Car clients still more interested in discounts than price

The first question a client entering a car showroom asks is about what discount he or she can get, though most importers have in recent months been trying to find new ways of attracting buyers, but without cutting car prices.

“Clients have already got used to it. Discounts are still more important than the price, when this should normally be set at the end of talks with the dealer, not at the beginning,” said Dan Chitaru, chairman of Kia Rom Auto, the importer of the Korean brand domestically.

According to Kia head, the discount policy embraced by several dealers and importers can significantly harm a brand as it will be very difficult to cut the price of a car close to the level of before the promotion.

Early this year, in an interview with ZF, Dragoș Măgdălina, CEO of Hyundai Auto Romania, the importer of the Korean brand on the domestic market and part of Țiriac Holdings, said car prices have come to be abnormally low as all dealers have discount campaigns underway. Instead of discounts, clients should be attracted through services, and car prices should allow dealers to return to profit, according to Hyundai head.