On the radio piece, there was no mention of VW requiring this, just that this is what one dealer called in and told of his experiences.

But then it is the same when it comes to shopping centres. Lease holders are required to undertake a major refurbishment at least every 4 years whether it is needed or not, and then the refurbishment must be approved by centre management. If it is not a big enough change, they will not approve it.

With car dealers, it can be expensive. Take a look at the change in image Holden made when they went for the new "plastic" look for dealerships. All dealers had to make the change and this was at the dealers cost. The same goes for other areas of the dealership.

Each manufacturer is different, but it only takes a very few to make things difficult for the multi-brand dealers.