May 17, 2012
Car Buying Guide
Hearty congratulations to Mazda and in particular the MX-5 on reaching its 100,000th new car sale in the UK twenty years after the first model arrived in British car showrooms, a fantastic milestone for a great little classic. The MX-5 was first unveiled at the Chicago Motor Show in 1989 and arrived in the UK in March 1990. It sold 2,246 units … [Read more...]
Selling cars is a very skilled business despite what many people might think. To be able to match an appropriate car with a suitable owner and get the price bit right takes training and experience with a liberal dose of personality and communication skills. During leaner times and occasions like we now find ourselves in, where supply has become … [Read more...]
When it comes to buying new cars it seems that there is still a long way to go before buyers and sellers can reach an agreement around price and, as they both have a vested interest in being at opposite ends of the pricing scale if you like, then perhaps they never will. More worrying is that despite major improvements both in technology, … [Read more...]
The fact that many car makers are struggling to supply new cars within an acceptable time frame is causing real concern for many dealers and they are losing customers to rival brands as a result. Even the ultra efficient Germans BMW, Audi and VW are being affected along with many others and sales personnel now have the unenviable task of trying … [Read more...]
It’s time once more for the Car Makers Premier League where each and every month we examine the top 20 manufacturers by number of units registered and see just how they look when compared with the previous month. At the end of the year who will be crowned champion? Who will drop out of the top 20 as the year unfolds and which high achievers will … [Read more...]
As the trickle of part exchanges arrive at action the distinct lack of cars has begun to re-heat demand. Most of the major auction houses have had many more buyers for far fewer cars and as a result some cars have been making, what we call in the trade, 'Brewster’s'. This was kind of predicted and may very well be only be temporary in nature … [Read more...]
I know we probably say it every year about this time and sorry for being boring but things just aren’t the same! I visited a few showrooms on the 1st in the hope that all staff would be far too busy to have time for me and look incredulously at me whilst exclaiming “don’t you know it’s the 1st of September?!” Well at the places I … [Read more...]
In the past here on MTI we have tended not to do too many car reviews. This was mainly because we thought the web was awash with them and our contributors preferred to voice their opinion about what they saw as other more pressing matters. Despite this the reviews we have done have all proved popular so we know there is an appetite for them. At … [Read more...]
We always scratch our heads when we don’t receive good service, OK we probably don’t we just get upset, but for the purposes of this article we scratch our heads. A situation which happens far too regularly and doesn’t seem to go away maybe illustrates why getting the service part right is so vital. Here’s the story, see if it sounds … [Read more...]
As September approaches dealers are scratching their heads thinking about how to encourage sales, which have been affected by various events. Last year the scrappage scheme was in full flow and was being marketed very well by the government and for many dealers it basically led to a procession of what we in the trade call ‘hands up ‘ customers … [Read more...]
How much has changed at Seat in the last 60 years? Not a great deal it appears since its humble beginnings. A tie-up between the Spanish government and Fiat saw Spain’s first car manufacturer take off. By re-badging the Fiat 600 and later the Panda, Seat struck a chord with cheap and affordable motoring and by 1967 Fiat increased its shareholding … [Read more...]
It seems that although Toyota left no stone unturned in their pursuit of saving their reputation (spending a £3bn marketing budget in the process) not everyone is convinced that they have totally succeeded. According to some of our sources in the world of Toyota things have somewhat stagnated and many people are seemingly just not convinced … [Read more...]
It appears so as less than 10 percent of the UK's top 200 car dealers are represented on social networking sites and most of those probably only use it because they think they should or that there marketing departments think they should. As a Google employee recently commented social media is like teen sex, everyone wants to do it but no one … [Read more...]
With fuel prices spiralling out of control once more, car drivers are being hit where it hurts more than most. What with VAT set to rise and new car prices having already creeping upwards It makes the job of finding a car which will not cost the national debt to maintain that much harder. It seems it is either price hikes or cuts but no increase in … [Read more...]
New car sales numbers are down for July by some 13% and not likely to improve much for August. The real worry however is September. According to our sources forward orders for the new reg plate are a fraction of what would normally be expected. However, for the consumer, this could be good news because there will be a reaction from both the … [Read more...]
I was having a pint with an old colleague who 'made his money and got out' and we were chewing the fat about the good old days where you could actually have a laugh whilst doing your job. He was commenting on the fact that today’s “modern salesperson” might not even go for a drink after work and discuss the days play if you like, and where, … [Read more...]
There is much talk at present about how the retail car sales business can improve the service it delivers to its customers. As a result a greater emphasis than perhaps ever before is being put on training and coaching staff to be better equipped to offer an enhanced experience whilst at the same time draw satisfaction from the process. The buzz … [Read more...]
The ongoing debate about whether buyers will eventually search for, locate and buy a car online without necessarily seeing and testing continues to divide the trade. Of course the companies which are gearing up for this will say that they make the process so user friendly that car buyers can feel totally confident that they are getting what they … [Read more...]
People in the motor trade love to make predictions and, of course they are not always. That said, I predict many more predictions by voices within the trade before the year is out. The latest batch come from car dealers, especially those in the franchised sector, who are predicting tough times ahead for the used car sector in the coming months. … [Read more...]
Well it’s finally happened; I have seen a car that’s even uglier than the Fiat Multipla. No way! I hear you cry, Yes way! I retort and then some. I was driving up the m6 after a long meeting with some contributors when I glanced across the inside lane, wondering why there appeared to be a queue of traffic forming, when I saw this thing in … [Read more...]
Dealers are really feeling the effect of the end of scrappage. The good times certainly rolled whilst the scheme was in place to the extent that many dealers would be excused for thinking that the recession was happening somewhere else. Those good times have long since passed but it seems many sales execs just haven’t switched on to the fact … [Read more...]
It appears that the motor trade is somewhat slower than other business sectors to take advantage of social media, thinking that perhaps it is something for the “youth” and not really seeing the benefits to their business. They are, it seems also frightened of the potential for bad publicity should they let the genie escape from the bottle. … [Read more...]
This time in 2009 dealers were gearing up for a successful new car month in September, mostly inflated it has to be said by scrappage. Fast forward to August 2010 and the order banks are as capacious as pair of space hoppers at present, with many dealers realising just how much impact scrappage had on ensuring a buoyant new reg month happened … [Read more...]
The school summer holidays are officially here and traditionally it can be a mixed bag for the trade. If the sun is shining customers head off to the sun in the UK, if not they head off abroad. We are great in the car business at talking the job down at any instance and the weather is perfect for this; too hot and we are all having barbecues, too … [Read more...]
Innovation and technological development are always at the forefront of a constantly evolving car industry. As a business we are always looking at ways of improving the products and the way in which we market them in order to engage with customers in an ever changing world. Since the internet has started to take such a lead role in virtually … [Read more...]
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