Lynn Calder questions agency modell

In a recently done interview with Lynn Calder she questions the agency sales model, which is in place in some (not all) countries. This model was choosen by many manufacturers when there were more demand for cars, then it is now. More and more OEMS turn away from the agency model.

When asked what Calder would do differently with the next vehicle, the conversation quickly turns to the topic of distribution and the journey of the Grenadier to the customer. Depending on the market, Ineos currently sells its vehicles through dealers (as in Germany), direct sales via the agency model, or through a general importer.
Calder has doubts about the success of the agency model. "It was conceived at a time when high demand for vehicles made implementation much easier," says Calder.
These conditions are no longer valid. As a new manufacturer without much experience, it is evident that there are good reasons to leave sales to the dealers. Additionally, the administrative burden was underestimated, such as customer service with call centers or vehicle registration in various markets.
Calder’s conclusion is, "I am not convinced that the agency model aligns OEMs and dealers in a way that benefits the customers."

AWo

 

[Zimm]

Not all of them are VIN swapped trucks that are turds. Some are resprayed turds. I have followed many forum threads on Defenders since I got one in the late 90's and continue to do. There are still great shops out there and of course others that many know to stay away, far away from. But I am not going to mention them here. Some other LR owners on here know which ones.

What makes it a turd, is the truck itself. You can't polish it no matter what you spend on buffing compound. It was designed to be farm field tinker toy, which made it the great beater that it was, but, there's nothing you can do to take the flimsy POS out of it. It would be like spending 200k on a luxury upgraded Duce and Half.

 

[LeeroyJ]

I respectfully disagree, there are a couple shops that take old defenders and turn em into $200,000+ works of art and move a few dozen vehicles annually. Then there is the other end of the spectrum, FB marketplace and autotrader where hundreds of barn finds, bondo machines and varios right hand drive one offs move for $thousands to a couple tens of thousands for ones that you can't see the road through the floorboards. That is not the numbers ineos needs to survive and may even hurt them. If a true defender nostalgist can be satisfied by a not too rusty $20,000 '93 to '97 (the 4 years that real defenders were actually sold in the USA) they are not buying a $90,000.00 modern re-imagined version... so we are once again back to the buyer they need are the ones who are also looking at other competitively priced SUV's. In the usa annually there are over 12,000,000 SUV's and trucks sold. By far the largest SUV market in the world. Ineos just needs a fraction of that. Thats the great news, the bad is that every other manufacturer in the world wants that fraction too. My only point is this, I like my Gren and i want to have parts and corporate/dealer support for it in the future. I'm trying to envision a future with that and i'm having trouble seeing that at the current trajectory.

My 2007 Defender 110 was miserable on long road trips. No cruise control. The AC was very loud and not very effective. The Puma engine was underpowered and dealt terribly with inclines at highway speeds. I'm 6'2 and the leg room was terrible, I installed a slide extension to compensate, but it made the seat behind me unusable unless for a toddler (which I had back then). There was no armrest for your left arm, and your left arm was stuffed against the B pillar. The B pillar blocked much of your left view. There were probably other things I'm forgetting.

That didn't stop me from loving the vehicle and using the shit out of it.

The Grenadier fixed almost all of those issues.

 

[FlyersFan76]

What makes it a turd, is the truck itself. You can't polish it no matter what you spend on buffing compound. It was designed to be farm field tinker toy, which made it the great beater that it was, but, there's nothing you can do to take the flimsy POS out of it. It would be like spending 200k on a luxury upgraded Duce and Half.

I was referring to the turds that are resprays with roll bars attached with sheet metal screws.

Luxury Duce and a half? A bobbed Duce would be the ticket.

 

[MrMike]

do tell, do tell.

Our initial reason for contacting her was to ensure support for we early adopters, this was the crux of the meeting. Having Hans-Peter the head of engineering sitting next to her was an added bonus. The meeting was scheduled for one hour, it lasted nearly 3!

If I have permission from our group I will post the summary and feedback on this forum.

 

[Znarfgh]

Our initial reason for contacting her was to ensure support for we early adopters, this was the crux of the meeting. Having Hans-Peter the head of engineering sitting next to her was an added bonus. The meeting was scheduled for one hour, it lasted nearly 3!

If I have permission from our group I will post the summary and feedback on this forum.

We had the Head of APAC, Justin Hocevar, at a club meeting on Wednesday as the guest speaker and he updated us on activities at Ineos. So, your chat with Lynn Calder is of great interest to me as I had raised a question about early adopters having access to fixes and got a "not going to happen". No real explanation as to why not. I'm talking simple stuff like one press lockers and better reverse camera picture - you know, the stuff that Ineos got really wrong.

So, please do share the outcome from your meeting. I would have loved to be in that one.

 

[Sean326]

Mercedes doesn't build the G-Wagen, Magna does. That factory is in Graz, Austria.

They bought the Mercedes Smart factory in Hambach France.

Same folks that sir jim hired to design the grenadier.

 

[MrMike]

We had the Head of APAC, Justin Hocevar, at a club meeting on Wednesday as the guest speaker and he updated us on activities at Ineos. So, your chat with Lynn Calder is of great interest to me as I had raised a question about early adopters having access to fixes and got a "not going to happen". No real explanation as to why not. I'm talking simple stuff like one press lockers and better reverse camera picture - you know, the stuff that Ineos got really wrong.

So, please do share the outcome from your meeting. I would have loved to be in that one.

Justin was requested by Lynn to join our video conference but he was attending your meeting.

Unfortunately I can't share the specifics of the meeting publicly but we do have reassurance from Lynn that they are working on the issues raised by us (and others)

 

[MrMike]

We had the Head of APAC, Justin Hocevar, at a club meeting on Wednesday as the guest speaker and he updated us on activities at Ineos. So, your chat with Lynn Calder is of great interest to me as I had raised a question about early adopters having access to fixes and got a "not going to happen". No real explanation as to why not. I'm talking simple stuff like one press lockers and better reverse camera picture - you know, the stuff that Ineos got really wrong.

So, please do share the outcome from your meeting. I would have loved to be in that one.

I know from previous discussions (not with Lynn/H/M) that with the camera, it's a hardware change, not the camera but the head unit.

 

[Stu_Barnes]

Justin was requested by Lynn to join our video conference but he was attending your meeting.

Unfortunately I can't share the specifics of the meeting publicly but we do have reassurance from Lynn that they are working on the issues raised by us (and others)

Is that coming from Lynn?

 

[MrMike]

T

Is that coming from Lynn?

If you mean the reassurance, yes.

 

[OGrid]

Does lend weight to my theory that we early adopters were effectively undertaking production testing on vehicles that were not actually production ready (IMHO).

 

[MrMike]

Does lend weight to my theory that we early adopters were effectively undertaking production testing on vehicles that were not actually production ready (IMHO).

That is the general impression most (early adopters) have

 

[Sean326]

Does lend weight to my theory that we early adopters were effectively undertaking production testing on vehicles that were not actually production ready (IMHO).

I thought it was pretty accepted we are all beta testers. My sales guy said my '24 trialmaster was the 3rd model year but the 5th generation. Meaning there were upgrades/changes every model year and 2 upgrades/changes mid model years.

 

[Stu_Barnes]

T
If you mean the reassurance, yes.

No. The part about not being able to discuss publicly.