The Russian representative office of the German automaker BMW - BMW Group Russia - says that the Nezavisimost car dealer "faced a number of complex problems that led to the dealer's failure to fulfill the agreements and the subsequent stoppage of its work."
As stated in the message of the automaker, because of this, the deadlines for the transfer of purchased cars to customers were violated. At the moment, negotiations are underway with the dealer to get out of this situation, providing for various scenarios, "up to the most cardinal."
At the same time, BMW asks all buyers who are faced with a violation of the deadlines for handing over the car to contact the company's customer support service, or representatives of the BMW Group Russia will contact the customers themselves after finding out all the details.
"Currently, in parallel with the collection of information in order to ensure the safety of vehicles owned by BMW Group Russia, cars are being exported from the Nezavisimost DC. Only their presence in other guarded parking spaces can provide new owners with confidence in the fastest receipt its car safe and sound. The interests of customers are of paramount importance for BMW Group Russia, and the company makes every effort to ensure that they are met as much as possible," the message emphasizes.
The day before, the Vedomosti newspaper, citing a representative of Independence, wrote that the group had suspended the sale of BMW cars. According to her, the activities of two dealer centers in Moscow are blocked by the importer. BMW disconnected Independence from the car ordering system, a representative of BMW Group Russia confirmed - according to him, some of the dealer's customers complained to the importer about the inability to receive already paid cars - Nezavisimost did not buy the title from the importer.
The representative of "Independence" confirmed that at the moment the dealerships of "BMW - Independence" are indeed closed, "but this does not mean that we are suspending the dialogue with the importer's office." "We remain determined to fully fulfill all obligations to our customers. The customer, of course, should not suffer from the current situation between the dealer and the importer. We continue to have a constructive dialogue with the BMW dealership in the interests of our customers. We do our best to provide customers with cars soon," the company said.
At the same time, according to Interfax sources in the car dealership industry, the company is experiencing financial problems, a number of dealerships have already closed, including Land Rover, Volvo and Volkswagen in Moscow, as well as centers in Ufa and Yekaterinburg.
"For other centers of these brands, decisions have either already been made or are being made," the source said, adding that dealerships will be closed in October. This is not confirmed by Independence itself. "The company's shareholders have decided to concentrate sales of Audi in two car centers in Moscow. At the moment, we are completing the second stage of optimization. This is primarily due to the fact that the Nezavisimost Group is concentrating its efforts on increasing the profitability of the business," said a representative of the company, noting that "the need to change locations is also related to the specifics of the automotive market." "In difficult economic conditions for dealers, we prefer to abandon unprofitable locations in favor of new, potentially more comfortable places for doing business," he added, noting also that the company "is forming cluster-type dealerships, where several car brands will be represented" . "According to the group's new strategy, some brands will be represented only in the Russian regions," he said, without giving other details.
At the same time, another Interfax source said that the shareholder of Nezavisimost, investment company A1, refused to finance the car dealer and would not prevent the company from going bankrupt if one of the counterparties initiates this process. "Among the possible scenarios is the sale of the company, however, most likely, this will be done in parts - there are no applicants for the entire business," Interfax's interlocutor said.
In turn, the representative of A1 noted that "although the situation in the industry is improving, the consequences of the three-year crisis are still being felt." "Work is underway to restructure the current debt of Nezavisimost Group. The car dealer is working in partnership with creditor banks to implement operational and strategic initiatives aimed at stabilizing the group's financial position. The group's companies have a positive experience in overcoming such situations," he said.
At the same time, the company does not name the amount of restructured debt, as well as the names of banks.
According to information on collateral in the SPARK-Interfax system, among the creditor banks of legal entities owned by the Cypriot Independence Holdings Limited, there are Alfa-Bank, Promsvyazbank, International Financial Club Bank.
In June 2015, it was reported that the Nezavisimost Group had restructured its debt to Gazprombank (GPB) by 2.6 billion rubles. According to Kommersant, Nezavisimost’s loan to the GBP was then extended at least until 2019.
In February 2017, it was reported that the shareholders of the Nezavisimost Group made a decision on additional financing of the company and the appointment of a new CEO. "This decision will provide the necessary liquidity reserve to implement plans for further development and improve the quality of customer service," the dealer said in a statement. The volume of additional investments was not disclosed.
In addition, since February 1, 2017, the CEO of the company has changed - Elena Zhuravleva was replaced by Nikita Shchegol, who for four years headed the Formula Kino cinema chain. "Priority tasks for the new CEO of Nezavisimost Group will be to increase operational efficiency, improve market positions, and bring customer service to a new level," Roman Tchaikovsky, Chairman of the Board of Independence, said at the time.
Independence Group was founded in 1992. The company's dealer portfolio includes the brands Audi, Volkswagen, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, Ford, Mazda, Peugeot, Mitsubishi, Kia. The dealer network included 17 car dealerships in Moscow, three in Yekaterinburg and two in Ufa. The main shareholders are A1 (owns 49.95% of the company), the rest belongs to the founder of the group, Roman Tchaikovsky.
The automobile dealer "Independence" actually died. In autumn, contracts with him were terminated by all automakers and brands, and at the end of November, the dealer closed all the salons, and one of his creditors - Gazprombank filed bankruptcy claims against six companies of the Nezavisimost group. A ghostly chance of salvation remains, but everything has already gone too far, states an employee of another bank, the creditor of Independence. According to the agency "Ruspres", its co-owners tried to save the company - Alfa Group Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and German Khan, but the $20 million allocated by them for the additional capitalization of the enterprise disappeared without a trace. The son-in-law of the Minister of Foreign Affairs may be involved in the disappearance Sergei Lavrov .
No cars
“I blocked the main entrance with my car”, “I will never buy anything in this car dealership and recommend it to someone too”, “I made a big mistake that I paid for the car right away”, “waiting for a car for one month or more is hell"... Such messages on the BMW forum were written by Independence customers in late summer - early autumn. As it turned out, the company delayed the issuance of cars for months, without explaining anything to customers.
On September 12, BMW blocked Independence's access to the system for ordering new cars, and on October 1 broke the contract. The delay in the issuance of cars by Independence violated the terms of the agreement on the status of an official dealer with the importer, explained bmw .
Termination of the contract with BMW was the strongest blow for the group, admits the representative of "Independence". Relations with other importers followed BMW. In October, contracts with the dealer were terminated by Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover. A Volvo representative explained the gap with “reputational and other losses”, and Jaguar Land Rover explained that the “views on business development” of the importer and “Independence” no longer coincided. Mazda, Ford, Audi, Mitsubishi, Peugeot and Volkswagen canceled their contracts in November.
Independence did not issue 47 fully paid cars to BMW buyers, says a representative of the automaker. BMW Group Russia had to issue them at its own expense. A couple of dozen more people made a symbolic advance payment for cars (from 10 thousand to 50 thousand rubles, less than 1% of the cost). Their cases are resolved individually, says a representative of BMW Group Russia.
Nezavisimost did not issue a little more than 30 fully paid Volvo cars, says a representative of the automaker: the importer recommended that customers solve the problem with the car dealer themselves. What does not characterize this automaker from the best side. The representative of Volkswagen Group Rus admits that the dealer did not issue fully paid cars and did not return initial payments to customers. He refused to provide statistics. But he said that the company, at its own expense, handed over cars to buyers. Also found a solution for customers who have made an advance payment for new cars in the amount less than their cost. The representative of Volkswagen Group Rus did not disclose details.
Buyers of Jaguar Land Rover, Ford, Peugeot and Mitsubishi had no problems receiving the vehicles, representatives of these companies said. Their counterpart from "Mazda motor rus" did not provide comments.
The debt of Independence, according to the company, to banks exceeds 6 billion rubles. “The group's management, together with key creditors, worked together to find options for debt restructuring,” says a representative of Nezavisimost. “Unfortunately, under the current conditions, it is not possible to carry it out.” The company, according to him, expects that new bankruptcy processes of the group's companies will be initiated.
« Gazprombank has repeatedly restructured the debt of the Nezavisimost group,” says a bank representative. But as early as October, some creditors began to make their first demands to declare the dealer bankrupt. In this situation, the bank “considered that recovery was impossible and it was also advisable to file for bankruptcy with the court,” said a representative of Gazprombank. In order to repay the debt, creditors will consider the possibility of holding the ultimate beneficiaries of the Independence group and its top managers liable for bankruptcy, promises a person close to one of the banks - creditors of the dealer.
Hope for Growth
Independence was founded in 1992 Roman Tchaikovsky, and in 2008, the investment division of Alfa Group of Mikhail Fridman and his partners A1 (49.95%) became its shareholder. At that time, the group, according to Avtobiznesrevyu, was one of the ten largest dealer holdings in Russia. A1 is “not a strategic investor” and will leave the business when it can sell its stake in Nezavisimost at fair value, the now former president of A1 said in an interview with Vedomosti Mikhail Khabarov. Soon Khabarov was replaced by the son-in-law of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov. Alexander Vinokurov but that moment never came.
A1 was a financial investor in Independence and was not involved in its operations, says its representative. At the end of last year, the dealer's management reported a difficult financial situation and requested support, which was provided, he added. Shareholders participated in the additional capitalization of the Independence Group in the amount of 1 billion rubles. In addition, in the spring of 2017, a management change was carried out in order to restructure the company's debt burden and optimize financial performance. “Unfortunately, as we can see, the normalization of the situation did not happen,” complains the representative of A1. Independence itself explains the collapse with an incorrect business development strategy. She passed the crisis of 2008 successfully, relying on the premium segment, a company representative recalls: then the market quickly recovered. In 2014, Nezavisimost chose a similar strategy, counting on a quick market recovery. But the crisis turned out to be completely different, he admits: both sales and profitability of new cars fell. On the other hand, the high debt burden, which is carried over from past periods of active growth and building up infrastructure, has not gone away. This has resulted in a serious loss accumulating over the years, says an A1 spokesperson. And the constant pressure from manufacturers to fulfill the sales plan led to the fact that new cars were sold almost at cost. According to Autobusinessreview, since 2012, the company's revenue has fallen by 2 times, and car sales by 4.6 times.
Even before the crisis of 2014, Independence was managed inefficiently, a former employee of the company objects: the management sat on multimillion-dollar annual salaries, each had several deputies, many with personal drivers. The company had a lot of unreasonable expenses.
The large share of dealerships in the regions did not add stability, according to a person close to the company. According to Autobusinessreview, in 2015, out of 24 Nezavisimost dealerships, eight were located in the regions. And in 2017 - six of the remaining 13. In addition, many buildings for Nezavisimost dealerships were rented, and after the crisis, the company did not revise rental rates and renegotiate contracts. For example, the dealer center at Belaya Dacha occupied about 7 thousand square meters. m. Such gigantic areas could only be afforded in a growing market, rent could cost $ 2 million a year, and this is a lot of money. “Out of 10 dealerships, there were four leased, the lease was carried out on commercial terms and was regularly reviewed,” a representative of Nezavisimost objected.
Sales fell, but credits remained
The dealers' problem is that at first people stopped buying cars for their own, then they stopped buying them on credit, and then they stopped getting repaired in official centers and went to garages, says an employee of the bank that lent Nezavisimosti.
Over the past decade, dealers have experienced two crises. At first, sales collapsed after 2008. But three years later, the fall was won back, and in 2012 a record number of cars were sold in Russia.
And then four years in a row, sales fell, and the market for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles halved - according to the Association of European Businesses, from almost 3 million units. in 2012 to 1.43 million in 2016. Bankruptcy of dealers in such conditions is inevitable. But the rate of reduction of dealer networks did not correspond to the scale of the decline in sales. According to the analytical agency Avtostat, from 2012 to 2016 the number of dealerships decreased by 16% - from 4068 to 3413.
The car dealership business is traditionally a highly leveraged industry, two top managers of dealer companies explain: it is possible to successfully and quickly develop a business only at the expense of attracted funds. Dealers attract loans for the development of a dealer network, the construction of centers to which manufacturers may have special requirements, says Vladimir Bespalov, an analyst at VTB Capital.
Traditionally, the profitability of the dealer business is already low, Bespalov points out: in good years it is about 3-6%. “Dealers earn practically nothing on new cars: the main income comes from service and the sale of spare parts,” says Sergey Udalov, executive director of Avtostat. Attempts to diversify revenue did not lead to much success. New car sales still generate the lion's share of dealers' revenues. Hopes to receive comparable money from the service and trade in used cars did not materialize.
Kirill Yakovenko, an analyst at Alor Broker, believes that a combination of factors could have aggravated the situation in Nezavisimost: the crisis state of the economy, a sharp decline in sales in 2016, weak activity in the market compared to other participants, an illiterate strategy for working with auto concerns, as well as an increased debt burden. “Six months ago, one of the dealer’s shareholders, the A1 group, already capitalized Nezavisimost by $20 million, but in order to continue the operation of such a business, even then it was necessary to narrow the number of car dealerships and be the first to curtail contracts with inefficient brands,” he notes in an interview with RBC. Agency "Ruspres" already drew attention to the fact that after the disappearance of this money, Alexander Vinokurov had to leave the post of president of A1.
The multi-brand retailer for the sale and maintenance of cars "Independence" no longer sells in Moscow: its stores in the capital are closed, phones are not answered, and such brands are BMW, Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda and Mitsubishi terminated the dealer contracts signed with him. At the same time, the company's regional centers are still cooperating with Audi, Volkswagen, Ford and Peugeot, but this partnership will also end in December.
The group's debt to creditors - Gazprombank and Sberbank, according to RBC, has reached 6 billion rubles. The possibility of restructuring the debt was explored, but this turned out to be impossible, and in November Gazprombank filed bankruptcy claims against a number of Nezavisimost structures.
During the bankruptcy proceedings, arbitration managers will be appointed who will conduct an inventory and sell the property of the group of companies in order to settle the claims of creditors. Due to the large portfolio of assets, the liquidation of Independence may take up to two years. As noted in the market, creditors can count on the return of only 30% of the debt - in the current situation, it is very difficult to sell dealerships as real estate. However, the metropolitan auto center of the BMW Group is ready to save Avilon. Genser is showing interest in some centers, having closed several of its own centers due to the fact that they were on lease. This, by the way, was the reason for breaking off relations with Renault Genser.
Back in October, BMW Russland Trading took back the cars paid for by Independence customers, as it did not wait for the money from the dealer for them. But in the representative office of the Bavarian company they began to issue cars at their own expense, sorting out each case individually.
Buyers of cars of other brands were less fortunate. Now they will have to go to court to return the money or get the cars. The first hearings in the case will be held soon.
Financial difficulties at the Independence Group began several years ago due to the fall of the car market. This year, numerous customer complaints began to come in that the company did not give back cars that had already been paid for. In October, the employees were told about the closure of the capital's points of sale, and the severance pay for several months of work amounted to 20 thousand rubles. At first, the employees were going to sue, but, realizing how deplorable the state of the company was, and that as a result they would spend more effort than they would receive compensation, they changed their minds.
- The Association, in which it asks to maintain state support for the auto industry in 2018, otherwise all dealers will have hard times.
- In 2016, 300 dealers left the market, it is expected that by the end of this year, the reasons for bankruptcies were the low margins of the business.
September of this year was not an easy time for the Independence multi-brand holding. In the press and even on television, everyone actively discussed the scandal, which flared up actively around the organization mentioned above. The problem was that this company, essentially car dealerships, simply stopped issuing vehicles to its customers, which, by the way, had already been prepaid as such. The largest dealer in Russia stopped responding to consumer questions and commenting on this situation in any way, spreading rumors that very soon the corporation would simply declare its own insolvency as such - bankruptcy.
How did events develop further?
Deceived buyers began to apply to government agencies and directly to manufacturing companies, whose dealers were the Independence No. car dealerships. Thus, manufacturers began to solve this issue by issuing paid vehicles to deceived buyers, and all this was reimbursed directly at the expense of the manufacturer. In general, losses amounted to at least six billion rubles, which is the largest amount in the history of this business area, respectively.
They were the first to refuse cooperation with the WWII dealer, and then the Volvo Cars company also terminated all business relations with this company. Deceived buyers had to be saved by the manufacturers themselves, however, such a positive development of the situation did not affect everyone, and for many, the question remains how to return their own money or still get a vehicle for which financial resources have long been paid, respectively.
What news is there about this?
It is worth noting the fact that the scandal has become of interest to a huge number of media representatives who actively keep abreast of the events around the company and the scandal itself. Thus, official sources report that both the BMW company and the car manufacturer Volvo Cars have already terminated the contract with the specified dealer and even held tenders regarding who will be the representative of the official type in Russia in the future. However, the companies have not yet reported the results and we can only wait for statements.
In addition, an investigation is underway into the situation due to which the scandal occurred. By the way, the owner of 50% of the company's shares, Roman Tchaikovsky, does not comment on his position and does not communicate with the press. Investigations showed that Nezavisimost's problems began quite a long time ago - several years ago the company took out its first loan. Now its amount has increased many times and directly amounts to at least seven billion rubles. Earlier it was said that the company is in a hurry to declare bankruptcy, but state-owned banks recently began to report that negotiations are currently underway regarding an immediate loan restructuring. The possibility of returning some part of the loans at the expense of the shares of this company is being considered. However, no official sources have provided more detailed information yet.
How are things going with the issue?
Deceived customers began to talk about the problem, and manufacturers, as has been repeatedly mentioned in this article of our official resource, independently took up the direct solution of the issue. To date, BMW reports that they have been able to completely eliminate the issue of their buyers, who paid in full for the vehicle, but still did not receive their goods, respectively. Other car brands and their representatives report that this particular issue is in the active stage of its immediate solution, respectively.
However, it is worth noting the fact that in this barrel of honey there is a fairly large fly in the ointment. After all, a huge number of buyers made only a partial payment for their future vehicle, or the payment was an incomplete amount, but close to a full payment. With such clients, things are somewhat more complicated and it is worth noting that official representatives have not yet commented on this situation in any way and, accordingly, do not report on whether the problem of this formulation of this issue is being resolved or not.
But buyers do not give up and actively try to defend their rights, although no one can clearly answer these questions for them yet, as well as provide any guarantees in this regard in the same way. But we will further try to consider this issue in more detail and together find a way out of such an unpleasant situation, respectively.
Difficulties regarding the direct payment of the money spent and / or the return of vehicles will also be faced by those buyers who made their purchase not for an individual, but for a legal entity. According to sources, in this case, returning your money back or getting the promised car back will be quite difficult and not at all as simple as it might seem at first glance or as it was with those customers who were able to get the promised. We will talk about this in more detail later in this article of our official resource.
What to do if cheated at a car dealership?
It is worth noting the fact that not only buyers of the largest Independence dealer face the subject of deception directly in the car dealership, but also many others who use the direct services of car dealerships that are not as widely known to the public as already mentioned above. Needless to say, what are the thoughts of almost any potential buyer of such salons? Few people think about how carefully you should treat all the details of the transaction, and not everyone carefully checks such details. Most live in a dream that they are about to have the opportunity to sit behind the wheel of a new vehicle.
It is worth noting the fact that the issue of direct fraud in car dealerships has become almost a "tradition" in almost any of the organizations of this type, and the worst thing is that the statistics are far from the most comforting, regardless of the region of the country and the financial situation of the potential consumer, respectively, that only speaks of the high need to take such issues seriously.
If you have no desire to simply fall for a large enough loan to get your vehicle, be deceived on the authenticity of the offered car, and avoid other unpleasant situations, then stay with us and continue reading this article.
Cheating option - too cheap car
Needless to say, it would be time for all of us to get used to the fact that in the realities of the modern world, in fact, free cheese is only in a mousetrap. And this applies not only to the transport industry of the domestic market directly. If you are strongly offered any product on the terms of an incredible benefit - a car many times lower than its immediate market value, then you should think very carefully about - where could there be a catch? Understand that there is no reason for anyone to work at a loss - there is no point in such a business.
Responsibility of fraudulent car dealerships before the law
It's no secret that any fraudulent activities in our state are illegal and, accordingly, are prosecuted in accordance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation, respectively. It is worth noting the fact that, in a procedural manner, fraud directly in car dealerships can be qualified by the court in different ways:
- administrative offense;
- criminal offense of the law.
Thus, the very responsibility of fraudsters will also be quite different. In order to qualify a crime, it is worth referring to the Law "On Protection of Consumer Rights" and carefully studying the situation in order to find out which provisions of this law were directly violated in this particular case.
Fraudsters can be held criminally liable directly under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in the event that there is a fact of almost direct deception of the client in the case, the presence of actions that imply such deception, respectively. This point can refer to any options that are offered by the specified organization: taking out insurance, fraudulent actions regarding the sale of low-quality goods to the buyer, fraudulent actions regarding the final amount of the cost of the vehicle, and so on.
For the rest, you should prove the presence of illegal actions of the car dealership regarding you specifically, and such a professional as a lawyer and / or a lawyer can help you in this process in the best possible way.
Help of a lawyer or independent solution of issues?
Each person accepts the answer to the question posed independently. However, if you fall into the hands of scammers (in "Independence" or any other car dealership), you should have only one solution - to fight for justice and, above all, for your own interests. You should not give up, and even more so that we are not talking about small amounts of money.
If you are well versed in the topic, have sufficient qualities of pressure, perseverance and penetration, then you can easily improve your own knowledge of the jurisdiction and go to the expanses of self-protection of your own rights and your financial situation. You can also independently engage in the representation of your own interests in all state instances directly if you have sufficient knowledge and experience of a procedural nature directly.
In the event that you do not differ in such immediate qualities, then it is best, of course, to entrust the direct solution of this issue to the shoulders of a true professional in their field. At the first consultation, your lawyer (lawyer) will tell you about the prospects for your case and the realities with which you can continue to work accordingly. Thus, you will immediately determine the goals and you can always be sure of a positive guaranteed result from your lawyer directly.
What conclusions can be drawn from the current situation?
Needless to say, regarding the article of our resource indicated above in this article, it is rather difficult to speak about any specific conclusions or decisions, respectively. Recall that the immediate problem was that this company - in fact, car dealerships, simply stopped issuing vehicles to their customers, which, by the way, had already been paid in advance as such.
The largest dealer in Russia stopped responding to consumer questions and commenting on this situation in any way, spreading rumors that very soon the corporation would simply declare its own insolvency as such - bankruptcy. Deceived buyers began to apply to government agencies and directly to manufacturing companies, the dealers of which were the Nezavisimost car dealerships. Thus, manufacturers began to solve this issue by issuing paid vehicles to deceived buyers, and all this was reimbursed directly at the expense of the manufacturer. In general, losses amounted to at least six billion rubles, which is the largest amount in the history of this business area, respectively.
The main feature that can be summed up as a result of everything that was said above in this article is never give up and continue to use all the methods available to you in order to prove your rights and get what belongs to you by law. Needless to say, even if you still can’t get your vehicle or sue money from the largest dealer in Russia, Independence, then this is only a temporary phenomenon and when more precise decisions are made on this case and signed relevant documents, then your situation will improve significantly, and your issue will be resolved fairly quickly.
Important! For all questions when cheating at a car dealership, if you don’t know what to do and where to go:
Call 8-800-777-32-63.
Or you can ask a question in any pop-up window, so that a lawyer on your issue can answer and advise you as quickly as possible.
Consumer protection lawyers, and attorneys who are registered on Russian Legal Portal, will try to help you from a practical point of view in the current issue and advise you on all issues of interest.
One of the largest Russian car dealers has stopped working. Salons in Moscow and regions are closed
Nezavisimost's financial difficulties began a few years ago due to the fall of the Russian car market. But the problems reached a climax this year: customers began to complain that the dealer did not give them the cars they bought. What happened to Independence?
The collapse of Independence did not come as a surprise. In the summer and fall, the car dealer's problems reached their peak. Dozens of people said they could not win back their already paid cars. Only tough actions helped. One of the buyers blocked the entrance to the car dealership, called the police and said that he would not leave until he was given the keys - and only in this way was he able to pick up his new car.
Against the backdrop of massive customer complaints, Volvo and BMW terminated their dealer agreements. In Nezavisimost itself, they assured that problems with clients are being resolved, and the company is looking for options for restructuring debts - it has 6 billion rubles of them. But no way was found, and one of the main creditors, Gazprombank, filed claims for bankruptcy of the group's companies. Salons had to close. And all this looks like a very sad consequence of the crisis in the automotive market, which has been in a fever in recent years. But this is especially sad for clients who have not yet waited for their paid cars, says Dmitry Zolotov, coordinator of the NGO Movement.
Dmitry Zolotov coordinator of the Public organization "Movement"“Nothing has changed at all. Machines received units. First they were promised until the end of October, then until the end of November, now until the end of December. For Volkswagen, about 40 people have not yet received cars, for Mazda we have eight people, and for Volvo we also have about 40 people in limbo. According to BMW, there are two or three people who still have not received anything. At first the dealership said, "go to the dealer." Then, when they were deprived of the dealership, and they physically closed the doors for technical reasons, there was no one to go to, the representative office said “we will solve the issue.” But the issue has not yet been resolved."
Although the administrative director of the Nezavisimost group of companies, Sergei Chadin, assures that disputes are resolved with clients individually, despite the fact that Nezavisimost stops working:
Sergey Chadin Director of the group of companies "Independence"“For a number of clients, it was decided to attract the resources of importers. For a number of importers, such work is still underway; for the rest, some separate decisions were made related either to the termination of contracts, the issuance of funds, or some kind of replacement. Management has taken and is taking all possible actions to close all contracts and all obligations under the contracts.”
One of the former Independence employees told Business FM that the delays in issuing cars began a year ago, and this summer the situation became critical. Cars were not issued for two or three months. In September, executives even made the decision not to sell the cars because employees received threats: angry customers found their home addresses. One day, the employees were announced about the closure and offered to pay 20 thousand rubles for several months of work. Dissenting employees at first wanted to sue, but then changed their minds, our interlocutor says:
“They wanted to file a class action lawsuit, but everyone got scared, thinking that, firstly, we would spend a lot of money on a lawyer. Independence, most likely, has some kind of garters in the courts, so it is useless to sue them, because the company itself is very strong legally. At first, about 15 people gathered, they wanted to file a class action lawsuit, and then everyone quarreled and fled. I'm the only one left."
His claim was denied. Those clients who did not wait for the cars are only going to sue, the first meetings will soon be held. But now that the company is shutting down, their hopes for something are even less. What happened to Independence against the backdrop of a falling car market can be understood: according to media reports, its revenue has halved over the past four years, and car sales have quadrupled. But this is the first such large-scale case of collapse. And perhaps not the last.
