Cannot emphasize this enough. We’re talking about selling cars to the entire nation. Not just the elite. To the average Finn, you sell monthly installments, not percentages. This was always emphasized when I was in sales. If the percentage was an issue for Kamux, I believe the management would do something about it.
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In theory, it’s possible that, for example, a 6% interest rate could be a more economically sensible option than a zero interest rate – if there’s a big enough difference in the car’s price. I don’t know if such a case has ever been seen in the real world.
EDIT. I mean, a deal where the price of the car depends on whether it’s financed or not.
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Nobody is forcing you to buy a car with financing or to apply for a car loan from a bank, are they? I myself would buy my car from where I could find a car that fits my specifications with the best price-quality ratio.
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I’ve been wondering the same, as the arguments are along the lines of “Kamux’s financing is expensive”. That’s actually good if Kamux can sell such expensive financing deals. Anyone who understands finances would surely shop around for a loan/financing.
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Finns’ credit cards are, to put it a bit bluntly, maxed out all the time, with interest rates certainly over 6.9%. Why would they worry about the interest rate at a car dealership?
Smarter people save on loan costs; with a little effort, you can get it cheaper. The same applies to renovations, repairs, cleanings, etc.
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It’s good for us Kamux owners if/when the financial services are sold, but I couldn’t buy a car from there myself. Nor from Saka, even though I would have gotten better terms there (3.9%). In the end, I got the cheapest money from the bank. Of course, that’s not possible for everyone.
The bank’s money didn’t end up with either of the aforementioned, as the right car was found from a third party. But I would have probably bought the first candidate from Kamux if I had gotten reasonable financing for it then.
Then again, if you remind someone about percentages and their importance, many seem to think something along the lines of: “I’m paying for the car for five years, so I don’t care if an x% interest rate means a €500 higher price compared to a y% interest rate; that’s only a hundred a year, or less than ten a month, who bothers to quibble about such things??”
t: Been there done that.
As an owner of Kamux, I certainly welcome such customers.
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Well, I’d imagine that you could also negotiate that 6.9% interest rate a bit lower with the seller, which of course gives the buyer a good feeling when the haggling was successful? I don’t have personal experience, but let’s say it’s an educated guess.
A colleague had visited two Kamux stores this week to negotiate a slightly lower interest rate - it didn’t work. The answer was word-for-word the same in both stores.
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Same experience for me with both Kamux and Saka.
I know someone who works at Kamux, and through them I would have gotten a 3.9% interest rate on an imported car. It was an awkward situation because I thought it was such an outrageously good offer, as I’m used to selling slightly larger ones 
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Towards the end of summer, it was hoped that the energy sector thread would have more factual discussion, so that one didn’t have to wade through dozens of messages to get to that one brilliant piece of news or writing. An interesting discussion started here about whether owning shares affects purchasing decisions 
From which it moved on to rambling about whether each person would personally buy a car with financing. I apologize, each of your personal opinions and views are completely biased and insignificant on a large statistical scale. My hypothesis is that, as people who hang around investment forums, you probably also understand basic interest rate mathematics, and you understand how to stay away from 7% financing costs, and therefore do not represent the large mass of people who take out these loans.
Kamux’s and Saka’s model of selling these financings to consumers with monthly payments clearly works, as both are making strong profits. Also during the corona period. Let’s enjoy that as shareholders 
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I own Kamux shares, and it doesn’t really matter where I buy my car. Besides, when I (and I believe many others) buy a car, I know what kind of car I want and then just find out where to get it for the best price. I don’t think very many people choose the dealership first and then the car. Before owning Kamux, I had no idea about the reputation or relative superiority of used car dealerships. I wouldn’t buy a car with Kamux’s interest rate, but I’d gladly sell one to someone else who isn’t quite so particular about every percentage. I also only keep minimal insurance because it’s a bad investment, but I’d gladly own an insurance company.
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I haven’t needed to own a car or even a driver’s license so far, but it’s been quite good to be a Kamux owner 
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Valid point! With Kamux’s number of owners, this can genuinely make a difference. At least recommending a friend to buy?
And it’s a bit like moving money from one pocket to another when you buy a car from a store you own 
For those horrified by interest rates: yes, you can negotiate them to be more reasonable, you don’t have to pay the listed interest rate. But let’s not tell everyone that, because for many, a suitable monthly payment is enough, and that means profit for Kamux. 
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My wife bought a new (brand new, that is) car yesterday, but there was only 1 (!) basic Honda available from official sellers in all of Finland and Estonia. She even mentioned that the availability of new cars would be quite poor for the next year or so. I don’t know if she meant just Hondas or cars in general (they represent several brands).
But if the availability of new cars is low, then it could also be a pretty tough situation for the used car market, as the “previous” car won’t go on sale if a new one isn’t available. We’ll have to see what happens in Q1, which could be the peak of the availability shortage. Will the value of used cars rise according to the rules, when supply doesn’t meet demand? One would think that would benefit Kamux
Let’s continue a bit off-topic for one more message, but I would argue, based on gut feeling, that perceptions have a lot to do with this. I have excellent perceptions of Harvia, for example. If I were buying a new sauna heater, I would probably lean towards a Harvia heater rather than a completely identical product from another manufacturer. This wouldn’t be because I’d rather give my money to a company I own, but because years of following it have given me a really positive image of Harvia.
For example, there’s no difference from a basic consumer’s perspective when buying a car. You buy a car wherever you can get it cheapest. If my dream car was for sale at Saka cheaper than at Kamux, I’d buy it from Saka. If the same car was the same price at both places, I’d probably lean towards Kamux because I’ve followed the company’s stock journey, the row is green in my portfolio, and through this, a positive image of the company has formed.
I realized this when I’m currently quite far along in a recruitment process for a company that is also in my portfolio. In one interview, I was asked the classic “Why do you want to work for us?” and I explained how, for the reasons I mentioned, I’ve developed a positive image of the company over the years, etc. Although in reality, it would probably be the same to me in terms of my own well-being whether I worked for this company I own or one of its competitors, assuming that salary and all other factors influencing job choice remained the same. Still, similar tasks are more interesting at this company I own than at a competitor’s. The company immediately feels familiar, even though I haven’t worked there a day – hopefully in the future .
Anyway, the point was that, perhaps even without realizing it, you might emphasize the company you own over one of its competitors precisely because you feel like you’re buying product X from a company you’re already familiar with. In this case, for example, buying a used car might feel safer to a Kamux owner from Kamux than from Saka, even if they have no prior experience dealing with either operator. Advertising, for example, works on the same logic.
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Nice growth in Kesko’s car trade.
“Car trade sales in August were 82 million euros and grew by 5.3 percent.”
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I also visited Kamux around spring, but ended up buying from Saka 
It might have been that I didn’t own Kamux at that particular time, but I did before and after. There’s nothing you can do if you just can’t find the right car at the right price.
Customer service at Kamux was just okay. Maybe they could try a bit harder with closing the deal and so on. Now it was more of the traditional: well, yeah, just think about it and we’ll get back to you. They didn’t really try to entice me at all. Saka then met me nicely on everything. The market was more chaotic then, of course, and it might have been that Kamux didn’t really want to haggle much on margins. The end result was this.
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That was well said, let’s enjoy as shareholders that money is being sold at a high interest rate.
It has always puzzled me when shareholders here wonder and complain that interest rates are high!? So what, it’s not taken from them, quite the opposite.
If we look at the chains that have made the best results: Kamux, Saka, Rinta-Jouppi, all of them sell used cars with an interest rate of 5.9-6.9%, because today, you don’t make money by trading in a car, quite the opposite. This is vital, and many buyers don’t look at the interest rate, but rather if they can afford the monthly payment. Of course, everyone here probably pays attention to such things when buying a car, but not those who aren’t interested in percentages. They are only interested in whether the monthly payment fits their budget and how much they get for their trade-in.
At least before, at Kamux, the salesperson could lower the interest rate to 2.9%, and if it needed to go to 1.9%, they had to talk to the manager. Of course, during the pandemic, interest rates have also risen for car dealerships, so I don’t know if that has affected what they sell for.
Does anyone remember or is it generally disclosed in reports how much Kamux makes from additional sales compared to the total profit = is just trading in a car still profitable for Kamux?
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