19.06.2018 Ι The diesel affair hits workers in car dealerships and car repair shops twice as hard. They sell fewer cars and diesel car owners like to let their frustration on them.
Employees in the automotive industry are increasingly suffering from the consequences of the diesel affair. “What is still earned in service, is lost in sales again,” complains Martin Lenckowski, works council chairman in the Volkswagen and Audi Center Dortmund. Although mass recalls and software updates caused additional work in the workshops. But they are warranty services that are unlikely to be profitable – especially as they had to buy additional expensive diagnostic equipment to get the amount of updates.
The main problem for car dealers, however, is that they sell fewer cars because potential buyers are insecure, fear driving bans and therefore delay the purchase of new cars. Vehicles are in bulk on heap. And for the cars that are sold, there is no longer the usual revenue. A used car, with the dealer before the diesel crisis made 1500 euros profit, they now for 400 to 500 euros, reports Lenckowski.
Minus in the wallet
A large part of the used car business is made by car dealerships with leased company cars, mostly diesel vehicles. Three years ago, Audi launched a nationwide sales promotion with Euronorm 5 vehicles. The cars are coming back gradually. “With the cars from this action, which we have to accept again for a certain price, we make 2,000 to 3,000 euros in the resale,” calculates Lenckowski.
For the employees, the losses are immediately noticeable in the wallet. The profit sharing in the Volkswagen Center Dortmund, 2016, just under € 1000, had already shrunk last year to 400 €. “This year,” says Lenckowski, “we can be happy if we even make any profit”.
At the load limit
The financial damage is added to the stress: “The diesel affair has brought many colleagues to the edge of mental stress,” says Lenckowski. “We, the sales and service people, were the lightning rods, and the customers overwhelmed us with questions and complaints, and they reacted to their anger.” The employees in the car factories are innocent of the exhaust fumes, but those responsible at the manufacturers are far away and not tangible – the car dealers, however, already.
afraid of the future
As in the Dortmund car dealership it currently looks in many car dealerships of the Republic. “The collapse of the used car market can be life-threatening for many dealers”, worries Sebastian Fersterra, who is responsible for the automotive trade at the IG Metall board. And so employees have to worry about their future. Fersterra sees next to the automakers especially the policy in responsibility. It must finally make clear decisions so that the drivers and buyers of diesel cars that fear driving bans finally know what they are up to. “The longer the uncertainty persists, the more difficult the situation becomes for the automotive industry.”
New test ensures delivery bottlenecks
The next trouble can bring the new exhaust test WLTP (Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure). New vehicle types may only be launched in the European Union from September onwards if they pass this test, which better reflects actual fuel consumption and pollutant emissions than previous methods. Around 500 permits are pending. Some models have delivery bottlenecks. Some manufacturers have announced that they are taking some models out of the program because it is too expensive to install the necessary particulate filters.