The resilience of the motor trade never ceases to amaze me. When medicine needs to be taken we glug it down like a drunk at a free bar. At present it is fairly brutal out there and although many cars are still sought after and fetching a premium price others are either not selling at all or going for beans. Car buyers are being choosy, and … [Read more...]

Watch out the sales are coming early! Have you noticed that the sale signs are about even though Christmas is still over 3 weeks away? There are promotional banners up everywhere and DFS must be feeling a little put out seeing as they have the 52 week sale more than adequately covered up till now. On a serious note though, the trigger happy … [Read more...]

There is huge focus in the industry about saving money and finding new and exploiting existing profit centres. Margins are under pressure like never before and stocking costs associated with ageing inventories are adding to the burden. The actual profit from the car itself is under server pressure and in some cases dealers will mark cars down at … [Read more...]

Why is it in this country everything takes so long and has to be so much aggravation? I know there is a trend towards blaming health and safety and pointless bureaucracy but I sometimes wonder whether we are just a nation of awkward sods. For example if you compare our car industry with our American cousins there are fundamental differences in … [Read more...]

Continuing the theme of sales execs in the modern world, it is interesting that whilst looking at how effective they are in terms of producing for their companies we often overlook how the customer really view today’s crop of sales people. In my role I get to observe many different sales execs across the board, both in a main dealer … [Read more...]

Although it’s not quite carrmageddon at present there are certainly some serious concerns in the used car market with many dealers holding ageing stock which they cannot achieve a satisfactory margin on. These things are not new and there are always periods of slack trading and lacklustre sales but the fusion of the euro crisis with the time … [Read more...]

Whilst chewing the fat (which was mostly contained within a particularly greasy bacon roll) down at the auction recently I got talking to a couple of sales managers I recognised from way back when who were taking a day out to check prices (and take advantage of the free breakfast on offer). We got onto the subject of the modern day sales exec … [Read more...]

The process of building trust in a business relies on having the right people coupled with a great vision statement. It entails setting out the stall and having all staff engage with delivering the same consistent message and level of service at every level of the business. With the increase in the utilization of social media within the motor … [Read more...]

Valuing cars in the trade is again proving a challenge when the market is so uncertain. We are again witnessing massive disparity between the two trade heavyweights Glass and CAP only they seem to have completely crossed to the other side compared to the values they were publishing earlier in the year. Without getting into the specifics there … [Read more...]

As we move into perhaps the most challenging time of the year for car dealers, it is perhaps worth considering that this is probably a very good time to actually be buying a new or used car. The reason being that dealers will look to thin down their inventories in anticipation of re-stocking for the inevitable December and January sales, so they … [Read more...]

If you listen to some people you would probably end up believing we are entering meltdown. Although I have to admit things are pretty tough out there, if you do the job correctly and work hard there are still rewards to be earned. If there are fewer customers around and enquiries are scarce then how do car dealers keep the kettle … [Read more...]

In car buying, whether new or used, habits have certainly changed for today’s consumer. This has largely been driven by the net but also by change itself; from the perspective of how car dealers wish to be viewed by their customers. The days of putting a few lines in the classifieds and having a half page spread in the motoring section of the … [Read more...]

You know what they say; if you don’t buy a ticket you can’t win the prize. I don’t know who first said those words but they are true, especially in the car business. Doing everything possible to convert enquiries into traffic is what it’s all about, and today, the way things are, it’s unforgivable if there is a lot of showroom traffic but … [Read more...]

The car industry is bracing itself for the seasonal downturn and although SUV’s will continue to rise in price at the onset of winter, in general there will be fewer customers around. Car dealers therefore will need to sharpen their pencils if they want to tempt whatever potential buyers there are out there into parting with their cash. In other … [Read more...]

What makes a successful car sales team? I’m sure there are many different opinions and theories based on different experiences over time; however the one thing that I think everybody would agree with is people. The right kind of people will promote the business and attract more customers while the wrong ones can be total blockers (or a … [Read more...]

Well September is done for another year and, although new car registrations are down slightly, considering we are in a little bit of schtuck globally – and all the good news is confined to the welsh rugby team - the motor trade is certainly doing its bit in encouraging a feel good factor. The thing is that in car sales we are used to being … [Read more...]