This is how VW and BMW want to end discount bargaining

Dusseldorf Ten percent, 20 percent – or may it be a little more? So far, anyone who goes to the car dealer has expected generous discounts. The dealers are prepared: haggling over discounts when buying a car is a well-established ritual. The dealers have so far sold the vehicles on their own account and can thus determine the final price.

The car manufacturers want to put an end to this. They want to pull the trade much more into their own hands in the future and thus also determine the rules of the business – including the prices. The decisive legal vehicle for this is the so-called “agency model”.

The actually independent car dealers are then the agents, i.e. simple sales representatives who are only allowed to sell cars on behalf of the manufacturers. The most important thing: sovereignty over prices is completely transferred to the car companies.

Car trade: Agency system should become the standard