Tesco Cars. Or should that be Tesco Car Brokers?

Tesco has now launched their new, used car website – Tesco Cars – piggy-backing on Carsite which has now disappeared.

We did warn you last month that the next stage in Tesco’s quest to destroy the fabric of the economy in the UK would be the launch of used car site – Tesco Cars. And it’s happened.

Many would argue – with conviction, passion and truth – that they will feel safer buying a used car from Tesco than they would from a  wide-boy on a back street car lot. And we’d agree. For now.

But look what’s happened to our High Streets with the rise and rise of the big supermarket chains, Tesco in particular.

Where are the small, independent shops offering individual product? Gone; buried under the weight of losses from the aggressive pricing of the big supermarkets.

How many towns and villages now have a butchers or a fishmongers or a greengrocers or a grocers? Precious few, unless you live in a wealthy area where price isn’t the major factor for purchases.

The big supermarkets – which we all once thought gave us unbelievable choice of product – have succeeded in controlling the market and limiting choice to what suits them.

As rampant capitalists we can just about accept that as fair game. What is harder to accept is Tesco using their vast revenues to piggy-back in to new ventures. New ventures which seem to be cynically based on businesses the general public distrust.

Businesses like banks, estate agents and insurance. And now used cars. Except Tesco are taking no risk. They seem to have brokered a deal with Carsite to take over their operation – even using Carsite’s testimonials as their own – and don’t appear to be carrying any stock.

In fact it looks to us – and we will be happy to correct this if Tesco tells us otherwise – that they are presenting used cars owned by the trade, and only making them ‘available’ once a £99 holding deposit has been paid.

So Tesco are car brokers. Nothing more. And they will price aggressively – making up for it with profits from associated insurance and loans – until the public get used to buying from them in a big way. And then the prices will rise.

Is this really what we want?