The greatest losers on the German car market in 2009

MacGuffin said:
And another Ssangyong, the Kyron. Talking about Chinese invasion. The 56 sold models surely don't look like a threat.
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Ssangyongs are Korean, not Chinese. Chinese cars are much, much worse. For some reason, the same company that imports Ferarri and Maserati into Australia decided it was a good idea to also sell Great Wall Motors Chinese cars here. They sell 2 pick-ups, both god-awful and blatant rip-offs of western cars, and the X240 4x4, which is without a doubt the worst car in Australia. They'll tell you it has "leather seats", but its the same "leather" that you find on really cheap office chairs.

But I don't know how Ssangyong manages to survive in some markets, I was terribly confused when a local Ford dealer became a joint Ssangyong dealer, because they don't appear to have sold anything. Same with Proton, I know of a dealer that is still trying to shift brand new 06 plate cars.
 
Subarus are also rather expensive in Germany; I looked at a Legacy there and the website was giving me prices from ~25k euros for the cheapest ones.

I'm surprised the Sucklongwangs sold that many though.
 
MacGuffin said:
And another Ssangyong, the Kyron. Talking about Chinese invasion. The 56 sold models surely don't look like a threat.

[

hbriz said:
Ssangyongs are Korean, not Chinese. Chinese cars are much, much worse. For some reason, the same company that imports Ferarri and Maserati into Australia decided it was a good idea to also sell Great Wall Motors Chinese cars here. They sell 2 pick-ups, both god-awful and blatant rip-offs of western cars, and the X240 4x4, which is without a doubt the worst car in Australia. They'll tell you it has "leather seats", but its the same "leather" that you find on really cheap office chairs.

But I don't know how Ssangyong manages to survive in some markets, I was terribly confused when a local Ford dealer became a joint Ssangyong dealer, because they don't appear to have sold anything. Same with Proton, I know of a dealer that is still trying to shift brand new 06 plate cars.
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Actually SAIC owns (or owned) 51% of Ssangyong, so they could be called somewhat Chinese. ;) Ssangyong has filed for bankruptcy in February, there is a little dispute about the further proceedings with SAIC.
I also find it particular strange that these cars are still sold in Germany, after the official importer announced to stop doing so to Germany back in 2007. Also that same importer went into bankruptcy in 2009, so how imported these cars?
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Cowboy said:
Our car market = usualy similar to the German market
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when looking at the model yes, when accounting the engine, not realy :)

and i think ssangyong sold better over here. i see those ugly faces way to often
 
Cowboy said:
I'm baffeld by the Navara :blink:
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That seems bizarre, considering that Nissan sell approximately 50 Navaras a DAY in Australia (based on approximately 20,000 units per annum).

I realise that Germany and Australia are two totally different markets, but I can't get my head wrapped around something that is so popular where I live selling so poorly elsewhere.
 
tone76 said:
I realise that Germany and Australia are two totally different markets, but I can't get my head wrapped around something that is so popular where I live selling so poorly elsewhere.
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Quite simple: Because the people who buy pick-up trucks/utes cause they need them, like construction companys and farmers, traditionally go with VW LT/MB Sprinter based semi-trucks over here.

So the only one in the market for pick-up trucks are Harley riders and other people who like "the american way of life" (or what accounts for it in their minds), so obviously they import an american one.
 
Well, it's just the case that pick-ups like those don't really work here. If you need a rack body truck here you get a Transit or something else which is as big as that. If you don't need a rack body truck you just don't buy anything like that over here. There is almost nothing in between that.

In addition to that, Nissans really don't sell well in Germany in general. The only Nissans you can see more often around here are the Micra, Primera (which isn't produced anymore) and recently the Qashqai, but other Nissans are scarce.

[edit]
Did that really take me so long? *sigh*
[/edit]
 
Dr_Grip said:
Quite simple: Because the people who buy pick-up trucks/utes cause they need them, like construction companys and farmers, traditionally go with VW LT/MB Sprinter based semi-trucks over here.

So the only one in the market for pick-up trucks are Harley riders and other people who like "the american way of life" (or what accounts for it in their minds), so obviously they import an american one.
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indeed, you'll see loads of these
iveco-daily.jpg


they use less fuel, and can haul more stuff...
and you can get them in all variations you want, open box, closed box, FWD, RWD, single axle, double axle, single axle - double wheel, etc
 
And you can stick a crane or a lift on one if you want too.
 
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hajj said:
Actually SAIC owns (or owned) 51% of Ssangyong, so they could be called somewhat Chinese. ;) #
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Funny you say that, the other day I was thinking about something sort of similar:
We hear all the time on TG about the "Britishness" of cars when it comes to Jags, Astons, Rolls, Bentleys, Rovers but really should we still call them British cars? There seems to be a distinction between the roots, the heart and soul if you like, and the reality. At the same time can we call a Jag "an American car", a Rolls or a Bentley "German cars" (hey it's not like they don't have enough brilliant makes already! :lol:;)) ?
Same goes for Opel, still a German make, a Bugatti still a French make?

Sorry I went out of the subject, just thinking about a thread on that.

Now I'm just praying the Gods Mc Guffin will forgive me for spoiling somewhat his thread. :cry:
 
The good news is when the fools who bought these cars get bored of the flops they bought, they will be faced with a dizzying depreciation and this mean you will be able to buy one of these cars for very little money.

The other good news, is that because the demand for these cars is very low, the dealers know that the only way to get these cars shifted is to sell it for less than an equivalent European (German really) or Japanese rival and that means you should be able to negotiate a very generous discount on the price.
 
On the other hand: there is a good reason why those cars sold badly - nobody wants them, even with a generous discount. ;)
 
I've developed a stereotype that SsangYongs are popular with farmers and dogowners. The ones I've seen have been in the more rural areas and they've had dog cages in the back, or it has been a pickup with stuff in. We can thus scientifically proove that owning a dog (and/or a farm) means that ones esthetic abilities decrease exponentially.

Of course, if you buy an ugly car but live in the woods, it doesnt matter that it's ugly since noone is around to see it, except for other farmers and dog-owners...
 
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bone said:
indeed, you'll see loads of these
iveco-daily.jpg


they use less fuel, and can haul more stuff...
and you can get them in all variations you want, open box, closed box, FWD, RWD, single axle, double axle, single axle - double wheel, etc
Click to expand...

Does anyone even buy that one?
 
^^I've seen my share of FWD vans over here, especially with the recent snow/ice. Most were VW Transporters and there were also some Fiats.
 
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