Australasia Dealership to hand back license to Ineos +

[Top Cat]

Some disappointing and frustrating news. Adelaide Hills Motor Group here in South Australia and the only dealer/agent in the state is closing down its showroom on the last day of April. This dealership (agency) was, looking at the comments in the forum, one of the best. Excellent rapport with customers and they fought very hard to get us information from Ineos in the early days. Their Ineos delivery book is very impressive!! The Mt Barker showroom will honour warranty until the end of the year but has zero skill base on Grenadiers and zero experience with the trials and tribulations of dealing with Ineos and is only a stop gap as it is owned by the same people handing the dealership back. If a proper dealership is not organized soon by Ineos I face a round trip of 1,600 kms to Melbourne plus accommodation costs just for a service.
I believe that this has been brought about by the appalling lack of communication by Ineos Australia to a fully committed and enthusiastic dealer who has spent a significant amount of money on a showroom, workshop, signage and assembling a great team of highly experienced people.
I have been one of the biggest fans of Grenadier here in South Australia, being one of the earliest orders, pushing the brand at every event and at people I meet at shows and on the outback tracks. Of course it's a huge effort to start up a car from scratch and the vehicle is fantastic! The marketing is so slick and promises so much, but the harsh reality of after sales service is one of indifference to both owners and dealers. We don't even have manuals to look after our own cars.
If Ineos truly want the brand to succeed, they cannot afford to lose excellent dealers like Adelaide Hills Group and the dedicated staff Greg had assembled to push the brand.
This is not the vision Jim Ratcliff promised us. Here, at the arse end of the world, 15,790 kms from European "closeness" of everything, I often rely on my vehicle to get me home from some of the most remote parts of the world. Thats the vehicle Jim promised, I took him at his word and backed him, as did many others and here we are, a major state in a first world country with no on going dealership or agency. If the Darwin agency goes next (owned by the same group) that's one third of Australia with no coverage. So much for the close100km service centres touted on the web site.
This isn't sour grapes, I love my Grenadier! Its the management that seems to be the problem.

I truly hope I am wrong and Ineos Australia has this under control. I feel terribly sorry for the great team that gave up very good jobs to join Grenadier and who are now redundant.

 

[DaveB]

Some disappointing and frustrating news. Adelaide Hills Motor Group here in South Australia and the only dealer/agent in the state is closing down its showroom on the last day of April. This dealership (agency) was, looking at the comments in the forum, one of the best. Excellent rapport with customers and they fought very hard to get us information from Ineos in the early days. Their Ineos delivery book is very impressive!! The Mt Barker showroom will honour warranty until the end of the year but has zero skill base on Grenadiers and zero experience with the trials and tribulations of dealing with Ineos and is only a stop gap as it is owned by the same people handing the dealership back. If a proper dealership is not organized soon by Ineos I face a round trip of 1,600 kms to Melbourne plus accommodation costs just for a service.
I believe that this has been brought about by the appalling lack of communication by Ineos Australia to a fully committed and enthusiastic dealer who has spent a significant amount of money on a showroom, workshop, signage and assembling a great team of highly experienced people.
I have been one of the biggest fans of Grenadier here in South Australia, being one of the earliest orders, pushing the brand at every event and at people I meet at shows and on the outback tracks. Of course it's a huge effort to start up a car from scratch and the vehicle is fantastic! The marketing is so slick and promises so much, but the harsh reality of after sales service is one of indifference to both owners and dealers. We don't even have manuals to look after our own cars.
If Ineos truly want the brand to succeed, they cannot afford to lose excellent dealers like Adelaide Hills Group and the dedicated staff Greg had assembled to push the brand.
This is not the vision Jim Ratcliff promised us. Here, at the arse end of the world, 15,790 kms from European "closeness" of everything, I often rely on my vehicle to get me home from some of the most remote parts of the world. Thats the vehicle Jim promised, I took him at his word and backed him, as did many others and here we are, a major state in a first world country with no on going dealership or agency. If the Darwin agency goes next (owned by the same group) that's one third of Australia with no coverage. So much for the close100km service centres touted on the web site.
This isn't sour grapes, I love my Grenadier! Its the management that seems to be the problem.

I truly hope I am wrong and Ineos Australia has this under control. I feel terribly sorry for the great team that gave up very good jobs to join Grenadier and who are now redundant.

Not good news
I had a discussion with Ineos over a year ago regarding complaints on here and elsewhere that the Adelaide dealer couldn't get basic answers from Ineos.
Things like when the vehicle was going to arrive, which vessel it was on, etc.
The rest of us were getting that information and in fact tracking our vehicles on the ship.

DaveB Vehicle Delivery

I have just been advised my vehicle is onboard the Traviata due to dock around the 9th September. Yeehaaa.

www.theineosforum.com

I am sure you will find comments on here regarding that.
I think a few other of the "standard" style car dealers were having similar issues or at least telling customers they were.
I know the communication between dealers and Ineos is still patchy at times but I would suggest they are handing it back either because it as not as financially attractive as they planned or they are getting a conflicting brand.
They currently handle these brands
Mercedes Benz Cars & Vans, Mazda, Nissan, Honda, HAVAL, Great Wall, Cherry, INEOS Grenadier, and GM Special Vehicles (including Corvette and Silverado)
Hyundai, Ford, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Toyota, Mazda or Nissan

 

[Steve.B]

Yes Tony ( Top Cat ) very sad, Victoria will be our closest dealership 800 km away, I realy feel sorry for Josh, Frank and Paul who I and many other South Australians have good rapport with, Josh the very knowledgable Ineos Mechanic is a young man with a young family.

 

[dreamalaska]

That’s unfortunate to hear - hopefully just a bump in the road and someone else fills that void. It would be telling to hear the dealership owner’s perspective…

 

[DenisM]

Yes Tony ( Top Cat ) very sad, Victoria will be our closest dealership 800 km away, I realy feel sorry for Josh, Frank and Paul who I and many other South Australians have good rapport with, Josh the very knowledgable Ineos Mechanic is a young man with a young family.

Could be an "opportunity" for 'Josh'?...

 

[Zimm]

This isn't sour grapes, I love my Grenadier! Its the management that seems to be the problem.

This Isn't Caveat Emptor. This isn't a used car. When you buy a new car, you buy a system. Until the warranty is up, it's all one and the same, because it was baked into the price of the car.

That's why I turned down my order and have been watching to see what Ineos does. It's got beta product teething issues which I expected, but, The price I agreed to included accessible service closer to home, and that doesn't exist. My dealer, RDS, said they would handle shipping, and I believe they have honest intentions, but that's not a contract in writing and future financial constraints could put an end to that right quick. The business model and profits have to work for them, too.

The problem can be observed in this situation right here.

Seeing an early market dealer drop out raises the defcon level another notch, at least for me.

 

[JOB]

My gut feeling is that this is a sign of things to come. I have spoken with my retailer recently and I sensed more than a minor feeling of disenchantment with the brand - horrific coms since day one, a mounting list of “common faults” and a platoon of Grenadiers out there in the car park (of which mine is a member) which cannot be repaired.

I have personally gone from being a complete fan boy to wholly uninterested in the 4 months my vehicle has been VOR, proving it doesn’t take folk long to move on.

Back to the Green Oval of discontent for me. At least there are knowledgable specialists who can actually fix those when they break!

 

[SkiBum1]

Look, I am just guessing here, so this is just my gut feeling. I think the early vehicles had a wide range of problems and bugs to be worked out. This is not unexpected with a brand new vehicle, so something Ineos knew was going to happen. Ineos also knows that the USA is going to be their biggest market, so they delayed releasing vehicles here until most of the early problems were sorted out (including dealer issues).

Due to this, Australia and a few other markets did get vehicles very early and you guys had a lot of troubles which we in the USA aren’t experiencing. I am sorry for that for sure.

I think the dealer in Australia may be experiencing much more frustrations with service and grasping problems and solutions than they initially bargained for. Due to this, they probably feel their reputation may have been impacted and it is best to move on.

That having been said, it is a great vehicle today for sure. Unfortunately, some markets were the “test” markets for real world issues that were frustrating to solve.

 

[rovie]

Look, I am just guessing here, so this is just my gut feeling. I think the early vehicles had a wide range of problems and bugs to be worked out. This is not unexpected with a brand new vehicle, so something Ineos knew was going to happen. Ineos also knows that the USA is going to be their biggest market, so they delayed releasing vehicles here until most of the early problems were sorted out (including dealer issues).

Due to this, Australia and a few other markets did get vehicles very early and you guys had a lot of troubles which we in the USA aren’t experiencing. I am sorry for that for sure.

I think the dealer in Australia may be experiencing much more frustrations with service and grasping problems and solutions than they initially bargained for. Due to this, they probably feel their reputation may have been impacted and it is best to move on.

That having been said, it is a great vehicle today for sure. Unfortunately, some markets were the “test” markets for real world issues that were frustrating to solve.

That may be the case in principle. But I can't complain about the condition of my vehicle (3-digit VIN in the middle range, very early production vehicle). Apart from a rubber seal that came loose and was glued back on and the planned replacement of the reduction gearbox, I haven't had any problems so far.

 

[ADVAW8S]

We have to believe this is a long term passion project for Ineos. The teething problems are happening in front of all of us versus 30 years ago, we would have no clue.

As @rovie pointed out, there seems to be a all hands on deck meeting to address the issues. Couple new hires in terms of marketing and communications should help. There has been comments about Ineos replacing vehicles should help.

We will see how this all shakes out. The worse part is the ability of media to deter future buyers based on negative comments.

 

[Zimm]

The worse part is the ability of media to deter future buyers based on negative comments.

Do you mean social media? Most of what I see from media is rah rah ad copy.

 

[ADVAW8S]

Do you mean social media? Most of what I see from media is rah rah ad copy.

Yes social media

 

[Zimm]

Yes social media

I'm sorta feeling the opposite. As much as I want to whip a check at RDS, I don't feel as bad today about pausing the purchase, as I did 5 weeks ago. Most of this has been unforced errors, and I'm thankful for everyone that was honest about their issues. I may just pick up a d90 and drive that for a few years until/iff Ineos gets it's shit straight.

 

[Lord Ripon USA]

These are all individual situations.
What is a solid decision for one can be an equal yet opposite decision for another.
Both good decisions.

 

[Jackattack13]

Wow, this is all very shocking. New dealerships closing up shop is not a good sign. Especially since it sounds like this dealership is a well known name in the industry within Australia. So not a funding issue. My take is that if the brand fails, the value of these rigs will skyrocket because they are insanely rare, and upkeep just becomes a bit more tricky.

My experience so far hasn't been the greatest regarding warranty service, so I can see why the concern for many. Inability for dealerships to get parts in a timely manner, lack of transparency, and questionable to get vehicles repaired quickly being my biggest concern. I have owned my car for 1 month, and over 2 weeks it has been waiting on a lot to be repaired for a small part that IMO should have been available within a few days, but took 2 weeks to obtain. Supposed to be picking it up tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

I am wondering if they are unwilling to risk their reputation and name on a brand that isn't supporting the dealerships as promised. If there are cars piling up for service that cannot be fixed. That is not a good look.

 

[globalgregors]

I suspect if you guys had a better sense of Adelaide as a city and auto market you’d draw less sweeping conclusions about the brand.

The team at AHMG were fantastic with us when we had a fault nearby however, it’s regrettable to see them withdraw.

https://www.adelaidehillsmotorgroup.com.au/

 

[ADVAW8S]

I suspect if you guys had a better sense of Adelaide as a city and auto market you’d draw less sweeping conclusions about the brand.

The team at AHMG were fantastic with us when we had a fault nearby however, it’s regrettable to see them withdraw.

https://www.adelaidehillsmotorgroup.com.au/

Come on, speculating is becoming a new national past time.

 

[Xrford]

Maybe too many dealers to serve the number of vehicles imported. Canada has a larger population and is larger in size than Australia and only has two dealers separated by 3368km. The state of California USA also has a larger population and has 4 dealers. Last time I saw the dealer map of Australia it had 28 dealers .

 

[DaveB]

Maybe too many dealers to serve the number of vehicles imported. Canada has a larger population and is larger in size than Australia and only has two dealers separated by 3368km. The state of California USA also has a larger population and has 4 dealers. Last time I saw the dealer map of Australia it had 28 dealers .

The problem is that Australia is extremely large and the cities are spaced far apart with not much in between.
I think using standard car dealers is a mistake.
They need to be small specialist dealers with low overheads, or have another side to the business, like SLRV, to subsidise the Ineos business.
I can't see standard dealers lasting long term, they rely on volume turnover.

 

[Max]

Don't forget that here in Australia we have Agents who don't have a floor plan...they are paid to pre-deliver vehicles to spec and then we pay them to have it serviced.
They have no outgoing and don't have vehicles sitting around not paying rent...I think DaveB could be on the money with a conflict of interest at the SA business...time will tell and in the meantime, as said in the USA "Come on, speculating is becoming a new national past time".