|
A new car for Tet - it’ll cost you
Car buyers are being forced to ask themselves – just how much extra would I pay to be driving a new car in time for Tet?
As pressure on car dealers intensifies it’s the seller who’s in the driving seat and buyers are having to part with a little extra if they are going to get their new car in time.
Car sales agents have told clients that if they place orders now the cars may not be delivered in time. However, if they do want cars sooner – well they might just find a way.
Duy T, a senior sale officer of a sales agent of Toyota, said every sales agent has its own ‘sales policy’.
Some sales agents will deliver cars at once after clients pay an additional sum of $2,000. Other agents are applying another policy - giving prompt delivery but only if clients agree to buy additional extras worth 40-50 million dong.
Of course, such ‘sale policies’ are not made public as they represent the whims of the car dealers not the automobile manufacturers.
Analysts say it is not difficult to persuade clients to spend tens of millions of dong more just as long as they can offer prompt delivery.
VietNamNet’s reporter, acting as client, called V, a sale agent for Toyota, saying they wanted to get a Corrola Altis in 2009.
On the phone, V said he does not have Corrola Altis 2.0, but if the client wants a Corrola Altis 1.8, he can ensure delivery in December 2009. But first the client has to pay an additional sum of $2,000 for his “help”.
When our reporter suggested that if they had to pay extra then why not charge instead for additional in-car purchases. V said such practices didn’t offer value for money as the customer pays the full prices for extras when, in reality, they are receiving low quality fakes in return.
And, like all corruption, it’s hard to know where it will end. One officer at Petrolimex told us he agreed to pay 40 millon for extras only for the sales agent to come and demand 10 million more for prompt delivery. He changed his mind – cancelled his order and bought a second hand car instead.
Car sales agents speculating?
So how come sales agents still have cars while manufacturers claim there are no more cars for deliveries in 2009?
Phan Hong Hai, deputy head of the Marketing Division of Toyota Vietnam, admitted some sales agents extort money from clients.
Hai said that two months ago, the automobile manufacturer dismissed staff at Toyota My Dinh and another at Toyota Thang Long for these reasons
Hai said the cases were discovered after clients call the automobile manufacturer on the hot line. “We have a lot of difficulties in supervising sales officers. Meanwhile, a lot of customers do not want to reveal information about the sales officers,” he said.
Analysts say that while cars run out at factories they are still available at sales outlets because salesmen themselves register to purchase cars and then resell them later.
Pham Huyen
vietnamnet
|
