HARD SHOULDER:DISCOUNT SUPERMARKET Lidl has begun selling cars in Germany. Its website offers the Opel Corsa for just under €11,000, with discounts of up to 25 per cent on some manufacturers' recommended prices.
Despite Germany’s economy being in recession and unemployment at 8.3 per cent, Lidl believes it can turn a profit. However, Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Centre for Automotive Research in Gelsenkirchen, said previous efforts to sell cars online and through supermarkets have faltered.
“People don’t want to buy high-value products from a discount grocery store,” he said. “Germans like to go to the dealership.” A spokeswoman for Lidl in Ireland said the brand had no plans to enter the Irish car market.