How do you sell an Austin A40?
04/20/2012
A question that many people must have asked themselves: "How do you sell an Austin A40?".
At least those who were actually tasked with selling the A40 Farina, launched in 1958, did.
In any case, the British Motor Company was prepared for the question and provided all the answers with a " Selling Guide to the new brilliant A40 " .
Under the heading "the most spacious, intelligent four-seater yet", the sales guide presented the most important selling points, such as plenty of space, a bright interior, safety, reliability, wide doors, a sealed interior with good noise insulation, effective heating and ventilation, and so on.
The instructive booklet not only explained the relevant technical features, ....
... but also vividly pointed out the main advantages.
Dealers were also told how best to set up their "showroom", which events they could organize and which other accompanying measures were worth implementing.
All planned promotional measures (e.g. newspaper advertisements) on the part of BMC (in England) were also announced.
Nothing could really go wrong, one would think. The car achieved considerable popularity, which must be attributed at least as much to Pininfarina's intelligent design as to the helpful sales instructions from BMC.
The entire "Austin A40 Selling Guide" (in English) is of course available as a facsimile in the Zwischengas archive. It is not only interesting for A40 fans, but also for those who have always wanted to know whether car sales were fundamentally different 50 years ago than they are today.
