Peugeot’s German operation has sent three top managers packing after a low-key marketing joint venture turned into an unstoppable but loss-making sales boom. Peugeot planned for Germans to take delivery of 300 of its 208 hatchbacks under a sales campaign that slashed prices by 40%. But the operation with Sixt Leasing and 1&1 was way too successful, with up to 5,000 cars being leased at just €99 a month, including full comprehensive insurance and all road taxes. The April campaign saw Peugeot register about double the number of 208 sales in Germany in one month to what it would normally sell in an entire quarter. The move incensed German Peugeot dealers, who refused to match the unprofitable deals and referred the sales to head office, which lost money on every 208 it delivered. Peugeot abruptly cancelled the campaign at the end of April, then announced that Peugeot Germany’s head of business-to-business, Holger Boehme, its head of leasing business, Olivier Ferry, and its MD, Benno G...
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