience was really good. Now we are yet to visit BMW showroom, lets hope something better turns up.
Now, you will ask me, why I wrote so long, it may be boring for you, but this kind of attitude of dealers are spoiling big brands in india. This is the attitude which people are afraid of and then they think if same attitude is for service then their hard earned money is at a risk.
I feel this attitude will not change until people stop buying it without even seeing at it only with money power. These big brands should care how their showrooms are run. They are giving away the dealerships to people who are ready invest money but not ready to invest in knowledge, service and attitude.
The same case is with smaller segment cars too, with Skoda, Vento, Ford, Fiats etc. but lesser the cost / price so people dont mind to not to mind it. Or may be who cares for common man in India.