WOW! £4195 new Kia!
April 24th, 2009 by Richard Aucock
KIA has taken the new car scrap bull by the horns – by retailing the Picanto city car for just £4195!
The maker has confirmed it will match the Government’s £1000 scrappage payment, with £1000 of its own.
This means anyone scrapping a car 10 years or older will be able to get the city car for, surely, one of the lowest relative list prices EVER.
Even better, it’s offered on Kia Access Finance – for less than £10 a week!
This is if the customer chips in a £1000 deposit. If they prefer not to pay, the price rises… to £20 a week.
Speaking of the staggering offer, Paul Philpott, MD of Kia UK, said: ‘Kia has fully committed itself, and its car dealer network, to giving budget-conscious motorists the chance to enjoy the best technology for the lowest possible price.’
And the Picanto is not the only Kia to benefit.
‘A Kia cee’d, complete with seven year bumper-to-bumper warranty and five-star Euro NCAP safety rating bought under the scrappage scheme is just £7995.’
A pretty amazing price itself – made up by Kia adding existing incentives to the Government deal; even for non-scrappage customers, the car still costs £8995.
‘That’s a package no-one in the UK motor industry can match.’
Kia says its car dealers around the UK are ready to take orders now under the new scrappage scheme.
BUDGET: Reaction to scrap scheme
Tags: Budget, Kia, new car scrap, scrappage
 |  |  |
April 24th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
I have been reliably informed that the Government has put its foot down with cherry-picking manufacturers (like Toyota and Citroen) and has insisted that if they join the scheme they must not exclude any models. Hmmm. That changes things, eh? About time!
Also, the Government has fired a shot across the bows of the industry by telling manufacturers that they must NOT reduce current existing “street” discounts or offers to subsidise the scheme.
Taken together, this looks likes the Government is being tough and ramming the onus onto car makers and dealers to act honestly, instead of the twisting re-packaging and “deals” on selected models we have witnessed so far.
If my source is correct, now that the initial-response gravy-train has been derailed and the car makers have to provide £1000 of new money into each scrappage (plus pay for the scrapping of the old car, plus dealers have to finance the cashflow delay until claims are paid out by the Government), it will be interesting to see how the industry reacts!
Good Government (for a change!)
Ling Valentine
April 25th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
What Car say the “target price” for a Kia Picanto 1.0 5dr is £5,911.
They say, “The Target Price is a realistic discount that should be within your reach at a dealer near you. And if your dealer won’t sell you a car for the price we quote, we’ll find you one who will.”
Fine. We can all agree you could probably beat the target price with a bit of extra haggling, indeed What Car say “…remember that Target Prices are starting points for negotiations.”
So, if we do some basic maths, £5,911 – £2000 scrappage subsidy is £3,911.
Yet, Kia are saying the car will be sold for £4,195.
This “wrapping up” of the scrappage subsidy payable to consumers, to provide an “offer price” is akin to embezzling and stealing the subsidy. This subsidy is NOT designed to line the pockets of manufacturers and dealers.
Further, when describing the Kia Ceed above; if for non-scrappage the “car still costs £8,995″, and the car bought under scrappage scheme (taking the £2000 into account) is £7,995… hasn’t £1,000 of subsidy been withheld? Or am I missing something?
====
I have already had to slap down one publication (involved in Automotive Industry) and get them to pull copy and hastily change their advertised agenda. They had organised a glitzy conference on Auto Retailing, with the number one topic aimed at car dealers: **”1. Scrappage: £300 million Government boost on offer How are you going to secure your share”**
Well, I had news for them: ***They do not get ANY share***
That money is NOT extra profit for motor dealers! It is an incentive for consumers to change car. It is outrageous that the industry thinks they should be pocketing a share of the cash!
That would be profiteering, corrupt and stealing from the taxpayer. This should be very clear.
I understand that everyone is using slightly ambiguous terms so that they can roll back and claim, “what we meant to say, was…” – but really, the Government and Scrappage money is NOT up for grabs by the industry. It is NOT substitutional so firms can reduce current discounts.
This is a very dangerous slide into the industry syphoning off taxpayers’ cash and stealing the cash meant for the people swapping older cars.
What the industry will benefit from is an increase in ***volume of sales, which should translate into an increase in production***, NOT an increase in profit per unit by grabbing taxpayers’ cash.
Some people (including important ones) have got this horribly wrong.
Ling Valentine