Caterham price increases

[JohnCh]

Not to depress anyone whose been thinking about ordering a new Caterham, but they just updated their configurator with new prices as per the table below.  I'm not sure if there are changes to the 360 and 420 that warrant the much larger increase for the 360 or if that's simply an intentional adjustment to alter the sales mix between the two models.  I suspect the £2,300 upcharge for more power and a dry sump will be a lot easier for many people to justify than the old £4,000 upcharge.

 

	Old	New	Increase
360	£31,990	£35,990	£4,000
420	£35,990	£38,290	£2,300
620	£51,990	£54,990	£3,000

 

-John

[Croc]

But on the plus side:

1) The dollar is very strong against the pound

2) Shipping costs are starting to head down as the supply chain crunch eases and excess cargo space is seeing shippers consolidate their voyages and lay off ships.  

 

Overall it should be a modest net saving.  

[slowdude]

12 hours ago, Croc said:

But on the plus side:

1) The dollar is very strong against the pound

2) Shipping costs are starting to head down as the supply chain crunch eases and excess cargo space is seeing shippers consolidate their voyages and lay off ships.  

 

Overall it should be a modest net saving.  

 Came here to comment this. #1 is most relevant to my FP&A brain.

 

Theyre trying to maintain margins given the weaker pound -> I'm sure a good deal of their business is also in Europe. Given their new corporate overlords, maintaining a healthy profit corridor for the first few years is most likely an interest for the holding company.

 

Shipping is fairly cheap, shipping the Cat from Liverpool to NYC for a 10 day voyage was around $1700 RoRo. Containers are still high (around 12k USD), but are coming down.

[KnifeySpoony]

I paid $7k to have my kit delivered in 2021... (to port of Long Beach, then trucked to a warehouse in Bay Area).

[Mark IV]

Yes,

 

At the Goodwood Revival dealer meeting, Caterham announced a price increase. Pricing pressures from suppliers, materials and other issues have forced this action. As dealers we are not happy, however keeping Caterham in business is in our interest. The discontinuation of the 1.6L Sigma engine by Ford has made the 2.0 Duratec the base car in all markets where the Suzuki powered 170 is not available (such as the USA where Caterham cannot sell the 170 due to legal agreements with Suzuki coming from the Suzuki Automotive bankruptcy in the US) so the bae model is now upmarket from the previous starting point.

 

As dealers we certainly wish this did not happen, we would love to offer the 280 and 310 series here, but that is not to be. Personally, having a background as a Ford dealer and then experience as an importer with AC Cars and some other small volume manufacturers, I understand that the concept of "economies of scale" do not exist for cottage industries such as these. 

 

Trust me (usually when you hear this term, is it is politician saying it and it is polispeak for "Screw you") neither Caterham nor the dealers are getting rich off this change. In fact, both are working on smaller margins than before to keep cars flowing to those who want and appreciate them.

 

The new "corporate overloads" are very committed to keeping Caterham in business and understand the brand unlike the onetime Vulture Capital owner. At the dealer meeting a substantial investment by the owners was revealed, an investment that will not be paid back in a year or two by these pricing actions!

[Mark IV]

21 hours ago, slowdude said:

 Came here to comment this. #1 is most relevant to my FP&A brain.

 

Theyre trying to maintain margins given the weaker pound -> I'm sure a good deal of their business is also in Europe. Given their new corporate overlords, maintaining a healthy profit corridor for the first few years is most likely an interest for the holding company.

 

Shipping is fairly cheap, shipping the Cat from Liverpool to NYC for a 10 day voyage was around $1700 RoRo. Containers are still high (around 12k USD), but are coming down.

Yes, but "RoRo" does not work for a kit in multiple pieces, crates and pallets.

[GalloIgnacio]

I realize economies of scale don’t exist with bespoke items, but it is intersting (unfortunate?) that the 170 price increased the most (4-5000?) while each following model increased less and less. I would think people buying 420’s and 620’s would be the ones to absorb more of an increase and not those of us who are recklessly emptying their savings account on the cheapest offering they have (lol) I guess they based it off volume which makes sense to my non economist mind. 

 

However it is nice that the Super 600/2000 prices didn’t seem to change, which make them more tempting to the distinguished gentlemen type 🧐

 

Off topic side note: I didn’t know that’s why USA doesn’t get the 170. I assumed it was lack of emissions certifications etc. I’d love to join the club with a 170. I think my Miata was a “115” so the 170 would definitely fit the bill!

Edited October 23, 2022 by GalloIgnacio
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