Subaru says ‘no’ to fixed-price new-car sales

Japanese brand Subaru has joined the growing chorus of car companies which say they have no plans to switch to non-negotiable fixed prices for new cars in Australia.

Fellow Japanese automaker Honda – and German giant Mercedes-Benz – have recently switched from traditional dealer business models to fixed prices in Australia, after rewriting the contracts with showroom owners and appointing them as selling “agents”.

Although it is illegal for competing car dealerships to set fixed prices among themselves, a legal loophole enables car companies to reword their contracts with dealers, hold all the vehicle stock, and appoint showroom owners as “agents” rather than dealers.

When asked if Subaru was considering a switch to the fixed-price business model locally, the boss of Subaru Australia, Blair Read, told Drive: “No, it’s not something that’s on our radar.

“We've had a longstanding good working relationship with our dealer network. We see the real importance of that combined partnership.

“A country the size of Australia, you need good operators. Subaru’s been very strong, particularly regionally (with) our dealer network. We have longstanding relationships with many dealers.”

The Subaru Australia executive said the biggest challenge was securing enough stock to meet demand.

“Our focus at the moment is …  learning from the COVID period of managing, going from a free-supply situation to a tight-supply situation,” said Mr Read.

“So our relationship over the last few years with the (dealer) network has probably grown closer, if anything.”