Daihatsu UK Acknowledges Car Shortage

[rushmere]

http://www.copenworld.com/files/sitenews.gif
Daihatsu UK has acknowledged the shortage of cars in the UK on it's website.

The following statement now appears on the product information pages, including the page for the Copen (http://www.daihatsu.co.uk/copen/):

"Due to the current weakness of the Pound against the Japanese Yen it has not been possible to order cars from our factory. As a result, some models are now in very short supply.

We are sorry if you are unable to find the exact colour and specification of the car you want, however your dealer will be able to advise you on the availability of stock across the UK."

[Rex]

In case anyones interested, the average X rate for

2006 around 215 yen to the pound
2007 around 235 yen to the pound
2008 around 200 yen to the pound
2009 around 145 yen to the pound

Currently standing at 132 yen to the pound (7th March 2010)

[Authors comment: Thanks to Mr Brown!]

As the exchange rate is getting worse, I wouldn't expect any change in the importers decision for a long time.

Have a look for yourself here (http://www.x-rates.com/d/JPY/GBP/graph120.html).

Rex

[rushmere]

I honestly hadn't realised the exchange rate had changed that much. That really puts the problem into perspective! :eek:

[dk21]

Have a look on the Daihatsu France and Germany sites. Here the Copen seems to be about 20,000 Euros (about £18,000? at the moment) - the German site offers lots of interesting colours. Makes my Copen look a bargain - wonder if they would sell in the UK if priced at £18k?:)

[Rex]

Don't get me wrong, I love my Copen, but 18K is too much. :eek:

Rex

[rushmere]

Have a look on the Daihatsu France and Germany sites. Here the Copen seems to be about 20,000 Euros (about £18,000? at the moment) - the German site offers lots of interesting colours. Makes my Copen look a bargain - wonder if they would sell in the UK if priced at £18k?:)

There's a copenworld poll (http://forums.copenworld.com/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=12) on this subject on the front page. There haven't been enough votes yet to give a good picture, but so far no one has said they would pay over £14,000, and most have said they would pay less than £12,745.

£18,000 certainly seems very excessive to me. The colours do look great though, and the German brochure is streets ahead of the UK one!

[scooty]

Have a look on the Daihatsu France and Germany sites. Here the Copen seems to be about 20,000 Euros (about £18,000? at the moment) - the German site offers lots of interesting colours. Makes my Copen look a bargain - wonder if they would sell in the UK if priced at £18k?:)

Please keep in mind that the exchange rate Euro/GBP was around 0.7 or less for a long time before the financial crisis.
Therefore the price for a french/german Copen at that time was around 12,600 GBP or less.
Only because of the non so favourable current exchange rate the Copen is very expensive to you nowadays, and Daihatsu UK would have to offer it for £18k to reflect the changes in exchange rate. No wonder they do not bring in new cars.


Andreas