Sanghi Motors is no longer a Mercedes dealership!

[harit]

Just got a letter from MBIL and Sanghi Motors that they are splitting. MBIL is to appoint a new second dealer in Mumbai. And by sheer coincidence, got a call from Auto Hanger a few days ago offering discounted service.
Normally, unless forced to, I do not change an establishment, buying shoes, clothes, pasties, bread, even car parts etc. from the same establishment unless they really bug me. But in the case of my family Benz, purchased from United Motors, serviced by them, then serviced by Concord Motors, on to Sanghi motors and now who?
No stability really.

[speedy]

Originally Posted by harit

Just got a letter from MBIL and Sanghi Motors that they are splitting. MBIL is to appoint a new second dealer in Mumbai. And by sheer coincidence, got a call from Auto Hanger a few days ago offering discounted service.
Normally, unless forced to, I do not change an establishment, buying shoes, clothes, pasties, bread, even car parts etc. from the same establishment unless they really bug me. But in the case of my family Benz, purchased from United Motors, serviced by them, then serviced by Concord Motors, on to Sanghi motors and now who?
No stability really.

Harit uncle that is almost a month old news. Sanghi motors is no longer with MBIL and Auto Hanger has been appointed in their place. So Auto Hanger is the only dealer in Bombay now. They are also opening a new showroom.

[harit]

Originally Posted by speedy

Harit uncle that is almost a month old news. Sanghi motors is no longer with MBIL and Auto Hanger has been appointed in their place. So Auto Hanger is the only dealer in Bombay now. They are also opening a new showroom.

A month may not be too old news. And they were to be active till end June or July, I forgot which month and it does not matter. Their letter came to office on the 4th July. They stated that Auto Hanger is putting up a larger show room, i.e.expanding, but a second dealer is also being appointed.
And many did not know this as yet.
Any idea why Sanghi split? Did they get a better offer?

[speedy]

Originally Posted by harit

A month may not be too old news. And they were to be active till end June or July, I forgot which month and it does not matter. Their letter came to office on the 4th July. They stated that Auto Hanger is putting up a larger show room, i.e.expanding, but a second dealer is also being appointed.
And many did not know this as yet.
Any idea why Sanghi split? Did they get a better offer?

As far as i know Auto Hanger is the only dealer now and Mercedes is not looking for another one for Bombay. They are looking for Nasik and Ahemdabad. Auto Hanger would open the Showroom at Metro Motors, replaceing Mitsubishi.
No idea why Sanghi split but someone from Auto Hanger told me that they were not performing as expected. Someone else told me that Sanghi had an offer from Audi or VW. So dont know the real factor.

[manishk123]

Originally Posted by speedy

As far as i know Auto Hanger is the only dealer now and Mercedes is not looking for another one for Bombay. They are looking for Nasik and Ahemdabad. Auto Hanger would open the Showroom at Metro Motors, replaceing Mitsubishi.
No idea why Sanghi split but someone from Auto Hanger told me that they were not performing as expected. Someone else told me that Sanghi had an offer from Audi or VW. So dont know the real factor.

The VW story could be true. They've closed down the worli showroom. Only a mobile number for mumbai bookings now. Sorry state of affairs at VW. This is what happens when you over price your products in a new market.

[V-16]

Originally Posted by manishk123

The VW story could be true. They've closed down the worli showroom. Only a mobile number for mumbai bookings now. Sorry state of affairs at VW. This is what happens when you over price your products in a new market.

Presidential cars which was the VW dealer has washed its hands from the VW dealership. HE has taken Nissan for all India. The same guy owned SHiraz motors and Ichibaan Honda. He has washed hands off Ichibaan Honda too.

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

A 170V roadster from Vijay Mallya's collection (being restored) can be found here

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1381098-post23.html (Dr Vijay Mallya's Collection)

I hope he replaces the Morris rear lights

[GTO]

In light of the larger (and flashier) showrooms by BMW & Audi (especially), Merc's dealerships were looking like corner shops. One could easily miss Auto Hangar at Prabhadevi, while Sanghi was not much more impressive either. Mercedes wants to gives its dealerships the same finesse as that of the new premium players. I hear Sanghi didn't agree with the idea.

[Raajiv]

Originally Posted by GTO

In light of the larger (and flashier) showrooms by BMW & Audi (especially), Merc's dealerships were looking like corner shops. One could easily miss Auto Hangar at Prabhadevi, while Sanghi was not much more impressive either. Mercedes wants to gives its dealerships the same finesse as that of the new premium players. I hear Sanghi didn't agree with the idea.

The Story is a little different here in Chennai with all the three motor giants (Merc,Audi,BMW) have showrooms which are plain-jane and not flashy.

BTW,the VW showroom look very flashy bang in the heart of the city.

[D-Man]

Originally Posted by manishk123

The VW story could be true. They've closed down the worli showroom. Only a mobile number for mumbai bookings now. Sorry state of affairs at VW. This is what happens when you over price your products in a new market.

VW being over priced? I really think that is not true. Its the whole Indian car market being over priced. If Civic can be sold for Rs 12 to 13 lakhs you expect a Jetta to match it? if that's what you are boiling it at. Civic is crap in comparison to a Jetta. Passat is priced close to C-Class in India. Which is the case every where else. When I purchased my Passat; just like most Indian's do, I compared ownership costs.
Sorry for being OT here.

[manishk123]

Originally Posted by D-Man

VW being over priced? I really think that is not true. Its the whole Indian car market being over priced. If Civic can be sold for Rs 12 to 13 lakhs you expect a Jetta to match it? if that's what you are boiling it at. Civic is crap in comparison to a Jetta. Passat is priced close to C-Class in India. Which is the case every where else. When I purchased my Passat; just like most Indian's do, I compared ownership costs.
Sorry for being OT here.

FYI - US Prices
2009 Civic Sedan $23,000
2009 Jetta Sedan $22,000
Both cars having similar trims and options. And I dont even want to get in the debate on Jetta v/s Civic ownership costs.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by D-Man

Civic is crap in comparison to a Jetta.

Excuse me, but the Civics direct competitor is the Jetta petrol. Compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. The Civic has far superior performance, fuel efficiency and reliability compared to the Jetta petrol. The cost of ownership over a 5 - 7 year period will be way cheaper on the Civic. And I'm willing to bet, the resale will be way stronger too. Driving the Civic is an exhilirating experience, the Jetta petrol is a bore.

Passat is priced close to C-Class in India.

Unfortunately, it's not the case everywhere. And the VW Passat has been plagued with problems. Further, its own sister - the cheaper Skoda Superb - beats the Passat on almost every parameter.

[manishk123]

My 2 year old 280CDI bought from Sanghi is giving me some AC problems. It has individual climate control for all 4 passengers. But the driver side and the passenger behind the driver are not cooling at all. I'm confused where to take the car cause I have a feeling this might cost a bomb to rectify. Although Sanghi guys said the workshop is open till September, i think i'll take it to Autohangar, so if the problem reoccurs atleast i'll have someone to catch.

[canonball]

Be sure to not take it to Condivita/Andheri workshop - over crowded, no individual attention, monsoon flooding risk, and quality of work not great. Go to their worli - shiv sagar estate - behind MRF workshop. Best of luck you are going to need it!

[D-Man]

@manish: do some research before you print prices like that. i guess google can help you.
Honda Civic Family - 2009 - the Official Honda Web Site
@GTO: Comparing Civic to Jetta is not comparing oranges to oranges. Its the same as comparing Passat to Skoda or say Passat to Mercedes, BMW, Audi. Regarding ownership costs, of course Japs are rated higher. I guess you din't follow my pointer when I compared ownership costs of passat vs c class. I made the same comparision like Manish did of comparing Civic to a Jetta. Comparing a Chek to German build is again not a smart thing. Skoda is a left overs from most of production work of VW.
Again i do not want to steal the thunder of this thread. I am open to debate with facts if someone can initiate a thread on this.

[ImmortalZ]

They are built on the same platforms, use the same engines and most of the electrics. Only the body shape differs. Get up to date on your favorite brand's platform strategies, or you'll end up putting your foot in your mouth, like you just did.

The Fabia is now built in VW's plant. So how does that make you feel about Czech build vis a vis German build when they are both Indian build?