SA Car Prices**Investigation

[SquattingDog]

I don't know of you guys, but have you been following the whole thing about SA car prices. does anyone have the latest news on this.

I'm trying to search Wheels24 for some information I read some time back but I can't find it.

One thing that was interesting was that Toyota SA is exporting cars to Australia - Gooday MATE!! . They we costing the the Kangaroo loving people about R130 000 to buy the car but the same car was about R190 000. I'm not a sience guru but sound like horse crapola to me.

Another fact, take for EXAMPLE two engineers, one in SA one in USA. They one in USA will work for 19 weeks and he can buy himself a car for valuex, the same car will take the same guy with the same job 190 weeks to purchase. NOT GOOD

So now some competition commision is investigating the matter - like hell they are- they are ENJOYING THE RIDE. Goverment pays for all the food they can eat so why do they have to investigate anything.

Anyway, if you guys/girls/ladies/cheese have any ligth on this freaken annoying[spelling] issue please bring it to light.

[Y0da]

It's called inflation. SA has one of the highest inflation rates in the world. That in turn affects interest rates which effect everything else.

A car in the states can be bought from $99 a month. Thats for a luxury sedan. If you are really spoiling yourself you can get a Volvo for -+$160. The min wage is $800 and the average joe gets about $2000 tops. Engineers and that goe up to $5000 average. Accomodation is ther biggest problem. They pay between $700 and $1500 rent for an avrage home.

[SquattingDog]

Th only thing inflating is the car dealers pockets. Yes inflation probably also have a factor in the car prices, however the rand/dollar exchange as provided South African with the opertunity for better living standard due to the low rates we are encountering rigth now. The car prices however did not drop.

Just to let you know I'm not an Economic guru so if I right crap thats...ummmm....crap, please do tell me so and rectify me with a reason.

Why do SA and World car makers produce new model swhich is more expensive than the previous model, it's not like our monthly salary is increasing by 1-2% each month. Why caný VW make the Beetle the way they use to make it, not this plastic piece of hightech crap they make know (pointing finger to the new Beetle). Sell this thing for R25000 and sell them to the masses, perfect student or first owner budget car.

[Cameron_Losco]

I think it’s because of our market, we want the best cars and people are willing to fork out for them. If people didn’t buy cars because of high prices then I would imagine that the prices would drop.

Another thing is this, once they increase a price on a car they can’t really drop it. The reason why I say this is displayed in the following example:

John buys a car for 150 000, 2 months down the line the manufacturer decides to drop the price to lets say 130 000. John now can only resell his car for something stupid like 100 000. John is very angry and bombs the place he got the car from .

Okay, not a great example but you get where I am coming from.

Look at another point, when the R/$ went up so followed the prices in a number areas (not sure if it affected car prices but if they did it’s a valid point), now that it’s at about half of what it was have the prices decreased? No they haven’t.


My personal opinion...

[Guest]

Cameron has a very valid cat by the ..... sorry a very valid point !

I think that the competition commission will report later in their investigation as it is in an investigative period at the moment and I believe that we will hear from them again towards the end of their investigation. They might not want to release information at the moment.

Please take note that the competition commission are not investigating high car prices as such but rather the "fixing" of prices.

Currently the dealer cannot sell a car for any price as the manufacturer sets a minimum price for the dealer to adhere to. It is this practice that the competition commission are investigating. I think that this is something that might spin-off into other markets as well because this "price fixing" occurrence might not only happen in the motor industry.

I do however agree that our prices are too high. The Toyota example used in the media can be done by you too! Go and visit the Toyota Australia website at: http://corolla.toyota.com.au and see for yourself! For the exchange rates go to any bank website.

Please remember to be sure that you are comparing apples with apples, if you are not sure what our model name is called in Australia or elsewhere go to: www.autoindex.org.

REMEMBER watch OUT for the small print i.e. the FROM $ 00, 00 prices, this is where individuals lose the plot when doing their comparisons.

After all this you will see that our cars will still be more expensive but not by the margins as promulgated by multiple complainers in the media.

Hey, if the competition commission gets it right, we might be able to negotiate the purchase price with the dealer in future, almost like those "street shops" in Singapore!!!

[-ASSASSIN-]

It's called inflation. SA has one of the highest inflation rates in the world. That in turn affects interest rates which effect everything else.

I hate to say this Y0da, but that is not quite true. The current inflation figures for South Africa stand at around 9.2% (not bad for a developing country), and this is the result of stringent monatary policies implemented by the govenment (and our financial minister Trevor Manuel). He has been striving through a policy of high interest rates (thats why we have very high interest rates) to lower the inflation figures to somewhere between 3-6%.

High Interest Everything expensive Low Inflation

[HarryPutter]

That Guest post was me .......

How did that happened ?? sorry about that !

Cameron !! please add one to my total number of posts

[SquattingDog]

Here is the latest as it is written in Wheels24

Pretoria - The Competition Tribunal will decide next Wednesday whether to confirm a consent order agreement between the competition commission and Toyota Motors South Africa.
The consent order hearing results from the commission's investigation of Toyota's maximum discount policy. The commission says this amounts to the maintenance of minimum resale price, which is against the Competition Act.

The commission found that from September 16, 2002 to September 1, 2004 Toyota had a policy of prescribing maximum discounts on its list prices to dealers. Toyota enforced the policy through fines on dealers. Altogether eight fines of R25 000 were levied on eight dealers.

Toyota claims that no maximum discount policy applied prior to September 16 2002 and that following the commission's investigation, Toyota announced the withdrawal of the policy at a meeting with dealers on September 1 2003.

Toyota also refunded the fines to the dealers concerned.

In the consent order, the commission and Toyota have agreed that Toyota shall:


*pay a penalty of R12m;
*desist from imposing a maximum discount;
*ensure that dealers terminate their part in the alleged anti-competitive conduct;
*not notify dealers of a price understood as the minimum price to be charged on the resale of any Toyota products;
*refrain in future from alleged unlawful conduct with dealers;
*inform dealers of the consent order;
*inform employees and dealers about Toyota's obligations under competition law;
*require its employees to comply with the consent order and take disciplinary action if needed;
*establish a mechanism for consumers to report contraventions of the Competition Act; and
co-operate with the commission's continuing investigation into the automobile industry.
*The consent order is not an admission of liability.

Under the Competition Act, during or after an investigation, if the competition commission and the respondent agree to an appropriate order, the competition tribunal may without hearing evidence confirm the agreement as a consent order. The tribunal may make the order as it is agreed to by the commission and the respondent, indicate any changes to be made or refuse to grant the order.

OHH HOW NICE IT WOULD BE PAYING R10-20G LESS FOR A RUN-X RSI

[UncleB]

What about us suckers that just bought a brand new Toyota 6 months ago, sadly we lose out!