Photo: Micro
When we told you that Micro had chosen the Astara Group to distribute the Microlino in Spain and Germany, we were left with a few doubts. In other markets, the Spanish group may only distribute vehicles or distribute some brands and retail others. Which would be the case with the electric bubble car? After talking to Merlin Ouboter, we found out that Micro will follow the agency model for sales.
If you are not familiar with it, Micro's co-founder and chief marketing officer (CMO) explained it with a single sentence: “Astara will sell directly to customers using our webpage and deliver the vehicles through their dealers.”
The agency model is something many automakers are migrating to after Tesla decided to sell and service its vehicles without any external assistance. Selling agents seem to work with direct sales, but that is only an illusion of getting rid of intermediary parties. They are still there but do not change the purchase experience.
When anyone decides to buy a Microlino, they will have a fixed price and will choose everything directly with Micro. The Swiss company will then produce the vehicle in Turin, Italy, and have it delivered to the new customer through its distributors. For customers in Spain and Germany, that’s the Astara Group.
Agents do not interfere with the negotiation and receive fees for delivering the cars. They will probably also make money servicing them. In Tesla’s case, all Tesla Service Centers belong to the carmaker, making any maintenance issues a problem with the manufacturer, not with a dealer. The agency model spares the carmaker from that while also curbing markups: customers always know how much they will pay for their cars.
The Astara Group works in 17 countries. That makes it easy for Micro to expand its sales to new markets as soon as its production capacity allows that. Ouboter confirmed that’s the idea but not much more beyond that.
“Spain and Germany will obviously only be the start of the collaboration, but, at this stage, I cannot disclose exactly which markets we are looking at.”
In our previous article, we told you which other countries are among those where the Astara Group already works in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. If you want to buy one electric bubble car in any of them, cross your fingers.
The agency model is something many automakers are migrating to after Tesla decided to sell and service its vehicles without any external assistance. Selling agents seem to work with direct sales, but that is only an illusion of getting rid of intermediary parties. They are still there but do not change the purchase experience.
When anyone decides to buy a Microlino, they will have a fixed price and will choose everything directly with Micro. The Swiss company will then produce the vehicle in Turin, Italy, and have it delivered to the new customer through its distributors. For customers in Spain and Germany, that’s the Astara Group.
Agents do not interfere with the negotiation and receive fees for delivering the cars. They will probably also make money servicing them. In Tesla’s case, all Tesla Service Centers belong to the carmaker, making any maintenance issues a problem with the manufacturer, not with a dealer. The agency model spares the carmaker from that while also curbing markups: customers always know how much they will pay for their cars.
The Astara Group works in 17 countries. That makes it easy for Micro to expand its sales to new markets as soon as its production capacity allows that. Ouboter confirmed that’s the idea but not much more beyond that.
“Spain and Germany will obviously only be the start of the collaboration, but, at this stage, I cannot disclose exactly which markets we are looking at.”
In our previous article, we told you which other countries are among those where the Astara Group already works in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. If you want to buy one electric bubble car in any of them, cross your fingers.
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