Matt Cooper's article on car dealers

pburns

I didn't catch his interview with Bill Cullen the other night but predictably Cooper is unimpressed with the plight of the car dealer. It's very obvious he doesn't suffer from petrol-headitis and that he very much sees cars as 'white-goods' but I agree with nearly everything he says...

http://www.examiner.ie/opinion/columnists/matt-cooper/car-dealers-want-to-drive-us-where-we-fear-to-go-into-more-debt-105418.html

Mr Benevolent

It reads like a regular Motors forum reader Own up! Who's Matt Cooper?

fryup

he's dead right, why buy new when you can buy nearly new at a much better price

dudara

I've never gotten the desire to buy a new car (i.e. Yaris, Micra) when the same budget can buy a much nicer high-end marque. I set a budget of E5k on my last car purchase, and got a nicely-specc'd E46 318i for my money. A much better buy as far as I'm concerned. And I'm not even representative of people who have E10-15k to spend.

As for the scrappage scheme, I fail to see the major benefit. Even with E2k off, why would I want to buy a new car, along with the associated depreciation, when I can buy better second-hand.

mike65

Cooper doesn't drive I believe.

Drummerboy08

He has a point, but that same point can be applied to any form of goods.

Do you really need to buy a new house? Why not just live with your parents and save yourself 200k.?

Do you really need to buy a new TV? Why not just look through your neighbours window?

Etc etc.

People buy cars because they want to - most of us in here are petrol heads, and we like our cars. I see my car as an extension of me, not just a piece of metal on wheels in my driveway. Most of you are the same. We have a pride in our cars, where I get the impression that Cooper looks upon the motor as just the piece of metal.

Cooper also made the point that people in the trade will have reduced incomes - I have taken a significant paycut, and as a result I do a few nights here and there in the local pub to keep myself above water. I play a few nights with a band too. Thats what's keeping me going.

I spoke to the Business manager in a large, well know dealership last night, and he told me he's earning 310 euro a week. 310 euro. Thats how much his wages have been cut.

I understand Cooper's point regarding the levels of personal finance (which is why the government shold do a deal with the finance companies to free up cheap credit) but as he said, there are 35,000 people employed directly with the motor trade. 10,000 of those will face losing their jobs come January 2010. That leaves 25,000 people struggling to repay mortgages, etc etc. Regardless of your view of the motor trade, thats a serious amount of people in trouble. Ultimately, if nothing is done now to help these people, it could cost the economy more in the long run.

The above point applies to every industry in Ireland too, not just the motor trade before you start "Why should the motor trade be saved". Its a very simple problem -

People lose jobs - no money to spend - other industries suffer = more job losses.

On a side note, I've been told that Bill Cullen has 3000 orders for January

Rev. BlueJeans

Bangernomics all the way here

My car is five years old and counting-it's the newest I feel I need to go.

Let folk keep buying the new 'uns if they wish, I'll have 'em in a few years when they depreciate

edit: I'm aware five years may seem unfeasibly new for some

Tipsy Mac

Bill Cullen talking to Matt Cooper on The Last Word during the week http://www.radioireland.ie/lastword/11112009-18.wmv