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News analysis
Direct sales model may not translate to lower car prices here
This is due to S'pore's unique vehicle quota system, 'overtrade' practice for trade-ins
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Like in several other markets, car buyers in Singapore will soon be able to buy vehicles directly from the manufacturer.
Carmakers such as Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Hyundai are dipping their toes into the direct-to-consumer sales model - something which Tesla had adopted from day one. Clearly, the primary motivation is improving profit margin by removing or paring down the role of the middleman. And they are likely to achieve their objective.
