I've recently been checking out my options for a new set of wheels - two to be exact, considering, among other things, the global economy and yo-yoing fuel prices. Pointing over to a sweet little machine, I queried its price tag: "How negotiable are you?" The reply came back like a shot, "A little while ago, I was, but now with the yen dropping out the bottom..." Now, I may be a girl, but I'm not that gullible. If you mean to tell me that your mark-up minus some minor discount to secure my interest isn't going to cover the overheads, then you really need to rework your sales strategy. In a time when money is tight and you need my hard cash more than you need a fixed asset gathering dust on your showroom floor, it's time to get a little flexible. So as I watch the catch-22 of new vehicle sales hitting the cutting room floor, while the actual prices are steadily rising (to counter parts etc. don'tcha know), the logic behind the "Well, you can't afford it now, so I'm going to increase the price so you can't afford it even more..." mentality is beyond me. OK, so you're not going to make the 100k commission you usually do, but let me ask you this: Would you rather make a sale and get half the commission, or make no sale and get sweet zip, nada, nothing? Now, forgive me if I'm being simple-minded, but a few bucks in your back pocket seems better than a white elephant sitting pretty in the window, no? Even with GMSA offering its "Buy a Hummer, get a Harley free" deal, there's a great deal of sense in my colleague's counter-offer: "Rather deduct the cost of the Harley from the Hummer's price tag..." Although, that said, you may just be better off using the Humvee as a lawn ornament, à la Jeff Dunham, and keeping the Harley as a runabout, considering you're likely to pay its weight in petrol within its first few fill-ups... Happy Monday motoring, folks!

Shan Radcliffe, Retail editor retailnews@bizcommunity.com Responses to this column welcomed in our new online editor's column archive.