Car Dealer Magazine: Issue 44

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Issue 44 | November 2011 | CarDealerMag.co.uk | £3.50

SPECIAL ISSUE

Road test of the year

Our favourite cars from your showrooms tested

911 for 2011: WE’ve done it!

Our quest to turn £0 into a Porsche for charity BEN succeeds p62

statistics

ADVERTISING

AWARDS

61-reG sales Free ads

Eco gongs

the winners & losers with the new reg p80

Is your dealership one of the greenest? p58

The used car site that won’t cost a penny p66

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IGNITION.

Editorial Director James Baggott james@blackballmedia.co.uk Twitter: @CarDealerEd STAFF WRITER James Batchelor james.batchelor@blackballmedia.co.uk Twitter: @jrrbatchelor Sub Editor Dave Brown dave@blackballmedia.co.uk Twitter: Yet to take the leap...

ADVERTISING Manager Duncan Chappell duncan@blackballmedia.co.uk Twitter: @CarDealerAds Advertising EXECUTIVE Jade Simmonds jade@blackballmedia.co.uk Twitter: @CarDealerJade

Contributors Mike Askew, Mike Jones, Big Mike, Alex Goy, James Litton, Tim Naylor, Tim Smith, Martin Hill, Tim Heavisides, Richard Hoggart and Don Brough

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business is all about cars.

Welcome. This It might sound ridiculous to

in 2011 – they might not be practical and they might not be affordable, but without cars like these that breed passion in be even mentioning it, but you and the car-buying public, we could all end up selling the lumps of metal every one of you is trying to shift every day transportation boxes that simply get us from A to B. And then of the week is usually the reason most of us got into this game. we might as well all give up and start looking for careers as Let’s face it, most of you reading this are likely to be car estate agents‌ salesmen at heart. Whether you’re at the top of a plc, a large group of franchised dealers or running a thriving independent GREEN GONGS car site, the business of selling cars runs through your veins.

Car Dealer is also proud to be chosen as the official media And for most, you got into this business because cars float partner for a very exciting set of awards. The Green Dealer your boat. If they didn’t you’d have been better off selling Awards are about celebrating those of you who have put an houses, or double glazing, or cheese. That’s why, here at Car environmental agenda at the top of your to-do list.

Dealer, we steadfastly believe in celebrating the very latest and We’ll be helping to find the greenest dealerships and the greatest new cars to hit your showrooms. After all, without greenest cars being sold in them and the winners’ reward them all of us would be out of a job. will be some marketing gold. Nothing gets buyers excited like Don’t get me wrong, there’s a place for great business ideas an eco message – just look at the amount of planet-friendly and news about your peers, but being knowledgeable about models being launched for proof of that. To find out why the products you sell and being passionate with it is very these awards will be so powerful turn to p58. powerful indeed. People buy from salesmen who know what And lastly, you may have spotted on our special fold-out they’re talking about, and truly love the products they sell. And cover that we’ve reached a milestone this month – we’ve what’s not to love about the cars featured in this year’s Road finally managed to trade up to a Porsche 911. It’s taken us a Test of the Year? little over 15 months to turn nothing into a Porsche and now What looks like an excuse for the team to have fun in some we’ll be selling the car and handing all the money over to expensive machinery also has a serious message. Not only automotive industry charity BEN. Read how we achieved our does it provide you with some light reading during what could goal on p62. Enjoy the issue‌ otherwise be another boring lunch break, but it also reminds you – and us – why we got into the car trade in the first place.

Cars like those in our test are exciting – and excitement quickly transforms into desire and that translates into buyers in showrooms when they might otherwise stay away.

James Baggott, Editor So this issue is a celebration of the greatest models on sale

FREE 2012 WALLPLANNER.

Don’t miss your free wallplanner – it’s in the bag with the mag!

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22 years as the UK’s No.1

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AS USED

BY THE AA & RAC

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 05 Bespoke Car Warranties

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Join Car Dealer Club by visiting CarDealerClub.com Members get free legal advice worth £199 for a £25 annual subscription

42

INSIDE.

Road test of the year Our favourite cars on sale today tested on Welsh roads

ISSUE 44 I November 2011

dashboard Ford boss: Capri name is dead

08

Foolish not to make mini Mini

09

Kia wants an MX-5 beater

11

Chrysler: Playing the name game 14

58 71

Green awards We back new gongs

66

Camaro sales

It’s good news for all dealers

Free ads

New free used car portal

‘‘

We haven’t made the progress this year that we thought we would.

79

62

We’ve finally done it!

16

Top social media tips

19

Ewards: Our latest entrant

20

Around the World

23

Helpdesk: Ask Lucy

24

Used Car Expert

26

Finance

28

Big Mike

33

forecourt

Paul Everitt on the new car market

911 for 2011

Infiniti boss: We’re still viable

Chrysler Ypsilon

34

Mini Coupe

36

Audi A6 Avant

38

Micra DIG-S

39

Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4

40

Porsche Panamera

41

features Road Test Of The Year

42

Green Apple Awards

58

911 for 2011: The Result

62

New used car portal

66

Training insight

68

DATA FILE

a month in A picture...

This month we’ve been busy preparing for an epic Bangers4BEN journey to Maranello. By the time you read this we’ll have (hopefully) made it back in our Volvo S80 which we’d transformed into an homage to HMS Ark Royal. Log on to Bangers4BEN.com for the full story.

Camaro for all dealerships

71

Right Click

73

Net Gains

75

Auctions

77

The Statistics with Motors.co.uk

79

Suppliers Guide with Alex Goy

82

Trader Directory with James Litton 84 Shares

87

Sub-Prime Time

90 CarDealerMag.co.uk | 07

DASHBOARD. SHOWROOM

Motor Village ‘a superb site’

MOTOR Village Croydon has opened, marking a new direction for the Fiat Group’s dealerships.

The showroom is one of the first of its kind in Europe and brings together Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Chrysler.

Director Tony Dittli said: ‘We have a superb site from which to offer quality service and become the reference point for these great brands.’

RESEARCH

Drivers risk MOT snags A THIRD of drivers don’t book their MOT in advance, thereby facing being caught out when it expires.

Along with the findings from a new piece of research from Kwik Fit, it is also believed there are 1.1m car owners who are choosing not to get their car’s MOT renewed on the due date.

David White, customer services director at Kwik Fit, said: ‘If car owners are used to their car regularly passing the MOT with no problems, they may view an MOT as a piece of paper they need in order to get their car taxed.’

CAMBRIA

A solid year of growth DEALER group Cambria Automobiles has revealed a year of ‘significant growth’ despite tough conditions.

In a statement the dealer group said that following a strong first six months, the second half of the year was ‘mixed’.

But it said it remains on track to deliver full-year results ‘broadly in line with market expectations’.

08 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Ford boss reveals the Capri badge may never be revived ‘It’s a wonderful memory but I think that’s about all it will ever be’

A

Capri badge may never make it on to the back of another Ford, revealed the Blue Oval’s new UK chief.

Ford of Britain managing director Mark Ovenden told Car Dealer that despite car fans pinning their hopes on the Frankfurt Evos concept car, right, becoming the next Capri, below, he says it’s ‘highly unlikely’.

‘If you read the papers you’d think it WAS a Capri, but there are absolutely no plans to make it so,’ Ovenden exclusively told Car Dealer.

‘Despite the fact I think we could capitalise on that sector in Britain, I think it is unfortunately one of those vehicles which got tarnished with bad ‘‘Essex boy’’ connotations.

‘There is a tremendous amount of nostalgia for the Capri, but the trouble is it was essentially a British phenomenon and it didn’t do very well in the rest of Europe. I think Capri probably sits in the past now.

‘It’s a wonderful memory but I think that’s about all it will ever be.’

However, the Ford boss, who has only been in the top job a few months following promotion from a sales and marketing role, still offered Capri fans a glimmer of hope.

He added: ‘Of course we never say never, but the revival of Capri is

unlikely. Cars like that have to make economic sense and developing a coupe as opposed to developing another, say, ultra-efficient power train is a hard argument.

‘We’ve got a lot of other things we want to do and a Capri is just not on the radar at the moment.’

So what does the Evos point towards, if not a Capri? Well, Ovenden says

design cues from it will appear on new Ford models very soon.

‘It highlights how our styling will evolve as we go forward,’ explained the Ford boss. ‘The clue is in the name – Evos – as in evolution of kinetic design. You’ll see parts of its design in some of our future vehicles and we’re talking within months.’

However, coupe fans may take solace in Ovenden’s parting words about a certain American muscle car.

‘Clearly we have some fantastic coupes around the world,’ he said.

‘We have one that is arguably the most iconic of the lot – the Mustang – which we’ve never seriously looked at bringing here.

‘Although there are no plans at the moment, as a sales and marketer I’d always like cars like that here.’

Three new STs as Blue Oval takes a ‘logical step forward’ FANS of Ford’s range of sports derivatives have got three new models to lust after.

The Blue Oval has unveiled the Focus ST five-door hatchback, a Fiesta ST concept and, in a surprise move, a Focus ST estate.

Ford bosses say the two Focus derivatives which both share a 2.0-litre EcoBoost engine will allow different types of customer to experience ST, while the Fiesta ST concept hints at a forthcoming model.

No launch date has been set for the Fiesta ST which would be the smallest ST on sale, boasting 178bhp from its 1.6-litre EcoBoost power plant.

But Ford says the model is ‘a logical step forward’ for the ST brand.

Meanwhile, Ford has not ruled out increasing the length of its car warranties to five years, revealed the firm’s UK MD.

With rivals such as Vauxhall moving to a lifetime warranty and Korean firms Kia and Hyundai offering seven and five years respectively, Ford could be left behind.

However, Mark Ovenden, Ford of Britain’s new boss, pictured left, told Car Dealer that although it’s been looked at, no firm plans have been made. ‘It has not been ruled out – we would be foolish to do that – but at the moment it is not something that is imminent either.’

With many rivals offering motorists longer periods of cover, it seems only a matter of time before Ford is forced to act.

Nissan launches used car programme bit.ly/NissanCARED4

‘Foolish’ not to make mini Mini BMW product planner speaks to Car Dealer

T

he man in charge of Mini’s new car launches up to 2021 has hinted we’ll see hot WRC-inspired models as early as 2012.

And the Mini product manager said the firm would be ‘foolish’ not to build the Rocketman concept – currently dubbed the mini Mini by fans.

Although Lee Connolly, Mini UK product and planning manager, couldn’t reveal all of the car manufacturer’s plans, he did enough to convince us there are some exciting models on the way.

Connolly said: ‘Hopefully the Rocketman is being evaluated and rubber-stamped as we speak.

It is a complete concept at the moment, but I love it. There is definitely still space for a model below the hatch.

‘We can see that already with Fiat 500 and they are priced below £10,000. There’s certainly room for us with a city car below the hatch.’

Connolly revealed he had researched the Rocketman and this had revealed it could become a volume seller for the brand.

Although he doesn’t think it will overtake the

popular hatch, it would certainly make sense.

However, the car manufacturer doesn’t currently have a platform to build the mini Mini on – that would require a big investment.

But with a recent £500m chunk of cash set aside to update Oxford, it’s likely the maker is gearing up to produce the city car.

‘We don’t have a platform to build that car on, and to build it bespoke would cost a lot of money – it would be a whole new project for us,’ explained Connolly. ‘Initially the concept was built to gauge customer and media opinion, but the barometer of positivity has been very high. It has been received very well, but there’s a lot of work to be done.

‘Research says that in the next 10-15 years the small car sector will become a trend and, in some cases, a necessity. The predictions point towards the small car sector exploding so we’d be foolish not to look at the Rocketman seriously.’

Closer to hitting dealer showrooms are some WRC-inspired performance models, but would they be hotter than the current John Cooper Works cars?

‘Yes, potentially,’ said Connolly. ‘I hope there are rally-inspired versions. You only have to look at what Subaru and Prodrive did with their road cars to see what’s possible. The appetite is there – so it’s a case of fingers crossed. We’ve got some activity next year that will fit this area.’

When asked whether their WRC editions would be restricted to the Countryman – the car on which the rally machine is based – Connolly wouldn’t be drawn, telling us we’d have to ‘wait and see’.

With 26 years’ experience at BMW and four of those at Mini, he knows what he can, and crucially, cannot tell the press.

The fact he said as much as he did reveals a lot in itself… we’ve certainly got our fingers crossed both get the nod!

Mini Coupe Manual, p36

You want to sell a second-hand car At Motors.co.uk we’re doing all we can to help you sell your cars – like reaching 1.5 million* people with your stock every month and freezing our advertising prices until 2012.

And you want your to ring with enquiries. Well, with Motors.co.uk being promoted in the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, Metro and over 200 regional newspapers, as well as online with Parkers, Honest John, Desperate Seller and Teletext Cars, you’re sure to get some interest.

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DASHBOARD.

Seat dealership picks up awards bit.ly/SeatAward

Is Kia planning to reinvent the classic British roadster?

K

Benny Oeyen: Moving the Kia brand forward it even more attractive and added that some of the design cues seen on the GT concept unveiled at Frankfurt could also be transferred.

‘We are looking at a number of different possibilities. Performance cars, coupes, sedans and convertibles – these are the key ways of how, by product, we can move the Kia brand forward,’ added Oeyen.

‘Performance cars are very close to being approved. The other two we are still looking at, but Kia is growing like crazy.

Seven years ago Kia was selling 1m cars a year. Now we are over 2.2m, this year will be more than 2.4m.

‘And that is product-led growth. Product is what counts – it is the foundation of our brand house. Exciting performance cars and convertibles would keep us moving in the right direction.’

...and firm wants AMG’s success too KIA wants to create a performance sub-brand like Mercedes’s AMG or BMW’s M – and the cars could be in showrooms as early as next year.

The Korean firm is attempting to push its brand forward after a prolonged period of new model launches and its European bosses believe performance cars are the way to do it.

Benny Oeyen, vice president for marketing and product planning at Kia Motors Europe, told Car Dealer the Korean firm is currently weighing up the pros and cons of building performance cars or a coupe.

He said: ‘Seven or eight years ago our products were basic transportation providers for getting from A to B in economical ways and at very cheap prices.

‘Our products have now gone up, but

warranty wonders

Let’s all cheer up! There are some top cars around

M

Kia chief would like to have an MX-5 fighter in his range ia could soon reinvent the classic British roadster – just as Mazda did with the MX-5 20 years ago. As part of the Korean firm’s attempts to energise its brand and make it appear more sporty, executives are looking at the models that can help them realise their ambitions.

Benny Oeyen, vice president of marketing and product planning for Kia Motors Europe, told Car Dealer he thinks a Kia ‘MX-5’ would do the job perfectly.

‘I’d like to have an MX-5 fighter in our range,’ he told us.

‘I think it would fit our brand perfectly.

You make an emotional car and then you make it affordable. I want to bring back the old British roadster but with a Kia badge.

‘I think that would be cool. This is me talking now about just one of the possibilities we are looking at, but I think it could have a small 1.6-litre turbocharged engine and it would have to be rear-wheel drive. In an ideal world that’s what I’d do.’

Oeyen said he would price the Kia just under Mazda’s legendary MX-5 to make

Heavisides

our brand image hasn’t moved so quickly.

I could absolutely see a sub-Kia brand, a sporty GTI one, that would help change this.

‘To enhance the brand you can do three things: The quickest is performance versions of current models; second, we could produce a performance stylish sedan or coupe like the GT concept; and thirdly we could do a convertible. We’re looking at all of these.

‘We want to put some spice into the Kia soup right now and it’s my priority.’

Oeyen revealed that a decision on performance models was very close to being signed off and explained they’d be more ‘Focus ST, than Focus RS’. It’s likely that if they do get the nod we’ll see them towards the end of 2012.

aybe it’s seasonal but the press seems to be full of doom and gloom on just about any topic you care to mention – and the car industry’s no different. Even in the coverage of Jaguar Land Rover’s outstanding investment in UK manufacturing, there was still room to highlight a depressed market and lower new car registrations.

I’ve noticed that there isn’t a great deal of reporting on residual values or the relative strength of the used car market though, nor of the exceptional value of some cars which most of us would have deemed well beyond our budgets when they were new just five or six years ago.

While buyers of new cars seem to march inexorably towards diesel models, those doing low mileage and with a bit of imagination can reap the spoils – usually provided they’re prepared to opt for the petrolversion of something whose first owner took the hit of all the depreciation. There are some wonderful cars around.

For less than the cost of a new diesel Audi A1, for example, how about a three-year-old A8 Quattro? A 2007 BMW 6-series for the price of a new Mini One? Take your pick from coupes or convertibles, petrol or diesel and if you’re prepared to opt for the V12, the choice is exceptional.

Want off-road capability? A Porsche Cayenne could be on the drive for less than the price of a new Fiesta.

For true petrolheads, these are gifts.

The first owners have taken a hiding on depreciation and admittedly, the running costs won’t be comparable to a brand new car but for buyers, these are tempting propositions – pop a private number plate on them and the neighbours would think you’d won the lottery.

Of course, a luxury car for supermini money turns straight back into a luxury car when it develops a fault, but with an extended manufacturer warranty as part of the negotiation or a service plan to help with regular maintenance, buyers can help protect themselves.

Granted, it won’t be for everyone but when times are hard, don’t we all look for a little indulgence now and again?

‘When times are hard, don’t we all look for a little bit of indulgence now and again?’

Who is Tim Heavisides?

Heavisides is CEO of Car Care Plan, the UK’s leading provider of motor warranty and GAP products.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 11

DASHBOARD.

BMW sells two millionth car in the UK bit.ly/BMW2mill

Winn Assist Hiding? That was not accident management

A useful way to boost your revenue and reputation

B

y adopting an effective accident management service, a dealership can strengthen both its revenue and reputation.

There are two essential elements to success in this area. The dealership must pick the right accident management company to provide the service and must ensure the service is accurately implemented throughout every level of the company. Get this wrong and there is a dribble of revenue and intermittent service. Get it right and revenues improve dramatically and consistent customer service enhances your brand.

But how do you pick an effective accident management company? Firstly, do they arrange and provide a full range of accident management services themselves? Most don’t, they will sell different elements of the claim to different providers and this causes complications and annoyance to the client.

Secondly, do they deal with fault and non-fault claims?

Some claims companies tell the driver to contact the insurer themselves. In our view the AMC should be reporting the accident verbally and in writing on behalf of the customer, therefore nailing the repair for the dealership.

There are as many fault repairs to be captured as nonfaults and this is often a neglected area.

Thirdly, what are their conversion rates for hire, repairs and injuries? These rates give an indication as to the level of trust which customers have in the quality of their service.

Fourthly, is the provider of the service regulated by the Law Society or the Ministry of Justice?

Do they operate a branded service where one decision is taken on the case? This is a situation where the claim is automatically accepted for legal, hire, repair and physio without there needing to be different decisions by different companies.

And lastly, is the injured customer referred for immediate physiotherapy and the service provided on the basis that costs are recovered from the other side?

This is popular with customers.

For more information please speak to the Winn Solicitors sales team on 0191 276 9865.

‘Do they operate a branded service where one decision is taken on the case?’

What is Winn Assist?

Winn Assist Automotive provides branded full accident management for your customers and a host of other services. Call 0845 217 2542.

14 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

part of our strategy

Brand director gives reasons for Chrysler naming convention

C

hrysler’s brand director has defended the company’s decision not to change the Delta and Ypsilon names for the UK market.

The two models, which are known by the name Lancia in mainland Europe, will keep their original names because Nigel Land thinks that by changing them, it would be seen by consumers as ‘hiding’.

‘The whole name-plate strategy is very interesting,’ Land told Car Dealer in an exclusive interview.

‘I think what you could achieve is, at an almost superficial level, people won’t make the association. But people will.

I think it would be seen to be hiding behind what is a truly integrated brand.’

Land pointed towards GM firm Opel Vauxhall as a good example of ‘brand integration’. ‘Think Opel Vauxhall – same products under a different name. Years ago you could have the Kadett and the Chevette, but now Corsa is Corsa. You carry the name-plate and by doing that it allows for synergies within the businesses.

‘Actually, we didn’t have a naming strategy. It’s not as if we had a B- and C- segment product from which we stole the name and changed it for the sake of changing it. We didn’t have a strategy

The Ypsilon... keeping its name in the UK because we haven’t operated in those segments before, so why not adopt the international naming strategy?’

Land also gave his view on the return of Dodge to the UK. He said: ‘I think it’s very unlikely. Marketing an extra brand under the Fiat umbrella would be too difficult.’

Dodge was axed late last year when Chrysler announced its Delta and Ypsilon models. And its models were partly responsible for this.

‘The Dodge Caliber was a great looking car, but its interior was not up to standard,’ said Land. ‘It had the distinctive styling which is what Chrysler is now focusing on, but there has to be attention paid to the interior quality.’

Land said the new Delta and Ypsilon offered distinctive styling and luxurious interiors, reflecting the company’s direction for the future.

Chrysler Ypsilon Manual, p34

New chief at HR Owen HR OWEN chief Andy Duncan has left the company to head up The National Lottery.

Joe Doyle will take over from Duncan with immediate effect.

Duncan, who joined HR Owen a year ago, has decided to leave the top role but will remain with the business until the end of October. He will become Camelot UK Lotteries’ managing director and will be responsible for The National Lottery.

A spokesperson told us: ‘Andy has done some great things for HR Owen with this year seeing the acquisition of Broughtons and the introduction of the Ferrari Atelier. Andy’s departure is under good terms.’

Doyle joins the firm having gained extensive experience in the motor industry, most recently as regional managing director of HPI and Audatex, where he worked for a number of years in leadership roles.

CAR DEALER

iPhone app now free CAR Dealer Magazine’s website can now be read in the palm of your hand completely free of charge!

That’s because the Car Dealer app is now free to download from iTunes for all readers.

Boasting the latest news from the motor industry, road tests, features, and the editor’s blog, the Car Dealer app is simply the website you know and love in an easier-to-use format.

The app became free of charge at the beginning of October.

To get the app for your iPhone or iPod Touch, search for ‘Car Dealer Magazine’ in the iTunes store.

dashboard.

Hyundai lights up Piccadilly Circus with new advert bit.ly/HyundaiPiccadilly

Infiniti: We’re viable Boss defends poor performance in UK

A

n Infiniti director has insisted the brand is still viable – despite fewer than 250 models finding homes in 2011.

Infiniti Europe’s commercial boss, Guillaume Pelletreau, pictured right, admitted he was unhappy with the marque’s current performance, but was adamant there were plans for it to improve.

‘I am not happy with the current performance, but am I confident we can do better? Yes I am.

There are two ways of looking at it. We were very late investing in the UK and Germany and these are two markets where we have the fiercest battles to fight,’ he said.

‘We launched the brand in the UK on October 1, 2008 – that was two weeks after Lehman brothers crashed. It was just bad luck and meant we had to postpone the speed of deployment in the UK. ‘I’m not happy with where we are, but I am pretty confident we can do something in the UK.’ Currently, Infiniti operates six dealerships in the UK and last year sold just 95 cars, but Pelletreau

said he wanted this to rise to more than 40 sites as early as 2014.

‘We have taken too long to reach the stage we are at now,’ he said. ‘Our initial plan was 14 sites for the UK. That has now risen to more than 40.

We are looking for rapid growth in the UK and will hold a recruitment event later this year where we will show new partners what we have planned.

‘To those who say we are failing now I would simply say: Rendezvous with us in three years.’

Infiniti – a luxury arm of Nissan – is keen to establish itself as a premium car maker, but Pelletreau admitted it still needed a volume-selling car to become a real success in the UK.

PROBLEMS

Waters Autoplanet hit with financial troubles LARGE south of England dealer group Waters Autoplanet has fallen into financial difficulties and been placed in administration.

Rumours emerged early this month that the 22-site group – which holds franchises for Kia, Renault, Mazda, Peugeot and Seat – was in trouble and Car Dealer Magazine broke the news on our website.

Despite our best attempts at contacting the firm, we could only get through to a callhandling firm. However, it eventually emerged that administrators had been put in place in the first week of October.

‘It’s true I’m afraid,’ said an insider. ‘It came as a bit of a shock, but we knew there were problems.’

As well as franchised sites, Waters AutoPlanet also specialised in used cars, running car supermarkets in London, Maidstone and Southampton.

It also had an award-winning website which picked up the Car Dealer Magazine Group Franchised Dealer Website of the Year in our Ewards in 2010.

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In this economy you SIMPLY CANNOT just rely on the internet to drive your sales leads. You need to have a mix that includes both the internet and advertising on your forecourt. Adding new flags, pricing units and updating your signage can quickly transform a tired looking forecourt into a professional sales outlet.

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DASHBOARD.

Stratstone Manchester opens its doors bit.ly/FerrariWilmslow

Top tips for dealers to put into practice with social media plans A

set of 10 basic rules on social media etiquette for dealers has been released by dealer management software firm Pinewood.

The simple guidelines have been created in response to demand from dealers who want to use social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook but are unsure of the right approach.

1. Create a social media policy – do not allow use of social media across your dealership to be carried out in an ad-hoc fashion. Decide what you are trying to achieve, how social media can help you do it, and which dealership staff will be responsible.

2. Decide your style – think about how you want to be perceived and how to achieve this. Aim for a personalised, conversational style.

CALLS SUCCESS

A great weekend A DEALER using performance improvement and mystery shopping company Douglas Stafford enjoyed a very successful weekend event.

High Wycombe Citroen dealership Worleys asked Douglas Stafford’s customer contact centre team to support its event targeted at existing and past customers.

Members of Douglas Stafford’s customer contact centre team were given a list of Worleys customers who had been sent a letter inviting them to its invitation-only event.

‘The calls made by the Douglas Stafford team made the weekend a huge success,’ said Worley Citroen dealer principal Nigel Findlow.

SERVICING

FSH adds so much value

Don’t get carried away by the hype.. and use different approaches for different channels 3. Do not lapse into ‘textspeak’ – remember that social media is still a business relationship.

4. Do not ‘sell, sell, sell’ but instead be appropriately informative about products and services without being excessively pushy.

5. Update only when you have something to say – there are few bigger turn-offs than outdated information or a ‘forthcoming event’.

6. Use different approaches for different channels. Twitter, Facebook and Groupon are completely different animals.

7. Handle negative criticism. You may need to develop a thicker skin

but also learn to deal with negative comments in a sensitive and constructive way.

8. Don’t be afraid to take the conversation offline – some things are better handled on the phone.

9. Abuse is not appropriate. You’ll be respected more for dismissing sexist, racist and ageist remarks, for example, than reacting to them.

10. Don’t worry about the pace of change – social media is moving very rapidly all the time. Try to keep abreast of developments but remember to look at the business case for each new tool rather than getting carried away by the hype.

Seat chief: Compact 4x4 would sell well A QASHQAI rival is on the shopping list of Seat’s UK chief – and we wouldn’t bet against his chances of bagging one.

Speaking exclusively to Car Dealer, Peter Whinney said a 4×4 crossover was a car he thinks would sell extremely well to Seat customers in the UK. The brand’s IBX concept, pictured, shown at the Geneva motor show earlier this year, is a good indication of how a Seat SUV could look, said Whinney – but now he needs to ensure the business case for introducing one stacks up.

‘It’s a model I’d really like to see a Seat badge on, but whether we get it or not is a different matter,’ he explained. ‘The IBX we showed at Geneva was a beautiful looking compact 4×4. Would I like one?

Absolutely. Will I get one? I don’t know.’

Whinney explained that even with the benefits of platform-sharing with the Audi Q3, the cost of doing so could still be prohibitive.

DRIVERS who put off having their car serviced to save cash could be costing themselves more money in the long run.

Research commissioned

by Kwik Fit shows that a full service history on a car could increase its value by 26 per cent.

The firm also found that for a third (34 per cent) of drivers, the stamp is literally priceless as they say they would not buy any car unless it had a full service history.

DEAL SEALED

LKQ acquire Euro Car Parts EURO Car Parts has been acquired by the LKQ Corporation for around £225m, it has been announced.

LKQ indicated that the acquisition is expected to generate Q4 2011 revenue of approximately £80m.

In addition to the initial £225m purchase price, the value of the deal could increase by up to £55m if Euro Car Parts meets certain growth targets in 2012 and 2013.

BRAND NEW

‘If the cost base is too high, we wouldn’t be able to get the price position that we want,’ he said. ‘We can’t be in Audi’s price bracket. However, I do think customers would buy a car like this.

‘If you look at that segment, it is growing and you only have to see how our sister brands and competitors are doing in this market to see that it’s an expanding market.

‘It’s a sector we’ve seen competitors take advantage of, but it has to make commercial sense and we have to have the capacity to build it. There are lots of considerations we need to make first.’

Vertu’s major investment DEALER group Vertu is investing several million pounds in a new Vauxhall brand centre in Chingford.

The new Bristol Street Motors site will offer a spacious, 560 square metre showroom stretching over a ground floor and mezzanine, and is designed to cater for 12 Vauxhall vehicles.

The site will offer employment for 75 staff.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 19

EWARDS 2011.

THE JUDGES Autotorq.com

Autotorq

This year I will be looking for dealers who are ready to satisfy customers’ needs when they go online. Very few businesses are able to do this – and that is especially true in our industry – so a good web presence will be one which supplies consumers with information to allow them to make better decisions.

Stewart Niblock Gforces.co.uk

GForces

I will be looking for evidence of a website that makes the consumer journey as effortless, rich and relevant as possible. Well-displayed stock and good offers and relevant content are a starting point but I want to experience a cohesive approach between the web and showroom.

Tim Smith

Codeweavers.net

Our judges take a look at one of the first entries in the Car Dealer Ewards 2011. James Batchelor reports

I

n contrast to the dealers who hold one or more manufacturer franchises or an independent trader selling what he can, a specialist dealer has a completely different customer who they need to speak to, and a totally distinct business model.

It’s this very situation that becomes clear in our Ewards and allows a specialist dealer to mix it

Webzation.COM

with other dealers who wouldn’t normally feature on their radar.

One dealer who specialises in one type of product is All Aston Martin run by Philip Jones and Tim Foster. The firm is a broker of Aston Martins but the duo’s 40 years’ expertise in selling cars and a passion for the British brand shines through.

CarCarePlan.com

blueskyinteractive.co.uk

Codeweavers

Webzation

Car Care Plan

Bluesky

I am looking for sites given the love and attention that demonstrate that they sit at the centre of the dealer’s marketing strategy. I would like to see evidence of on-going reviews, checks and improvements to the site and that all features work correctly and are presented to their best effect.

As a business that continues to innovate, we want to see a like-minded approach with the entrants. Use of more engaging content and functionality will be paramount to fulfill the requirements of a rapidlyevolving consumer market. The victor will need to demonstrate enhancements beyond last year’s winners.

I’m really looking forward to reviewing this year’s Car Dealer Ewards entrants. If the variety and quality of the submissions is anything like last year then we’re going to be awarding some excellent websites. Personally I’ll be looking for attractive and engaging websites that are innovative whilst retaining a high degree of usability.

I am going to be looking for websites and digital innovations that don’t just look flash but also deliver real results and functionality. We see it as crucial that technology used within a website works both for the customer and the website owner to help generate long-standing relationships.

Roland Schaack 20 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

James Tew

Matthew Strudwick

Alan Crane

CarDealer.

Ewards

2011

I n a s s o c i at i o n w i t h

autotorq.com

Their website was clearly a hit with our judges. Progress Automotive’s Alex Knight remarked: ‘While navigation and design are fairly simple, this site has worked hard on SEO strategy, with page one results for some big key phrases. The site shows almost encyclopaedic listings for its used cars for sale including model and service history, which is very useful when buying a prestige or vintage car.’

The fact that the website clearly knows its target audience was picked up by Autosonshow’s managing director Adam Price too. He said: ‘The design is classic like their cars. The website is easy to navigate and immediately communicates the purpose of the business. I was impressed by the wealth of information on offer and the extensive details provided for each car.’

James Tew of Webzation felt the site’s attention to imagery which ‘paints 1,000 words’ was clever too. Tew added: ‘There

is no excuse for poor presentation of your product. Within the site the attention to detail with both the vehicle images and vehicle history is exceptional.

‘More people will visit your website than your showroom – however, there is a disproportionate amount of time preparing a vehicle for ‘‘walk-ins’’ than site visitors.’

New to Ewards 2011, Alan Crane of Bluesky Interactive was also impressed by allastonmartin.com’s attitude to its audience, saying: ‘This website successfully delivers relevant content to the target audience through clearly categorised features on the homepage, plus detailed information and images on the vehicle pages.’

If you want your website featured and reviewed by our expert panel of judges, you should enter your site now. Closing date for entries is November 24.

HOW TO ENTER EWARDS 2011 To enter, you need to register your website with the following details by emailing ewards@cardealermag.co.uk.

1. Your name and position 2. Company name 3. Website address 4. Name of the agency who designed the site, or if in-house state this 5. 100 words (or more) saying what makes your site an Eward winner.

Think about what you considered before building the website and the reasons for adding its functions.

If you’ve entered before, that

ProgressDMS.co.uk

Progress Automotive

I will be looking for websites that strike the right balance between clean, functional design, ease of navigation and the use of the latest, innovative technology. I’ll also be looking for sites that demonstrate an understanding of today’s car buyer, and the means they have for accessing websites.

Alex Knight

doesn’t mean you can’t enter, but you will need to send us details of your website again. We will also consider nominations made by other parties and our judges will get to nominate some of their favourites too.

We’ll look through all entries and shortlist 10 in each category and these will then be handed to the judges.

Each judge uses their own set of criteria, with our guidelines, to mark the websites and we tot up their points to find our winners. We look forward to seeing your entry!

Autosonshow.tv

Niblock

Ewards insight

Don’t cram too much in!

I

n my last column, I talked about two things that would be a major focus for this year’s ewards: customer-centric website design and effective use of channels such as mobile, Google Places and SEO / SEM. In this column, I’ll talk about the website and the homepage. You need to get this right before you spend good money sending more customers to it.

The first thing to say is that the homepage is obviously the most important page on the website.

I’m sure it’s why so many of the top 200 dealers fall into the trap of trying to get everything on it.

We call this homepage cramming. It’s no different from overcrowding your window displays in the dealership.

You don’t put all your offers by the door so customers trip over them as they walk in, so don’t do it on your website.

The best homepages are able to present multiple brands while maintaining simplicity, unity and elegance in the page design. They are easy to scan and easy to understand. But very few dealers achieve this.

Most homepages are overly long, busy and slow. They’re usually jam-packed with offers and there are too many focal points and too many options.

Instead of directing users efficiently to the brand or content of their choice, they bog them down with too many potential choices and actions.

Finally, try not to use jargon – especially in the primary navigation ... it just makes the site even more difficult to understand.

Who is Stewart Niblock?

He is chief executive officer of Autotorq.com, one of the leading digital agencies in the UK. Find out how he can help you at autotorq.com

Spidersnet.co.uk

Experian.co.uk

Autos On Show

Spidersnet

Experian

I’ll be looking for websites that put the forecourt at potential buyers’ fingertips. To do this, a site needs to embrace innovative technology, it needs easy navigation, interactivity, strong visuals, ideally video, a relaxed design and easy-tosee specifications. It should also communicate the brand personality of the dealership.

By now all dealers should be displaying multiple images and well-written unique descriptions of their used cars. This year I’ll be looking for sites that really engage with visitors and embrace the phenomenon that is social media. I’ll be looking for dealers that have a blog attached to their website and embedded Facebook, Twitter and RSS widgets for greater engagement.

A WEBSITE in this context is a business tool that needs to serve the needs of the business and their customers. I will be looking for websites that are clear, functional and informative.

A logical user journey and the ability to provide an ‘on-line’ representation of the business and their propositions and services is vital.

Adam Price

Alan Stuart

Andrew Ballard CarDealerMag.co.uk| 21

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Around the world

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CHICAGO

A BMW dealership in Chicago has won a court battle after firing a sales person after he posted negative comments about the dealership on Facebook. The sales person made nasty comments about a dealership-organised barbecue for customers and also made rude comments about a rival outlet.

Dealer news from somewhere other than here NEW JERSEY

A DEALER in New Jersey has been the victim of a crafty car theft. Two men in their early 20s turned up at the dealership and asked to test drive a brand new Porsche Panamera, which was marked up at $148k. On returning to the showroom, the young men handed back a dummy Porsche key and pocketed the real key to the German fourdoor car. Later that night, the Panamera was stolen from the dealer.

CUBA

COMMUNIST-led Cuba has legalised the sale and purchase of cars for its citizens. From October, Cubans will have to pay a four per cent tax whether buying or selling a car and must make a sworn declaration that the money used for the purchase was obtained legally.

It is thought the move will increase the value of pre-Revolution cars or cars from before 1959.

MaLAYSIA

CAR dealers in Malaysia who hold a BMW Group franchise are finding their showrooms becoming increasingly busy. Sales between January and August amounted to 3,711 cars – a 28 per cent growth on the same period last year – with BMW and Mini cars and BMW motorbikes all proving popular. The country now represents one of the German firm’s biggest markets. BMW Group Malaysia is now considering ramping up production numbers at its plant in the country.

KENYA

KENYANS now have to dig deeper into their pockets if they want to buy a car, due to the country’s weakening currency.

Some models’ prices have risen by 40 per cent meaning that a lot of cars have risen out of reach for many Kenyans. The Japanese earthquake earlier this year is to blame. Limited production numbers have seen the number of cars imported into the country slashed by half.

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helpdesk.

Join Car Dealer Club by visiting CarDealerClub.com Members get free legal advice worth £199 for a £25 annual subscription

Ask Lucy Car Dealer Club lawyer Lucy Bonham Carter answers dealers’ legal questions. Join for £25 a year to get advice like this when you need it

Q

I am a small dealer, and have been buying a lot of my cars from an online trade-only auction. The cars’ details are described and pictures shown for any obvious faults. If there were any missed or not described accurately I have been able to negotiate a discount off the hammer price because I have been picking the car up in person.

However, on the last occasion I sent a driver to pick up the car. Before departing he called me and said that the water level warning light is on and he looked at the water level under the bonnet and it was just below the minimum level, so he topped it up and departed only for the light to appear again 20 miles later. The car was recovered

by The AA who diagnosed a head gasket problem.

When my mechanics had a closer look they noticed the heads (two of them as it is a V-engine) have been opened before and somebody has put silicone on/around the gasket to cover up the fault. To undertake repairs will cost £900. I have asked for a contribution of £600 from the auction firm but they refuse to pay it or to take the vehicle back. Do I have any legal rights in this case to demand a refund and compensation?

SG, Fife

ADVICE

Credit card claim Q. We have a customer who bought a car from us for which they paid by credit card. Within three months of purchase a fault apparently developed with the car. Rather than report it to us they took it to a main dealer who diagnosed a blockage in the fuel line. There was a warranty with the car which covered £300 of the costs leaving a shortfall of £200. Now the customer is attempting to make a claim against their credit card for the costs of the repair. Is this possible even though we were not consulted?

JM, Warrington A. In short, if the case is proved they can claim jointly against the card company and you for their losses. Nominally this can be done through the courts but in many circumstances the credit card company will attempt to arbitrate. If they view it is reasonable they will contact your

bank and attempt a reversal. In these particular circumstances your first contact should be with the cardholder’s bank making it clear you dispute the claim. This could be on the grounds that the work was not as a result of a preexisting defect or on the grounds that they have failed to mitigate their losses. Use your club membership so we can deal with this for you.

Unfortunately your rights in a tradeto-trade deal are restricted and you enjoy much more limited protection than a member of the public. A vehicle should be ‘as described’ but otherwise much of your protection is in undertaking a thorough inspection of the vehicle prior to purchase. What little additional protection you have by buying ‘at

distance’ is further eroded when the purchase is made at auction.

Obviously the internet has changed the way dealers buy cars and there is a significant shortfall in protection when purchased in this way. So in order to ensure a flow of buying dealers it makes sense for the auctioning dealer to make some allowance in the event that an undiscovered or concealed fault becomes apparent rather than just dump the fault on to the buying dealer.

A number of sales houses are developing

independent mediation services backed by an Escrow scheme to protect buyers and sellers in similar circumstances.

In this particular case you should be using your Car Dealer Club membership to see what we can negotiate on your behalf with the selling dealer so at least you gain some contribution to the cost of repairs.

Ed – The auction concerned offered to settle the case with a ‘goodwill’ payment of £600 following Car Dealer Club’s intervention.

Q. I have been using a nearby mechanic for repairs or niggles on my cars. Usually he would take the car away and phone me outlining any problems with a quote to fix them. He has been working for me on this basis for three years.

I had bought a few cars from him and had reason to become suspicious after being alerted by one of his former employees so we rigged up a car to show a couple of warning lights and sent it over. He came back to us diagnosing some fairly serious problems and a quote for £1,400 for ‘repairs’. When I challenged him he said firstly I

was wrong and afterwards that he had ‘found a fault’ in his diagnostic equipment which meant it had shown a fault in error. I refused to pay his bill for outstanding work previously completed which totalled £2,300 on the grounds that it may not have been necessary. At the moment he is threatening court proceedings against me and in normal circumstances I would be happy to defend the case but the former employee refuses to testify and I am worried that my case would thus be weakened. What should I do?

ML, Honiton

A. The refusal of the former employee to testify considerably weakens what would probably be a very strong case. The question would arise as to the credibility of the parties and how long the equipment had been faulty. Without the benefit of solid testimony from the former employee I would not normally recommend you went to court on what could be accepted by the court as a mistake. A better financial outcome might be achieved by negotiation. Club members benefit from preliminary mediation in cases such as this and it is very likely we can settle this case.

A

We caught out our mechanic

Who is Lucy Bonham Carter?

She is a leading commercial lawyer specialising in automotive. She heads the legal team at AutoLaw, a multi-disciplinary insurance and legal practice which specialises in providing legal assistance on motor trade-related legal issues and she provides advice to Car Dealer Club members. To get advice like this (worth £199) join Car Dealer Club for just £25 per year. Sign up at CarDealerClub.com 24 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Your advert said this car had air con but it hasn’t.

I want you to pay for it to be retro fitted. What are you going to do about it?

My head gasket has gone on the car you sold me after just a year – I want my money back.

What are you going to do about it?

The car you sold me has been clocked. I want compensation for the money I’ve spent on insurance and my money back. What are you going to do about it?

You sold me this car and I’ve found out it’s had an accident repaired. It’s not worth as much as you said it was. What are you going to do about it?

The clutch has gone on my new car. I’ve only had it eight months.

You should pay for the repairs. What are you going to do about it?

PROBLEMS?

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Used Car Expert on quest for quality dealers bit.ly/ExpertQuest

My leaving gift to you How one form can earn you some serious cash...

A

s I have said many times in these pages, all car dealers want to do is earn a little money. And yet, all the world wants to do is sell them services, products and of course, advertising.

Which you are still welcome to buy from UsedCarExpert.co.uk by the way. And because of the way we only charge for results, you will make money from selling a car or two more. But it’s not that kind of conventional money-making I want to focus on this month.

This is probably going to be my last column in Car Dealer for a while and because I am a realist I don’t expect you, dear, loyal reader, to send me a present. Instead I thought I would leave you with one.

In larger dealerships, when a salesman sells a car, he will also set up a financial services meeting. It’s the same in estate agents. And the ‘FS’ salesman then makes the dealership another nice lump of money from loans and GAP and so on.

But in smaller dealerships, there is no FS

salesman. And dealers tell me that they don’t want to risk the sale by complicating things and as a result when you do try, the take-up isn’t great.

And it just creates more paperwork.

But recently I have come across a way small dealers can earn an extra £5-£10, not just for every customer they sell to, but for every serious enquirer that crosses their forecourt.

But, there is a catch.

You don’t have to spend any money, but you do have to give out a leaflet and fill in a short form.

So, if that doesn’t sound like too much hassle, it

can easily equal a few hundred pounds more a month. And that is my leaving gift to you.

Email me on mt@usedcarexpert.com if you want more details.

Who is Matt Tumbridge?

Publisher of UsedCarExpert.co.uk.

You can contact him on mt@usedcarexpert.com or on 07974 778 554 or @usedcarexpert

GET MORE CAR BUYERS TO YOUR WEBSITE ONLY PAY FOR GENUINE VISITS AND ENQUIRIES

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Douglas Stafford Limited 1000 Lakeside Western Road Portsmouth PO6 3EN Telephone: +44 (0)23 9283 0011 Fax: +44 (0)23 9285 2900 Email: info@douglasstafford.com www.douglasstafford.com

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FINANCE. FUNDRAISING

Hundreds of pounds raised for charities

Police are given fresh funding as they continue fraud battle Cash is awarded to specialist unit to help cut crime for fifth year running

FINANCE firm First Response has raised more than £900 for good causes after competing in a special fundraising event.

In September two teams from the Nottingham-based firm took part in the ‘Monster Challenge’ – a charity team duathlon event which saw 300 teams each consisting of four team members run and cycle their way around Loch Ness in a relay-style race.

The two First Response teams set themselves a target of finishing in the top 100 of the 300-strong event – no easy feat considering Olympic Gold Medal 400m hurdler Sally Gunnell and Scotland Rugby International Gavin Hastings took part – but eventually finished a respectable 118th and 135th.

The finance firm also washed cars to raise money and awareness for the event (pictured above).

The proceeds went to two local causes - St Vincent’s Hospice which provides specialist palliative care, and Rosegill School in Nottingham.

With more than £900 raised so far, First Response is still collecting for the charities.

A

specialist police unit dedicated to tackling motor fraud has received funding from motor finance companies.

It’s the fifth year running the Vehicle Fraud Unit of the ACPO Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (AVCIS) has received funding.

Since its inception in 2007, AVCIS has recovered £19m-worth of cars stolen by fraudsters.

Because of its excellent success rate and high return on investment, motor finance companies have agreed to sponsor AVCIS’ Vehicle Crime Unit for a fifth consecutive year and fund a further two full-time police officers to help with nationwide investigations.

In the past year alone, AVCIS officers recovered more than 300 cars, with a value of £5m, to FLA member motor finance companies. A total of 60 arrests were made.

Paul Harrison, head of motor finance at the Finance & Leasing Association, welcomed the continued partnership with AVCIS. He said: ‘By catching fraudsters our partnership with the police is helping motor lenders to minimise the money they lose to fraud.

‘This helps to keep finance costs as

Fraudsters, watch out – the police are on your tail low as possible for car buyers in tough economic times.

‘AVCIS has had an exceptional 12 months and it is important that we provide the necessary support to help the police officers carry out their work. To this end, we have agreed to increase funding for two additional detective constables, including one in the ports. Ports operations have recovered 94 vehicles worth almost £2m in the last year,

‘‘

and we want to make sure that fraudsters are not able to ship cars abroad in order to evade the police.’

Head of the Vehicle Fraud Unit at AVCIS, DCI Mark Hooper, said: ‘I’d like to thank the FLA and finance companies for their continued support of our work to combat vehicle fraud, and for their increased contributions for the ports officers and other resources, which will allow us to recover more cars than ever.’

It is important that we provide the necessary support to help police officers.

Buyers much prefer the personal touch, according to new survey WHEN purchasing a car, buyers prefer the personal approach, a new survey

by Alphera Financial Services has found. Sixty-one per cent of new car owners claim that dealerships are the primary source of information when

it comes to making a decision about a car purchase.

And after surveying 500 car buyers, Alphera also found that while one in four claimed to do some general research into finance options online,

Some 60 per cent of buyers do no research into finance at all before going to a dealer. The survey also found that a quarter of car buyers choose a dealer based on referral and one-in-five on previous experience.

Valuing Service – Valuing You! First Response Finance is the first choice for the UK’s small to medium sized dealer market.

28 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

..in association with

DEAL FINDER Latest finance deals on crossovers NISSAN QASHQAI IT’s hard to talk about the Nissan Qashqai without mentioning the fact that the Japanese firm has built more than a million of them at its Sunderland plant.

And the company has got finance offers on three of its four trim levels for the Qashqai, with the Visia kicking off the model range.

The customer needs to put down a deposit of £3,588 for the Visia1.6-litre 2WD manual which comes with airconditioning and 16-inch alloy wheels, and after that, 43 monthly payments of £229 follow at 6.9 per cent APR. The optional final payment is £5,525

meaning the total amount payable is £18,731. The deal is part of Nissan’s Advantage Nissan programme so customers benefit from three years of lowcost servicing and roadside assistance.

ball rolling which is followed by 36 monthly payments of £279 at 7.9 per cent APR. An optional final payment of £4,836.50 secures the car, bring the total amount to £19,592.50.

JEEP COMPASS DESPITE a new model arriving this year, the Jeep Compass is still a relatively rare sight on UK roads.

Jeep says this is a mini-Cherokee but we all know it’s the entry model into the American off-road brand and is firmly a small SUV competitor.

Perhaps some new finance deals will improve the Compass’s fortunes.

The American brand is currently offering the Compass 2.0-litre Sport 4x2 for a customer deposit of £5,081. It comes with 17-inch alloys, air conditioning, cruise control and manual hill start assist.

time is money

Discipline is so crucial

I

HYUNDAI ix35 THE Korean firm has come on leaps and bounds in the past few years, thanks to models like this.

The ix35 is the sister car to the cracking Kia Sportage but the Hyundai boasts arguably more refined and mature looks while still offering decent spec levels, good build quality and practicality – important things in the SUV crossover market.

Currently there’s a tasty finance deal on the ix35 Style 1.6-litre GDi which features, among other things, 17-inch alloys, parking sensors, Bluetooth and heated front and rear seats.

A customer deposit of £4,712 gets the

Such

The deposit is then followed by 23 monthly payments of £100 at zero per cent APR. An optional final payment of £7,337 brings the total amount payable to £16,995.

f you are like me then the changing season and the drawing in of the nights is not something you look forward to.

On the other side of the coin there are also the dark mornings which make your warm, comfortable bed a bigger attraction than getting up and venturing to work!

Ultimately these ‘conditions’ are a by-product of the season of winter, which of course brings a change in the weather and hours of light in each day. There are many similarities between a changing season and a changing economy…

How do you deal with these changing conditions?

How do you feel when things may appear to be darker than before? And what do you do when it’s cold as opposed to warm?

These questions are key when considering how able we are as human beings to deal with change, but also more importantly when looking at how we deal with a change in fortunes for either our careers or business circumstances.

The last few years have brought about many a challenge for businesses all over the globe which have meant that today the hurdles and decisions that we are faced with are tougher than ever.

Some people will buckle under these challenges and take the easy option of snuggling under their quilt cover and avoid travelling out into the darkness. That is quite simply the easy option.

It is also the option which is more closely linked to a low level of self-discipline as the traits of hard work, determination and the will to succeed are not prevalent.

To succeed in these ‘conditions’ we need to be more disciplined than ever before to ensure all of our futures are bright and full of success.

‘The hurdles and decisions we are faced with are tougher than ever.’

Who is Jonathan Such?

Such is regional sales manager for First Response Finance. You can contact him on 07917 781608 or email jons@frfl.co.uk

Tel: 0844 8730819 Web: www.frfl.co.uk CarDealerMag.co.uk | 29

A

O AC .

N O..

O NF M RE I TO MO IP OR TR SK F

W

A

HURRY!

IN

DEALERS ALREADY COLLECTING POINTS

DON’T GET LEFT BEHIND!

BY

SALES INCENTIVE OPEN TO ALL UK CAR DEALERS GAIN POINTS BY FINANCING DEALS WITH BRIDFORD WIN A TRIP TO MONTE CARLO, MONACO

ACTIVITIES FOR THE WINNERS INCLUDE: HELICOPTER OVER THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA | STAY AT MONTE CARLO BAY HOTEL & RESORT | DRIVE THE MONACO GRAND PRIX ROUTE | DINE AT THE CAFE DE PARIS | CATAMARAN CRUISE

For more infromation visit:

www.bridford.co.uk/monaco * Points collection scheme starts 1st September 2011. Winners holiday 26-29th April 2012.

Full Terms and Conditions on the website.

DASHBOARD.

Google is first choice for half of car buyers’ research bit.ly/GoogleChoice

Fancy a trip to Monaco?

You could be enjoying a helicopter flight, catamaran cruise and fine dining thanks to Bridford Financial Solutions. James Batchelor reports

N

ot known as a destination that attracts the shy and retiring, a trip to the glamorous location of Monaco is the incentive being offered to car dealers by a leading prestige vehicle finance firm.

Bridford Financial Solutions is offering trips to Monte Carlo for those who reach a certain number of points based on the amount financed through its books.

The event from April 26-29, 2012 includes flights to the Principality, a panoramic helicopter flight over the Mediterranean, accommodation at the luxurious Monte Carlo Bay Hotel and Resort and a drive on the iconic Monaco Formula One Grand Prix route.

Also included is dining at the famous Café de Paris and a catamaran cruise along one of the most scenic and breathtaking coastlines in the world.

To qualify, car dealers have been set a task of reaching 30 points between September 1 and November 30, 2011.

One point is awarded for each deal transacted up to £50,000; two points for deals between £50,001 to £100,000; and three points on those over £100,001.

Car dealers have been eager to qualify with some £4.6m of deals transacted with Bridford at the time of Car Dealer Magazine going to press.

The leader board so far at the end of September had four dealers at more than 10 points for the month and eight more in the seven to nine points bracket. All are on track to secure a place.

An Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, a Rolls Royce Ghost, a Rolls Royce Phantom, an Aston Martin DBS Convertible, an LHD Ferrari 458, Maserati Gran Cabrio and an Aston Martin V8 Vantage are among those funded.

A large number of 4x4s have also been financed with Land Rover’s new Evoque, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport proving the most popular.

Dealers have even put several Audi Q5s with lower finance balances through Bridford to secure points.

Owner of Bridford Financial Solutions Tim Marlow said: ‘Dealers have really taken to the incentive and have put a good volume of deals through our books in the first five weeks of the incentive.

‘It made September busier than last year and that was our best month of 2010, so it is testimony to how we are growing. We have already hit the levels achieved in 2010 with a quarter of the year remaining so we are delighted.

‘Our competitive rates have resulted in a lot of franchised and independent dealers working

Just some of the cars Bridford dealers have sold

with us because they know we can provide the bespoke funding needed to help them clinch deals with customers.

‘Car dealer incentives are rare in this current economic climate but we have experienced excellent growth year-on-year for quite some time now and this is largely due to the strong relationships we have with the leading prestige dealers.

‘So as a way to thank them for their continued business we are offering an added incentive to work with us on top of the excellent rates we always provide.

‘Monaco is the perfect location for motoring enthusiasts and its luxury and deep-rooted automotive car history is synonymous with the prestige vehicles we specialise in financing.

‘Not only is it a fantastic experience that everyone will enjoy but the dealers who qualify will also have benefited in the meantime from a large number of car sales with excellent rates of commission at our low APRs.’ The incentive is open to all UK dealers and more than one place per dealership or dealership site is allowed as long the required points are reached (60 points equates to two places).

For more information, dealers should visit www.bridford.co.uk/monaco

SALES

Lambo price premium THE boss of Bridford has revealed that Lamborghini Aventadors are currently fetching up to £50k above list.

Tim Marlow, managing director of Bridford Financial Solutions, said there had been a huge amount of interest in the new Italian supercar.

‘The cars look fantastic here on the stand,’ Marlow told us at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

‘They really have caught the attention of buyers and we’ve already helped fund a few.

‘One footballer has bought one already but it looks like they will sell it on quite quickly for a healthy profit.’

Marlow said a number of cars caught his eye at the show – he attended to get the inside line on the cars his company will be providing funding for very soon.

‘It helps to be able to see the cars we’ll be getting a lot of interest for soon,’ added Marlow. ‘We will provide funding for nearly £50m worth of cars this year. New cars like those at Frankfurt will only see that continue.’

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 31

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big mike.

All Big Mike’s columns are on our website. Enjoy here bit.ly/bigmike

A ticking noise, a big bill and memories of simpler times...

C

ars, it must be said, are infinitely better than they used to be. Anyone who has been in this trade as long as I have will remember the days when decaying bodywork and the need to decoke cylinder heads was the norm. The days when a car with 80,000 miles on the clock was pretty much on its last legs, and it was considered acceptable to refashion structural areas of the car’s shell, such as the sills, with old copies of the Daily Mirror and Plasticine (neither of which would then go on to rust further) are long gone.

One of the hangovers from those days is the psychological barrier of mileage faced by many punters – anything with six figures on the clock, even with a pukka history and a fanatically fastidious previous owner, will take a big hit in terms of its resale value, even though you and I know that 100k these days is nothing. It’s peculiarly British, too. In countries like the USA and Germany, where long high-speed commutes are the norm, the number of miles on the clock is often immaterial.

Rust, too, isn’t the problem it used to be (with one notable and extremely popular brand of car as the exception, but Car Dealer’s lawyers probably won’t let me tell you which).

Most 10-year-old runabouts have very little in the way of crusty rustiness, and often if it is present, it’s because of poor previous accident repairs. It’s not the big-money models either that are the most rust-resilient – it’s now 20 years since the humble Peugeot 106 appeared on our roads, I’ve sold hundreds over the years, and I can honestly tell you that to this day, I’ve never seen a rusty one.

So in terms of hardiness, today’s cars are the best ever. And for people in our trade, that’s great news, right?

Wrong. Because back then, spotting a pup was easy. All you needed was a magnet, a screwdriver and a nose to stick near the exhaust pipe (briefly, of course). Today’s problems are much harder to spot, and when you source most of your stock from auctions, or through part-exchanges (as I do) then one day you’re going to fall on your ‘I know all about cars’ sword.

I say this with more than a hint of bitterness, having just been duped into parting with good hard-earned for a 2004 Ford Mondeo. Ghia spec, with the sought-after TDCi diesel engine in a boringly safe shade

of silver, it’s the kind of bread-and-butter that makes up my business. Bought below book at auction, I figured a valet and an oil service would be all it would need before I could punt it out for a four-figure profit.

The problem is, these days you need a bit longer than the 30 seconds you get at auction to inspect a car and know it’s in good order. The Mondeo looked the part, and with 82,000 on the clock was showing about average for a car of its age and type, so in essence it looked a safe bet. I watched it start up (no horror smoke) and followed it into the hall – a rather arduous process, as the auctioneer on that day was Gobshite Gordon, a chap who likes to talk very much about himself, and not a lot about the cars for sale. There’s always a queue of vehicles going into the hall, but on the plus side it’s a good opportunity to check temperature gauges.

Eventually, in rolled the Mondeo. Steady idle, no visible exhaust smoke and a slight ticking noise that I put down to being heat dispersing from the exhaust or cat. £1,450 later, it was mine, and ripe for my forecourt at £2,695 allowing room for negotiation.

Except it wasn’t. Driving it home, I noticed the ticking noise was still there, and that the clutch pedal felt a little stiffer than it should. My worst fears were confirmed by a fellow trader, who, like me, had learned the hard way.

The ticking, he informed me, was due to the dual mass flywheel starting to stress and break up, with no option but imminent replacement involving removal of the engine and gearbox, and an eye-watering bill for the parts alone.

Apparently, it’s all too common with Fords (and many others) of this era – what seemed like a good idea to improve refinement and economy for the new car buyer becomes a millstone for the hapless used customer.

Ironically, apart from a slightly stiff clutch pedal, the Mondeo drove fine and if I’d had a few less scruples, I dare say I could have sold it on to an unsuspecting customer, but I’m not like that. Nor did I do the usual trader thing of chucking it back into the auction to become someone else’s problem, though maybe I should have as it cost me, at trade rates, £1,000 to put right. I still just about broke even, but when these cars get Remember the days when a couple of years older and cheaper, they’ll rust was the only thing you become write-offs for something as trivial had to worry about? as a clutch replacement, which seems like a terrible waste, really…

Big

mike Our man on the inside spills the beans on the car business...

Who is Big Mike?

Well, that would be telling. What we do know is he’s had 30 years in the car trade and picked up some seriously funny tales along the way.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 33

forecourt.

Nigel Land

The brand director at Jeep Chrysler UK tells James Batchelor that dealers are being provided with a new and competitive product With these two new models, what is Chrysler’s positioning in the UK? In our discussions with Fiat in Turin about where the Chrysler brand was going, the decision – and it wasn’t an economical decision – was about building a foundation for the brand. The right-hand-drive market is very important for the brand and we need to be competing in the two largest segments in the UK – B and C. While we plan to deliver relatively small numbers, it is more about delivering our dealers with a quality product to sell in competitive markets and one that’s a credible alternative to the mainstream.

There will be dealers who are confused about this change in direction. What is your message to them?

The majority of dealers who have had the existing franchise through the very difficult times between 2008 and 2010, demanded that we deliver a new and competitive product. The formation of the alliance with Fiat and therefore with the product line-up of Lancia, I believe that our dealers are genuinely excited about this because it gives them an opportunity for volume.

What has been your approach?

We took the whole sales force to Milan and spent two days talking to them about the new products, the positioning of the brand, the heritage of the brand, and got them to unpick their own businesses to see how they need to approach the business differently with new customers. The dealer network is very motivated behind the new Jeep and new Chrysler product coming.

‘‘

Is the network growing?

What has been really encouraging from a network perspective is that we are attracting new businesses – this year there will be a further 10 dealers 34 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

opening and they are a mixture of existing partners, brand new PLC partners, and new owner-drivers.

How does the Delta sit alongside other Fiat Group C-segment cars in your new ‘brand centres’?

We know that we have multiple vehicles in the same segment. We believe the audience for Bravo is completely different from Giulietta, and the audience for Giulietta is completely different for that of a Chrysler product. Within that it is down to personal desire and image, not price point. We are under no illusion there will not be some inter-brand competition, but that is better than external competition. There will be some cross-selling, but the majority of customers coming to a brand centre will already know what they are looking at.

There will be customers who only see these as re-badged Lancias. Will this be a challenge to overcome?

I think, in the short-term, it is going to be a challenge – a challenge against perceptions.

People can get emotional about various brands and their re-emergence into markets and the whole term ‘badge engineering’, but the key thing is we didn’t invent badge engineering – it’s been around for years. And anyway, this isn’t about badge engineering.

This is a true fusion of the businesses through integration of the engineering functions. Ultimately, the consumers will make their own minds up. What we are looking for is to provide credible alternatives. Is it a Lancia or is it a Chrysler? It would be wrong of me to play smoke and mirrors. Delta has been sold as a Lancia for the last 18 months, but the Ypsilon is an all-new model which has been influenced by the Fiat and Chrysler alliance. It is a very difficult question to answer – we are Chrysler, it is a Chrysler product and it is made out of Poland, not Italy.

I believe our dealers are genuinely excited about this because it gives them an opportunity for volume.

themanual STYLING

The only Chrysler design touch is the new grille – chic Italian good looks remain.

TECHNOLOGY

Fiat’s Blue&Me features but most impressive is ‘magic parking’ – it measures parking spaces.

HANDLING

Ypsilon has Fiat 500’s soft and bouncy ride. But mated to 875cc TwinAir it makes for fun progress.

Chrysler Ypsilon Is the new Chrysler Ypsilon a credible alternative to the supermini mainstream? James Batchelor finds out What is it?

What’s the spec like?

If you believe the press pack, the Ypsilon is a compact car with all of ‘the luxurious character traits of Chrysler’s bigger cars’. The cynic’s view is that the Ypsilon is nothing more than a rebadged Lancia, harking back to the days of British Leyland badgeengineering. The practical view is that the Ypsilon takes Chrysler into a new market allowing its dealers to turn greater profits. Modest sales of 4,000 units in a full year are expected.

Ypsilon is not luxurious despite it being badged as such. There are three trims – S, SE, and Limited – with the most basic version costing £10,695.

That one boasts steel wheels, keyless entry, electric mirrors, and a ‘sound absorbent roof’. Prices top out at £15,695 for the TwinAir Auto Limited which features leather, fog lamps and Fiat’s Blue&Me. All come with Stop&Start but there’s a pricy options list for ‘added’ luxury.

What do the press say?

What’s under the bonnet?

What’s it like to drive?

What do we think of it?

Chrysler might want you to think that this is a Chrysler from Detroit through and through, but the engines give the game away. There are two petrols and a diesel all from Fiat. The petrols are made up of the perennial 69bhp 1.2litre FIRE unit and the famous little 875cc TwinAir. The 1.3-litre MultiJet makes up the Ypsilon’s diesel derivative.

The Ypsilon is based on a lengthened 500 platform and all of the retro Fiat’s fun driving quirks remain. The steering is light if a little too numb, and the ride is pleasant enough. The five-speed ’box is slick and the two-pot TwinAir unit is charming. Our gripes are that rear visibility is atrocious and TwinAir’s ‘thrumb’ is at odds with its sophisticated look.

There’s no denying the fact that Chrysler has a tricky job to do. The Ypsilon is likeable in certain areas such as the distinctive styling and posh ‘Bi-colour’ paint schemes, but it’s far from being luxurious – scratchy and thin dashboard plastics anyone? – and we think customers are intelligent enough to realise it’s a rebadged Lancia built in Poland.

Generally similar views. Autocar says if customers are interested in brands, a Chrysler supermini ‘won’t do it’ for them, the Independent said ‘it’s a likeable little car’ but wouldn’t want to have the job of marketing it. What Car? felt the Ypsilon ‘is not as plush or as good to drive’ as its rivals.

However Autoblog said it’s ‘an interesting alternative to the supermini mainstream’.

the knowledge Model: Chrysler Ypsilon Limited Price: £15,770 (tested), range from £10,695 Engine: 0.9-litre, petrol Power: 85bhp, 107Nm Max speed: 109mph 0-60mph: 11.3s MPG (comb’d): 67.3 Emissions: 99g/km Residual values (three years): 39 per cent

target buyers: Young to middle-aged buyers looking for a stylish and distinctive urban runaround.

the rivals:

Fiat 500, Audi A1, Mini One

Key Selling Points: 1. The first B-segment supermini to wear the famous Chrysler badge 2. A range of posh options 3. Distinctive styling courtesy of ‘coupe-like’ lines and LED lights at the rear

Deal Clincher:

Few ‘luxurious’ superminis emit congestion charge busting 99g/km CarDealerMag.co.uk | 35

forecourt.

Lee Connolly

Mini’s product manager tells James Baggott he hopes the brand’s new halo model will build on the phenomenal levels of success that have been achieved so far What are your sales expectations for the Coupe?

We’re probably looking at three to five per cent of our overall volume. They don’t like me to give out the exact numbers. I would probably say – as an estimation – it would be about 2,000-2,500 in its first full year. We wanted to keep it low purposefully as we want it to be a halo product. The best thing we can have for this car is a waiting list. We’re already about 60 per cent forward sold for the Coupe for this year’s allocation.

Will dealers be able to make a good margin on this car in terms of upsales?

Yes. Across the Mini range, some 88 per cent of buyers take a package. That can be Salt, Pepper or Chilli pack. We have phenomenal take rates and are probably the market leader there. Pepper and Chilli will be offered to Coupe buyers and I think we’ll have an 80 per cent plus take rate on those. Then there’s customisation options – the Mini buyers’ ethos is they don’t want their car to look like others and they do that with factory options and dealer accessories. People buying this car will probably have even more money available to spend.

Is the Coupe a step too far for Mini?

No, definitely not. These days it’s almost impossible to buy a bad car. We’ve dominated this sector and had phenomenal success compared with the MiTo and 500, A1 and DS3. This model and the Roadster is part of the strategy to expand the brand and keep it fresh and attractive to Mini customers and enable us to attract more customers.

‘‘

What’s the overall goal with Mini – how far can it go?

It can go as far as the market will let it go. What we are identifying, especially with this car, is that it can revitalise the British twoseater sports car market. We saw a unique gap for this car. If there’s a niche out 36 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

there, we want to get into those sectors. We have objectives to grow the brand and keep it sustainable.

Are cars like the Coupe and the forthcoming Roadster faithful interpretations of the original?

Difficult one that. One thing we will never leave behind is the little Kudos design attributes. If you look at our cars and then look at the classic Mini you’ll see elements of it. The weld seams on the front, for example, the overlapping metal – well, you’ll see those interpretations in our cars. It’s the same with the speedo inside. I think our cars still have the historical connection to the classic which is very important to us. When you look at competitors they don’t always do that.

We heard the Park Lane dealership was selling some very expensive Minis...

Yes, that’s true. To celebrate the 50th anniversary, they did four cars at £50k and sold them. They have a lucky position as it’s our flagship store. So they have not only tourists but are in a wealthy area and people go there just to get Park Lane on their number plate. They try different things to attract these buyers. At the moment they are doing carbon fibre wraps. There’s one in the showroom covered in an England flag and they’ve made a General Lee Mini. They’ve even done chrome Minis – and the thing is, they sell. The most expensive was over £50k – it had very special paint.

It can revitalise the British two-seater sports car market. We saw a unique gap for this car.

Will we ever see anything hotter than a JCW? Yes, potentially we will. I hope there is a rally-inspired version of the car. If you look at what Subaru and Prodrive did for their road cars I wouldn’t be giving anything away when I say ask any Mini product manager around the world what they want and it’s that. We’ve got some activity next year that will fit an area like that…

themanual BOOT SPACE

Incredibly the Coupe actually boasts 20 litres more boot space than the Clubman.

ENGINES

The Coupe is the ‘halo’ of the Mini range which means there’s no ‘One’ spec.

STYLING

Mini Coupe The Mini brand is expanding yet again – this time into the niche Coupe market. James Baggott find out more What is it?

Yet another Mini that’s been tweaked to keep the brand’s sales moving upwards. Sales for the maker are up 14 per cent year on year in a market down five per cent and the Coupe aims to add around 3,000 a year to that total. Classed as a ‘halo’ model, it’s not expected to be a volume seller, but a rival to the likes of the VW Scirocco and Audi TT. It’s got a lower roof, boot spoiler and only two seats.

What’s under the bonnet?

There are diesel and petrol options.

As it’s the halo model, Mini won’t be offering One versions, only Cooper, Cooper S, SD, and John Cooper Works versions. We tried the SD and John Cooper Works. The latter is the rangetopper offering 149mph top speed, 0-60mph in 6.2 seconds and 39.8mpg.

The diesel is a bit clattery but great to drive. It returns 65.7mpg, hits 134mph and passes 60mph in 7.7s.

What’s the spec like?

What do the press say?

High. Standard equipment includes DAB radio, air-con, parking sensors, alloy wheels and sport stripes. But as with all Minis, it’s the personalisation – both via factory order and dealerfitted accessories – which are plentiful. The famous TLC servicing pack is available for £249 and some 98 per cent of buyers are expected to take it up. We’d like to know who the two per cent are that don’t…

Auto Express said they thought ‘the powerful model has the makings of a machine that will take the brand to a group of drivers who feel that the standard hatch just isn’t tough enough’. While rivals Autocar said: ‘If you can live with the striking looks and driving appeal is a priority, it’s certainly worth considering.’

What’s it like to drive?

The looks certainly grew on us during our test, but no amount of driving dynamics could take our attention away from the pain in our legs, not something any driver wants to experience. With only 3,000 expected to find homes, this low-volume model will be a fashion statement for style-conscious buyers. And with a Roadster due next year, it’s clear the Mini brand’s expansion is only set to continue apace.

Enjoyable, but for taller drivers, extremely uncomfortable. The low roofline means you have to constantly creak your neck and the seats sent our legs to sleep within 10 minutes.

It handles much like the hatch and in the dry is extremely chuckable, but in the wet it suffered with understeer.

But none of that will stop fashionhungry buyers snapping them up.

What do we think of it?

Roof is lowered and there’s a retractable spoiler. The latter ruins rear visibility.

the knowledge Model: Mini Coupe Cooper SD Price: £23,795 (tested), range from £16,640 Engine: 2.0-litre, diesel Power: 143bhp, 305Nm Max speed: 109mph 0-60mph: 7.6s MPG (comb’d): 65.7 Emissions: 114g/km Residual values (three years): 47 per cent

target buyers: Male, two-seater fans currently driving a hatch or coupe. They want a sporty car that’s unique.

the rivals:

VW Scirocco, Audi TT, Megane Coupe

Key Selling Points: 1. The Coupe boasts 280 litres of luggage space – 20 litres more than a Clubman!

2. The rear spoiler lifts at 50mph and retracts at 37mph.

3. The roof has been sculpted out inside to give more headroom.

Deal Clincher:

Quicker and more fuel-efficient than its rivals.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 37

forecourt. the knowledge Model: Audi A6 Avant Price: £33,630 (tested), range from £32,100 Engine: 2.0-litre, diesel Power: 221bhp, 380Nm Max speed: 134mph 0-60mph: 8.3 MPG (comb’d): 55.4 Emissions: 135g/km Residual values (three years): 65 per cent

target buyers: Fleet buyers who are rather high up the food chain.

the rivals: BMW 5 Series Touring, Mercedes E-Class Estate

Key Selling Points:

1. Light and efficient.

2. Boot can be opened by kicking tailgate, but it’s an optional extra.

3. Lots of standard equipment.

Deal Clincher: More power and torque, but lowest BIK in its class.

Audi A6 Avant

It’s the best seller in its segment worldwide, now Audi has released an all-new model. James Baggott reports What is it?

The first embodiment of what is now the A6 Avant arrived in showrooms in 1977. Now the German firm has launched the seventh generation and is hoping it will cement its position as ‘global segment best seller’. The new model is lighter, more efficient and cleaner too.

What’s under the bonnet?

At present a choice of two diesel variants and one petrol. The diesels come in 2.0-litre and 3.0-litre flavours with manual or auto boxes and the option of Quattro four-wheel drive.

There’s one petrol, the 3.0-litre TFSI. Soon, a bi-turbo 3.0-litre V6 TDI engine will join the range.

2.0-litre TDI and it was swift and punchy, if a little clattery at low revs. It’s comfortable, has loads of space (1680-litres to be precise) and feels well screwed together.

What do the press think of it?

What Car? said it is ‘a smart, spacious and high-quality estate What’s the spec like? car’. Autocar said: ‘It’s not a car to Excellent. Leather interior is standard, blow the mind this Avant, but has an impressive overall package of abilities.’ as is sat nav. Buyers also get LED headlamps, 17-inch alloys, Bluetooth and dual zone air con thrown in. The What do we think?

Audi believes 43 per cent of A6 buyers options list is plentiful too. will opt for the Avant with 75 per cent What’s it like to of them fleet buyers. Most of these will drive? spend their days racking up motorway Competent and composed. We spent miles, and for that, it’s ideal. Another most of our time in the best-selling competent Audi – what a surprise…

Unlock your potential

38 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

themanual

Nissan Micra DIG-S Nissan says its new supercharged petrol engine is ultra-clean, but what’s it like to drive? James Baggott finds out What is it?

cylinder unit sounds good and it feels nippy. It will hit 60mph in 11.3s, but in gear feels quicker than the figures suggest.

Nissan’s answer to the diesel engine. The maker has bolted on a supercharger to its 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol unit to offer the economy of a diesel, but with no compromises on performance.

Crucially it produces 95g/km so qualifies for free road tax.

What’s under the bonnet?

A Direct Injection Gasoline Supercharged unit (DIG-S). Direct injection ensures no fuel is wasted, the supercharger boosts performance and by retaining three cylinders it has fewer moving parts than a conventional engine so is more efficient. It offers the performance of a 1.5-litre with economy of a 1.0-litre.

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What do the press think of it?

What’s the spec like?

It comes in Visia, Acenta and Tekna with the bottom of the range getting ESP, remote central locking, steel wheels and electric front windows.

What’s it like to drive?

Good fun and a big improvement on the standard 1.2-litre. The three-

Autoblog UK said the ‘performance could hardly be called sporty’, but added the addition of the blower gave it a more ‘grown-up larger feel’.

Auto Express said ‘for the money, you’ll struggle to find anything that’s as cheap to run’.

What do we think of it?

Micra owners looking to upgrade to the new model now have even more reason to do so with the addition of this clever new engine.

the knowledge Model: Nissan Micra DIG-S Price: £11,150 Engine: 1.2-litre, supercharged Power: 97bhp, 142Nm Max speed: 112mph 0-60mph: 11.3 MPG (comb’d): 68.9 Emissions: 99g/km Residual values (three years): 32 per cent

target buyers: Micra buyers considering a rival diesel model.

the rivals:

Toyota Yaris, Suzuki Swift.

Key Selling Points: 1. One of the cleanest petrol engines in the world.

2. Free road tax and congestion charge exempt.

3. Diesel rival but no price premium at the pumps.

Deal Clincher: Economy of a diesel, performance of a petrol.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 39

forecourt. the knowledge Model: Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4 Price: £26,995 Engine: 2.0-litre diesel plus electric Power: 163bhp, plus 37bhp, 500Nm Max speed: 118mph 0-60mph: 8.9s MPG: 74 Emissions: 99g/km Residual values (three years): 33 per cent

target buyers: Current hybrid owners who want to be bang up to date.

the rivals: Toyota Prius, Land Rover Freelander.

Key Selling Points: 1. Fantastic fuel economy.

2. World’s first diesel hybrid.

3. All the benefits of a fourwheel drive SUV.

Deal Clincher: For fleets desperate for a green image it’s ideal.

Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4

It’s the first ever diesel electric hybrid, but what’s the 3008 like to drive? James Baggott reports What is it?

What’s it like to drive?

Peugeot’s first foray into the hybrid market, but with a distinctly French twist. This 3008 mates a 37bhp electric motor, which powers the rear wheels, to a 163bhp 2.0-litre diesel unit, which powers the front wheels, to create a totally unique 4x4. Highlights are 99g/km and 74mpg.

What’s under the bonnet?

Some complicated technology. Really it’s what’s under the chassis that’s more important. The electric motor is a module that’s attached to the rear wheels, and a traditional diesel lump is up front. They can work independently, or both together.

Performance isn’t really

Interesting. Our biggest gripe is the fact the air con stops blowing cold when in electric mode. It gets very sweaty.

What do the press think of it? that important but it’ll still hit 60mph in 8.9s and on to 118mph.

What’s the spec like?

There are two models available – HYbrid4 99g and a 104g. The increase is down to bigger wheels and a panoramic sunroof on the latter. Standard equipment includes Bluetooth, alarm, climate control, rear parking aid and 16-inch alloys.

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The Daily Telegraph said it is ‘more fun to drive than it has a right to be, on the road and off it’, but concluded that ‘the expensive price makes it uneconomical without additional government incentives’.

What do we think?

The low CO2 and fuel consumption is a big draw. The technology is a welcome addition to the hybrid world and its application on other models is exciting.

themanual

Porsche Panamera

the knowledge

This new diesel variant completes Panamera’s strong model line-up. Duncan Chappell has driven it What is it?

What do the press think of it?

Porsche’s reluctant tip-of-thehat to the more frugal, luxury, high-value, prestige car driver.

It’s an impressive entry into the company car market and rounds off a full set of engines for the Panamera.

What’s under the bonnet?

A punchy, 3.0-litre diesel V6.

Delivering 248bhp seems very underpowered for such a large car, but it’s the 550Nm of torque that really keeps you entertained.

What’s the spec like?

The diesel has the same spec as any other Panamera – very high. Starting at just over £60,000, it needs to be.

What’s it like to drive?

It’s not the norm to find an oil-burner in Stuttgart’s finest, but in this, it works very well. It’s easy to forget that this is such a big car when you start to get a move on, on twisty roads. It feels light, comfortable and dispenses with big mileages effortlessly. And with an mpg figure of over 43, long journeys aren’t a problem.

Car Magazine said that ‘the Panamera Diesel is, by and large, a success’ and ‘the interior is a lovely place to be’.

Autocar said: ‘If you’ve been waiting for a Porsche you can drive 800 miles in one sitting, and don’t care whether it’s as sporting as it could be – you’ll like this car.’

What do we think of it?

The looks of the Panamera split the office, but the performance and all-round ability of the car had us all in agreement that it is a force to be reckoned with in the high-end saloon market.

Model: Porsche Panamera Diesel Price: £62,134 Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo diesel V6.

Power: 248bhp, 550Nm Max Speed: 150mph 0-60: 6.8s MPG (Comb’d): 43.5 Emissions: 172g/km Residual values (three years): 39 per cent.

target buyers: New-to-the-brand customers and frugal current owners.

the rivals:

Jaguar XJ 3.0 V6D, BMW 530d SE GT, Mercedes S350 CDI

Key Selling Points: 1. Something different from Porsche.

2. 800 miles between fill-ups.

3. Sumptuous interior.

Deal Clincher: Prestige and frugality combined.

Handpicked for you.

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CarDealerMag.co.uk | 41

RTOTY11.

YEAR Road Test Of The

Our favourite cars on sale today tested on Welsh roads Words: James BAGGOTT | Pictures: matt richardson

Porsche 911 gts

Price: ÂŁ76,758 Engine: 3.8-litre flat six, petrol Power: 408bhp Max: 190mph 0-60mph: 4.6s Bridford says: We have funded hundreds of 911 models in our relatively short history and while still at the top end of the range it is certainly a dream car for many. The GTS cabriolet model is very popular.

Ferrari 458 Italia

Price: ÂŁ173,181 Engine: 4.5-litre V8, petrol Power: 570bhp Max: 202mph 0-60mph: 3.2s Bridford says: We have been inundated with finance enquiries on this with demand starting long before it was released. Not only is it a beautiful car but it has the performance to match. A modern classic?

42 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

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MINI cooper sd Audi RS3 BMW 1m

Price: £40,020 Engine: 3.0-litre straight six Power: 335bhp Max: 155mph 0-60mph: 4.9s Bridford says: BMW made a brave decision when it put the M badge on its base model.

Reviews and feedback are glowing so we hope it proves as popular as the M3 which has been a firm favourite with our clients.

Price: £39,930 Engine: 2.5-litre, petrol turbo Power: 335bhp Max: 155mph 0-60mph: 4.6s Bridford says: A little more refined than the BMW, the RS3 is already proving popular with the eccentric sales person. Residuals are very strong making this an attractive option for most car allowance budgets.

Price: £18,750 Engine: 2.0-litre, diesel Power: 143bhp Max: 134mph 0-60mph: 7.9s Bridford says: Various Mini derivatives have been very popular, especially with our younger clientele. Now, with the addition of a potent diesel engine under the bonnet, we’re sure its popularity will rise further.

caterham r400

Price: £31,300 Engine: 2.0-litre, petrol Power: 210bhp Max: 140mph 0-60mph: 3.8s Bridford says: Forget the car allowance for this, it’s pure adrenaline, but really only a car you can fully appreciate on the track. It is an ideal accompaniment for those who want something to sit alongside the Aston!

Aston Martin Virage

Price: £149,995 Engine: 6.0-litre V12, petrol Power: 490bhp Max: 186mph 0-60mph: 4.3s Bridford says: We didn’t see a great deal of interest in the Virage initially but it has picked up recently and we expect it to be the type of car that grows in popularity once more are seen on the roads.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 43

RTOTY11.

44 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

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The 1M really is one of the best M cars ever made. If not, and I don’t say this lightly, THE best M car ever made.

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I

t’s 4am. I’ve already banged my head twice, been bitten by what appear to be bird-sized mosquitos in the night and have just slipped up in the bath nearly hanging myself on the shower curtain. And to make matters worse I haven’t even got time to make a cup of tea.

It’s day three of Road Test of the Year 2011 and despite this series of unfortunate events, combined with the ungodly hour at which I’ve just had to drag myself out of bed, I’m not complaining. Which is unusual. But that’s because today we’re collecting the big guns for our annual celebration of the best cars on sale – and guns really don’t get much bigger than these.

Our collection job entails a 500-mile round trip, a game of Russian roulette with some service station grease and a visit to the home of Ferrari in Slough to collect a 458 Italia and then on to Aston Martin’s Gaydon HQ to pick up a Virage Volante. Two cars, worth a combined £400k, and one epic drive back to our RTOTY base camp at Haven’s Hafan Y Mor holiday park just outside Porthmadog, North Wales await.

But first we need to get there. RTOTY started two days before on a grey and miserable Saturday morning with six very excited testers fighting for the keys to five cars. Assembled for this year’s petrol party are some of the great and good from manufacturers’ launch lists of the past 12 months.

The first pair ready to square up are BMW’s 1M Coupe, resplendent in stunning flame orange, and Audi’s restrained-looking RS3. Both are pretty much on a par for performance but deliver kicks in very different packages.

Looking mean and moody in teenager-spec back to black is Stuttgart’s offering, the Carrera GTS Cabriolet. This is the 997’s swansong before the new 991 model arrives, but it’s still a mighty car, even in this mid-life crisis drop-top form.

To give the supercars a run for their money we’ve opted for one of Surrey’s rocket-powered roller skates in the shape of a Caterham R400.

With a new dash and engine tweaks for 2011, this is a car that so often plays second fiddle to the headline-grabbing R500, so we’re keen to see how it stacks up against the competition.

And our final contender comes from The Real World. We always like to include a car that doesn’t require re-mortgaging the house to own but that has the minerals to keep us entertained on the asphalt spaghetti that the Welsh like to call roads. This year’s hopeful humbler comes in the chunky shape of Mini’s Cooper SD. Yes, a diesel, but we’ll try not to hold that against it…

COLLECTION Back to the day of the great collection. We have five cars to choose from to make the trip but it’s down to Dishfitter Dan (one of our hired, but not hired, hands) to pick. Seeing as he’ll be driving

SECOND OPINION BMW 1M A WEEK in Wales resulted in me falling completely head over heels in love with the 1M. I think it’s because it ticks all the right boxes. Looks-wise, it’s pretty in a macho way. I’m a sucker for flared wheel arches and the 1M’s look so right, rising over such distinctive alloy wheels. It’s also quite practical too – four seats and a large boot – and if driven carefully can manage 29.5mpg on the combined cycle. But at such careful speeds the 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged sixcylinder lump is like a dog straining at the leash. I loved it.

Batch

it all the way back, while Duncan and I pilot the terrifying twosome, it’s only fair.

He takes all of a nanosecond to decide we’ll be taking the 1M. Dan, as well as everyone else who’s driven the BMW, has fallen in love. Truly, madly, deeply. The fastest 1 Series ever made is a very special car indeed and I have to admit I’ve fallen under its spell too.

I first tried the Beemer on the launch in Scotland and even in isolation it was clear this was a cracking car. But now, given the opportunity to perform alongside its bitter rivals, the sheer brilliance of the 1M really does shine through.

Firstly, it’s got the looks. Whereas the Audi is let down with a bland or, depending on how you look at it, understated exterior, the BMW is unashamedly butch. Not big fat lesbian butch, but chunky cage fighter butch. That’s probably got a lot to do with the fact it’s essentially a 1 Series body grafted on to an M3 chassis. Those wheel arches are bloated for a reason.

From the front, the fly-swallowing grille, vents and bulges really make it stand out. But it’s the rear three quarters angle where it really looks corking. Those fat 19-inch alloys barely have enough room in the arches, the quad exhaust pipes are purposefully over the top and a subtle M badge tops it all off perfectly.

Only 450 were allocated for Blighty and have already been sold – in fact it was one of the fastest selling M cars ever and dealers were

treated to an average optional extra spend by customers of more than £4,000. Not bad considering it came with most niceties as standard. Sadly only a third were in the orange you see it in here.

On the road it’s devastatingly quick. The twin turbocharged 3.0-litre lump produces 335bhp and 450Nm of torque. That’s enough to propel it past 60mph in 4.9 seconds and on to 155mph.

But what those figures really struggle to explain is what it’s like in gear. The punch in third is mighty and really is spellbinding when you’re stringing together twist after turn.

As the sun comes up over the Welsh valleys, we’ve already made good progress and my first stint of the day behind the wheel only serves to remind me just how accomplished this BMW is. Inside it’s comfortable and classy, if a little simple, but still infuriatingly persists with iDrive.

I appreciate that it’s something you’ll get used to in time, but that’s not what you want in a car.

Controls need to be intuitive, not confusing and certainly not something you have to learn.

And while we’re on the subject of moans, the 1M is a bit of a let-down in the loud department.

With four exhausts and a 335bhp lump you’d think it’d have a soundtrack to marvel at, but it doesn’t. This score really doesn’t live up to the big screen drama, at least not from the inside.

But that being said, these are all minor gripes.

The 1M really is one of the best M cars ever CarDealerMag.co.uk | 45

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RTOTY11.

People who spend upwards of £150k on a car don’t care what it costs. What they care about is when can they have it and how can they make it look completely different to everyone else’s.

made. If not, and I don’t say this lightly, THE best M car ever made. It’s criminal that only 450 were allocated for sale here. I’m quite sure that had there been the supply this could have been the best-selling M car ever too.

ITALIAN JOB Arriving at Ferrari’s Slough HQ, hidden away on an industrial estate in the heart of the town, the excitement three grown men are displaying is enough to justify medical sedation. In 10 years of motoring journalism I’ve never had the chance to drive a Ferrari, alone and unrestricted by manufacturer personnel, until now. This is a very special moment indeed.

I’ll apologise now for the gushing words that follow this paragraph. In all honesty, I’ve been worrying about writing them ever since driving the 458. Why? Well, because accurately describing one of the best driving experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure of enjoying is next to impossible without sounding like a hormonal 13-year-old who’s just discovered internet porn.

Let’s start with the numbers – because all of them are staggering. Firstly, how about the price?

Most of you out there will already know supercars of this ilk don’t really have prices. People who spend upwards of £150k on a car don’t care what it costs. What they care about is when can they have it and how can they make it look completely different to everyone else’s.

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SECOND OPINION FERRARI 458 I CAN’T complain about Baggott’s loved-up descriptions of the 458.

That’s because I was totally enamoured with it too. After four days I realised that the 458 was the first Ferrari to move me since the stunning 355 of the ’90s. The £17k paint job made the 458 look beautiful in a way we’ve not seen since it was launched, and the way it managed those formidable Welsh roads was astounding. The seven-speed dual clutch gearbox switched between gears so adeptly it really has to be felt to believe, and the noise is simply sensational. Batch Ferrari knows this. That’s why it’s launching a new bespoke build programme that will let buyers have their cars pretty much any way they want them. An interior clothed in denim? No problem.

In fact it’s already been done on a California.

So, with this in mind, the £245,355.87 our test car costs shouldn’t really come as too much of a surprise. The stunning metallic ‘Rosso Fuoco’ red paint and ‘Nero Daytona’ black roof? That’ll cost about the same as a Kia Sportage at £17,280. The iPod connector? £580. That bit of carbon fibre in the passenger footwell? A very respectable £5,683.

Or how about a set of titanium wheel nuts to keep the un-sprung mass (better for handling) to an absolute minimum? You’ll just need to ask the customer to charge their card for a paltry £1,508 more. When it comes to optional extra up-sales

there’s not much like a Ferrari to keep dealers happy and customers amused.

With a few more options ticked – the full list is too extensive to spell out here – the £173,172 base price has risen by a whopping £72,183. Or a base-spec Porsche 911, depending on which way you look at it.

But then buyers shouldn’t really care about what leather to choose, or what colour their 458 should be. It wouldn’t matter if the seats were made from balsa wood and the outside tartan, because what really counts here is what it’s like to drive. And (gushing words alert), oh my word is it good.

Firstly, that engine. Not only is it a true work of art, a stunning heart of car, but it’s as good to listen to as it is to look at.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 47

RTOTY11.

The howl the 4.5-litre V8 makes as it shrieks towards its 9,000rpm red line is intoxicating. It sounds like you can hear every millilitre of super unleaded being combusted just inches behind your head, and it’s combined with a wail from those triple exhausts that’s pure F1. It’s a noise quite unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before – but so addictive it should come with a health warning.

Then there’s the power it deploys at the same time that’s enough to make simple bodily functions – like breathing – hard work. Its 562bhp feels like double that on the road and the way it slices through the morning mist on the famous Evo road test triangle is out of this world. Traction is found in the most unlikeliest of places and realising that 60mph benchmark time of 3.2 seconds really isn’t far from your grasp.

Much has been written about the Ferrari’s steering. Some like it, some don’t. I can’t see what’s not to like. The rack is super fast and the feedback is like putting your hands on the front tyres and guiding the change of direction with your finger tips. It’s faultless.

But it’s the gear changes that are really astonishing. The dual clutch, paddle shift box is the same as you’d find in a Mercedes SLS, but Ferrari is quick to point out their software has been installed. And their software seems to have done the job: Changes are so quick it feels like one continuous gear from standstill all the way past prison-stay speeds. If you’ve ever changed up on a sportsbike without using the clutch you’re some way to knowing what it feels like. It’s one of the main reasons the other cars here fail so miserably in keeping up with the Ferrari.

Handling is predictably perfect too. With topnotch feedback the suspension copes well with some appalling surfaces in Wales. The ‘bumpy road’ setting, switchable on the steering wheel, helps hugely – in fact it would help if it was the default setting and you had to turn it off.

The ‘Manettino’ button on the steering wheel, which controls the 458’s traction control settings, works wonders too. Most of our test time was spent in the third mode, ‘Race’, where traction control is active, but a faster gear change and improved sound from the exhaust are on offer.

But even with the traction control disengaged the 458 is still compliant and incredibly predictable on the limit.

Over three days spent with the Ferrari, it becomes quite clear that I’m driving a benchmark.

Explaining what it feels like, what it’s like to drive and just how good it is really is impossible. It’s so much of a leap forward that if I was forced to mark it I’d have to give it a 10, and the next best car I’ve ever driven? Probably a seven or maybe even a sixand-a-half. In terms of percentages it’s simply that much better than anything I’ve ever experienced before. I did warn you this would be gushing…

BACK TO BLACK It’s hard to readjust to driving life after a few days in a 458, but thankfully RTOTY allows you to 48 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

recalibrate in cars a little more special than our own daily drives. A dose of Germany’s finest and a stint in the Porsche 911 GTS should do the trick.

The Porsche is the car I chose to drive to Wales from our Gosport HQ – and over those 275 miles I’d grown to appreciate what is a truly brilliant 911. The GTS is the end-of-the-line run-out model for the 997 before it gets replaced by the 991. You could think of it as either a poor man’s Sport Classic or the bargain buy of the 997-model range.

The 402bhp 3.8-litre lump is up 23bhp on a 911 S and is wrapped in the same wide-body as the all-wheel drive versions, despite the GTS offering rear-drive thrills. The good looks are topped off with a set of 19-inch black RS Spyder rims which, when combined with the black our test car came in, make this one stealthy steed.

It might not please the purists but our test model was a convertible. Although it took some time to build up the courage to drop the top (worries over mid-life crisis assumptions from passersby made it tough), when we did manage to, the sports exhaust note

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made the strange looks from other road users well worth it. And when we reached the twisty roads approaching Snowdonia the soundtrack really came alive.

What’s most impressive about the Porsche is how it feels. With power from behind, the 911 feels like it’s crouching down, 100-metre sprinter style, ready to fire you out of the blocks. Hitting 60mph in 4.6 seconds, the GTS feels quick, but it does take time to crack the gear changes with a long-travel clutch and slightly awkward shift taking time to get used to. Once mastered, though, the 911 becomes a hugely rewarding and devastatingly quick point-to-point missile.

As the miles pile on, I find it easier to find a groove and the GTS serves up sure-footed, no-dramas handling to keep confidence bubbling. The engine is extremely flexible and peak torque is delivered slap bang in the middle of the rev band at 4,200rpm meaning in-gear punch is impressive. When stretched, the Porsche will crack 190mph

In terms of percentages it’s simply that much better than anything I’ve driven.

..sponsored by SECOND OPINION 911 GTS I am not the biggest Porsche fan.

It’s not that I don’t respect them, it’s just that 911s don’t really do that much for me.

However, a week with the GTS has changed that. It combines all of the best elements of the 911 in one special package. What I liked most about the GTS was its simplicity. The dashboard is a simple alcantara affair that exudes good taste, and the steering wheel is just that – a steering wheel. There’s no radio or phone controls on it. The raucous performance was all very well, but it really was a fine all-rounder too. Batch but it’s surprisingly one of the most fuel-efficient cars here with a combined 27.4mpg. Not that we were getting anywhere near that, but still fill-ups were less costly and more infrequent than most of the others.

Behind the wheel, drivers are treated to a clean, unfussy helm: It’s simply alcantara and chrome here, the fussiest addition being the badge.

When compared to the Ferrari’s F1-inspired wheel, which even has indicators mounted on it, the Porsche’s uncluttered mentality comes as quite a shock. It feels strange reaching for the stereo’s volume button, so used to changing it on the steering wheel have most of us become. It certainly highlights the GTS has one clear aim – no distractions to interrupt your driving pleasure.

And a pleasure it most certainly is. Comfortable, composed and quick enough to keep up with the Ferrari when the going gets twisty, the 911 wins a lot of admirers on RTOTY11. Duncan was one: ‘It’s a fantastic car. Great to drive, it sounds fantastic and I love the looks. But I hate to say it, it just needs a bit more power – 50 or 60bhp should do it.

Then it’d be perfect.’

And I have to admit he’s got a point. Although quick, there are times when it’s clear the GTS could cope with more go. Perhaps that’s a testament to how rounded and well packaged this special 911 is. The Cabriolet version, with a few extras including £138 for Porsche crests on the seats, £122 for floor mats and £1,311 for sat nav, will cost buyers £88,326. Not much more than the price of the extras on the Ferrari. Which in my book makes the 911 a bit of a bargain.

MINI ADVENTURE Mid-pictures and we’ve been baked then drenched by the interchangeable Welsh climate.

All this left-hand-down-and-right-a-bit photoshoot lark has made everyone peckish, so a mission to find a corner shop is hatched and a foursome despatched to find processed meat in pastry and Skips. Oh, and chocolate, lots of chocolate.

After a morning spent supercar-ing, it’s the perfect opportunity to sample the delights of the Mini Cooper SD. Four up, the little city car is cramped, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s still swift. Propulsion comes courtesy of a 2.0-litre diesel (borrowed from the 118d) which produces 143bhp. However, it’s the whopping 305Nm of torque that makes the biggest impression.

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RTOTY11.

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Blatting between bends the Mini rides on a constant wave of pulling power, firing us along in our hunt for cholesterol in a manner a car of this size really has no right to do.

At one stage a quick check of the speedo (the digital one behind the steering wheel, not the useless argument-inducer in the centre of the dash), we realise we’re doing speeds that would get us more than a slap on the wrist. The car falls silent and I realise I probably should slow down – but I’m having too much fun.

The £18,750 Mini handles superbly. Launched into bends it grips tenaciously and there’s no hint of drama or unsettling squirms. Steering is weighty and lacks a little in the way of feedback and the gearbox isn’t the sweetest. An uncomfortable throw and strange feel combined with an awkward-shaped gearknob make shifting an unpleasant affair.

But despite this, for smiles per miles the Mini has got the right credentials. And being a diesel it’s obviously got a healthy allergy to petrol stations. The combined mpg is 65.7 – of course we got nowhere near that on this test, but it was still head and shoulders above the rest.

I, along with many buyers out there, am starting to come around to the idea of sporty diesels.

They make a lot of sense – both financially and, to a slightly lesser extent, performance-wise too – and when they’re executed as well as the Mini, they’re even more attractive.

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SECOND OPINION Mini Cooper SD THE mere idea of a black-pump drinker in a Mini that wears the fabled Cooper S badge seems abhorrent.

But once you’ve driven it, the SD makes a lot of sense. The majority of our run to Wales was on motorways and the SD averaged 60mpg, but once there was a sniff of sheep-strewn twisty roads, the little Mini still managed to hang in there with the big boys.

That was largely thanks to a great chassis and an engine that produces more torque that a JCW. But the best bit is its ability to make you smile on country roads. Batch It’s clear why so many people love these British built cars. The quality is a marked step up over rivals in its class and it has a real quality feel. And did you know there was a hidden glovebox above the passenger airbag? I didn’t until Batch pointed it out. On the launch of the SD he was told some owners never even realise it’s there.

I wasn’t the only fan of the Mini.

One of the main reasons it was here was because it was the only car the aforementioned Batch could drive, due to insurance restrictions from the other manufacturers. That meant he spent more time in it than anyone else, but the fact he didn’t feel short-changed says a lot.

‘The idea of a D badge following the legendary Cooper S name worried me at first, but having spent so much time in the car it really begins to make sense,’ he

Launched into bends it grips tenaciously and there’s no hint of drama.

tried to explain to anyone who’d listen. ‘It’s great fun to drive and although lacking a lot of power compared to the others here it didn’t struggle to keep up – well, with most of the pack at least.’

Dan even declared it one of the ‘best cars ever’ after a prolonged stint behind the wheel. While that might be over-egging the pudding just a little (he was probably tired), there’s no doubt it’s an accomplished package.

But I can’t help thinking it’s a bit of a contradiction. Cooper S stands for performance; it’s got rallying heritage and a strong bloodline that stretches back to those famous days of Paddy Hopkirk and Monte Carlo rallies. Although the SD is a great little car I can’t help but think it’s an attempt at stretching an already burgeoning model range a little bit further – just for the sake of it.

STRIPPED BACK While little brother Will (another of our hired, but not hired, hands) and Dishfitter Dan ponder the Mini’s merits over some E numbers and chocolate milkshakes, I grab the keys to the cage fighter of our assembled septet, the Caterham R400, for a dose of B-road bullying.

Let’s start with the bad bits. The Caterham is small – tiny in fact – and if you’re sized like a normal human being you’ll struggle to fit in it, let alone drive it. If you’re an ape-like freak with bamboo arms and spaghetti legs, like me, then driving it is going to be painful.

With my legs jammed in, my knees are trapped against the bulk-head and there’s nowhere to rest my foot next to the clutch pedal so it’s constantly hovering above it. Then there’s the seat.

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RTOTY11. and the four-point harness is a faff to put on.

Every time we stop we’re always left waiting for the R400 driver to dance the Caterham jig and get strapped in.

If buyers are looking for luxury, or in actual fact, bare essentials, there are none to be found here. There’s no air con – that’s called the roof.

There’s no stereo – that’s called the exhaust. And there’s no traction control – that’s called will power. Think of the R400 as essentially a tub, with wheels, and a nuclear missile for an engine and you’re pretty close.

Then there’s driving it. The main problem with the R400 is it’s a car that’s a bit of a one-trick pony (a horse we’ll talk about in more detail later). That means getting it anywhere under its own steam is a torturous affair. Motorways are certainly not its friend. Once you’ve got used to the body-moulded seats it’s not that uncomfortable. But then a bar stool isn’t that uncomfortable, you just wouldn’t want to drive 275 miles on one.

Then there’s the heat from the transmission tunnel to worry about. It slowly bakes you and, if you’ve got the roof on, slowly steams you too.

The onset of deep-vein thrombosis is also an ever-present threat.

And it’s so loud you need to wear earplugs.

All of the time. Caterham told us they were ‘experimenting’ with the exhaust fitted to this press car – what exactly in is unclear, possibly whether ear drums can still be perforated with protection in place. The R400 was so loud it could be clearly heard everywhere, all of the time. By everyone.

So you might be wondering what exactly the point of a car you can’t drive anywhere without fear of deafness or death by DVT is? Well, fortunately, once you reach your destination – especially one as blessed with roads like those in Wales – all the above really doesn’t matter.

Remember that pony I mentioned earlier? Well this is it. On country roads you’re so focussed on enjoying the R400’s main reason for existence that you rapidly forget about your achy left foot.

This Caterham has one purpose: To get you to the horizon as quickly as possible. And it certainly achieves that very well indeed.

Weighing just 525kg (the Porsche GTS for comparison is 1,515kg) and boasting 210bhp from its Ford-sourced 2.0-litre engine, the R400 is capable of hitting a top speed of 140mph and 60mph in just 3.8 seconds.

To achieve either of those you’ll need balls of steel and a bucket-load of skill because mastering the six-speed short-throw gearbox takes time.

Hook it up properly and the way it fires you towards the scenery is savage. Combined with a noise like Thor with a stubbed toe, the way the R400 gobbles up tarmac is remarkable.

Where the tiny steering wheel annoys in town, it comes alive on country roads. Not only can you feel every turn in your hands, you can see it too with the front wheels in clear view, making planting them directly where you want a doddle.

The Caterham is one hell of a hooligan’s machine, frightening and delightful in equal measure. It rewards

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SECOND OPINION CATERHAM R400 YOU’VE probably seen how the Caterham ruined me on RTOTY11 – and despite certain people saying so, I wasn’t acting. The Caterham is probably the scariest car I’ve ever driven. I have to doff my cap to the men in Surrey. They’ve managed to turn a normal 7 into an absolute monster – and this is ‘only’ the 400 model, not the R500. I love the way you have to attach the steering wheel, strap yourself in with a harness, and wait for the engine to warm up before you set off. It is glorious to drive – lethal, but totally loveable. Batch

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RTOTY11. the committed with a staggering turn of speed, and punishes the unwary with a snap of the tail.

At first the R400 was the short straw – a car RTOTY11 helpers were instructed to drive, rather than requested. But as the fear factor eased, the demand for the keys increased. Even after being scared witless, Batch started to enjoy driving it.

And when you see his reaction in this hilarious video – visit bit.ly/batchvsr400 – filmed during his first passenger ride, you’ll realise just how much of a milestone that is. For him, and the car.

TWIN TEST On paper the Audi RS3 and BMW 1 Series look very similar indeed. Both produce 335bhp, both produce 450Nm of torque and both hit 60mph in under five seconds while there’s only £100 between them on price. However, that’s where the similarities end – these two cars really couldn’t feel any more different to drive.

So why the comparisons? Well, Audi and BMW dealers know only too well that most potential buyers have been picking between the two. The strange thing is they’d have done so without seeing a car in the metal – both were sold out long before they even arrived in showrooms (500 RS3s have found homes this year with the possibility of more arriving in 2012). These cars were bought on press reviews and rumour alone.

Let’s hope the buyers were happy then, because although pitched against each other, these two cars feel very different indeed. The 1M, as you’ve already read, is a butch sports car with all the tailout happiness and screeching tyres you’d expect from a lairy M car. The RS3 on the other hand is sedate by comparison, delivering a punch that’s shrouded in cotton wool.

It all depends how buyers like to get their kicks – and more importantly whether they like other motorists to know what they’re packing.

Duncan summed it up quite well: ‘The Audi is fun to drive, the engine is powerful and the gearbox is rapid, but the problem is it just doesn’t look sporty. Where are the big flared arches like the RS6 had? Parked up next to a bog-standard diesel A3 it looks too similar. If I’ve spent £40k on a sports car I want people to know I’m driving a sports car.’

Again, he’s got a point. Our RS3 came in iPod white with very few visual clues to give away its credentials as a sub-five second machine. Yes it’s got big 19-inch alloys and silver mirrors, but very little else.

Ok, so let’s say buyers like the fact it doesn’t look loud, what’s it actually like to drive?

In a word, rapid. The 2.5-litre, five-cylinder turbocharged unit has bags of character. Peak torque of 450Nm is available from just 1,900rpm and combined with the seven-speed S-tronic gearbox it fires itself rapidly into the future. Audi say they’ve worked hard to make it sound like the original quattro, but I’m not so sure they succeeded. There’s a weak rumble at times, but never one to stir the loins.

Handling is planted and grippy – unsurprising really, considering its four-wheel drive – and it’s 54 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

SECOND OPINION ASTON MARTIN ViRAGE IT was the Aston I expected to grab me by my tweed jacket lapels and make me fall in love with it. But, oddly, the Virage was the most placid of them all. That’s probably because it’s just so damn good at its job.

There’s no urgency to the 6.0-litre V12 engine – it’s creamy loveliness is just there as a muted soundtrack to accompany your lope across the continent. In Sport mode, it tightens up to reveal a different character, and that delicious engine note becomes all belligerent and vocal. Batch

SECOND OPINION AUDI RS3 In many ways the RS3 is the perfect car as it combines all of the practicalities you like from a hum-drum A3 but is packaged as a super hot-hatchback.

On our Welsh test route the RS could easily cut it with the big boys. That’s hardly surprising considering the 2.5-litre turbocharged unit pumps out 335bhp and has perhaps the most impressive four-wheel drive system in the world. And the noise is quite something – harking back to the Ur quattro of the 1980s – but there’s still something missing... Batch

pretty impossible to get it out of shape. Even in the lashing rain, of which there was much.

Steering does feel a little numb and turn in isn’t nearly as sharp as the BMW. One thing Audi is good at nailing, however, is the interior. Packed with kit that’s generally easy to use, the controls are simple to understand and there’s plenty of toys. Sat nav is standard, as is leather, parking sensors, climate control and xenon headlights.

My time with the car was mostly spent pre-RTOTY11 as it was the first to be delivered.

This allowed some pre-test fun and games on well-known roads and here, in isolation, it impressed. However, after stints in all our assembled machinery, its flaws were highlighted.

It wasn’t anywhere near as exciting as the BMW. Where the 1M feels bespoke, the RS3 feels generic. It’s a car that lacks a soul and although undeniably quick point-to-point and more than a match for even the supercars here, it just doesn’t

stir enough emotions to win me over. It’s all a little bit, well, German.

That said, there were others who loved it. Car Dealer columnist Alex Goy spent a large amount of time behind the wheel and loved every minute of it while Car Dealer Jade was impressed too.

‘It’s the car I feel I’ve gelled with the most,’ she said as RTOTY11’s photoshoot drew to a close. ‘I like the looks as they’re not too shouty, I like the gearbox and it’s super quick. I don’t know what’s not to like.’ Not for the first time, we’ll have to agree to disagree.

HOME TIME Depression usually takes hold the night before Road Test of the Year is due to finish. The combination of a long drive home, the threat of countless emails to contend with and bucket loads of copy to write seems to have that effect.

With the RS3 and Ferrari collected from our Haven Holiday home HQ, I decide to cheer myself

..sponsored by

up by snaffling the Aston Martin keys.

The Virage and I haven’t spent too much time together since collection. With a 458 and only my name on the insurance, chances to drive the £155,690 Virage were reserved for snatched blasts during pictures and videos.

We originally booked the coupe, but Aston Martin thought the drop-top Volante could do with an airing, and we weren’t going to argue.

And the drive home was the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time with the V12 bruiser.

A GT car through and through, although capable on the tight turns Wales chucked at it, it really excelled on a long trip. But what exactly is the Virage? Aston Martin spokesman Kim Palmer explained it’s a middle of the range machine to fill a rather large gap.

‘We listen carefully to what customers tell us and many found the gap between a DB9, which is around £110,000, and a DBS at £170,000 was a bit wide. That’s why the Virage is a combination of the two and slots in the middle alongside the Rapide,’ he said.

Taking some sporting credentials from the DBS and looks from the DB9, the Virage

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certainly has presence. From pretty much every angle it’s stop-you-in-your-tracks good looking and, although we prefer the coupe, the Volante is still a stunner.

Taking an incredible 202 hours to hand build, Aston engineers spend 70 hours alone on the cow-covered interior. And a Virage will spend 50 hours just in the paintshop – 25 of those are while it’s being hand polished. Suffice to say the ‘Magma red’ (pink) paintwork on our test car was incredible.

By way of comparison, a run-of-the-mill generic hatchback takes only 15 hours to build from start to finish – and most of that is carried out by robots, not humans. When you consider the number of man hours that go into every Aston Martin you start to understand why they cost what they do.

On the M6, the Virage was sumptuous. Comfortable, refined and with a cushioned ride, it swallows long distances with ease. It’s not, however, as adept at tackling Wales’ finest blacktop.

Despite a nod to sporting prowess, it really isn’t a DBS and with the lazy paddle shift box it’s clear this isn’t a lithe sports car.

Many buyers found the gap between a DB9 and a DBS was a bit wide.

Sadly some 95 per cent of all Aston Martins are specified now with an auto box, pushing the drivers’ favourite manual closer towards extinction. When you think about the typical buyer, the auto box makes sense, but for us there really is no comparison – we found the paddles a serious let down.

And that’s a shame because the Virage makes fine use of the tried-and-tested V12. Producing 490bhp and 570Nm of torque, the 6.0-litre engine sounds superb as the revs rise – especially with the top down. It’ll hit 186mph and 60mph is passed in 4.6 seconds along the way.

Driving any Aston Martin is an event and the Virage does deliver. It’s beautifully made, sounds fantastic and is undoubtedly quick. However, if buyers are after a sports car they’d be better off steered towards a DBS or, dare we say it, the sublime AMV8.

The Virage split opinion on the RTOTY11 team too. ‘It makes you feel very special indeed,’ said Duncan. ‘The build quality is second to none and the way the speakers rise out of the dash and the way you start it with that carved block of glass and metal which represents the key makes it a real event. But the gearbox is slow and I can’t help thinking I’d rather have a DBS. If I had the money I’d find the extra £20,000 and buy its bigger brother.’

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RTOTY11. over more than any other. Not only does it look like a proper sports car, but it drives like a proper sports car. With all 450 sold, I hope the German firm decides to make another with the new 1 Series sooner rather than later.

Third place goes to Germany again and the Porsche Carrera GTS. Its combination of handling, presence, looks and (relatively) bargain price tag makes it a very tempting sports car indeed.

Caterham’s R400 may be compromised but, in the right place – a track or twisty road – it’s an automotive experience you have to try before you die. It’s painfully loud, but the raw driving thrills it serves up are like nothing else.

Aston Martin’s Virage finishes fifth. It’s a beautiful car and on the open road is a fantastic place to spend time and cover large miles, but it’s not the sports car some might expect and the paddle shift gearbox is

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disappointingly slow. Audi’s RS3 takes sixth. It’s not that it’s a bad car, far from it – it’s quick, surefooted and has a gorgeous interior. It just lacks soul. The looks don’t do it justice either and when compared to the BMW it falls a long way short.

So that leaves the Mini in last. I had one of the best drives of RTOTY in the little diesel, but I couldn’t help thinking that I’d have preferred to be in the petrol equivalent. And I generally like diesels – I’ve even just bought one myself.

However, the very fact the Cooper SD was included in our celebration of the greatest cars on sale today is an achievement in itself.

Now thoughts are already turning to next year’s test and I’m already starting to worry what on earth could topple the 458’s dominance. Perhaps the recently-unveiled 458 Spider will do it… [CD] Thanks to Hafan y Môr for the accommodation, call 0871 230 1299

Quite how Ferrari has managed to produce a car that’s this much better than anything else on the road is beyond fathomable.

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S

o which car wins? Well, do you really need to ask? Quite how Ferrari has managed to produce a car that’s this much better than anything else on the road is beyond fathomable. You’ll have to excuse the hyperbole but everything you’ve read about the 458 is true – it’s the best car on the road today by quite some margin.

The way it steers, sounds, accelerates and changes gear is astonishing and once sampled will affect your judgment on what a car should feel like for the rest of your life. But then automotive perfection comes at a price – and it’s quite some price indeed. Still, if it was my lottery win I’d know exactly where I’d be heading. And, if you’re wondering, we offered McLaren the chance to take part in our test and they declined…

In second place is the BMW. The 1M was the car the rest of the team were fighting for the keys

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AWARDS.

Green Apple

awards

Car Dealer is supporting a new eco-friendly awards scheme that aims to find the greenest dealers and motors in the trade, reports James Batchelor

B

eing green. Those are two words that are increasingly becoming the norm in everyday vocabulary for everyone ranging from MPs in Westminster to your grandmother. It’s the thing that we should all be doing and the motor industry is quickly learning it needs to catch up.

That’s why Car Dealer is supporting the Green Organisation’s inaugural Green Apple Awards for Car Dealerships.

The motor trade is increasingly becoming a crucial arena for green-minded thinking and endeavour. It’s not just about those dealers who have to sell electric and hybrid cars though – green issues are now vital for every dealer. From sparkling and glamorous brand centres to the independent under the railway arches, we all need to think about the little (and big) things which can help the planet out.

These days the motor trade needn’t be a sector that is all about dirty cars and even dirtier dealerships. With the advent of greener motoring, dealers are becoming greener too – and these awards will celebrate the very best.

Very soon we will be calling for entries – and dealers, no matter what size of site or operation, will be able to enter and earn themselves recognition on a national and even international scale for their exploits and attitude.

The UK is facing some big targets in order to become more environmentally responsible. Of all the energy produced by European countries, 20 per cent will need to be renewable by 2020, and that’s not forgetting the UK’s own target to produce 15 per cent of the country’s energy from renewable sources within nine years. That’s an almost ten-fold increase from 2008, and there are even some figures suggesting that by 2050 there will be two billion hybrid cars on the world’s roads...

But let’s be more realistic. Dealers across the 58 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

UK, whether they are large or small, can help out in their own way – and they should be, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

‘Good environmental practice is increasingly important in the UK motor industry,’ SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt told us. ‘If a business is not actively managing the energy and water it uses or the waste it creates it will be paying more than it needs to and risking its reputation.

‘The industry is working hard to reduce the impact of its products; from initial design to endof-life disposal. This approach is opening up new business opportunities where industrial success and environmental protection go hand in hand.’

It ranges from everything – from making sure the lights are turned off to constructing dealerships that have the latest technologies like wind turbines and oil recycling facilities. In fact, these activities needn’t only be about improving the environment; they can save you money too.

‘Earlier this year we published a Dealer Energy Efficiency Guide, which demonstrated simple ways to use less energy and save up to £10,000 per year,’ says Everitt (it was something Car Dealer featured heavily too).

‘There’s already some great work being done, and by using the guide’s simple seven-step action plan, retailers can become even greener and save money. Our study found that energy

Green Apple awards

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Who can enter?

Any dealer who has or is making a positive green impact will be welcome to enter the awards. You could be an individual, an independent car dealer, a group car dealer or a manufacturer – we want to hear from you.

Green Apple awards

The benefits

could be saved in all sorts of areas including heating controls on the boiler, door seals, radiant heaters, fan speed on air-handling units, airconditioning settings, time controls and leaks on air compressors.’

It sounds a bit of a cliché, but it’s the little things which can make a big difference, explains Richard Collins, event organiser for the Green Apple Awards for Car Dealerships.

‘If 12,000 dealerships collectively over the next 10 years cut their energy performance by 30 to 40 per cent, hundreds of thousands of pounds could be saved and a considerable reduction could be made in energy being produced from power stations,’ he says. ‘It’s also something as

simple as carrying out best practice and taking the environment seriously.’

That’s precisely what the Green Apple Awards for Car Dealerships is all about. It’s about giving dealerships recognition for environmental and sustainable best practice. From new builds to the aforementioned light switch, dealers who can show they are acting sustainably in the day-today business of selling cars are the ones who can really make the most of these awards – and of the benefits they can bring.

But what’s the background behind these awards? ‘Well, they’re born out of the Green Apple Awards for the built environment and architectural best practice, and also for

The biggest benefit is PR and marketing opportunities. You’ll get coverage in Car Dealer and in other marketing releases that can really make a difference to your perception among customers. ‘Take a winner from the Green Apple Awards last year,’ says Collins. ‘It was a concrete maker and they were delighted to win an award because they’re in an industry which has a perception for being dirty. There is also the opportunity for an independent organisation to come in before and after to show a dealer how they can save more money. Eco doesn’t need to be expensive, what we are saying to people is to invest in eco.’

Other important benefits include the possibility of dealers winning more business from customers, and being involved with the motor industry which is having to change its ways to become more green.

Car Dealer Club members get free legal advice worth £199. Sign up at CarDealerClub.com| 59

Awards.

Green Apple awards

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Toyota Prius is a popular green choice

New Infiniti M35h is sporty and green

Consumers are starting to make purchase decisions based on the green credentials of the dealer they are considering buying from.

environmental best practice in general,’ explains Collins.

‘In the past we have had automotive categories which have done very, very well. So in line with the built environment awards, and with the current introduction of electric car technology, we have been thinking about dealers.’

You see if dealers are going to be selling environmentally performing cars, what are they doing about their own performance? It’s a perfectly decent question, believes Collins.

‘There are tens of thousands of franchised and independent dealerships across the UK, most of which run large dealerships with a lot of glass and light.

‘They are a prime target for reducing their carbon footprint, in line with key governmental targets including the Kyoto Protocol treaty.

‘So we have also decided to create this award scheme after discussions with the British Research Establishment, and we thought this was a good time to specifically concentrate on the automotive industry. We also feel now is the right time – people are receptive towards looking at and making their businesses green and are financially rewarded for that.

‘There are some dealers who are dealing with these issues head-on, there are some dealers who are having eco retro refurbishments, while others are having complete rebuilds.

Everyone is falling over themselves to try to tell

Green Apple awards

The categories

There’s a whole variety of categories dealers can enter. They are: 1. Best eco building – retrofit or new build 2. Best eco vehicle facilities 3. Best internal campaign to green the dealership and improve sustainable business processes 4. Most innovative recycling of automotive materials initiative 5. Green motoring advice 6. Energy efficiency 7. Green innovation 8. Best green marketing campaign 9. Best local community initiative 10. Greenest small dealership group – under 10 outlets 11. Green Car Maker of the Year 12. Best Electric Car 13. Best Eco City Car 14. Best Eco Family Car 15. Best Eco Executive Car 16. Best 4x4 Eco Car

everyone what they are doing, and what we have noticed is that consumers are starting to make purchase decisions based on the green credentials of the dealer they are considering buying from.’

Consumers are beginning to know more about

‘‘

Nissan LEAF pioneers electric motoring

hybrid, electric and more fuel-efficient motoring and are starting to want to get involved with it.

But it’s one thing for car manufacturers to spend hundreds of millions of pounds building cars to suit public demand – dealers need to complete the green cycle too by showing consumers they are environmentally aware.

‘To take an example, Fiat won a Green Apple Award in 2009 because they had looked at how they could educate owners on fuel consumption and emissions relating to their driving style,’ says Collins.

‘The public are a lot more savvy now. If you think about the age of austerity in which we live – the cost of fuel, energy and so on – a lot of these measures are about reducing those costs.

We want to encourage car dealers to not only turn off the lights at night, to close doors and to recycle paper, but also to get rid of waste materials properly and bring in parts in an environmentally considerate way, for example – it is about all of those things which contribute to a better performing dealership.

‘If a dealership wins an award, they can use that as a badge of honour to entice customers to their showroom to see not only green cars but also show consumers that their own dealerships are good to the environment.’ [CD] Next month: Find out how you can enter these new awards and we reveal which celebrity is backing the gongs

History of the Green Apple Awards The Green Apple Awards began 16 years ago and are run by the Green Organisation which is an independent, non-political, non-activist, and a non-profit environmental group dedicated to recognising, rewarding and promoting environmental best practice around the world.

The organisation is keen on promoting the 60 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

good aspects of ‘being green’ rather than being a watchdog for it.

It’s best known for organising the Green Apple Awards, is accredited by the RSA, and is one of the only UK campaigns which is accepted as an automatic feeder scheme into the European Business Awards for the Environment – so the Car Dealership Awards really are the tip of the iceberg.

The Green Dealer Awards will also give opportunities for dealerships and dealer groups to become a ‘green hero’.

‘What that means is that they will have the opportunity of publishing their work in an international journal,’ says Richard Collins.

So a dealer’s good work and attitude could be used in universities and libraries across the world.

Calling all car dealerships!

Get rewarded for your environmental and sustainable best practice?

Launching 15th November 2011

Do you have a green policy?

Are you green and want to be seen?

If you would like to raise the profile of your dealership then enter the Green Apple Awards for Car Dealerships.

Details of how to enter in next months Car Dealer Magazine.

Our supporters and partners

FEATURE.

We’ve done it!

In just 15 months we’ve traded up from nothing to a Porsche 911 – all in aid of industry charity BEN Words: James BAGGOTT

w

e’ve only gone and done it! Just 15 months after we started we’ve managed to trade up from absolutely nothing to a Porsche 911 all in aid of automotive industry charity BEN. Ok, so the path along the way hasn’t exactly been a smooth one, but still it’s been hugely entertaining and thoroughly hard work. Yes, back in Issue 27 we did say we aimed to buy the Porsche by the turn of the year.

Like all good journalists we missed that deadline by quite a healthy margin – but still, that small fact won’t stop me gloating.

But before I recap on how we got here, let me fill you in on the how we managed to pull off this coupe de grace from the last step of the ladder – the Terry’s All Gold Ford Ka. Sold to a friend of a friend it all seemed to go so smoothly. Bought from our local Hyundai dealer, Michael Nobes, for £900, we managed to punt the Ford on to a friend’s 17-year-old just-passed daughter for £1,700. We did them a favour at that price as we knew we could get more than £2k for it online.

Problem was we broke the golden rule of car trading – never sell to friends or family. No sooner had we counted the money, than the phone rang. It was the

62 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

buyer’s dad. A rattling clutch bearing had caused him to take the car to his local garage – and, spotting an eye for some work, they’d told him the whole clutch needed replacing.

Now, this noise had been present during the test drive – and we’d even chatted about it. It could have gone on for another 10k making that noise, but the buyer’s dad insisted on replacing it for ‘peace of mind’ – and he wanted BEN to cough up to cover it.

Needless to say the conversation didn’t go swimmingly. I knew he’d only called because I was a friend of a friend, but I wasn’t going to let that see BEN out of cash. He said the work was going to cost him £300. I told him I’d already let him have the Ka for £500 less than what anyone else would have paid so he was technically still in profit. He didn’t see it that way. We agreed to disagree and hung up.

HUNT With that small matter sorted (sort of), I began the hunt for a 911. I’d been keeping a close eye on prices of early 996 models and they’d been falling from £12,000 when we started our project to just under the £10k mark. That meant our pot – which stood at £10,145 after the Ka – was just

911 for 2011

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 63

FEATURE. about enough to finish our challenge with a few quid to spare. A few hours of internet hunting on a slow Sunday threw up some tempters, both being sold by used car dealers.

One was up for £10,495 and the second for £9,995. I emailed them both and explained our position and asked if either would let them have the cars for what they stood them. Neither replied.

On the Wednesday I got fed up of waiting and called the one selling the 911 for under £10k. I got through and explained again that this was a charity project. Salesman Steve Jones said he’d been meaning to reply, but hadn’t had the chance.

‘I saw the email, I’ve been meaning to speak to the boss about it,’ he said. ‘Problem is we need to sell the car to pay for a new fence so can’t really do a deal.’

A new fence? Yes, a new fence. Turns out Hallmark Motor Sales was in the process of relocating from a 120-car indoor showroom in Portway on the outskirts of Birmingham to a new site in Curdworth which needed a lot of work.

And it was this work that was forcing owner Mark Ford to sell his Porsche.

Haggling wasn’t working either. An offer of £9,500 was flatly refused. ‘I’ve had every man and his dog offer me that, it’s the cheapest on Auto Trader and priced to sell,’ he explained.

I couldn’t really argue with him. It was the cheapest and was actually pretty good. With 90k, a fair bit of service history and a high specification, it was the perfect way to end our challenge. Finally we agreed a slight discount – £9,900 – which was £75 off. Hardly the bargain of the century but then it was cheap to start with.

That Saturday I made the trip to Birmingham to check it out. Ford wasn’t lying when he said his new site needed work. It was a shell and the workmen were being helped out by Jones and the owner himself, all of whom were painting, hammering or DIY-ing in one shape or form. And one thing was obvious – it certainly needed a new fence!

A short test drive and I decided R97 RRK was ideal. Yes, it drives a lot like you’d expect a 90,000mile 911 to drive. It’s a bit baggy in places and has a few more rattles than you’d expect a new one to have, but it’s in good condition otherwise.

The paintwork needs a damn good polish and the leather interior needs some tlc, but with a bit of time and effort it could be a corker. I’ve already spoken to our friends at Porsche GB and they’ve agreed to take it in for a fettle. We’re hoping by fettle they mean full service – just think what ‘checked by Porsche GB’ could do for the price on eBay. After that we’ll need the services of a smart repair company and/or valeting firm and then we’ll get it up for sale. If we can make our money back we’ll be very pleased.

Not bad going, I’m sure you’ll agree, from what’s been a 13-car sales journey. We started with two cars, both donated by dealers. The VW Golf MkIII was given to us by Motorpoint and M25 Audi handed us the keys to an S-reg A3.

Sadly the A3 wasn’t in the best of health and we were forced to sell it on eBay for a little less 64 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

01

02

Golf & Audi Profit: £1,040

03

05

Fiesta

Profit: £1,165

04

i10

Profit: £3,005

06

CLK

Profit: £2,250

than we’d originally planned. It was bought by two traders who planed to do it up and sell it on for a profit themselves, for £790. The Golf didn’t hang around either – selling to a local man for £250 on eBay too.

We then spent £985.25 (including tax) on an 02-reg Ford Fiesta. This one hung around a little longer than we’d hoped and we were forced to reduce the price from an ambitious £2,500. That got the buyers interested and it was sold to a little old lady for £2,150.

WORLD CUP CAR Then came our masterstroke – the one that everyone remembers – the Hyundai i10 football car.

Made by a reknown car artist to celebrate the car manufacturer’s support of the World Cup, the i10 had artificial grass covering every panel, plastic grass seats, not to mention a giant football and goal posts grafted on to the exterior.

We were talked into buying it by Hyundai’s press officer and we’re glad he convinced us. After a whirl of publicity which saw it feature in The Daily Telegraph, countless

‘‘

MX-5s

Profit: £2,220

C4

Profit: -£110

local newspapers, websites around the world and even on the BBC news, we put it up for sale on eBay. It clocked up nearly 100 ‘watchers’ and eventually sold for £5,005 to a Hyundai dealer who planned to use it for publicity.

Buoyed by our success we contacted another car manufacturer press office and scored another cracking deal. This time it was three Mazda MX-5s, one of which had been reversed into a lamppost at quite some speed.

The cars had been sourced by Mr Wheeler Dealer himself, Mike Brewer, for Mazda’s 20 years of the MX-5 celebrations. Journalists had been given an old and new model to twin test, but the cars needed some work. All original MK1s, the two ‘good’ cars of our trio both needed MOTs and some parts before they were ready to sell.

Matt Kendell – a mechanic mate who’d prove to be pivotal in our attempts to reach our target – took up the challenge and soon had the two good cars roadworthy. We let him keep the broken one as payment (he planned to turn it into a track car) and we soon sold the other two, one by the power of Twitter and the other on good old eBay. Those

Turning £0 into a Porsche 911 in a little over 15 months is something to be proud of.

911 for 2011

07

940

Profit: £175

09

Scenic

Profit: £200

sales added £2,220 to the bank.

Marshall Motor Group chief executive Daksh Gupta was next to help out. He let us have a Mercedes CLK for £6,000. The 03-model was a lovely spec and drove beautifully, but after four weeks sat on my drive as the bitter winter froze the south last December, when we went to start it again the hood failed to work.

08

FABIA

10

Ka

Profit: £400

Profit: £800

A trip back to mechanic Matt’s proved more than fruitful – not only did he have it fixed in a week, he’d also sold it too… to his receptionist’s mum! A further £2,250 profit was banked and we moved on.

Citroen then stepped into the fray with a C4 Grand Picasso. The 58-plater was on their fleet and we snapped it up for just £8,110 (with

tax). Unfortunately it proved a bit sticky and we couldn’t find a buyer for it no matter how hard we tried. One potential buyer spent two hours testing it only to walk away without even making an offer and the second told us he’d seen one for £1,000 less – I told him to go and buy that one.

With the months ticking buy we needed to do something so a call to Mr Nobes – who had just taken on a Citroen franchise – did the trick.

He offered to take it off our hands for £8k, but instead of handing over cash we could simply take part exes off his site for the same value.

Knowing cheaper cars are easier to sell than one big one we picked a Volvo 940, a Skoda Fabia and a Renault Scenic. Again, not one of our smartest moves as one dealer pointed out ‘we’d now swapped one headache for three.’ He was right. We shifted them within a month but for a paltry combined profit of just £775.

Still profit was profit and with £900 left in Nobes’ bank account we went back a few weeks later and snapped up the aforementioned Ford Ka. Which, as you know, sold within days.

Buying and selling cars for a little over a year has been hard work. You don’t need me to tell you that dealing with the car-buying public isn’t easy at the best of times and our challenge has proved that.

But I don’t think anyone would deny us that turning £0, into a Porsche 911 in a little over 15 months is something to be proud of. Now all we’ve got to do is sell it… wish me luck. [CD]

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 65

feature.

Online advertising

66 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

‘‘

‘‘

Perhaps, eventually, dealers will appreciate how beneficial free advertising can be to their businesses and switch to UsedCar.co.uk

Pet project The man behind one of the UK’s most successful pet websites has turned his hand to the used car industry and, reports James Batchelor, he’s doing it in his own unique way

I

t may sound obvious, but we all know that there is little point in spending thousands of pounds buying new stock for your dealership and then not advertising it on the internet.

Making the most of the world wide web can literally make or break your business. But advertising your stock on the internet can be a time-consuming chore – and that’s before you’ve spent the hundreds of pounds it costs to list the advert in the first place.

However, there is another way – a simple-touse and straightforward classified site – and it’s totally free.

UsedCar.co.uk went live only a few months ago and it was the brainchild of serial internet entrepreneur Mark Singleton.

‘I run a number of websites including Pets4Homes.co.uk. In fact the pets website has been the most popular and famous among consumers,’ says Singleton. ‘Pets4Homes.co.uk is a simple-to-use pet classified site which has grown to become the UK’s most popular website of its type, getting around three million visitors a month.’

Singleton has decided to expand upon the success of this website and enter the automotive industry with UsedCar.co.uk. ‘The recipe for success was that it was free for people to advertise and it was simple to use – that’s it really,’ says a frank Singleton.

Users only need to register on the site – which takes a few minutes – and then they are free to start to list their cars. UsedCar.co.uk employs the same easy-to-use system and format as that of Pets4Homes.co.uk.

‘Every advert has the capability of including a gallery of photos of the car, a description of the car, a map so customers can find the dealer, and the dealer can upload branding,’ says Singleton. Consequently each advert can look like an extension of the dealer’s website, and each listing will include a link to the dealer’s website, enabling the dealer to benefit from direct traffic.

The process gets even easier with a clever system which helps dealers provide as much information as possible to help potential buyers.

A DVLA registration look-up function grabs key details of the car, saving the dealer time and making the consumer feel more confident.

‘I’ve tried to make the website as easy to use as possible. At the moment I’ve got a stock management system where dealers can upload cars to the site manually, but I am also working on an automated system to allow dealers to automatically upload cars quickly and easily.’

Singleton is hoping to use the same successful methods as that of Pets4Homes.co.uk to make UsedCar.co.uk into a winner, but while it may take on the appearance and usability of larger rivals, UsedCar.co.uk does not employ a large team. It manages to be as useful to dealers as other classified websites but UsedCar.co.uk is a family effort. Singleton has minimal costs

First pets, now cars Been there and done it IT’S easy to see where UsedCar. co.uk has got its personality from.

Pets4Homes. co.uk was set up in 2005 and has become the UK’s most popular classified advert website for pets. In fact, the website caters for more than just cats, dogs and your auntie’s guinea pig. There are thousands of adverts for horses, fish and even reptiles, and all are easy to search and find due to the option of narrowing searches by pet type, breed and location. There are also pages of advice and services to use should you need them.

UsedCar.co.uk takes a very similar approach. There are currently more than 2,500 listings on the site, ranging from a Ford Fiesta from a private seller in Manchester to a Ferrari 599 from a specialist dealer.

Within time UsedCar.co.uk will offer car history checks and more, but the site will always remain a free advertising medium.

and outgoings and envisages the site to have advertising from leading firms in the motor industry very quickly, and plans to offer car history checks. ‘I never want to charge the dealer for classified advertising,’ adds Singleton.

With UsedCar.co.uk being so new, it could be easy to be cynical about Singleton’s decision to make his site free. But any doubters only need to look at Pets4Homes.co.uk which has been free to use since being launched six years ago.

Another key benefit of UsedCar.co.uk is its domain name. ‘I deliberately chose that name because I knew it would help the site get further up the rankings in search engines,’ says Singleton.

Crucially, due to Singleton’s efforts in trying to push the website up the all-important search engines such as Google and Yahoo, dealers will be able to benefit too. Users will not only be able to list their cars completely free of charge, but with UsedCar.co.uk being high up the list on search engines, dealers can be assured that customers are more likely to visit the site, with potential buyers being more likely to buy.

The vast majority of listings are currently private sellers but more and more dealers are seeing the benefits of the site and registering.

‘That’s not to mention the fact that private cars are good buys for dealers too as they can be worthy additions to their stock,’ says Singleton.

UsedCar.co.uk has only been live for the last few months, and every month has seen impressive growth figures. ‘The number of registered users has grown by 100 per cent each month, which is good because it shows the website is expanding. I have had a lot of positive reviews so far from dealers using the site, and I hope it will continue to be popular.’

Singleton’s approach to used car advertising might well be refreshing but he is sensible about the future and about dealer attitudes.

‘Because UsedCar.co.uk is free, I’m not trying to make dealers switch from their current providers to my site. Perhaps, eventually, dealers will appreciate how beneficial free advertising can be to their businesses and switch to UsedCar. co.uk. But, for the moment, I just want them to try it out.’ [CD] CarDealerMag.co.uk | 67

feature.

Training

Fighting fit Is your sales team trained up and ready to achieve your goals? James Batchelor reports on why now could be the time to put them through a tough training regime

w

orking with a company which speaks your language is probably one of the best relationships you could have.

And when it comes to training, that statement becomes even more relevant.

Symco is such a firm, and it’s owned and run by a man who really has been there and done it.

‘We’ve been going for 12 years now and we are known for being a hands-on training company,’ says Symco’s owner, and former car dealer in Australia, Simon Bowkett. ‘There is a cliché in the world of training which is ‘‘those who can, do, those who can’t, teach’’. And unfortunately there’s some truth in that.

‘I got into training because I had a trainer who turned up to my dealership to do some coaching on-site with some of my sales people. On this particular day he was doing some incoming telephone call

68 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

training and I said to him, ‘‘instead of telling them how to do it, why don’t you show them?’’

This trainer disagreed and said he’d prefer to tell them how to do it and I didn’t believe in this, so that is why Symco is branded as a ‘‘hands-on’’ training company. In fact we’re known for being a coaching company rather than a stand-up training company.’

Bowkett’s knowledge of the running of a dealership and having to rely upon training firms coaching his staff has stood him in good stead for helping out dealers. And he’s clear on why training is so important in the motor industry.

‘The problem with the motor industry is we train people for one month, they forget it the next, and then we end up sacking them in the third month – it’s a cycle that happens again and again,’ explains Bowkett. ‘This is because there’s seldom any quality back-up in the training. We know that habits are created within the first 30 to 60 days, and those habits learned by sales people in that timeframe will be taken forward for the rest of their careers. The downside is that if sales people are waiting for the manufacturer’s training course to come up, that is not going to be within the next month, so the person training your sales people will be ‘‘Five Car Fred’’.

‘He is the guy who has got the time to spare to train your sales people. He’s got the time because he never sells cars – and he is the person who is training them all his bad habits. Before long a dealer’s sales team could all be ‘‘Five Car Freds’’ – what we need to do is to capture the new starters and train them immediately.’

Bowkett believes there’s another challenge for dealers. For the last few years, dealers have had to run their businesses very lean, and that has promoted the idea of cost-cutting. One of the first things to be cut is often training. However, that is the wrong way to go, he believes.

‘We can never cut our way to growth. I live in the real world and I know that we all need to make cuts, but if you cut out training all of these sales people, they will be trained by people who have time, and those people tend to have time because they are underperforming.’

Symco training can help dealers in a number of ways. They work with dealers on a monthly basis, coaching them and showing how to adopt sales techniques that will equip them for various tasks.

‘But we are getting a lot more people who are buying into our online training programme called Eautotraining,’ says Bowkett. ‘There are about 500 little video modules which are all five to 10 minutes long and are straight to the point.

They are used as a reference tool for the brand new sales person to train them in those first 60 days on the road to selling before they go on the manufacturer’s training course.

‘But more importantly Eautotraining can be used 24 hours a day, seven days a week.’ If a sales person is struggling with a customer who needs to go away and think about the purchase, that sales person can go and train up.

‘In fact we have 14 different modules to overcome that objection anyway,’ adds Bowkett.

The videos are comprehensive to say the least,

‘‘

‘‘

Before long a dealer’s sales team could all be ‘Five Car Freds’ – what we need to do it to capture the new starters and train them immediately.

Top Tips Want to know how to upsell?

SYMCO’s EAutotraining covers many areas of the sales process and includes around 500 modules to help sales people learn better skills and improve their techniques. They are short and to-thepoint videos designed to give nuggets of information which can be easily remembered and used when in front of a customer.

Car Dealer logged onto Symco’s YouTube channel and came across one of the modules called ‘The Sales Advisor – Tyre Sales.’

Presented by Symco owner Simon Bowkett the video is a seven-minute lesson in how service staff should be selling aftersales products. We particularly liked Bowkett’s analogy concerning a certain fast food retailer: ‘Remember, your job is not too dissimilar to that of McDonalds. All we want you to do is to offer the [aftersales] products.

‘Think about it: When you go into McDonalds and order that meal, automatically they say, ‘‘do you want to go large?’’ They don’t just offer it to the fatties, they offer every product to every customer every time.’

Watch it by going to bit.ly/SymcoTraining

and the firm also has a benchmarking product tool that analyses 16 different key performance areas of a sales department.

‘We say simple things like ‘‘how often does your sales manager have a daily sales meeting?’’

That should be daily but sometimes it doesn’t happen. We just give the tools for dealership staff to have performance meetings, set targets and create activity.

‘But, more importantly, when a salesperson has fallen down, our tools won’t wait until the end of the month to show what that person is struggling on, we will find out throughout the month.

‘The sales manager will then have the opportunity to implement those training tools to get them back up and running before the end of the month. I know that some sales managers are using our five-minute videos to give their meetings a bit of sparkle. Even if they don’t agree with everything we talk about on these videos it’s a great starting point on how we should be selling.’

Symco’s training tools are not just used in sales meetings – they’re used by a number of dealers across the UK. ‘A lot of dealers see our products to be the perfect way to complement what their training departments are already doing.

‘What we are trying to do is to turn sales managers and service managers into the trainers, but we have to give them the tools to be able to train in the right way.’ [CD] For more details visit Symcotraining.co.uk or call 01829 760679 CarDealerMag.co.uk | 69

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Right click 73 Net Gains 75 Auctions 77 The Statistics 79 SMMT sales figures 81

Suppliers guide 82 Trader directory 84 Shares 87 Jobs 88 Sub-Prime Time 90

Advice n Data n Analysis n Facts n Figures n Comment

Camaro for all dealers Chevrolet’s European boss talks to James Baggott about his plans for supercar’s distribution and how to make firm ‘more American’

E

very Chevrolet dealer will be given the opportunity to sell Camaro – but they’ll have to invest to get it. How the distribution for the sports car would work in the UK has up until this point been unclear, but now we can reveal that all dealers will get their wish – if they put the cash up first.

Chevrolet Europe chief Wayne Brannon, right, told us that still didn’t mean every showroom would have a Camaro though.

‘Everyone will be given the opportunity,’ he said. ‘We’re treating it just like any other car we’re bringing to market, so there will

‘We’re treating it just like any other car we are bringing to market.’ be no restrictions of any kind. However, there may be a limited supply. If dealers want to make the investment in the special tools, training, parts and showroom experience required for Camaro then they can introduce it like any other model.’

Brannon said the investment was ‘relatively normal’ in terms of size, but added sales for

SUCCESS

Showing off our roots

Corvette will be different. Currently this is handled in the UK by Bauer Millet, which has an exclusive contract, but this ‘may not be forever’.

‘Nothing is forever,’ said Brannon. ‘Corvette is a little different to Camaro because the opportunity for it is more specialised. I’d love every dealer to have one.

‘We’ve traditionally distributed it with a small number of dealers and had it linked to Cadillac.

There’s more investment needed by dealers compared to Camaro too, and there simply won’t be enough volume.

‘But I’d like to look at how we distribute the car in the UK. I want there to be an opportunity for a lot of stores to sell it and more importantly for us we want Corvette to be seen as that beacon of cool, distinctive Americana more and more.’

THE secret to success for Chevrolet is to be more American – that’s according to, unsurprisingly, the company’s American boss in Europe.

Wayne Brannon believes that with other American brands looking to move away from their US roots, Chevrolet would in fact benefit from showing theirs off more.

‘We can offer a unique slice of Americana,’ Brannon explained. ‘We’re the only real American brand in Europe now because Ford has done a great job of becoming a European brand.

‘Everyone knows Ford is an American company – a great brand with great cars and a lot of good things going for it – but they’ve become a European brand along with Opel, Volkswagen and the others.

‘That’s why I think pushing our American brand is very important. It’s who we are. Customers are telling us that they appreciate that we have heritage in the American way of life.’

Brannon points to the 600 songs that have the word Chevy in their lyrics, and he said the firm’s starring role in the Transformers movies has helped too.

‘We have a unique positioning in the world and in Europe as the only volume American brand,’ he said. ‘Customers like the fact we’re American.’

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 71

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RIGHT CLICK.

Touching screens, gaining sales...

Technology allows your customers to continue browsing once they’re in your showroom

I

n an age where approximately 46m people in the UK have internet access, consumers are able to hit the high streets and shopping centres armed with all the information they need about the product they want.

And car buyers are no different. Those in the market for a new or used car are increasingly initiating their research online, seeking out the best deals, model-specific information and formulating an idea of the vehicle they want prior to visiting a showroom. When they visit the dealership, many consumers wish to continue the search in their own way.

A recent study by Car Dealer Magazine suggests that many consumers distrust sales staff and do not like visiting dealerships.

Car dealers are under pressure to make their showrooms an attractive place for all customers, creating an environment where visitors do not feel pressurised into making rash decisions.

There are solutions out there which could help. An interactive touch-screen showroom display – primarily delivering

..in association with GForces

Have you thought about using touchscreens?

new car configuration, brand offers, dynamic used car search and media rich content – could be of great benefit. This kind of system enables customers to gather information for themselves.

The ability to browse options or stock without dealer staff intervening with a sales pitch is central to making dealerships more attractive.

Also, customers are far more likely to make a purchase if they can visualise what they are buying, but clearly it is impossible to stock every combination of model and trim available.

A touch-screen system allows showroom visitors to ‘browse’ – just as they would online. It creates the facility for customers to use for their own research within the showroom; they can spec a car and get an indicative price, research a dealer’s used stock, take a virtual tour or even alter the exterior appearance of their chosen model.

Enabling consumers to undertake their own research is an effective means of creating leads – and even completing sales.

A secondary benefit of a touch-screen interface is that it can also collect data on customers and their preferences.

Touch-screen interfaces have been widely deployed in other sectors, such as healthcare, where patients use

them for checking in and post-appointment check-outs.

In a similar vein, live reporting – built into the system – means that dealerships can integrate results into future marketing and advertising campaigns.

Targeted marketing strategies based upon the data collected from a touch-screen module mean that dealers can tailor showroom stock, gain an insight into popular used models and improve their sales rate in the long-term.

Ultimately, touch-screen interfaces hold significant benefits across a dealer’s operations, from lead creation through to end of sale. They enhance the showroom environment, encourage customers to take the lead in sales situations and allow dealers to collect data on customer preferences for future marketing.

The expertise of sales staff will always be the biggest asset to your dealership. However, giving your showroom visitors a choice of interaction is the best way to communicate the right message about your brand.

Who is Tim Smith?

He is commercial director for serial award winners GForces. Learn more about how he can help you at gforces.co.uk or call 0845 658 9290.

‘Car dealers are under pressure to make their showrooms attractive.’

DON’T LET THE COMPETITION RUB OUT YOUR AFTERSALES REVENUE 0845 658 9290

www.gforces.co.uk CarDealerMag.co.uk | 73

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Keeping up with internet evolution Knowing what your competitors are up to is more crucial than ever

Y

ou may be familiar with the old saying ‘Know your enemy’. Keeping tabs on what the competition is doing is something that motor dealers used to do all the time – you simply looked at the local newspaper, saw what local dealers were offering, and decided how you would respond. In other words, the focus was local.

I want to spend this month’s column looking at why competitor knowledge is particularly relevant in the online world, where the focus can be anything but local. Firstly, your competitors can amend their web offering very quickly, which means it is a constant challenge trying to conduct an effective analysis of what the industry is doing on the web. Secondly, there are some businesses that are keen to establish a niche within the online car-buying process – such as companies that would like to finance the car but not necessarily supply it – meaning that there is pressure on your potential revenue streams.

Thirdly, the more you know about the web, the more you can start to see opportunities in areas where you have a potential advantage.

I wanted to pick one area and illustrate an example. There was a recent piece of research entitled ‘The most popular car finance sites revealed’. It highlighted the top 10 online car finance businesses, as measured in terms of

Want to build on your success? Then keep an eye on the competition

‘You need to put your best offering forward online – every time.’ web traffic. I spent some time looking at all of them and I came up with what I think are some important conclusions for motor dealers.

Firstly, only one of the top 10 was a car retailer – the others were brokers or finance providers.

Secondly, most of the sites were displaying finance information that wouldn’t have been compliant with the old credit advertising rules, never mind the new rules that came into force in February 2011.

Perhaps most importantly, the way that these sites highlighted the advantages of their offer varied hugely in terms of quality. Several of them, such as moneysupermarket.com, clearly show that they know little about funding vehicles, as they offer deals where the car can be funded over as long as 25 years. Others highlight their

offering very well, and do a great job of informing the customer how affordable their next car could be – largely by using the concept of residual value products. The question is, how are you demonstrating this on your site? If you aren’t doing this effectively, then don’t be surprised if you lose potential F&I income.

You need to put your best offering forward online – every time. Show why people should finance their vehicle through your business – don’t just rely on ‘captive’ people walking in that have no clue as to motor finance, as they are becoming more educated all the time.

This will continue to be the challenge: Not just working on your own offering, and showing customers why they should buy from you, but also understanding how the web is evolving and how your business can make the most of change.

Who is Martin Hill?

Martin is commercial director at Codeweavers. Learn more about how he can help you at Codeweavers.net or call 0800 021 0888.

0800 021 0888 www.codeweavers.net contactus@codeweavers.net

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 75

auctions.

Citroen gives away free fuel bit.ly/CitroenFuel

Henstock

auction stations

Supply issues could lead to rise in used car values

W

e all know that the used car market is a considerable revenue generator, but how much is it worth compared to the value of the new car market? Less?

More? The same?

In fact, figures just released from the 2011 Used Car Market Report – published by BCA and written by Prof.

Peter Cooke – show the overall value of used cars sold last year reached a record-breaking £35bn… that’s some £6bn higher than the new car market.

Although dealers’ used car volumes improved by nearly four per cent to 3.67m units, the average used car selling price slipped year on year, from £5,422 in 2009 to £5,332 in 2010, reflecting the changing mix of the used car supply in the UK. And it is this changing mix that is a significant concern for the UK motor industry.

Since the 2008 economic crash, around 500,000 fewer new cars are being sold every year and industry forecasts suggest this pattern is unlikely to change before 2012.

You cannot remove more than two million new car sales from the used car supply chain without creating waves in the marketplace.

The simple fact is that the UK car parc is getting older, as fewer new cars are sold and both motorists and businesses have held onto their vehicles for longer.

The average age of cars on UK roads rose in 2010 to 7.25 years, which is a 14-year high. The trend for older cars is rising and we believe this could continue for several years to come.

What we can be confident of is that the next 12-18 months are going to be a very challenging period for the UK motor industry.

The potential supply shortage of younger used cars over the next few years may create upward pressure on used vehicle prices, while economic pressures may lead to reduced demand which will push prices downwards.

Which of those two levers will be the stronger remains to be seen.

One thing’s for sure, the readers of this magazine will be best-placed to spot future trends as they emerge.

‘The trend for older cars is rising and we believe this could continue for years.’

Who is Simon Henstock?

Simon is UK network operations director for BCA. Visit british-car-auctions.co.uk or call 0845 600 6644.

Motorauctions Leeds forced to close down Demise comes after the loss of commercial contracts

T

he loss of several commercial contracts forced Motorauctions Leeds into administration, Car Dealer has learned.

The auction house, which used to hold three auctions a week, hit trouble last month.

Administrators Begbies Traynor has revealed that the auction house’s demise was caused by the loss of important commercial contracts. Dealers have been left out of pocket and wondering what to do.

‘The directors of the company called in Begbies Traynor last week following the loss of a number of commercial contracts,’ read a press release. ‘All 25 full-time and part-time staff employed at the premises in Hillidge Road were made redundant on September 16.’

However dealers have told us that they may lose payments on some cars that

Values increase MANHEIM Remarketing’s latest market analysis for cars reports that in September, average used car wholesale values increased by 5.4 per cent (£353) to £6,912 – the first increase since April.

Overall values in the fleet sector were up 3.5 per cent (£209) to £6,154; dealer part exchange values were up 3.5 per cent (£77) to £2,289; while manufacturer stock values increased by 7.8 per cent (£890) to £12,276 – due in part to a decrease in average age and mileage.

Mike Pilkington, managing director, Manheim Remarketing, said: ‘With supply of quality used stock into the wholesale market shorter than expected in September, the month has been characterised by dealers desperately hunting for quality vehicles.’

were sold by the auction house.

One dealer – who wished to remain anonymous – said: ‘We were called by our account manger on his personal phone who told us to keep things quiet.

‘We haven’t been able to speak to anyone really. Then we got a phone call this morning saying we can pick up our cars between 12 and 2pm. Cars that have been sold and not paid for will have to be claimed from the administrators.’

Dealers wishing to find out more should contact Begbies Traynor on 0113 2375560.

Aston Barclay sets dates for special Mercedes-Benz sales ASTON Barclay has announced its Chelmsford auction site will be holding special sales for Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

The firm’s state-of-the-art Essex venue will be holding standalone sales for at least 100 Mercedes-Benz and Smart vehicles in October, November and December.

All the entries will be offered online via Aston Barclay’s ‘LIVE’ system and the special sales are sure to give buyers a great opportunity to buy cars direct from the German brand.

Thursday October 30 is the date of the next sale, followed by November 17 and December 22.

Sales start at 10.30am.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 77

Safe&Sound Dealer Newhall Cars

Stand Your Ground with ‘Safe&Sound’ Whilst the economy begins to emerge from a recession, the rate of inflation still remains high and the continued lack of consumer confidence has undoubtedly had a dramatic effect on sales in the used car business.

With customer footfall down, car dealers will need to look at alternative ways in which to entice buyers into their showrooms. It is vital for them to stand out from the crowd. In these toughest of trading conditions successful used car dealerships need to present customers with something a little different, a package that separates them from the competition and enables them to offer their customers total peace of mind when buying a used car.

2011 AWARDS

Winner Identifying this need for a competitive edge, the WMS Group have designed the ultimate warranty package ‘Safe&Sound’ that is good for both the motor trade industry and the car buyer. Their research showed that the top three things that car buyers looked for were safety, value for money and reliability – ‘Safe&Sound’ was developed to cover these requirements, plus take care of those additional worries such as whether the mileage is correct and if breakdown cover is provided.

This unique programme guarantees customers complete peace of mind when making the important decision to buy a used car, and has been personally endorsed by Sir Stirling Moss OBE who describes it as 'a winning car warranty scheme for motorists in the UK.'

Safe&Sound is only available from a network of appointed dealers who embrace the very highest standards of customer service. The programme includes a wear and tear 6 month all mechanical and electrical warranty*, 60 point vehicle inspection, 6 month comprehensive recovery package, provenance check (HPI), mileage verification, independent valuation from the UsedCarExpert.co.uk and a dealer buy-back guarantee. This market leading, value added car warranty package is automatically included with EVERY qualifying vehicle sold by a ‘Safe&Sound’ approved dealership. Until now there has been no other programme like this for dealers that combine all seven elements.

Newhall Cars of West Kirby were one of the first dealerships to join the ‘Safe&Sound’ dealer network and report that their customers have been very impressed by the scheme which has assisted the sales team in converting prospects to actual sales.

Nick Marrs Group Sales Manager for Newhall Cars comments: “Offering our customers the innovative ‘Safe&Sound’ warranty package has undoubtedly (re-enforced) customer confidence in our used car offering and given them the ultimate peace of mind in their purchase. The scheme has added great value to our sales package and has most definitely set us apart from our competitors, giving customers a compelling reason to choose their car from Newhall as opposed to one of our rivals”.

To find out more information about the scheme visit

www.safeandsound.co.uk

*Wear and tear applies to vehicles up to 6 years and 60,000 miles at the policy inception date that have not exceeded 85,000 miles at the time of claim.

A support product is available for vehicles which have exceeded these parameters. Please note that service items are specifically excluded.

Nick continues: “We believe that the six month mechanical and electrical warranty and the comprehensive recovery package is definitely the key selling point in this package. In the past many of our customers have remarked that the vast majority of car warranties are ‘not worth the paper they are written on!’ However this warranty really does give the ultimate protection and our customers have recognised this, so it is safe to say that this has definitely been a deciding factor in closing the sale. We have found that the benefits of buying a ‘Safe&Sound’ car appeals to all customer profiles and the personal endorsement of the scheme by Sir Stirling Moss is the icing on the cake as it re-enforces the brand integrity.

When customers see the ‘Safe&Sound’ flags on our forecourt they know they are going to buy a safe car and make a sound investment.”

The WMS Group are currently recruiting dealerships nationwide that would like to become part of the 'Safe&Sound' network. In a highly competitive market under tough trading conditions 'Safe&Sound' really can help your dealership to gain competitive advantage and maximise profit opportunities.

For further information, please call Eric Stone on 07789 682502 or Malcolm McIntosh on 07770 343330.

DATA FILE.

..in association with

Thestatistics Used Cars n Top 10 Searches n SMMT Sales Data

Dealers could be in for another five years of slow new car sales T

he new car market could remain flat for three to five years, according to the chief executive of the SMMT. Paul Everitt, right, explained that until buyers become more confident, dealers and car makers are in for a rough ride, and he revealed to us the chance of the scrappage scheme ever being revived is highly unlikely.

‘We simply haven’t made the progress this year that we thought we would,’ he said. ‘At the beginning of the year we were all thinking it would be a tough first half then we’d see growth, but we just haven’t seen that at all.

‘We need consumers to feel more confident. I feel like Arsene Wenger when I say it, but confidence is easy to lose, however, it takes a long time to get it back!’

Everitt said a squeeze on incomes, little or no rises in salaries and stagnant house prices were all causing problems with consumer confidence.

‘The things that previously buoyed the economy, such as houses gaining in value, are not happening,’ he added.

‘Before, people would release equity from their homes and buy what they wanted and others felt more comfortable taking on debt when they had an asset that was increasing.

‘The new car market is likely to remain relatively flat – between 1.9m and 2.1m – for the next three to five years.

‘It is always difficult making this kind of prophecy but in 2012/13/14 I can’t

see a lot that will make a big difference.

It will take that period of time for car buyers to come to terms with a new kind of reality.’

The last time the auto industry faced such tough times, the Labour government introduced the scrappage scheme which saw buyers encouraged to trade in 10-year-old cars in exchange for cash off new models. Everitt says we’re unlikely to ever see a scheme like it again.

‘Scrappage was a great thing and did a great job,’ he said.

‘But I think we would struggle to convince a government that is running an austerity programme to launch another one.

‘They are telling everyone that the profligacy of the previous decade is the reason for the current austerity and that people need to balance their budgets.

‘I don’t think they would see a £300-400m expenditure as the sort of thing they would want to do. And that’s even with the last one essentially selffunded by VAT.’

Kelleher

Market insight

Browsing to buying...

E

arlier this year we launched a new television advertising campaign in the Yorkshire area. As part of the process to ensure that our new campaign resonated with our target market, we conducted several rounds of research to pinpoint the most important elements for consumers when choosing which website to look for a new car on.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the number one thing that consumers were looking for when they arrived on a new site was evidence that the cars for sale were trustworthy, and had been history-checked to ensure that they were not stolen, written off or had outstanding finance owing on them. While it may be tempting to assume that all consumers will know by your reputation that the cars for sale on your site are safe to buy, 61 per cent stated explicitly that they wanted this reassurance.

Forty-nine per cent of the people that we spoke to also stressed how important it was to see good-quality images of the vehicles for sale on any site they visited.

The third biggest priority for consumers looking for a new car (47 per cent) was information on the reliability of the seller – i.e. you!

Lastly, over 45 per cent of the people that we spoke to said that in order for them to use a site, the search had to be both really easy to use and have the functionality to allow them to search by criteria other than make or model e.g. fuel efficiency, colour, insurance group etc.

By covering all of the above factors on your site we believe that you will stand the best possible chance of converting visitors into buyers.

Who is Dermot Kelleher?

He is head of research at Motors.co.uk. Find out more about how the portal can help you on their website or call 0845 265 6000.

sales@motors.co.uk

0845 265 6000 www.motors.co.uk/mediacentre

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 79

DATA FILE.

Thestatistics Used Cars n Top 10 Searches n SMMT Sales Data

The most searched-for cars on Motors.co.uk

Most popular manufacturer 1 Ford 2 Vauxhall 3 Volkswagen 4 BMW 5 Audi 6 Peugeot 7 Mini 8 Mercedes-Benz 9 Toyota 10 Renault Most popular models 1 Ford Focus 2 Ford Fiesta 3 BMW 3 Series 4 Volkswagen Golf 5 Vauxhall Corsa 6 Vauxhall Astra 7 Ford Mondeo 8 Peugeot 206 9 Audi A3 10 Renault Clio most popular sub £10k cars 1 Ford Focus 2 Ford Fiesta 3 Vauxhall Corsa 4 Vauxhall Astra 5 Peugeot 206 6 Renault Clio 7 Volkswagen Polo 8 Vauxhall Zafira 9 Peugeot 307 10 Ford Ka

New car sales are down – but it’s a tiny drop S

eptember saw car registrations fall ‘just’ 0.8 per cent, the latest figures from the SMMT reveal.

The month saw 332,476 new cars registered, just 0.8 per cent down on last year, and represents almost 17 per cent of the annual market.

‘The all-important September market outperformed expectations and is less than one per cent below last year at 332,476 units,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive.

‘We expected 2011 to be a challenging year and we are on track for a full-year total of around 1.92m new car registrations, five per cent below 2010.

‘SMMT has revised down its 2012 registrations forecast to 1.96m units; a reflection of the continued weakness in UK domestic demand and the uncertainty across European economies.

‘It is important government acts to sustain an investment-led recovery and implements measures to encourage more private sector investment in R&D, skills, new

The all-important September market out-performed expectations, says SMMT plants and machinery.’

Sue Robinson, director of the RMI National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers across the UK, added: ‘Although it is positive to see a rise in fleet car sales volumes, there is still great cause for concern in the retail car market.

‘Consumers are still experiencing rising household expenses and diminishing disposable income.

Those that do have access to disposable income are still nervous about purchasing big-ticket items. Instead they are putting off larger

‘‘

purchases until there are signs that the economy has begun to recover.

‘The government needs to look at schemes that could improve consumer confidence and boost spending, a message that we gave to all political parties at the recent party conferences.’

September saw the fleet market remain strong, but private demand slipped further, down 9.3 per cent representing 46.7 per cent of the September total, down from 51 per cent in 2010.

The Ford Fiesta was the best-selling car in the month and remains number one in the year-to-date figures.

There is still great cause for concern in the retail car market.

sales@motors.co.uk

0845 265 6000 www.motors.co.uk/mediacentre 80 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

..in association with

SMMT sales data Sept/year to date

Lotus -82.76%

Porsche 52.59%

Figures supplied by SMMT

September Marque

Abarth Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Audi Bentley BMW Cadillac Chevrolet Chrysler Citroen Corvette Daihatsu Daimler Dodge Fiat Ford Honda Hummer Hyundai Infiniti Jaguar Jeep Kia Land Rover Lexus Lotus Maserati Mazda Mercedes-Benz MG MINI Mitsubishi Nissan Perodua Peugeot Porsche Proton Renault Saab SEAT Skoda smart Ssangyong Subaru Suzuki Toyota Vauxhall Volkswagen Volvo Other British Other Imports Total

2011

267 1,964 142 18,588 135 18,184 0 1,644 354 11,538 0 0 0 0 7,025 43,350 9,690 0 11,562 22 3,295 442 9,729 6,230 1,601 5 41 7,108 15,282 43 9,690 1,594 18,573 71 16,902 943 42 11,245 272 6,612 6,950 766 21 573 4,550 13,019 37,472 29,250 5,443 163 84 332,476

% market share

0.08 0.59 0.04 5.59 0.04 5.47 0.00 0.49 0.11 3.47 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.11 13.04 2.91 0.00 3.48 0.01 0.99 0.13 2.93 1.87 0.48 0.00 0.01 2.14 4.60 0.01 2.91 0.48 5.59 0.02 5.08 0.28 0.01 3.38 0.08 1.99 2.09 0.23 0.01 0.17 1.37 3.92 11.27 8.80 1.64 0.05 0.03

2010

Year to date (YTD) % market share

2011 % Change

244 1,571 124 15,889 141 18,673 3 2,274 289 12,856 0 29 0 211 9,365 46,389 12,176 3 8,431 26 2,929 383 8,257 5,788 1,220 29 66 8,611 14,426 32 7,567 2,691 15,767 99 18,309 618 89 14,225 1,212 5,382 5,463 1,405 14 648 4,557 14,636 42,235 24,701 4,965 95 133 335,246

0.07 0.47 0.04 4.74 0.04 5.57 0.00 0.68 0.09 3.83 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.06 2.79 13.84 3.63 0.00 2.51 0.01 0.87 0.11 2.46 1.73 0.36 0.01 0.02 2.57 4.30 0.01 2.26 0.80 4.70 0.03 5.46 0.18 0.03 4.24 0.36 1.61 1.63 0.42 0.00 0.19 1.36 4.37 12.60 7.37 1.48 0.03 0.04

9.43 25.02 14.52 16.99 -4.26 -2.62 -100.00 -27.70 22.49 -10.25 0.00 -100.00 0.00 -100.00 -24.99 -6.55 -20.42 -100.00 37.14 -15.38 12.50 15.40 17.83 7.64 31.23 -82.76 -37.88 -17.45 5.93 34.38 28.06 -40.77 17.80 -28.28 -7.68 52.59 -52.81 -20.95 -77.56 22.85 27.22 -45.48 50.00 -11.57 -0.15 -11.05 -11.28 18.42 9.63 71.58 -36.84 -0.83

1,085 9,480 852 92,324 851 90,727 0 10,073 798 54,967 0 3 0 0 34,192 214,628 39,564 0 49,091 224 11,337 1,669 43,253 28,684 6,162 277 311 27,070 65,071 227 38,147 8,383 77,184 449 77,900 4,596 375 53,341 4,046 28,862 36,297 4,029 32 2,174 16,951 58,118 188,113 143,459 26,115 929 674 1,553,094

%market share

0.07 0.61 0.05 5.94 0.05 5.84 0.00 0.65 0.05 3.54 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.20 13.82 2.55 0.00 3.16 0.01 0.73 0.11 2.78 1.85 0.40 0.02 0.02 1.74 4.19 0.01 2.46 0.54 4.97 0.03 5.02 0.30 0.02 3.43 0.26 1.86 2.34 0.26 0.00 0.14 1.09 3.74 12.11 9.24 1.68 0.06 0.04

2010

%market share % Change

1,154 6,106 845 81,739 806 82,049 23 11,223 1,184 59,218 2 165 2 737 43,857 230,426 52,275 4 51,815 121 13,133 1,614 47,523 30,790 5,326 387 383 37,810 59,220 250 32,820 9,810 71,178 640 89,234 4,969 639 75,791 4,177 26,152 32,527 6,355 220 3,078 17,701 71,947 198,623 138,211 29,910 867 623 1,635,659

0.07 0.37 0.05 5.00 0.05 5.02 0.00 0.69 0.07 3.62 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.05 2.68 14.09 3.20 0.00 3.17 0.01 0.80 0.10 2.91 1.88 0.33 0.02 0.02 2.31 3.62 0.02 2.01 0.60 4.35 0.04 5.46 0.30 0.04 4.63 0.26 1.60 1.99 0.39 0.01 0.19 1.08 4.40 12.14 8.45 1.83 0.05 0.04

-5.98 55.26 0.83 12.95 5.58 10.58 -100.00 -10.25 -32.60 -7.18 -100.00 -98.18 -100.00 -100.00 -22.04 -6.86 -24.32 -100.00 -5.26 85.12 -13.68 3.41 -8.99 -6.84 15.70 -28.42 -18.80 -28.41 9.88 -9.20 16.23 -14.55 8.44 -29.84 -12.70 -7.51 -41.31 -29.62 -3.14 10.36 11.59 -36.60 -85.45 -29.37 -4.24 -19.22 -5.29 3.80 -12.69 7.15 8.19 -5.05

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 81

data file.

Alex Goy

all torque

A love-hate relationship and a trip back in time

T

his year’s RTOTY was a pretty awesome affair for all concerned. We had some of the best metal on sale to play in. We had bendy, twisty Welsh roads and we had Batchelor’s wit to keep us giggling when the weather turned from bad to build-an-ark. Which it did.

Personally, my favourite of the bunch was the Aston Martin Virage, mostly because I really like Astons.

And because there’s no shame in wanting British engineering to take front and centre.

The Aston is lovingly crafted in the UK. It’s very pretty. However, there was another example of British engineering on the fleet: The Caterham R400 Superlight.

Engineered in the middle of the last century and barely altered since, the Caterham offers drivers the opportunity to step back in time and learn how drivers used to combat constipation back in t’day.

I won’t mince my words – I hated the thing. It’s dated, noisy, uncomfortable, rickety and designed for people with long legs and tiny bodies.

Cartoon characters, basically.

Before I got in, editor James Baggott told me: ‘This is most extreme thing you’ll ever drive. Full throttle will spin it.’ Oh good. And it’d just started raining. Time to dig out my dry cleaner’s number.

The drive to the photo location was long and rainy.

The roof started leaking, which meant that not only was it raining outside, but inside as well. So I couldn’t see.

Looking behind was tricky, too – the wing mirrors move with every bump (due to their being attached to cloth doors) and, thanks to a beard-spec four-point harness, you can’t use your eyes to look rearwards because you’re pinned in place.

Let’s face it, having a Caterham of any form to merely get from A to B is pretty pointless.

You can’t see anything, it takes ages to get in and out of it, in the wet it will try to kill you and the crash protection is the pink, squidgy bit behind the wheel.

But if ‘B’ is a sunny, empty Welsh B-road? Well... I can’t think of anything better.

‘It’s dated, noisy, rickety and designed for people with long legs and tiny bodies.’

Who is Alex Goy?

He‘s a motoring journalist with a lot to say. He also produces a brilliant podcast. Check it out by typing bit.ly/alexgoy into a browser 82 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

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W: zype.co.uk T: 0118 912 2256 E: donna.barradale@zype.co.uk Info: Easy to use, effective video tool for dealers. Turn web browsers into customers with live and personalised video.

W: british-car-auctions.co.uk T: 0844 875 3480 E: liveonline@bca-group.com Info: BCA offers more vehicles and more ways to buy them with physical sales, Live Online and Bid Now/Buy Now.

W: karcher.co.uk T: 01295 752142 E: auto@karcher.co.uk Info: High pressure cleaners, vacuums, parts cleaners, floor cleaners, sweepers and carpet cleaners – for automotive needs.

W: autotorq.com T: 020 7384 8501 E: enquiries@autotorq.com Info: Automotive digital marketing.

Services include web platform programmes, social media campaigns, SEO, PPC & mobile marketing.

W: www.autosonshow.tv T: 0800 644 6894 E: info@autosonshow.tv Info: Sell more cars with our multi-award-winning video solution. On-demand video, plus live video streaming of your stock.

W: manheimremarketing.co.uk T: 0844 856 4545 Info: For further information please call sales support on 0844 856 4545 or visit the website.

W: Autotrade-mail.com T: 01243 523000 E: sales@autotrade-mail.com Info: UK’s leading online real time used-car trading network.

The original and the best. Call for your free two week trial.

W: gforces.co.uk T: 0845 658 9290 E: info@gforces.co.uk Info: Multi award winning car dealer website design and digital marketing. Find out why we keep winning awards.

W: intelegent.co.uk T: 0844 811 7273 E: info@intelegent.co.uk Info: Full telephone answering and service booking with full recording of every call. Overflow calls or full reception service.

W: badgemaster.co.uk T: 01623 723112 E: customerserivces@ badgemaster.co.uk Info: Call for advice, brochure, samples, fixed price quotation and our no quibble best price guarantee.

W: carrecruitment.com T: 0333 700 3030 E: admin@carrecruitment.com Info: Automotive recruitment specialists with flexible and cost effective recruitment solutions you can rely on and trust.

W: webzation.com T: 0845 2260503 E: info@webzation.com Info: Web enable your showroom sales process. Lead generation, online finance and product videos.

See why dealers are choosing us.

FEATURED LISTING: Car dealer club FREE LEGAL ADVICE with every car dealer subscription CAR DEALER CLUB gives dealers of all sizes access to free legal advice from our motor trade lawyers worth £199.

Members get a copy of Car Dealer Magazine every month as well as access to a host of discounts from motor trade suppliers – all for a paltry £24.99 annual subscription!

This offer is only available to new subscribers, so if you haven’t renewed your subscription then you need to do so to gain access to this very special offer. Signing up is simple. Type CarDealerClub.com into a web browser

CarDealer.Club to be taken straight to the section on our website where you can find out more and join up!

Alternatively you can send us a cheque for £24.99 made payable to Blackball Media Ltd to Car Dealer Club, Blackball Media, 2a Church Road, Gosport, Hants, PO12 2LB and we’ll send you details of your Car Dealer Club membership by return post.

To have your details included here call (023) 9252 2434 and ask for Suppliers Guide listings

guide

If you’re looking for a motor trade supplier you can find the details of selected companies here

mini test: Kia Picanto

Display Products

Cleaning Products

Car dealer says HHHHH

Portfolio Display

Drymotive

Online Advertising

Valeting Services

HugoFox.com

AutoKlean

This is the all-new version of Kia’s city car with a body penned by Peter Schreyer incorporating the now familiar ‘tiger’ family face, sharp creases down the flanks, vertical lights at the rear, and a quality cabin.

The previous Picanto was not only a sales winner in the UK – it sold more than 300,000 units in Europe. Gone are the slightly gawky looks of the old model and in comes a car that looks striking and very sharp. It’s a very convincing package

W: portfolio-display.co.uk T: 01422 370021 E: sales@portfolio-display.co.uk Info: Automotive display products, pricing units, car-top display, flags and poles, key tags, tax discs, stickers and keyrings.

with only a tight boot disappointing – although it is bigger than the outgoing Picanto.

Price: £7,995, tested in Issue 39

W: hugofox.com T: 01635 291271 E: team@hugofox.com Info: This up-and-coming new kid on the block offers 6 months advertising (unlimited number of vehicles) for £49. Essential.

W: drymotive.com T: 0845 8540057 E: sales@drymotive.co.uk Info: Suppliers of waterless car cleaning products that are quick and easy to use and produce an amazing quality finish.

W: autoklean.co.uk T: 0845 408 2975 E: dave@autoklean.co.uk Info: Competitive pricing, a service made to your requirement and all chemicals and equipment to carry out the best job.

Insurance

Auctions

Key Cabinets

Vehicle Remarketing

Automotive CRM

Think Insurance

HBC

Keytracker Ltd

mfldirect.co.uk

Contact Advantage Limited

Finance

Smart Repair

Warranties

mini test: Skoda Greenline II

First Response

Junair Spraybooths

WMS

Car dealer says HHHHH

W: think-ins.co.uk T: 0844 573 2850 E: enquiries@think-ins.co.uk Info: Trade insurance experts. Road risks and/or combined. Instalments.

10% new client discount. Liabilities.

Up to 75% bonus discount.

W: frfl.co.uk T: 0115 946 6370 E: Visit bit.ly/firstresponse Info: We always encourage our returning customers to visit the same dealer for their next car leading to Many Happy Returns!

W: hbc.co.uk T: 01268 696444 E: info@hbc.co.uk Info: The safest hands in salvage, HBC are prompt & efficient and operate in accordance with current industry guidelines.

W: junair.co.uk T: 01706 363 555 E: sales@junair.co.uk Info: Looking to increase revenue?

Junair can supply a complete range of equipment at competitive prices for Smart and wheel repairs.

W: keytracker.com T: 0121 559 9000 E: sales@keytracker.com Info: No more lost keys. Best prices complete systems from just 10p per key! Seals, pegs & hangers from stock.

W: wmsgroupuk.com T: 0844 477 4909 E: sales@wmsgroupuk.com Info: Experience, expertise, leadership and innovation. The nation’s favourite. The dealer’s preferred partner.

W: netcars.com T: 0800 138 9135 E: info@netcars.com Info: Only pay for enquiries with the UK’s fastest growing car sales website.

Telemarketing

Online Advertising

DSG Finance

On Target

Netcars.com

W: ontargettelemarketing.co.uk T: 0844 811 0483 E: sales@ontargettelemarketing.co.uk Info: Service & MOT follow up specialists. Rejuvenation sales calls, launch events, integration with your system or stand alone.

W: contact-advantage.com T: 08452 26 26 50 E: info@contact-advantage.com Info: Use Contact Advantage to drive efficiencies, enhance service, increase profitability and improve customer retention.

The Skoda boffins have been working on their much-applauded Greenline technology and have updated it with the Greenline II. Unlike the previous Greenline range, Greenline II is not a specific trim level, rather a trim within trims.

So customers can have the green model in any trim; starting at £19,790 and topping out at £24,040 for the Elegance Greenline II.

Finance W: itsabsolutelyfree.co.uk T: 0844 880 0660 E: absolutely@dsgfs.com Info: Give your customers an improved online experience by presenting finance options that they can configure themselves.

W: mfldirect.co.uk T: 0870 6000 288 E: sales@mfldirect.co.uk Info: For the largest selection of low mileage, single owner, dealer maintained vehicles available to the UK trade see mfldirect.co.uk

Price: £24,040, tested in Issue 38

Finance

Warranties

Finance

Auctions

Online advertising

Black Horse

Car Care Plan

Moneybarn

FullAuction

UsedCar.co.uk

W: blackhorse.co.uk/Motor T: 02921 386338 E: michael.mcpartlin@blackhorse.co.uk Info: We’re the specialists in finance, offering vehicle finance at point of sale though our network of over 7,000 dealers.

W: carcareplan.co.uk T: 0844 573 7591 E: salesinfo@carcareplan.co.uk Info: Choose the market leading supplier of vehicle warranty and GAP insurance – 1m customers every year can’t be wrong!

Getting your company featured here is more affordable than you imagine. Here’s why

W: moneybarn.com T: 0845 50 50 192 E: mail@moneybarn.com Info: The leading non-prime car finance provider, offering finance for consumers with impaired credit via a nationwide broker network.

W: www.fullauction.co.uk T: 08455 611224 E: fullauction@coopersolutions.co.uk Info: Trade-only, online auction site.

Free to list, buy and register. Visit our website or call the telephone number above.

W: UsedCar.co.uk T: 01254 260448 E: support@UsedCar.co.uk Info: Free used car advertising for car dealers, that really works, with absolutely no hidden costs.

Prices for 12-month listings: £29 per month.

Single months are £49 per month

Prices exclude VAT. Adverts are invoiced after it has been included in the magazine. 12-month bookings are payable up front.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 83

data file.

James Litton trader tales

So what should you do if you’re short of your target?

P

re-registration. A motor-trade term which strikes fear into the heart of every franchised sales manager in the land. Despite the stifling effect this process has on a dealer, the bonus payments are just too important to banks and budgets to be ignored.

With two weeks left of any quarter, a sales manager will know their registration projection, achievement and target better than the birthdays of their families.

It is no blessing to find yourself on or ahead of target with two weeks left. You then become a target of the manufacturer for over-achievement. The only positive aspect of pre-registration in this situation is that you do hold the cards in the negotiation. It is likely some hefty bonus payments will be offered.

If you find yourself a little short, your next resource to be plundered is demonstrators and service loan cars. Three months feels like an eternity to wait when you know there are a dozen registrations waiting for you. However, while the new flock may be delivered with haste, the returning tribe are not as welcome – especially for those suffering meagre write-down allowances.

The worst position is to find yourself a long way short. I have been in this position more times than I would like. Therefore I do have a few tips for those who find themselves in that sticky situation: n Cheapest is not always best. You may have a lead in car at £6,995 but at £5,995 a customer will more often than not choose the new car option. n Avoid the crowds. Don’t pick models that the dealer 20 miles down the road will have. The internet savvy customer (pretty much everyone) will use this to beat you down on price. n Blow them out the door. Forget trying to hold on to every penny, the longer they lurk the bigger the problem. n Still sell new. Do not beat the salesman who could not convert a new car prospect, the easiest way to avoid the same problem next quarter is to complete the task early.

‘It is no blessing to find yourself on target with two weeks left.’

Traderdir Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo

Aston Martin

Sturgess Alfa Romeo

Benfield Alfa Romeo

Aston Martin

Aston Martin

Audi

Audi

HWM Aston Martin

Wimbledon Carriage Company Limited

Walton & Epsom Audi

John Crisp 07885 211872

Mark Loughnane 01932 220404 07739 519306

BMW

BMW

Bentley

Williams Rochdale

Vines Group

Harwoods

Bentley

Chrysler

Daihatsu

Jack Barclay Bentley

Horsham Car Centre

Alan Nicholas 07703199478 alan@horshamcarcentre.co.uk Best buyer for all late Chrysler/ Jeep

Stephen Barnard 0208 504 0017

Daihatsu

Ferrari

Ferrari

Proven Daihatsu

HR Owen Ferrari Nick Carey

Scott Allen 0116 275 8800 scottallen@ sturgesscars.co.uk n Buying used Alfa Romeos up to five years old

Paul Spires paul.spires@hwm.co.uk 01932 240611 07850 326755

Craig Fenlon 01706 717700 07808 092110

Derek Bennett 020 7629 7444 07713 887 88

Keith Pattison 01428 652554 07771 547406

Dax Pearce dax.pearce@Benfield motorgroup.com Alfa stock wanted up to 40,000 miles. n Call for immediate bid. 07501 257220 or 0191 211 2200

Dominic McConnon 07776 246905 dominic.mcconnon@ vinesguildford.bmw-net.co.uk n Buying used BMWs up to five years old

Mangoletsi (Holdings) Limited Fraser info@mangoletsi.com 01565 722899

Simon Elkin 01798 877211 07803 088711

Woodford Motor Co Ltd

Monza – Ferrari

nick.carey@hrowen.co.uk 07824 362229

Andrew Ludlow ferraribuyer@ntlworld.com 07889 305 053

Ferrari

Fiat

Fiat

Maranello Ferrari

Glyn Hopkin Ltd

Sturgess Fiat

John Dutton 07817 019 456

Glyn Hopkin 07730 711889

Ian Callis 0116 254 1717 icallis@sturgess cars.co.uk n Buying used Fiats up to five years olds

Who is James Litton?

James runs theinternetcarlot.co.uk. He's been in the business for 12 years and always has something to say about the industry he loves.

84 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

To have your details included here log on to CarDealerMagazine.co.uk/trader-directory.htm

ectory

Finding the right cars at the right prices isn’t always that easy. On top of that, selling cars that you don’t necessarily want to put on the forecourt can be tough too. Our Trader Directory aims to alleviate these problems.

Instead of thumbing through endless pages in

price guides looking for the right trader, you can consult the Trader Directory, either in the magazine or online, and find them right away.

If you’d like to be included you can submit your details in the Directory find out how at the bottom of this page.

Ford

Ford

Ford

Honda

Honda

Benfield

Benfield Alfa Romeo

Lifestyle Ford

Honda

Thames Honda Group

Honda

Hyundai

Hyundai

Jaguar

Jaguar

Holdcroft Honda

Bushey Heath Hyundai

Hatfield Hyundai

Sturgess Jaguar

Charles Hurst Jaguar

Jeep

Kia

Kia

Lexus

Land Rover

Horsham Car Centre

Tower Hill Garage

Chapelhouse Kia

Lexus Twickenham

Sturgess Land Rover

Des Sammon des.sammon@benfield-ford. co.uk 07831 828024

Luke Regan / Chris Thursfield 07971 543884 07813 737 921

Alan Nicholas 07703199478 alan@horshamcarcentre.co.uk Best buyer for all late Chrysler/ Jeep

Dax Pearce dax.pearce@Benfield motorgroup.com Alfa stock wanted up to 40,000 miles. n Call for immediate bid. 07501 257220 or 0191 211 2200

Jon O’Donoghue 0208 420 5100 07976 177 959

Lee Gilmour 01923 263700 07768 367085

Richard Walker 07748 177889

Mark Littler/Tim Barnes 0161 767 9500 07920 599 394 07787 921 222

Andy / Neil 01925 570800 07891 531129 07825 311 297

Brayley Honda Mark Corr 07812 342 635

Chris Allen chrisallen@sturgess jaguar.co.uk 0116 282 6868 n Buying Used Jaguars up to five years old

Dave Cooper / Steve Gurr 07831 704134 07921 408983

Jerome Chandiram 0208 845 3551

Stewart Begg 0208 938 1300 07534 927 821

Chris Allen chrisallen@sturgess jaguar.co.uk 0116 282 6969 n Buying used Land Rovers up to five years old

Land Rover

mini test: Audi A7

Lotus

Maserati

Beadles Land Rover

Car dealer says HHHHH

Murray Motor Company

Meridien Modena

Greg Wilcox g.wilcox@beadles-landrover. co.uk 07740 717209

Difficult to believe that apart from the R8, this is the first properly good-looking Audi for years. It’s fast too.

Brandon Ware 0131 200 8888 0750 326 0186

Warren Butt 02380 283404 07860 530703

Price: £63,335, tested in Issue 39

Maserati

Mazda

Mini

Mitsubishi

Nissan

HR Owen

Lifestyle Mazda

Vines Group

North City Autos (Chingford)

Nissan

Ed Tyrrell 020 8524 8855 07736 610285 n Interested in low mileage FSH vehicles

Sturgess Nissan Ian Callis 0116 254 1717 icallis@sturgess cars.co.uk n Buying used Nissans up to five years olds

Nick Carey nick.carey@hrowen.co.uk 07824 362229

Mark Spowage 01293 845045 07974 770020

Dominic McConnon Buying used MINIs up to 5 years old 07776 246905 dominic.mcconnon @vinesguildford.bmw-net.co.uk

Toyota

Volvo

General

General

Want this spot?

Currie Motors Toyota

Sturgess Volvo

Sol Cars

Barry Freedman

Your advert here

Dave Cooper / Steve Gurr 07831 704134 07921 408983

Scott Allen 0116 275 8800 scottallen@ sturgesscars.co.uk n Buying used Volvos up to five years old

There’s also a more comprehensive list of traders on the website, updated throughout the month

Tim Hancock 07973722243 timfoxhancock@btopen world.com n Wanting part exchanges of all types up to 4k

01753 543105 07836 338694 barry.freedman@virgin.net n Trade buyer of PX vehicles anything up to £8k

Making sure you’re in front of other dealers when they need to trade their cars on is vital. And for £30 per month can you afford to miss out?

Prices for six month listings: £29.99 On Website Or £39.99 for Magazine & Website.

Payments can be made online via credit or debit card. Or send your cheque made payable to Blackball Media Ltd to Car Dealer, 2a Church Road, Gosport, Hants PO12 2LB. Your details will appear in the next issue.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 85

The industry’s best kept secret DID YOU KNOW THAT OVER 35% OF ALL FRANCHISED DEALERS SUBSCRIBE TO AUTOTRADE-MAIL?

P E RC E N TAG E O F F R A N C H I S E D D E A L E R S W H O A R E S U B S C R I B I N G M E M B E R S 53%

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77%

57%

38%

45%

29%

39%

17%

59%

65%

42%

31%

27%

29%

48%

27%

20%

37%

41%

27%

60%

24%

30%

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34%

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42%

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SHARES.

..in association with ASE-global.com

Takeover talk boosts Lookers Prospects for recovery are still in doubt, hindering progress on share prices

I

t has been a poor month across the majority of the listed retailers as the stock market guesses the effect that the current economic uncertainty is having on motor retail performance. This has seen a steady deterioration in the majority of the share prices as the market makes the (possibly correct) assumption that retailers are going to struggle to hit their forecast results.

The exception to this has been the Lookers share price which has once again been bolstered by takeover whispers.

There has been heavy trading in the shares as an institution disposed of a holding, which was supported by rumours that Lookers could receive another approach.

Where this approach could come from is slightly more unclear as it is unlikely that the other listed UK retailers have the appetite or ability to take over a business of Lookers’ size.

The approach would therefore have to come from

overseas or, more likely, from someone outside the industry looking to split the business up.

There has been less drastic movement at Pendragon over the past month with potential positive signs following rumours that the underwriters of the recent rights issue may have placed some of the stock they were forced to take up when the offer went undersubscribed.

The share is still trading at under 10p which represents 50 per cent of the price it reached during the summer high.

Vertu has continued on the acquisition trail with the purchase of Widnes Car Centre at the start of September. Vertu is due to release its halfyear results on October 19 and the market will look with interest at both the results and their forecasts for future trading.

Inchcape has been fluctuating significantly over recent months and has lost more than 30 per cent of its value since the summer.

Unlike the other listed UK motor retail stocks this movement has been largely driven by the perception of a slowdown in growth in Inchcape’s Asian markets hitting the value which had been built in as a result of their geographic diversification.

Cambria has also had a quieter month, having settled at or around its 52-week low as the market continues to digest the wish of Promethean to divest its investment.

The pre-close statement issued during September was positive and saw the business producing good results whilst very actively looking to expand.

The acquisition of Southampton Vauxhall continued this strategy and it will be interesting to see whether the current market conditions put a brake on expansion desires.

The remaining listed companies (HR Owen and Caffyns) had quiet months.

Looking at the motor sector it would appear that there are insufficient signs of the recovery approaching for the share prices to start to pick up momentum.

This does, however, provide low valuations which could see significant growth for long-term investors.

Who is Mike Jones?

He‘s executive chairman of ASE Global. If you want to talk to him about his column call 0161 493 1930

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Advice

cars

data fiLe.

Well done to all you survivors... the only way is up now!

A

fter five years of writing a monthly column, I feel it’s time to stand aside and let in some fresh ideas and opinions.

Jonny Such is already known to you and from next month will provide Car Dealer’s closing remarks.

I started writing a column because I wanted to raise and improve the profile of sub-prime lending, and in April 2007 when I wrote about the issues surrounding one of the biggest US sub-prime mortgage lenders, which I saw reflected in some of the questionable sub-prime lending practices and ethics that were prevalent in the UK at the time, I didn’t realise that we were at the start of what would soon be called the Credit Crunch.

So looking back, I really didn’t need to worry about raising the profile of sub-prime lending! Before 2007 I had to occasionally explain what sub-prime lending was but I’ve never had to do so since. Of course the profile that sub-prime got wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.

It’s often said that hindsight’s a wonderful thing and the ability to look back and see the broader picture is often a useful exercise (as long as we also learn from this and act differently as a consequence).

Specifically in my own sub-prime finance market, the recession forced a number of companies out of business that had poor business models and/or ethics and/or practices and frankly that’s good news for the future of our industry.

As the market opens up once more I can only hope that learning has taken place and we don’t see a return to over-indebting customers, excessive loan-to-values, and unfair or inappropriate collection practices; which are

examples of the ‘jam-today’ mentality that existed in the past.

My advice to dealers is (and always will be) to choose your finance partners with care as there are good and decent finance companies out there that will look after both you and the customer.

Become associated with one that doesn’t and your dealership’s reputation will suffer by association.

Looking forward, we may still see a further slow-down in our market over the coming years but only a little, I think, as we’re nearing the bottom of this depression and, frankly, the only way is up!

Don

Brough sub-prime time

‘The ability to look back and see the broader picture is often a useful exercise.’

For me there are good times ahead and I raise my hat to those companies that have stuck with it, evolved to meet the needs of the market, changed their business structures and practices as required and frankly did a great job during what will undoubtedly be seen as one of the most difficult decades in our market’s history.

There will be much for Jonny to comment on over the coming five years and I expect the grist for his writing mill will be a lot more positive and optimistic than the news stories and events that I’ve covered.

It’s been a privilege to share my musings with you.

Take care for now.

Who is Don Brough?

Don is chief executive officer of First Response Finance. For more information visit frfl.co.uk or call 0115 946 6370

Coming next month bangers4Ben 2011

31 teams head to Maranello and the home of Ferrari – but what will we be doing to our car this year?

Full report and pictures

90 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

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First Response Finance has been working with our people on their development, and providing them with great working environments so they can focus on providing the ʻbestʼ possible service in our market.

We are proud to have achieved a 2 Star accreditation out of a possible 3, and be classed as an ʻOutstandingʼ company In the Sunday Times Top 100 list.

If you want a ʻbest companiesʼ service in offering non prime motor finance, call us today on 0115 946 6317

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