Clarification Standard-SW or Edition-SW in Germany

[emax]

A while ago I asked Ineos for the Standard SW in Germany, the first answer was (feel free to Google-translate):

"Hallo ...,
 Alle unsere mModelle werden auch in der Standard aAusstattung in Deutschland verkauft.
 Bei weiteren Fragen helfen wir Ihnen jederzeit gerne weiter.Freundliche Grüße,
Lukas Dostal"
The quality of the answer has two categories: The content and the typos (today I feel like nitpicking: marked typos, replaced or added missing/correct writing). But forget the typos.

The content however was simply wrong. I asked again a few days ago. Here is my question, this time in English. And I tried to be as clear as possible:

"Gentlemen,
when will the non-Trialmaster, non-Fieldmaster, standard Station Wagon be available in the configurator in Germany?
And I really mean: NOT the Trialmaster, NOT the Fieldmaster version. NOT the utility version. Just the Standard Station Wagon, without any "Edition" mumbo jumbo.

Regards,
..."

And the answer is:

"Fwd: [ Ticket: 55125 ] Station Wagon Germany

"Hi ...,
 Thank you very much for contacting INEOS Automotive. 
 Unfortunately at this moment in time the base standard station wagon is not going to be available in Germany.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need any further assistance.
 
Thanks,
 Phoebe"


At least no typos.

 

[emax]

I can't resist a comment: They had announced prices "starting from 59'000 €" to keep the fans on board. And to keep this promise they offer the 2-seater utility wagon as an alibi.

Its price is however 59990€ which is simply spoken 60K. Ok, could live with that.

But it's in fact impossible to get the Utility wagon for this price. They add "additional costs" of 739,51€ so the bottom line is 60870 €, of which 281€ are clearly dedicated to the dealership, they call it "delivery inspection".

Well, I understand that the dealership wants to have some benefit for their work. But this inspection is, to be clear, not an inspection caused by wear from my side, but for implicit possible flaws from the production side ....

So the summary is:

If you want a Grenadier you start at 60870 €.
If you want a Station Wagon you start at 69.870,02 € (same extra costs).

I accept that they recalculate prices before launch. And I accept that the last few months have not made things any easier in the world.

But what really pisses me off is that they do not offer a Standard, Non-Edition Station Wagon. This can not be explained with "difficulties in the delivery chain" as it takes less parts to build a non-edition version.

So, for which reasons do they not offer this?

The answer is, discussions pointless, it's just a money-making strategy.  And to be clear: It's ok for me that a company strives for making money, that's their "raison d'etre".

But the concept seems like so to me:

"Hey Jim, how can we squeeze a bit more out of the customer?"
"Just add that one-meter-plastic tube and charge, well, 744€."

And that's what I consider unhonorable. They force the customer to buy extras - whether he want's them or not.

But business doesn't seem to be any more a matter of honor.

As usual, reality comes after marketing.

 

[grenadierboy]

emax,

Agree - makes no sense without "internal information" held by INEOS as not offering a standard, lets say, base SW model in Germany is odd given that the base SW is being offered in other markets.

 

[SvenGren]

Emax, Thx for your outreach. I asked a detailed question on that one again in German couple of days before. Still waiting. For me without standard SW the 4 weeks to order with an early slot will simply go by... And if the answer they provided you is correct this means for me: No early order, no order at all, waiting for a test drive, checking if the utility rear seating arrangement might provide enough creature comfort for me family (they endured 110 rear bench for too many years now), if not means no order at all, good bye Grenadier. The editions have too much I don't want. Overall 5k plus. As I need a new car soon they don't have much time. It really sucks. I will report on the answer. Cheers

 

[emax]

Thank you SvenGren.

I have sent a response and asked 'Phoebe' to forward my above comment to the responsibles at Ineos.

Her answer was

"Thank you very much for contacting INEOS Automotive. 
 Unfortunately at this moment in time the base standard station wagon is not going to be available in Germany.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need any further assistance."

Not much more to say. Ineos has rapidly taken over the habits of the other big players.

For me, this is the first dark spot on what has been a clean slate so far.  :-|

 

[WhiteBear]

The Trialmaster SW were the car to order for me … if I could dismiss snorkel, KO2 tires and the heavy duty switchboard that only very few people will need. So I configured a Utility 5 seater with everything I liked and wanted and its 2k cheaper than the Trialmaster. Less space in the second row does not matter, I sit in the drivers seat with my wife beside me. Anyone who has to sit behind will be there only a short time. He/she will survive it. And I like the closed rear of the Utility better than the windows on the SW.

 

[SvenGren]

Thx again. I will keep you posted. You did already order, right?!?

 

[WhiteBear]

Correct. After about 40 tries it worked this morning.