No viral impact on prestige car deliveries

Importers of European prestige brands are happy to report that the coronavirus has had little if any impact on wait times for new-car buyers in Australia.

While trade with China has been adversely affected, and a number of volume manufacturers have been hit for six, local importers of European prestige brands appear to be sitting pretty.

Even in cases where the respective importer doesn't have a particular car in stock, the factory can build it for delivery to the customer within the space of around three months.

"No issues from us at this point," Jaguar Land Rover's Tim Krieger told carsales this morning. "We've not been advised of any delays."

"Touch wood, it's all going pretty well at this stage; certainly nothing like the sort of issues we faced 12 months ago with those things [WLTP and stink bugs]," JLR's General Manager for Communications and Public Relations explained.

Asked how long current delivery times are in a worst-case scenario, Krieger said: "If [customers] want a totally bespoke car... it's probably a four-month wait."

So the four-month period applies even to 'bespoke' vehicles that have been customised by the company's SVO outfit.

"That's pretty much the standard time," Krieger confirmed.

It's a similar situation at BMW.

"We have no impacts at this point," said BMW's Product Communications Manager, Nick Raman.

"We have been advised as of late last week that there haven't been [impacts] and there's no update today, so it's business as usual for us."

BMW is also unaffected by WLTP and pest infestations, Raman advised. Delivery times are basically what they have been in the past.

"It's typically two to three [months], depending on the model... depending on where the car's produced – Spartanburg [in the USA] or Germany."

Volvo is also trading normally, the importer's Director of PR, Greg Bosnich has revealed. Bosnich made no specific mention of the Chinese-built XC60 sold in Australia, but most of Volvo's local product portfolio is built elsewhere.

"Volvo Car Australia has sufficient stock to continue to trade locally. All customer orders are being fulfilled and the dealer network has stock to trade as normal," Bosnich advised in an email. "The worst case scenario is a factory order and that typically takes three months."

Over at Mercedes-Benz, a company that was upfront about its supply-chain difficulties late last year, the outlook has improved. Ryan Lewis, Media Relations & Product Communications Manager for Benz, wrote in an email that currently "there is no adverse impact to the availability of vehicles or parts to dealers in Australia".

Certification in accordance with WLTP is no longer delaying deliveries of cars, Lewis said, and "delivery times at present are not impacted by current events".

Lexus Australia issued a statement in response: "Currently, there are minimal impacts to the Lexus operations in Australia. We are continuing to monitor the situation closely with our parent company and prioritise the safety and security of all stakeholders, including our customers, dealers and suppliers."

So demand may be way down, but supply is at least much improved, making this an ideal time to buy a new prestige car.

Just make sure you fist-bump the salesperson rather than shaking hands.