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UCA 2022 shortlist revealed

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Long-termers

SHORTLIST IS OUT – WHO HAS GONE THROUGH TO THE GLITTERING FINAL?

Mystery shopping took place over two weeks to decide the 2022 Used Car Awards finalists.

The mystery shopping is now complete and the shortlist for the Used Car Awards 2022, sponsored by Black Horse, has been announced.

After two weeks of intense activity by our team in person, over the phone and online, the spreadsheets have been filled in and the numbers crunched. The names on the right are the five that will go through in each category to find out on the night if they’ve been successful in this year’s big event.

The winners will be announced at the glittering ceremony at The Brewery in London on Monday, November 28.

The names were whittled down after two rounds of judging. The first used a combination of online reviews across a variety of platforms and citations to create the Nominations List.

All the firms on that list were then mystery-shopped to cut the numbers down further for our shortlist.

Awards host and Wheeler Dealers star Mike Brewer said: ‘I loved the mystery shopping phase this year.

‘Every time, it’s incredibly revealing to see how dealers perform and some were truly outstanding.

‘It was a shame, though, to find many that promised great things simply didn’t respond to our inquiries. I know times are good for the used car industry but that shouldn’t lead to complacency!

‘That said, there were some brilliant car dealers out there, and I’m really excited and looking forward to naming them at our big annual bash at The Brewery.’

The eBay Motors Group will be sponsoring the pre-dinner drinks and providing an after-dinner fun casino, while GardX is hosting the official after-party, which is by invitation only.

There are just a few places remaining and last year’s event sold out two weeks before it took place, so it’s advisable to book now.

The event is black-tie and includes a three-course dinner as well as unlimited beer and wine.

For table bookings, please email sales@blackballmedia.co.uk or call 020 8125 3880 Every time, it’s incredibly revealing to see how dealers perform and some were truly outstanding.

Mike Brewer

Awards host and Wheeler Dealers star

Shortlist

Dealers’ Dealer

Sponsored by GardX Jamie Caple, Car Quay Robin Luscombe, Luscombe Motors Neil McCue, Snows Umesh Samani, Specialist Cars Stoke Richard Styrin, Styrin Motors

Used Car Online Sales Experience

Sponsored by Codeweavers Arnold Clark DCC Frosts Cars Motorpoint SUV Prestige

Used Car Supermarket

Sponsored by Mann Island Finance Big Motoring World Carbase Carshop Fords of Winsford Motorpoint

Service & Repair Outlet

Sponsored by Warrantywise Anderson Clark Motor Repairs, Inverness BTE Automotive, Bordon CCM, Cranleigh Cedar Garage German Car Specialists, Worthing Spencer’s Service and MOT Centre, Norwich

Used EV Dealer

Sponsorship available Cleevely EV, Cheltenham ERLS Vehicles, Brixworth EV Experts, Guildford Just EVs, Southampton R Symons, New Milton

Social Media User

Sponsored by iVendi Acklam Car Centre Amari Supercars Emerald House of Cars Premier GT Tom Hartley Cars

Use of Video

Sponsored by Visitor Chat Acklam Car Centre GVE, London Pilote Classics Romans International Targa Florio Cars

Used Car Website

Sponsored by CarGurus Crompton Way Motors Fratelli Cars Frosts Cars Hilton Garage Wilsons of Epsom

Specialist Used Car Dealership

Sponsored by Blue Motor Finance Alexanders Prestige, Boroughbridge Optimum Vehicles, Bilbrough Premier GT, Pulborough Romans International, Banstead Tom Hartley, Swadlincote

Used Car Sales Team

Sponsored by Motorway Angus MacKinnon Beck Evans Car Quay Carmotion Plympton Car Centre

Used Car Dealer Principal

Sponsored by Aston Lark Steve Dhesi, SUV Prestige Stewart McMinn, Plympton Car Centre Julian Stockton, Angus MacKinnon David Trigg, Premier GT Shaun Young, Revento Motors

Future Star

Sponsored by Northridge Finance Greg Ashleigh, Emerald House of Cars James Castleton, Spencers Car Sales Zak Din, Apollo Prestige Vehicles Freddy Moncur, JFM Cars Kristian Shaw, Otter Motors

Used Car Customer Care

Sponsored by RAC Dealer Network Angus MacKinnon Carite Crompton Way Motors Grimsdyke Car Sales Plympton Car Centre

Newcomer Dealership

Sponsored by Moneybarn Giraffe Cars, Newtownabbey LM Motor Company, Kilmarnock MSB Car Sales, Arbroath Rhys Edwards Motors, Glantwymyn Scuderia Prestige Automobile, Camberley

Used Commercial Vehicle Dealer

Sponsored by Close Brothers Anchor Vans, Reading Chase Vans, Southampton JL Vans, Warrington Perrys Aylesbury Commercial Centre Vansdirect, Southampton

Days To Turn

Sponsored by Auto Trader Cedar Specialist Cars G And E Motors LS Autos Riverview Cars Trinity Motorz

Diversity & Inclusion

Sponsored by MotoNovo Finance Jardine Motors Mazda Motors UK Sytner TrustFord Vantage Motor Group

Used Car Dealership: Up To 50 Cars

Sponsored by Black Horse Car Brothers, Newtownabbey Crompton Way Motors, Bolton Jim Reid Vehicle Sales & Service, Inverurie Pescara, Tonbridge Top Car Inverness

The Used Car Awards 2022 will be held at The Brewery in London on Monday, November 28

Used Car Dealership: 51-100 Cars

Sponsored by Black Horse Chico’s Of Plymouth Motoroo, Romford Plympton Car Centre, Plympton RS Car Sales, Sandbach Your Car Supermarket, Birmingham

Used Car Dealership: Over 100 Cars

Sponsored by Black Horse Beck Evans, Sidcup Carmotion, Mexborough Prestige Cars Kent, Orpington Saxton 4×4, Chelmsford Windmill Motors, Bourne

Used Car Dealership Group

Sponsored by Black Horse Arnold Clark Hendy Snows Swansway Sytner

Manufacturer Used Car Scheme

Sponsored by Auto Protect Audi Ford Mercedes Nissan Volvo

Used Car of the Year categories

Sponsored by G3 Vehicle Auctions Used Small Car Used Mid-Sized Car Used Executive Car Used Sports Car Used SUV Used AFV Used Car of the Year No nominations revealed

Outstanding Achievement

Sponsored by Trade To Trade Underwriting No nominations revealed

Lifetime Achievement

Sponsored by GardX No nominations revealed

ADVERTISING FEATURE

Close Brothers Motor Finance – Putting dealers first when it comes to funding

The ongoing global shortage of semiconductors used in car production, as well as other materials such as copper, aluminium and cobalt, has led to fewer new vehicles rolling off production lines, which has severely limited dealers in their recovery after forecourt closures due to Covid-19.

And with turbulent economic times ahead, dealers looking to grow their margins and improve their profits could consider how a stock funding plan could improve the outlook for their businesses.

Close Brothers Motor Finance offers flexible funding based on the preferences of its dealer partners, with options tailored to their business goals, a clear payment model and no hidden or nasty surprises.

A Close Brothers Motor Finance stock funding plan is a unique offering that combines access to stock funding to help dealers’ businesses thrive. As a funded partner, dealers are able to stock better vehicles, upgrade their forecourt, improve their premises and will have access to exclusive performance insight – delivered through a dedicated account manager with Close Brothers Motor Finance’s innovative, awardwinning Forecourt Insight Data Tool.

Gain Access to Award-Winning Data

Close Brother Motor Finance’s Forecourt Insight Data Tool helps dealers grow their margins and improve their profits. The tool combines Auto Trader’s best-in-class automotive data with Close Brothers Motor Finance’s award-winning knowledge of dealer partners, creating a powerful insight dashboard that aims to aid better understanding of regional trends, stock inefficiencies and consumer behaviour. This knowledge allows dealers to manage their forecourt and the price of stock effectively, and unlock their full potential for buying and selling vehicles in line with customer demand.

The data the tool can analyse is vast. Consider this: in just one month, Auto Trader saw more than 65 million visits to its marketplace. It works with 13,500 retailer partners and lists more than 400,000 vehicles. These stats, combined with the input of Close Brothers Motor Finance’s knowledge of its own dealer partners, means the tool can analyse 900,000 vehicles across the market every day.

Dealerships using this tool have been able to increase desirable stock. This means they can sell vehicles more quickly, as highly coveted vehicles typically take 32 days to sell – almost half the 63 days on average to sell less-desirable vehicles. We tried out the tool with some partners and they were impressed. One had been taking an average of 82 days to sell a vehicle in October and November 2021. However, in January, after they started using the tool, this fell to 59 days – a reduction of 28 per cent.

The Forecourt Insight Data Tool is only available to Close Brothers Motor Finance’s funded dealer partners and costs them nothing extra – they don’t have to do anything to access the tool either. Close Brothers Motor Finance believes in the importance of partnership, and providing dealers with the tools to successfully do their jobs and run their business is key. Close Brothers Motor Finance is the only provider offering this kind of plan alongside its award-winning Forecourt Insight Data Tool.

What dealers are saying

The stocking facility has allowed us to supply a wider range of vehicles, maybe something we wouldn’t normally stock, enabling our customers to have a bigger selection.

Martin Nixon Director, New Vehicle Solutions

We couldn’t have done it without Close Brothers’ funding – we used it to build our stock and we’re now looking to enhance our own site and possibly open up a second site.

Colin McNab Director, Car Brothers NI

The Forecourt Insight Data Tool has helped us already. I had a BMW X5 that was in stock for just over 100 days, but as soon as we adjusted the price we sold the car within a week. This is an invaluable tool that will help us in the future, as we are such a growing business.

Mohammad Usman Director, Cars4You

CLICK HERE TO WATCH CAR DEALER LIVE’S INTERVIEW WITH MD SEÁN KEMPLE

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