Duopoly of Volkswagen dealerships in Kerala

Fury · 26th March 2021, 20:12

The story starts with my cousin looking out to buy an automatic car with the maximum budget set at 11 lakhs. This would be his first car and naturally he asked me and my brother for our opinion regarding which car to buy. Rather than downright recommending 1 particular car, we explained the pros and cons of all the options available in his budget and the final choice came down to Nissan Magnite XV (premium) automatic or VW Polo Highline plus automatic. I personally recommended the polo since he works in Bangalore and there are possibilities of him driving down to Bangalore in the future once he gets the hang of driving and the Polo would probably have better highway manners than the Magnite (personal opinion). After a lot of deliberation, he decided to go with the Polo. Now starts the problem.

Anybody who has done their research on getting a Polo automatic would have noticed that the best variant to buy is the Highline plus and not the GT since the GT misses out on a couple of major features (Rear ac vents, front armrest) while being almost 50k more expensive. The VW website and most other car websites clearly mentions the Highline plus variant and the GT variant simultaneously. However, while we walked in to EVM Kochi to book the Highline plus automatic, the SA stubbornly stated that from 2021 onwards there would be no further dispatch of Highline plus automatic variant and if we want the car we would have to get the GT. He was so adamant that even i started to believe he might be right and we have no choice other than to get the GT or move to Magnite. However, since my cousin works in Bangalore and he had the option to get the car from Bangalore as well, we thought we might as well enquire there. Surprisingly, the dealer there promptly agreed to deliver a Highline plus automatic of any color within 2 weeks from the date of booking. This confused us since we were partly convinced that Highline plus automatic production had stopped for 2021 and we double checked whether the car offered in Bangalore was the 2021 model, which was confirmed positive. To confirm that the SA in EVM Kochi was not misinformed, we called up a couple more dealers in Thiruvalla (EVM) and Thrissur (Pheonix) and all of them told us the same story- Highline plus automatic is no longer in production. The more surprising part was the price. The Highline plus price quoted from Bangalore for the 2021 model was only marginally higher from what was quoted by EVM Kochi for 2020 model (consider there was a price hike from 2021 and the higher road taxes in Bangalore which usually results in a much bigger delta). Further negotiations resulted in further discounts and we finally booked the car in Bangalore and last week made the entire payment after doing a PDI on the car. The delivery is scheduled for this sunday.

Now coming to the real issue here. It seems the 2 VW dealers in Kerala (EVM and Pheonix) are running a duopoly. I am guessing the margins on the GT variants are higher and since Polo has reasonable demand in Kerala, there are no discounts running either. While the lack of discounts is understandable, I feel its unethical to deny the customers a certain variant and downright lie to them about its production just to get higher margins. I am sure VW cars are high margin products and without discounts, these guys are having windfall profits. So whats the point of all this deceit? Not everyone in Kerala will have the option to get the car in another state so I thought I should atleast let the people know the kind of racket they run here. I am not expecting a big change with this post but if 1 person reads this and questions the dealership next time, I would consider it a win.

We plan on going to EVM Kochi once we get the car, just to show that we know they lied. Dont know how that will turn out

Latheesh · 26th March 2021, 20:37

True. I was checking Polo turbo edition last month and dealer quoted higher price than the VWs announced price. I called Calicut dealer to verify and he too quoted the same price. I had to escalate it to VW on twitter to get the price corrected. I booked it a month ago and there is no confirmation on delivery/edition price, also zero follow up after the booking. They are ok if I cancel the booking.

Xaos636 · 21st April 2021, 16:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fury

I am not expecting a big change with this post but if 1 person reads this and questions the dealership next time, I would consider it a win.

We plan on going to EVM Kochi once we get the car, just to show that we know they lied. Dont know how that will turn out

I have been on the receiving end of their stupid tactics once in 2017 when I went in for the GT and once last year when I stupidly went in for the same car again! The duopoly has been running ever since VW set foot in Kerala and its still running wild. You get poor treatment from Kannur till Trissur by Phoenix and Cochin till Trivandrum from EVM. I have been in touch with a number of VW owners in Kerala and not a single one was satisfied by the customer service. The best I heard was they are OK-ish. God help them. What doesnt help at all is the emails to VW for issues unresolved at dealership. VW forwards it back to the dealership

Only VW can do that.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...r-service.html (Phoenix Volkswagen, Calicut - Terrible experience and unresponsive customer service)

So far from what is heard, not only sales, services are also a nightmare. I have documented my experiences with the Phoenix Calicut team in the link above. I don't understand the real issue because in my case both the times, they were least interested in selling the car! I told this again and I am telling this again, how much every they decrease their service cost(As the CEO says now with the high localization on the Taigun), having these people in showrooms isn't going to help them at all.

igemini · 23rd April 2021, 14:33

There is no denial that Kerala is one of the biggest markets for VW India. At the very same time, a lot more people than those who buy VW cars in Kerala are not considering VW cars even though they like the VW cars, just because of the Sales and After Sales experience.

India 2.0 strategy shall also include India 2.0 strategy to improvise A.S.S

Customers > Car Dealers, don't know if ever VW India can realize that. Good for them if they ever.

Suppose, you have the best car in the world but no one buys it because of the lack of trust in your dealers then it is a failure of you and not your dealer's. That clearly shows your inability to control your sales and service networks. I'm talking to you VW India.

26th March 2021, 20:12	#1
Fury BHPian Join Date: Dec 2019 Location: COK\|BLR Posts: 61 Thanked: 220 Times	Duopoly of Volkswagen dealerships in Kerala The story starts with my cousin looking out to buy an automatic car with the maximum budget set at 11 lakhs. This would be his first car and naturally he asked me and my brother for our opinion regarding which car to buy. Rather than downright recommending 1 particular car, we explained the pros and cons of all the options available in his budget and the final choice came down to Nissan Magnite XV (premium) automatic or VW Polo Highline plus automatic. I personally recommended the polo since he works in Bangalore and there are possibilities of him driving down to Bangalore in the future once he gets the hang of driving and the Polo would probably have better highway manners than the Magnite (personal opinion). After a lot of deliberation, he decided to go with the Polo. Now starts the problem. Anybody who has done their research on getting a Polo automatic would have noticed that the best variant to buy is the Highline plus and not the GT since the GT misses out on a couple of major features (Rear ac vents, front armrest) while being almost 50k more expensive. The VW website and most other car websites clearly mentions the Highline plus variant and the GT variant simultaneously. However, while we walked in to EVM Kochi to book the Highline plus automatic, the SA stubbornly stated that from 2021 onwards there would be no further dispatch of Highline plus automatic variant and if we want the car we would have to get the GT. He was so adamant that even i started to believe he might be right and we have no choice other than to get the GT or move to Magnite. However, since my cousin works in Bangalore and he had the option to get the car from Bangalore as well, we thought we might as well enquire there. Surprisingly, the dealer there promptly agreed to deliver a Highline plus automatic of any color within 2 weeks from the date of booking. This confused us since we were partly convinced that Highline plus automatic production had stopped for 2021 and we double checked whether the car offered in Bangalore was the 2021 model, which was confirmed positive. To confirm that the SA in EVM Kochi was not misinformed, we called up a couple more dealers in Thiruvalla (EVM) and Thrissur (Pheonix) and all of them told us the same story- Highline plus automatic is no longer in production. The more surprising part was the price. The Highline plus price quoted from Bangalore for the 2021 model was only marginally higher from what was quoted by EVM Kochi for 2020 model (consider there was a price hike from 2021 and the higher road taxes in Bangalore which usually results in a much bigger delta). Further negotiations resulted in further discounts and we finally booked the car in Bangalore and last week made the entire payment after doing a PDI on the car. The delivery is scheduled for this sunday. Now coming to the real issue here. It seems the 2 VW dealers in Kerala (EVM and Pheonix) are running a duopoly. I am guessing the margins on the GT variants are higher and since Polo has reasonable demand in Kerala, there are no discounts running either. While the lack of discounts is understandable, I feel its unethical to deny the customers a certain variant and downright lie to them about its production just to get higher margins. I am sure VW cars are high margin products and without discounts, these guys are having windfall profits. So whats the point of all this deceit? Not everyone in Kerala will have the option to get the car in another state so I thought I should atleast let the people know the kind of racket they run here. I am not expecting a big change with this post but if 1 person reads this and questions the dealership next time, I would consider it a win. We plan on going to EVM Kochi once we get the car, just to show that we know they lied. Dont know how that will turn out Last edited by Fury : 26th March 2021 at 20:13.
	(13) Thanks

26th March 2021, 20:37	#2
Latheesh Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: CNN/BLR Posts: 4,243 Thanked: 10,090 Times	re: Duopoly of Volkswagen dealerships in Kerala True. I was checking Polo turbo edition last month and dealer quoted higher price than the VWs announced price. I called Calicut dealer to verify and he too quoted the same price. I had to escalate it to VW on twitter to get the price corrected. I booked it a month ago and there is no confirmation on delivery/edition price, also zero follow up after the booking. They are ok if I cancel the booking.
	(2) Thanks

23rd April 2021, 14:33	#4
igemini BHPian Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Kochi Posts: 184 Thanked: 429 Times	Re: Duopoly of Volkswagen dealerships in Kerala There is no denial that Kerala is one of the biggest markets for VW India. At the very same time, a lot more people than those who buy VW cars in Kerala are not considering VW cars even though they like the VW cars, just because of the Sales and After Sales experience. India 2.0 strategy shall also include India 2.0 strategy to improvise A.S.S Customers > Car Dealers, don't know if ever VW India can realize that. Good for them if they ever. Suppose, you have the best car in the world but no one buys it because of the lack of trust in your dealers then it is a failure of you and not your dealer's. That clearly shows your inability to control your sales and service networks. I'm talking to you VW India.
	(2) Thanks