MELBOURNE Subaru dealer group Trivett Automotive Retail, part of Subaru importer Inchcape Australia, has moved to a fixed-price, haggle-free arrangement on all its new vehicles.

The move is specific to Trivett’s seven Subaru sales outlets in Melbourne and started in May 2020 with two models, with this month spreading the program to all models.

Trivett’s Melbourne Subaru dealerships are at Berwick, Docklands, Doncaster, Essendon, Glen Waverley, Mentone and Werribee Plaza.

It also has eight sales outlets in Sydney but the new fixed price is – at the moment – only applicable in Melbourne.

The fixed-price model is called “Price Pledge” which Trivett said “gives Subaru Melbourne customers price transparency in the process of considering a new car.”

Subaru Australia said the fixed-price move did not indicate any plans to introduce an agency model because it was an initiative only by Trivett, and not Subaru Australia.

It said: “the physical network remains a vital part of our business.”

Asked if Trivett’s model would make it difficult for an independent Subaru dealer to compete, Subaru Australia said Trivett represented a small percentage of the brand’s national network and did not affect the right of customers to shop around.

A Trivett spokesman said customers were “responding well” to the program that fixes the price of a model at all its seven showrooms.

The business now plans to launch “Value My Car” into in-store and online customers to cater for people who aim to trade-in a car on a new vehicle.

Once established in Melbourne, the Price Pledge and Value My Car programs will be spread to Sydney Trivett dealerships.

Price Pledge works on the basis of a main calculation of the average discount historically negotiated by Trivett customers.

It is then balanced against stock availability so if stock levels are high, the discount would be higher than the average. If lower, the discount would reduce.

Trivett said it is aware that the price would change but will attempt to limit changes to once a month. It said the price doesn’t change after a customer signs a contract.

The company is aware that the transparency of its Price Pledge will lead to opposition dealerships undercutting Trivett’s price.

It appears happy about that as it stated “we’re more interested in leading proactively with our best prices upfront and allowing our customers to decide on the value of the overall service we provide.”

The Trivett dealerships in Melbourne grew from an initiative by the then head of Subaru Australia, Trevore Amery, who instigated the huge Docklands Subaru dealership (mothership) on the centre city edge of Melbourne with Subaru Australia-owned satellites set up in Mentone, Doncaster and Glen Waverley. The Berwick and Werribbee satellites came later.

By Neil Dowling