Blue is the new green
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No, not another story about how colour choice affects residual
values – this is all about how manufacturers seem to need their
eyes checking, as a significant number of them are mixing up blue
and green. The new ‘environmental’ ranges from carmakers – from
VW’s established BlueMotion label, to Mercedes-Benz’ BlueEFFICIENCY
and BlueTEC models, to Hyundai’s i-Blue – all seem to have settled
on sapphire and ejected emerald from their branding. Are they all a
bit, uh, green around the gills after the verdant flourishes of the
past few years?
At least Peugeot’s “Blue Lion” standard, awarded to the greenest
cars in its range, has some kind of justification behind its colour
choice, given the manufacturer’s logo…
Government cash for “clunker” trashing?
In the US, a prominent academic has proposed that the federal
government buy back old cars – so-called “clunkers” – at above
market prices, then scrap them. Princeton economist Alan Blinder’s
proposal, aired in the business section of the New York Times,
would, he says, have three positive outcomes: “stimulating the
economy [by getting cash to people likely to spend it and growing
demand for new cars], improving the environment [by getting
high-polluting cars off the road] and reducing income inequality
[by giving low-income consumers a cash windfall] all at the same
time”.
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By GlobalDataHe points out that variations on this scheme are already in
operation in several US states, and in Canada. However,
Freakonomics co-author and blogger Steven Levitt is “sceptical” of
the proposal, worrying that it could distort long run incentives.
If the rules say that a car must be at least fifteen years old to
qualify for a government scrapping subsidy, “this gives powerful
incentives to people with twelve-year-old cars they were planning
on scrapping to keep driving them for three more years to collect
the government bounty.”
The idea will, presumably, never catch on in the UK, as we have
our own hodgepodge of CO2-based car taxation policies (and what
shining examples of well-managed public revenue-farming they are!)
providing a disincentive to hang on to high-polluting old
bangers.
Some things never change
Motor industry consulting group Network has just celebrated its
30th birthday, so Motor Spy asked managing director Colin Bruder to
reminisce a little about his own experiences within the
industry.
He’s been with Network for the past three years, but 30 years
ago was national sales director for Renault. “Motor retailing’s
underlying truths haven’t changed at all, really,” he says. “The
manufacturers still churn out metal and argue constantly with
dealers about the margins at which cars should be sold, while the
public are still just looking to buy something that will get them
from A to B.”
Technology has been the biggest disruptor to the business models
of 30 years ago, he says: “If the introduction of fax machines made
things 10 times as fast, the arrival of the internet has speeded
things up a hundred times more than that.” Meanwhile, dealers
looking to protect profits should look to diversify, Bruder
argues.
“What about offering Motability, dealer rentals and driving
schools? The latter two are basically paid-for test drives,” he
points out. Some things never change, like the way that names from
the motor trade past never truly go away; Bruder recalls a graduate
trainee he took on at Renault 30 years ago who is now MD of a
clutch of car brands.
