Honda messing up!!!

[John_pal]

Is it just me or are honda really messing up now.
any dealer selling multifranchise is now being told that unless they scrap the other franchise i.e. yamaha then honda will pull out and stop dealing with them. it has affected loads of places upto now.

do you think this is a bad idea

[Cloggsy]

The dealer in Darlington was told to open another exclusive 'Honda' shop-front or loose their Honda franchise... How out of order is that :?:

[Jelster]

All Honda dealers have to go as a single franchise. Suzuki are pushing their dealers the same way, and Ducati have the same rules. It's just like cars franchise management.

Personally I'm not fussed, as long as I get good service I'm willing to travel to a dealer.

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[The Basket]

The idea is to have control. If you have control then you can control prices, servicing, supply and demand and so on. Also to try and make the brand stand alone and more distinct. The price crashes and poor servicing of the past could be regulated more. BMW do well out of it. But it stops you comparing like for like. ie a Hornet over a Bandit and so on in the same shop.

[BURNER]

Just avoid the whole H*nda shop. Means you don't have to look at them when making your choice from a multi brand dealer.

[The Basket]

All Honda dealers are going single. Sell 'em with the cars or summat. If the mechanic only deals with one brand then they should be very good at thier job. See plenty of SV's or what

[Jelster]

Just avoid the whole Honda shop. Means you don't have to look at them when making your choice from a multi brand dealer.

But a multibrand dealer cannot hold the depth of stock on any single brand that a "mono" brand dealer can. You then also have to know the ins and outs of 40-50 models rather than 10-15.

I see no problem in going to the BMW dealer to test a beamer, a Honda dealer to test a VFR etc. Just do what I did, and organise a Saturday so you can fit in 3 back to back tests at different dealers.. It's pretty good fun too.

.

[Ping]

Well that's a annoying move... If I'm looking for a bike I want to see and sit on THE WHOLE range of 'em... Not Honda's whole range... :?

[Jelster]

But it's not just Honda... BMW are the same, as are Ducati and Triumph, plus Suzuki are trying to push their "Modus ??" idea of single franchise dealers. It won't be long before all the big 4 will be like it.

If it gives you better customer service and better quality servicing then I don't see a problem.

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[MrMessy]

I personally think single franchise dealers are better. They generally have a better stock range and the bikes are not has packed in. Our local Yamaha dealer has a good stock, demonstrators and a good reputation. A big mulitfranchise dealer in Leeds has that many bikes packed into a showroom you cannot get a good look at what they have. I was in there the other day and they where shuffling bikes round just to get one out!

[Iansv]

Fine if you have dealers for all local to you but alot of people don't...

always had the problem in peterborough of no official suzuki dealer... thats why I had two kwaks to start with


Still don't think it'll stop places like Taz etc tho

[K]

We deal with both Honda cars and bikes and it seems to work fairly well. The BMW dealership on the other side of town is set up the same way - combined service and parts depatments, but with separate bike & car showrooms and sales staff.

I don't think we (i.e. our Northampton and Solihull branches) are the only Honda dealers in the UK that are car/bike combined - but I don't think there are many others out there. BMW have the most combined centres and I don't think Suzuki have one at all.

The main multi-franchise in town has Suzuki, Yamaha, Ducati and KTM - and frankly on the sales side it shows they have no real loyalty or product knowledge. Generally they sound like they are simply spouting whatever the most recent press release has been.
Parts Dept. are good, but their servicing leave much to be desired.

Most of the Parts Depts our way have a tendency to pick each other's brains as and when needed - but servicing does benefit from single franchise in my opinion.
Espescially as bikes are moving further and further away from 'basic' mechanics, and more and more into areas where overall design can affect all levels of the machine.

In theory it should provide customers with a better service all round (locality aside) by being more focused and product driven. The practise will be upto individual dealers, as ever.

[John_pal]

But it's not just Honda... BMW are the same, as are Ducati and Triumph, plus Suzuki are trying to push their "Modus ??" idea of single franchise dealers. It won't be long before all the big 4 will be like it.

If it gives you better customer service and better quality servicing then I don't see a problem.

.

UNTRUE!!!!
I WORK FOR A SUZUKI/YAM/HONDA DEALER AND SUZUKI ARE TOTALLY FINE WITH US BEING MULTIFRANCHISE.
ORIGINALLY WE OFFERED HONDA OUR MAIN SHOWROOM (HALF THE SHOP) FOR ONLY HONDA AND THEY WANTED A SEPERATE BUILDING.
SUZUKI EVEN PAID FOR THE SHOP RENOVATION AND DIDDNT CARE THAT WE SOLD YAM AND HONDA.
SUZUKI ARE THE BEST COMPANY EVER.

[Jelster]

OK, no need to shout...

I'm going by what I have been told by other dealers, maybe you are an exception to the rule ?

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[Peter Henry]

Sorry to disagree here fellas but thinking that the desire to provide greater service or parts back up by going single franchise is I am afraid complete and utter rubbish.

This pressure and policy is soley aimed at generating better sales figures in a slightly softening new bike market. Part of the problem has been created by dealers offering discounts and deals a few months down the line when a biker who bought earlier really gets p+ssed off!
Plus no-one likes the sound of that cash dripping away as you leave the dealers shop for the first time on your brand spanker. Depreciation on new bikes is something people are kicking against and the stronger market is in the nearly new second hand market in order to avoid that,so I read.
Service and spares supply might improve to a degree but please do not be fooled in believeing that all of a sudden after all of these years, all of the bike manufacturers have come to realise...all at the same time...that we have all been getting a sh*tty deal! :shock:

[admin]

Sorry to disagree here fellas but thinking that the desire to provide greater service or parts back up by going single franchise is I am afraid complete and utter rubbish.

I tend to agree. At the moment car dealers are going the other way, due to some recent european laws. My local ford dealer is now selling mazda skoda and kia.

Our local Honda dealer is very good, but the lack of anything other than honda makes for a thin choice.

Another dealer, Pete Jones, used to sell yamaha but they pulled out when he took on a Suzuki dealership. And now it's happened again because he's taken on Aprillia.

So how does this affect me. Well being based in Shrewsbury it now means there is little choice unless I travel much further afield. I don't want to buy a new bike in birmingham, what if I have problems with it?

As far as I can see, the manufactorers are shooting themselves in the foot. They should be exposing their products to the biggest audience possible. A youngster who buys his first 125 from my Honda dealer is likely to go back and buy a bigger honda at a later date. If he'd seen a 125 from Suzuki or Yamaha parked next to the Honda, he may bought differently.

My 2P. I don't like being bullied by big corporations, it's up to us to act as consumers and vote with our wallets.

John
PS. My friend works in a big car dealer locally and if you think that big makes them good, then your sadly mistaken. He's told me stories that would make your toes curl.

[Jelster]

Of course it's driven by the need to increase sales/profits; the companies are in business. We may like to think that they are here for us, but there not, we are here for them. The ONLY way to make money in this business is to build a good reputation for high level customer service and good quality in the workshop.

When I buy a new bike, no matter what the brand, I don't look for the "cheapest" price, I look for the best overall value. Part of that is understanding what I'm going to get in the way of customer service. I'm happy to pay more if I know that the "value" is better.

I have dealt with a number of multi-franchise outfits and they have always been poor. I have also dealt with sole brand franchises and they have, on the whole, tended to offer a better all round service.

The best service I have had has been Chiswick Honda, who tend to work in a corporate way but the service is excellent. The other places where I have had good experinces are smaller "family" run businesses that are sole franchise (Steve Jordan and West London Suzuki come to mind).

In my opinion, sole franchises give you a better service, but it's a pain if you have to travel to find one...

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[John_pal]

that is the thing. do you think that even though you have warranty on that particular bike that all dealers should respect youre warranty the same.

[Jelster]

that is the thing. do you think that even though you have warranty on that particular bike that all dealers should respect youre warranty the same.

ANy dealer of a particular brand "should" be willing to handle warranty work on your bike even if you didn't purchase it from them. Again, this is part of the customer service ethic... If you looker after Freds bike and do a good job, next time Fred will hopefully buy a bike from you...

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[John_pal]

ANy dealer of a particular brand "should" be willing to handle warranty work on your bike even if you didn't purchase it from them. Again, this is part of the customer service ethic... If you looker after Freds bike and do a good job, next time Fred will hopefully buy a bike from you...

.[/quote]

that is in an ideal world.
what if fred always buys from somewhere far away because its a little cheaper but comes to you for warranty every time. you dont get paid for warranty work but you must respect the manufacturers rules and do it.

fair enough the work always gets done but not in the same way that you would take care of 'petes' bike since he actually got it from you, fred is just lower priority, that is the way it normally goes.is it fair?

[Jelster]

that is in an ideal world.
what if fred always buys from somewhere far away because its a little cheaper but comes to you for warranty every time. you dont get paid for warranty work but you must respect the manufacturers rules and do it.

fair enough the work always gets done but not in the same way that you would take care of 'petes' bike since he actually got it from you, fred is just lower priority, that is the way it normally goes.is it fair?

Understood, but then we're back into what I said earlier. Why go miles away to buy your bike when you get better all round value at a dealer that you would pefer to service it, or that is more local ?

When Topcat bought his Fireblade brand new 2 years ago he could of got it £400 cheaper and a slightly better finance deal at HGB, but chose Chiswick Honda as it was closer and had a better reputation for service. In the long run he got better value, even if the purchase price was more....

And I have had a number of jobs sorted under warranty by West london Suzuki even though I didn't purchase from them. But Mark the owner knows that if I were to buy another Suzuki he would be my first choice.

Like I have said, customer service is king - Remember Riossi/Motoercycle City ?? Bikes were cheap, service was abismal.... And where are they now ?

.

[K]

Under some kind of regulations that my poor brain can't remember (possibly EU ones or something :? ) any vehicle's manufacturer warrenty is valid no matter which garage undertakes the work - providing original manufacturer parts are used and all consumables (oil etc) are of an equivalent grade.

Just a bit of additional info for the discussion.

[admin]

according to my friend the mechanic, each dealer is limited on the amount of warranty claims they can claim off the manufacturer. He's a car mech mind.

When the local Furrows (ford) dealer took on Rover from another nearby dealer, Rover capped the amount furrows could claim.

That's why dealers argue the toss about what is covered and what isn't.

If a dealer exceeds his cap, then he pays for your warrenty repair.

very clever of the manufacturers, they get the dealers to police the amount of claims coming in.

John