Car Dealer Magazine: Issue 69

collectors’ cover

CarDealerMag.co.uk | £3.50

Issue 69 | December 2013

daft skunk

Why Jaguar’s C-X75 is the ultimate skunkworks legend

PLUS WE DRIVE the cars you’ll never be able to sell NISSAN JUKE R

MAZDA MX-5 SUPERLIGHT

NISSAN MICRA 350SR

TOYOTA AYGO CRAZY

MITSUBISHI GRANDIS VIP LIMOUSINE

TOYOTA PICNIC GT4

HONDA CR-Z MUGEN

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IGNITION.

EDITORIAL EDITOR James Batchelor

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STAFF WRITER Jon Reay

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STAFF WRITER Sophie Williamson-Stothert

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head of design Graeme Windell

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ADVERTISING ADVERTISING Manager Duncan Chappell

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Advertising EXECUTIVE Cliff Culver

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CREDIT CONTROL & ADMINISTRATOR Pippa Marsden

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SUITS MANAGING DIRECTOR James Baggott

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OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Andy Entwistle

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Contributors James Litton, Tim Naylor, Tim Heavisides, Jonathan Such, Dave Brown, Gareth Bethell, Mal Hay, Leon Poultney, Daljinder Nagra, Diana Hargreaves, and John Bowman.

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CAR Welcome. AT Dealer we are

extremely lucky to be able to drive the latest cars before they arrive in your showrooms, so we can give you all the info you need to shift them from your forecourts.

Quite often we talk to the boss at the manufacturer’s or a salesperson better to understand the reasons why they’ve made that particular car and what dealers should be doing to help sell it.

But this month we’ve done things a little differently and got together a whole range of cars you will never be able to sell. These cars are the creations of some of the maddest minds around. They’re the types of cars that engineers work on when they’ve got a spare five minutes here and there and want to take time out from building the mundane stuff that sells.

And for this feature we haven’t spoken to bigwigs or someone from marketing – we’ve managed to track down the people who either had the idea in the first place or spent their free time making the cars.

Now you’re probably thinking why on earth have we done this? I mean, what’s the point of driving cars which won’t actually be built?

Well, first of all they’re very fun to get behind the wheel of – no, replace that with very, very fun – but more importantly it’s good to remind ourselves that car manufacturers can have a sense of humour sometimes. When they put the spreadsheets to one side and actually build something with drama, they do it well. And don’t forget the useful PR opportunities these cars generate.

The Nissan Juke-R is without doubt the

most famous of the skunkworks cars we’ve managed to pull together for the feature.

Nissan transported the car from the other side of Europe to get it to our photoshoot, and that car has done a huge amount of great publicity for the normal Juke.

But we have a special treat for you too, as we’ve got a feature on what is perhaps the ultimate skunkwork project – the Jaguar C-X75.

It was probably the most-talked-about Jaguar in decades and showcased a brand new direction for the British brand.

But then, all of a sudden, the project was ‘suspended’. James Baggott managed to bag a drive of the fabled car – and he didn’t hang around before testing it to its limits.

collectors’ covers COLLECTORS’ COVER

CarDealerMag.co.uk | £3.50

Issue 69 | December 2013

DAFT SKUNK

WE DRIVE THE CARS YOU’LL NEVER SELL PLUS EXCLUSIVE SPIN IN JAGUAR’S C-X75

COLLECTORS’ COVER

CarDealerMag.co.uk | £3.50

Issue 69 | December 2013

DAFT SKUNK

THE OTHER ISSUE 69 You may be reading this column with four skunkworks cars on the front, or you may have received a copy with the fantastic C-X75 on it.

Either cover is great but what if you want the other one for your archive?

Well, in what we think is a first for a motor trade magazine, Issue 69 is a collectors’ edition and if you want to get the other cover it’s very easy to do so. Scan the QR code to the right here and for just £4 the other Issue 69 will be on its way to you!

Enjoy the issue (whichever cover you’ve got).

WHY JAGUAR’S C-X75 IS THE ULTIMATE SKUNKWORKS LEGEND

PLUS WE DRIVE THE CARS YOU’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO SELL NISSAN JUKE R

MAZDA MX-5 SUPERLIGHT

NISSAN MICRA 350SR

TOYOTA AYGO CRAZY

MITSUBISHI GRANDIS VIP LIMOUSINE

TOYOTA PICNIC GT4

HONDA CR-Z MUGEN

If you’re collecting Car Dealer and want the alternative cover to the one you’ve received, scan the code to order one for £4 including P&P.

James Batchelor, editor

bit.ly/OrderIssue69

Winner: Best Business ‘This magazine brings its readers an insightful, engaging overview of their industry which Publication of the Year entertains as well as informs’ - award judges CarDealerMag.co.uk | 03

Supporting a great cause with the ‘Bear Essentials’ for the UK’s Largest Car Wash in aid of BBC Children in Need 2013

Show your support and join in the fun at your local Peugeot dealer.

Visit www.pudseyscarwash.co.uk for details.

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INSIDE. ISSUE 69 I DECember 2013

Dashboard

20 47

Skunkworks

We explore the one-offs the car manufacturers don’t want you to sell

Forecourt

Mitsubishi Motors in the UK’s MD chats to Car Dealer

‘‘

New Hyundai i10 driven

Lotus’s feisty new roadster tested

68

41

Big MIke

CarDealer

Flat out in Jaguar’s ‘suspended’ supercar

POWER IN ASSOCIATION WITH

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IN ASSOCIATION WITH

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Skunkworks Bangers4BEN 2013 Focus on: DSG

52 72 76

The Car Dealer Used Car Awards, CarDealer sponsoredEWARDS

by Black Horse and held in association2013 with Wheeler Dealers, are only awards that celebrate the used car industry.

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49 Features

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07 10 20 26 36 38 41 43 45

Lotus Exige S Roadster Hyundai i10 Porsche Panamera Hybrid Ford Tourneo Connect

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52

Car Dealer Forum Car Dealer Club Interview: Lance Bradley Why dealers need video Around the World Finance Big Mike Baggott Real Deals

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Mr Motivator

Advertising

Numbers Stock – final quarter 2013 WHAT’S the general feeling by dealers about the supply/volume of stock through the final quarter?

With a potential over flow from September, new cars dripping through into October and November due to delayed orders; will this generate the much-needed supply of retail cars?

Philip Nothard

How to get your staff motivated

Car descriptions

I WAS talking to a fellow motor dealer and we got talking about motivation – well lack of it to be honest.

He is struggling to get his sales staff buzzing. What do you use to keep your staff motivated; performing at their best; offer world class service to customers and make some money at the same time for themselves and the dealer?

Umesh

DEALERS vary in their approach to car descriptions on their websites and adverts. Some just list the spec while others use gushing prose. Has anyone analysed what is more effective in terms of enticing customers?

Phil Raby

I WOULD first look at each staff’s personnel record, then look at their values assessment. Have they done this and created a values pyramid for each staff? Humans work differently and are not always coin operated.

Once you know your staff’s values, you will get the best from them. I often look through ours and have them in my drawer next to me at all times – this also works very well when having to discipline staff as you can relate to their values. Also, it is as simple as asking how they are today? Have you set goals with staff for the year? I know one of our technicians is working for a new caravan, the apprentice wants a Swift Sport and a painter wants a baby (can’t help him though!).

Understand your staff’s needs and wants – it’s the same as selling a car. williamblackshaw

WE FOUND that an honest, detailed description of stock sold more cars and saved us time. For example, displaying the full details of the service history (good or bad) didn’t deter buyers. There’s the view that you need to get people through the door at all costs so you can sell them into the car when they’re on site. We found that more often than not, customers didn’t want to be persuaded that the car was actually Okay even though it wasn’t exactly what they were looking for.

Ed Legge IT ALWAYS surprises me how many dealers don’t list the optional extras fitted to a car when they advertise it.

Customers do a lot of research online and will generally only physically look at a couple of cars at most before buying, so the ad needs to be compelling enough to make them pick up the phone or send you an email.

Jamie Edmonds

FOOTFALL is okay for the time of year and a little above last year. There might be a clue in the Network Q £500 offer of retail support – it states 10,000 cars in the ‘Q’. Divide that number by the list of dealers and, while perhaps not overstocked, Network Q cars are late- plate and dealers prefer £4-8k stock and that should be circa 50 per cent. So late plate overstock could be the issue. Not overstocking but poor mix? carmangear

Size matters Are sports cars’ boots too small?

IT ALWAYS amazes me when small sports car companies produce a ‘Porsche 911 rival’ or a ‘Porsche Boxster rival’ - you’d think they would choose an easier target. There are many reasons why a car buyer may finally go for a Porsche after considering rivals, but I’d be interested in dealer views on one major factor – boot size. The way I see it is that most people who buy a two-seater sports car (for road use, not a track day car) still want enough luggage space for two people on long weekend away. Very few sports cars offer this, especially for people unwilling or unable to ‘travel light’.

RacingPuma IF THEY made the boots bigger, we wouldn’t see the idiots coming back from Ikea with the roof down and a coffee table hanging out if it!

Dan Sellen

Twitter threads of the month THIS month we’ve locked ourselves in the Car Dealer Magazine office and been number crunching the most influential car dealers and car manufacturers in the UK. Turn to p8 to see the results, but in the meantime this is what Twitter had to say...

Thank you @CarDealerMag @klout for making us no.7 out of 100 most influential car dealers.

Caroline Shield @simonshieldcars

Delighted to see that I am placed sixth in @CarDealerMag’s Top 100 Influential Dealers poll. :-) Philip Raby Porsche @RabyPorsche A big thank you to @CarDealerMag who announced we are third in the Top 100 Most Influential Dealer Tweeters! #podiumfinish Mercedes-Benz Retail @MB_Retail @CarDealerMag really like the idea of the list! An inspired idea Antony Robinson @antrobbo

Picture of the month This is Car Dealer’s Vauxhall Omega as used in this year’s Bangers4BEN kissing the back of Spidersnet’s Citroen Xsara. This became a familiar theme on the event. Turn to p70 for the full story CarDealerMag.co.uk | 07

DASHBOARD.

Revealed: The UK’s most influential car dealers Unique investigation by Car Dealer Magazine lists top 100 most influential dealers on Twitter

E

vans Halshaw, part of Pendragon, has been revealed as the most influential dealer on the social media website in our exclusive poll, but independent Umesh Samani of Specialist Cars in Stoke is not far behind.

Our research rated dealers on their ‘influence’ using trusted analyst Klout.com and while four big dealers understandably sit at the top of the list, Samani is a shock entrant at number five with a Klout rating of 59.

‘Twitter really is a wonderful tool,’ said Samani. ‘It’s allowed me to make so many connections not just within the motor industry but all walks of life. Many of the people I’ve met through Twitter are now great friends – the power of Twitter is amazing.’

Topping our Top 100 list was Evans Halshaw with a score of CarDealer

65, followed by Perrys in second place with 64 and Mercedes Benz Retail in third with 61.

Vicky Finn, group marketing leader for the firm, said: ‘We’re delighted to have been recognised as the most influential car dealer on Twitter. It’s great for the brand, the marketing communications team and our efforts to innovate and be market leaders.

‘We have a clear strategy when using social media platforms. Above all, though, we make sure that we’re engaging our community and our business stakeholders by having some fun and talking about motorist interests.’

Second placed Perrys was equally delighted with their runners up spot. Lee Manning, group digital marketing manager said: ‘Just four months ago, we began the implementation of our group-wide social media strategy, so to come second in the Top 100 Most Influential Dealers on Twitter list so soon, is a huge achievement.’

100 MOST

TOP

INFLUENTIAL DEALERS ON TWITTER

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Umesh Samani finished in fifth

To get interactive versions of the the lists scan the QR code or go to cardealermagazine. co.uk/publish/category/ most-influential

Follow Klout Followers

evanshalshawuk Evans Halshaw 65 perrysmotors Perrys 64 MB_Retail Mercedes-Benz Retail 61 TCHarrisonFord T.C.Harrison Ford 60 specialistcars1 Umesh Samani Specialist Cars 59 RabyPorsche Philip Raby Porsche 59 simonshieldcars Simon Shield Cars 57 jimreidvehicle Jim Reid Vehicle Sales 55 ArnoldClark Arnold Clark 53 jct600 JCT600 53 IsaacAgnewGroup Agnew Group 53 vertumotors Robert Forrester 51 Driveingram Ingram Motor Group 50 RidgewayGroup Ridgeway Group 49 BristolStMotors Bristol Street Motors 49 LINGsCARS Ling Valentine 49 HarwoodsGroup Harwoods Group 49 MarshallMotorGp Daksh Gupta 49 PorscheRetail Porsche Retail Group 49 johnclarkmotors John Clark Motors 49 HyltonMotors Hylton Motor Group 48 Quirkscarco Quirks Car Company 48 JamesandJenkins James & Jenkins Garages 47 HR_Owen HR Owen 47 TheSandiman Sandicliffe 47

26 wessexgarages Wessex Garages 27 BenfieldCorp Benfield Corporate 28 SwannAutomotive Swann Automotive 29 stratstoneuk Stratstone UK 30 PortlandAutos Portland Autos 31 SmithsMotorGrp Smiths Motor Group 32 hendygroup Hendy Group 33 HawkinsMG Hawkins Motor Group 34 SturgessCarsLtd Sturgess Motor Group 35 stoneacremotors Stoneacre Motor Group 36 HaywardsMotor Haywards Motor Group 37 BowkerBMW Bowker BMW 38 sytner Sytner Group 39 vindisgroup Vindis Group 40 RMBAuto RMB Automotive 41 JimatPentagon Pentagon 42 devonshiremotor Devonshire Motors 43 KSMotorsSales KS Motors 44 WestEndMotors West End Motors 45 Autofarm Autofarm 1973 Ltd 46 dicklovett Dick Lovett 47 VospersMotors Vospers Motors 48 HALLIWELLJONES Halliwell Jones BMW 49 ThamesMotor Thames Motor Group 50 SinclairMerc Sinclair Mercedes

08 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

5,902 4,298 1,403 585 2,128 2,051 2,644 1,804 6,516 2,678 597 2,971 2,839 5,208 4,261 3,566 3,531 2,438 674 160 11,928 1,513 13,586 2,387 1,503

Follow Klout Followers 47 47 47 47 47 47 46 46 46 46 45 45 45 45 45 45 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 43

1,319 1,298 1,129 1,107 940 230 1,832 1,777 1,208 939 6,913 1,203 1,071 1,057 922 845 3,170 1,323 1,160 1,041 754 644 521 444 1,697

UK’S MOST INFLUENTIAL CAR MANUFACTURERS ON TWITTER CarDealer

Lotus on pole in our influential list LOTUS is the most influential car manufacturer on Twitter in the UK. Our exclusive survey found the niche British sports car maker beat the likes of Britain’s biggest selling makers, such as Ford, Vauxhall and Volkswagen, to the top spot.

Our research, which rated manufacturers on their ‘influence’ using trusted analyst Klout.com, placed another British icon, Aston Martin, second and Vauxhall third.

‘We are delighted with the result – we have a small team within PR and communications who work hard building up our followers on our social media platforms,’ said a spokesman for Lotus, who have built up more than 80,000 followers and a Klout score of 83.

‘We use Twitter as a quick and simple distribution conversation

channel to push out selected stories and messages. We try to steer away from marketing to our followers as we believe Twitter should have more of a conversational nature.’

We spoke to Southampton Solent University’s programme leader for advertising and communications about our poll and he wasn’t surprised at the firms in the top five.

Richard Berry said: ‘These car companies communicate their brand image through different mediums – with Lotus it’s Formula 1, Aston Martin is James Bond and Vauxhall sponsors Home Nations football. If car manufacturers get it right as part of a bigger marketing plan, it can tempt customers into their local showroom where dealers can then tailor their presentation of the car to that customer.’

How does Klout work?

A Klout score is a number given between one and 100, which takes into consideration a user’s interaction on Twitter to work out their overall influence – the higher the number, the more influential the user. For our Top 100, where Klout scores were the same, follower numbers were taken into consideration.

Manufacturer Twitter Klout Followers Lotus Aston Martin Vauxhall Mercedes-Benz Bentley Volkswagen Audi Renault Alfa Romeo Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Land Rover Jaguar Ford Honda Fiat Toyota BMW Hyundai Nissan Skoda Volvo Mini Citroen Kia MG Lexus Suzuki Smart Jeep

grouplotusplc AstonMartin VauxhallEngland MercedesBenzUK BentelyMotors UKVolkswagen AudiUK Renault_UK AlfaRomeoUK rollsroycemotorcars LandRover_UK JaguarUK forduk Honda_UK FIAT_UK ToyotaGB BMW_UK Hyundai_UK NissanUK SkodaUK VolvoCarUK MINIUK CitroenUK KiaUk Mgmotor OfficialLexusUK SuzukiCarsUK smartfortwouk Jeep_UK

83 81 67 66 65 65 65 65 65 64 64 63 62 61 61 61 61 61 60 59 58 58 58 56 56 56 56 55 54

81,755 178,700 42,296 81,755 109,363 66,601 62,399 19,472 14,488 59,917 56,830 16,709 38,735 29,192 20,911 14,187 10,500 4,332 10,261 27,483 21,643 20,530 15,447 23,988 6,921 6,777 2,915 18,939 2,628

Follow Klout Followers

Follow Klout Followers

51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75

ictruckandvan Imperial Commercials rybrookcars Rybrook Hartwell_co_uk Hartwell Plc BlueBellMINI Blue Bell MINI grangecarsales Anthony Lapatrie PhoenixCar Phoenix Car Company simonjamescars Simon James Cars johnsonscars Johnsons Cars Hughes_Group The Hughes Group ArburyGroup Arbury Motor Group DonnellyGroupNI Donnelly Group westovergroup Westover Group ColbornesGroup The Colbornes Group StebbingsCars Stebbings Cars MacklinMotors Macklin Motors UsedCarsandVans Shaw Motors SwainandJones Swain and Jones Heritage_Autos Heritage Automotive VantageMotorGrp Vantage Motor Group DewsMotorGroup Dews Motor Group swanswaygroup Swansway Group Jardinemotorsuk Jardine Motors Group JemcaCarGroup Jemca Car Group FarnboroughBMW Farnborough BMW Harratts Harratts

76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

WestfieldMotors Westfield Motors Ltd peacockgarage Peacock Garage EssexCarCompany Essex Car Company LookersGroup Lookers Burnham_Garage Burnham Garage Caffynslive Caffyns WestMallingGrg West Malling Garage MANFORLANDROVER Man for Land Rovers JordansCars Jordans Cars AllenFordUK AllenFordUK BSMSeat Bristol Street Seat CoxMotorGroup Cox Motor Group PembertonCars Pemberton Cars ListersGroup Listers Group warnerscars Warners Motor Group ThurlowNunn Thurlow Nunn Beadles_Group Beadles QuestMotorGroup Quest Motor Group InchcapeUsedCar Inchcape Used Cars HepworthHonda Hepworth Motor Group motorlinegroup Motorline Group jaybeemotors Jaybee Motors Ringways Ringways Motor Group LeamingtonMazda Leamington Mazda fcrossandson Nigel Cross

43 43 43 43 43 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 41 41 41 41 41 41 41 41 41 40 40 39

1,578 1,381 1,230 1,085 345 3,576 1,117 881 665 612 611 526 403 1,624 1,143 1,125 1,037 654 634 611 562 461 1,113 1,036 1,524

39 39 38 38 37 37 37 37 36 36 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 34 34 34 34 34 33 32 32

1,374 569 921 200 933 872 748 663 787 209 1,246 1,157 912 646 208 131 116 2,291 1,093 624 409 317 1,219 1,727 341

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 09

DASHBOARD. FEATURE.

Ask Lawgistics

Sales of Goods Act

Car Dealer Club lawyers Lawgistics answer dealers’ legal questions. Join for £39.99 a year to get advice like this when you need it

Q

I am a dealer in the home counties and a buyer from Tyneside recently saw a particular car I was advertising on my website, contacted me and put a deposit of £250 over the phone with his credit card. He came down, viewed it, and bought it. He had it 10 days, then rang and said he didn’t want it anymore. He asked for his money back and wanted me to go up to Tyneside to collect it. I had two other calls about the car in between him putting the deposit down and then collecting it. I wasn’t happy with his requests but he said that under the Distance Selling Regulations I was obliged to agree to a refund and go and collect it. Where do I stand?

A

The Distance Selling Regulations (DSRs) place various duties on retailers if they sell cars under an ‘organised distance sales scheme’. This is defined in the regulations. If you regularly sell cars from a website then potentially you are caught by the rules.

However to be caught a) it has to be a normal way you do business. If for any reason you don’t normally entertain sales and take deposits over the phone but, say, just do

a sale as a ‘one-off’ then you are not caught; b) it has to be a sale concluded before there is face to face contact ie the customer is buying the car ‘blind’ and is purely relying on the description in the advertisement. The customer and you are bound before the customer visits to collect the vehicle. If, therefore, you make it clear to the customer that they can still change their mind when they visit then the contract of sale has not been concluded when they pay their deposit over the phone. Some dealers will say the deposit it purely a ‘holding deposit’ meaning they won’t sell the car to anyone else but they are not putting an obligation on the customer to buy until they have seen the car and are happy with it.

It seems to be the case that most dealers choose a selling scheme that is not caught by the DSRs. If a customer views a car on your site and then puts a deposit down over the phone afterwards then the DSRs won’t apply in these circumstances.

If the DSRs should apply then the crucial parts to get right are in relation to cancellation rights.

.com

Q

Am I right in saying that if a car dealer wins a car at an auction house, the Sale of Goods Act does not apply?

A

No. The actual seller must still have legal title (ownership) of the car and must describe it accurately.

The provisions of “satisfactory” quality and fitness for purpose still apply (contrary to common belief) in trade to trade sales UNLESS it is fair to exclude those provisions and those exclusions are made known before the winning bid is made. It is likely to be deemed fair to exclude them when the buyer is also in the car trade but probably not possible to exclude any provisions of the Sale of Goods Act when the winning bidder is a private consumer.

Intending buyers should therefore check the terms and conditions of the auction house to see if they have been effectively excluded.

a) limit the cancellation rights to 7 days after the customer receives the vehicle; b) make it a contract term to return the vehicle to you or if not, then they must pay the costs of you collecting it.

There are many other requirements and you must give all the required information over the internet and in durable form before delivery.

What should I be aware of when it comes to work experience?

Q

I have had someone approach me about possibly doing some work experience with the company. Is there anything I should be aware of here, do I have to pay them?

A

This will depend upon the manner in which you take on work experience. Most placements are run through schools or colleagues and are generally dealt with by the. Generally these are unpaid, and last for one or two weeks.

Issues will come with individuals that approach you of their own accord, or are looking to gain experience on advice from a careers expert to

boost their CV. There has been a case recently where a graduate on an internship with a large company was paid £4,600 in an out of court settlement because the intern was working nine hour days, for three months without receiving any pay.

They were in effect being left to do a full time position, without guidance, or the benefit of being an employee of the company. The Intern took his case to HMRC, who negotiated the above settlement with the Company.

The Intern pleaded that he had been given set hours, expected to complete tasks to a deadline,

and performed them without the aid of a supervisor, and as such was an employee of the company.

The company pleaded that he was a volunteer and as such was not entitled to payment, as is the norm in the charity sector.

However, this was not the case. A business that is not a registered charity is not entitled to take on people as ‘volunteers’.

As such it is advisable to see what the individuals expectations are, before agreeing to anything. We would however advise extreme caution here.

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WANT TO UPGRADE YOUR MEMBERSHIP?

WHY I JOINED car dealer club One dealer who believes his Car Dealer Club membership is a vital tool for his dealership and day-to-day running of the business is dealer principal at Barrett’s Motor House Tom Barrett.

‘I signed up to use the Car Dealer Club services back in July this year and can honestly say that although I haven’t had to use it that much, it’s been extremely useful.’

Barrett runs his independent used car business in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, where he specialises in selling and buying nearly new vehicles.

Like many dealers who occasionally find they need to seek legal advice or simply want to understand the terminology and strategies a little better, Barrett turned to the Car Dealer Club Lawgistics service.

‘So far, I’ve used the Lawgistics service to find out more about consumer credit licences. After researching the topic on official government websites, I found there was just too much jargon for me to be able to understand it thoroughly,’ said Barrett.

‘Because I wanted to make sure I got it right, I was keen to find out more, so I contacted Lawgistics.’

Barrett said the Lawgistics team were very helpful and he went away from the phone call feeling much more ‘in-the-know’.

In fact, his Lawgistics contact offered to follow up with more details later on in the month, leaving Barrett much more comfortable about the situation.

‘When I phoned up Lawgistics and explained my situation, they were extremely helpful and gave me lots of advice,’ said Barrett. ‘Not only did they give me instructions and inform me that the new legislation would be released towards the end of the year, they helped me to find out what would work best for my business and suit my dealership.’

From an everyday perspective, Barrett finds the additional services such as the weekly newsletter and Twitter feed extremely useful, especially when it comes to reading up on other dealers and how situations are resolved.

‘I haven’t used the service for anything other than this, but as an everyday tool it’s brilliant – I follow Lawgistics on Twitter and signed up to their weekly newsletter,’ said Barrett. ‘I can read stories about other dealers and the challenges they’ve faced, or current situations that are happening.

‘It’s really supportive and reassuring to know there is legislation there to protect us dealers and a company that specialises in motor trade law.’

When asked if he would recommend the service to a friend, Barrett said: ‘Lawgistics and Car Dealer Club are good tools to remind you about what to be aware of in the industry. I’m definitely going to remain a member of the Car Dealer Club and use the Lawgistics facility when I need to.’

He added: ‘It’s really great to know the services are there if I need them and I would definitely recommend the service; in fact, I already have to a number of dealers.’

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GLASS’S

DASHBOARD.

£40k worth of damage to dealership bit.ly/£40kdamage

Dealer goes to jail for clocking cars Court hears conman made more than £100,000

A

used car dealer has been jailed for three years for fraud and ordered to repay £390,000 after shaving six million miles off used vehicles and forging service history documents.

Adil Hussain, from Lenton in Nottinghamshire, made more than £100,000 by tricking customers online and turning back odometers before selling cars at premium prices.

According to the Daily Mail, Nottingham Crown Court heard that Hussain bought cars from auctions and private sellers before fiddling with the mileage and reselling them on a used car classified site.

He pocketed up to £133,200 by selling 74 clocked cars online. Hussain was reported to Trading Standards after a woman realised she had been conned into spending thousands of pounds. Hairdresser Caroline Jones had to pay £3,000 to repair a fraudulent vehicle, after trading in her Honda S2000 for a Toyota Celica.

She told the newspaper: ‘I was forced to downsize my car to save money because the recession really hit my business.

‘I looked on Auto Trader and Adil Hussain was advertising a 2005 Toyota Celica with 48,431 miles on the clock for £6,000. He offered me £4,000 for my car so I paid him £2,000 cash.

‘I went to look at the car and he provided all the documents and service history which tallied with the mileage of this car. We agreed a price and he dropped the car off but the car wouldn’t start.

‘The gearbox was completely shot and when I held up the service book to the light I noticed a sticker was covering the front which said “Toyota Diesel”. I realised he had given me the service book from another car.

I could just see him driving away in my car and tried to ring him on his mobile but it was already disconnected.’

She added: ‘The car I bought from him had actually done 100,000 miles. I ended up paying £3,000 to have it repaired.’

A Celica similar to that sold to Caroline Jones

Have your say on this story. Get commenting by logging onto CarDealerMagazine.co.uk/forum

Morgan loses his appeal against ousting CHARLES Morgan has lost his appeal against the decision to oust him from the Morgan Motor Company.

Morgan has effectively been dismissed from the British sports car company, although he remains a shareholder.

In a statement he said: ‘It is incredibly disappointing news. My family and I remain very grateful for the expressions of support received from Morgan fans, workers and the public since this process began. I have been dismissed on what I believe

are very contentious grounds. Over the last 12 months, it was made increasingly clear that my philosophy to modernise Morgan did not fit with the philosophy of the current management.’

According to documents seen by Autocar, Morgan was sacked on four counts of misconduct, one of which was posing as chairman despite being demoted to strategy director. Morgan said he had endeavoured to ensure a bright future for the company as an independent.

Heavisides warranty wonders

UK should be proud of its motor sport work

L

ike millions around the world, I’ve just watched a peerless performance from Red Bull Racing and the crowning of one of Formula 1’s most talented drivers. Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel, Christian Horner and all at the Milton Keynes outfit in securing their fourth consecutive Driver’s and Constructor’s titles.

In a sport where fractions of a second win and lose races, Red Bull’s dominance of the season has been astounding and is a stunning metaphor for the strength of UK motorsport around the world in general.

Over 40,000 are employed within the industry in Britain and we undertake around 75 per cent of the world’s research and development within the sport – about a third of the industry’s annual turnover, which is a phenomenal amount but one that helps cement our place at the top of the podiums.

‘Motorsport Valley’ sweeps through the south Midlands and is home to around 4,500 businesses that owe their success to motorsport, many of which are lending their experience and their expertise to the wider auto and aerospace industries.

Ingenuity, innovation and engineering prowess help British teams and manufacturers to the forefront of regulation and success. More specifically, it helps those outfits to attract, nurture and develop the very best talent from our country’s engineering minds to build on those wins and ensure continued triumphs in the future.

So while Mr Vettel spent much of the season watching his national flag being raised ahead of the champagne, the workmanship, strategy and engineering was forged in Buckinghamshire.

October also saw the other side of motorsport in the passing of Porsche Supercup driver Sean Edwards.

Sean was a talented and committed racer with many fine victories and our condolences are extended to his family and friends.

‘The UK undertakes 75 per cent of the world’s motor sport research and development’

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 | 13

DASHBOARD.

Hyundai sees 53 dealership changes in three years in period of transition Expanding customer base and model range triggers move to 160 UK outlets

M

ore than 70 new dealerships have been added to Britain’s Hyundai network over the last three years.

The expanding company now has 160 outlets across the UK, up from 140 three years ago. And within that expansion there have been quite a few arrivals and departures, with a total of 53 changes since 2010.

It might sound as if there’s been a fair amount of upheaval but Hyundai’s UK president and CEO Tony Whitehorn says the changes have all been made by having an open, transparent dialogue with everyone concerned.

He also said that the three-year transition period was now almost at an end, with only a couple of significant open points remaining – south London and Luton, Bedfordshire. And he added it was a process the company had to go through because of its expanding customer base and model range.

Looking back to 2010, Whitehorn exclusively told Car Dealer: ‘We presented to our partners and explained the direction we were going.

‘We said that for some of them it would require a big investment.

‘We also said: ”We can show you what that investment would leverage and what it will bring you – do you want to come with us or not?”

‘In some cases we said, ”Actually you’ve got a very small facility. You’re selling 150 cars [a year], you need to be selling 300. You can’t sell that out of here. So what are we going to do about it?”

They might have said they were going to build a bigger place. Fantastic!

‘We were then able to move on and discuss management structures and so on. But if they didn’t want to, that wasn’t suitable for us going forward so we had to be honest. We had to look at the possibility of putting someone in alongside them in the same territory or perhaps they might have been happy to leave us and work with another franchise. From our point of view it’s very important to be transparent with the network. The key is working with the dealers so that they appreciate what is best for them. To try and work through business in an open way is really the only way to do it. We are Tony not a hire-and-fire Whitehorn company.’

14 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Beefing up for the arrival of the new i10 HYUNDAI dealers feeling apprehensive about the arrival of the new i10 can relax – it ticks all the right boxes and will build on the success of the outgoing model, according to UK president and CEO Tony Whitehorn.

The new version of the compact and clever supermini goes on sale in January and prices will start at £8,345 for the entry-level S model, rising to around £10,000 for Premium variants.

A quarter of the 80,000 cars Hyundai sells in the UK each year are i10s, so Whitehorn knows there’s a lot riding on the new arrival. But he told Car Dealer: ‘I am incredibly confident that the dealer network will love this car. To get it right is crucial for us because it’s a volume model. It’s very important for dealers, very important for the future of our business and very important for profitability.’

Whitehorn said the car would deliver in five key areas: what it looks like; how it drives; what it feels like inside; pricing; and specification.

He added: ‘From my perspective, and from what I’m hearing from other people, it ticks all those boxes. That’s fantastic for us and really good for the dealer network.’ But why should dealers be concerned about an exciting new arrival heading their way? Whitehorn explained: ‘The dealers have been apprehensive about it because the current car accounts for so much of Have your say on this story. Get commenting by logging onto CarDealerMagazine.co.uk/forum

their volume. It is probably about 30 per cent of a typical dealer’s throughput. From their point of view, they’re thinking, “Am I going to lose that?” But the bottom line for dealers is this: We have got it right.’

Whitehorn’s stance on the new i10’s prospects has been boosted by the motoring press. Auto Express said the new i10 was ‘one of the best cars Hyundai has ever made’ while Autocar described the car as ‘appealing to look at, well-equipped and fun to drive’. In fact everyone who has got behind the wheel seems to have been won over. Whitehorn said: ‘People have been surprised by the quality of the vehicle. Not just the fit and finish but the drive, too. It’s a car that deserves to sit in the segment above and that has surprised everybody.’ He went on: ‘What will be key is how we bring it to market – and PCP will be crucial here. We’ll be making sure we launch the car with a good PCP product. It will be a competitive product, that’s vital.’

Hyundai has certainly beefed up its European presence recently. The new i10 was designed in Germany and will be rolling off the production lines at the company’s factory in Izmit, Turkey, which has received a £420m upgrade to handle the increased production.

Hyundai i10 driven, p49

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DASHBOARD. lamborghini

Brake issue sees Gallardo recall LAMBORGHINI is to recall 143 Gallardo models in the UK, because of a potential issue with the rear brake discs. Models affected include the Gallardo Coupe and Gallardo Spyder produced between January 2007 and May 2009.

The Italian manufacturer says stainless steel screws holding optional carbon ceramic brake discs could fail because of corrosion, in which case the rear discs could fall off.

If the discs lose more than eight screws, diminished braking performance at the rear wheels and possible complete brake failure is possible, although Lamborghini says this is unlikely. There have been no reported incidents relating to the issue in the UK.

Surprise delivery in dealer car park Baby arrives outside Mercedes showroom

A

police officer is being praised after helping to deliver a baby at a Mercedes dealership.

PC Robert Morgan of the Metropolitan Police was dealing with a separate incident near the Mercedes-Benz showroom in Stratford, London, when the baby’s frantic father approached him and asked for help with his wife who was in labour. PC Morgan phoned for back-up but just minutes later he delivered the girl in the car park of the Mercedes showroom before an ambulance arrived to whisk the new parents to hospital.

He was helped by the pregnant woman’s aunt and a second Tower

Hamlets officer, PC Christine Goode, who reached the scene in time to offer assistance.

PC Morgan said: ‘We deal with all sorts of incidents, however I wasn’t expecting this. The mother was not keen on my suggestion of calling the baby girl Mercedes.’

A Mercedes-Benz spokesperson said: ‘We didn’t want to interfere too much and the ambulance arrived within minutes of the situation arising.

‘All of us here at Mercedes are just relieved both the mother and baby were healthy.’

Porsche buyers spend the most on options PORSCHE buyers are the most likely to splash out on the options list.

New analysis from HPI Spec Check reveals that consumers ordering a new Cayenne luxury SUV spend on average almost £10,000 on factory-fitted options.

HPI Spec Check enables dealers to maximise margins and stock turn by providing the exact options that were factory fitted to an individual vehicle – and ensuring dealers are pricing stock correctly and not underselling a high-spec car.

After Porsche buyers, consumers splashing out on a new BMW X5 spend the most, with just under £8,000 invested in extras. In third place, the Mercedes-Benz SLK typically has £6,290 spent on top of the base price of the car.

Have your say on this story. Get commenting by logging onto CarDealerMagazine.co.uk/forum

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DASHBOARD. Manheim invests in wewantanycar as boost to auctions MANHEIM has announced it has completed a deal to invest in wewantanycar.com.

The Car Group, owner of wewantanycar.com, is based in Cannock, Staffordshire, and was set up in 2011 by car supermarket pioneer Chris Bowen. Wewantanycar.com has 60 hand-over locations across the UK and employs 65 people.

The Car Group will operate on a standalone basis with the existing management team and brand led by MD Bowen. Vehicles acquired by The Car Group Limited will be remarketed through Manheim from this month.

Bowen said: ‘This investment by Manheim enables us to accelerate

our growth and using Manheim as a remarketing partner is an obvious synergy for both businesses. Our enhanced scale will create more competition in this market, which can only be good news for consumers.’

John Bailey, Manheim chief executive, said: ‘We are investing in a great business and management team at wewantanycar.com. By fuelling wewantanycar.com’s growth, there will be a significant influx of quality

vehicles into our auction lanes and online channels. Coming on the back of our investment in software specialists Kingfisher and the EVS Online HGV business in 2013, and both Motors.co.uk and Dealer Auction in 2012, this latest acquisition once again underlines our commitment to developing our UK business.’

Manheim’s deal with wewantany car.com comes on the back of BCA’s acquisition of webuyanycar.com.

When Car Dealer contacted BCA to see how the deal was progressing, a spokesperson said: ‘We don’t have any statements as yet beyond; “BCA has successfully completed the purchase of webuyanycar.com.”’

Ford Tourneo buyers ‘won’t be interested in appearance’

Lookers

Profits forecast for 2013 is up LOOKERS Plc has forecast better 2013 pretax profits than its projected £43.5m, following the boom in UK car sales.

Owner of the Lookers, Taggarts and Charles Hurst brands, Lookers said retail new car sales increased by 19 per cent in the past nine months, while used car volumes rose by 20 per cent.

Rival dealer Pendragon has also forecast strong profit growth. SMMT has predicted sales of more than 2.2m cars this year, eight per cent up on last year, after a 12.1 per cent increase in October was the 19th monthly increase in a row.

ssangyong

People will purchase MAV because it fits their everyday lifestyle

F

ord’s all-new Tourneo Connect MAV (multiactivity vehicle) is set to hit dealerships this month – but which buyers should the dealers target?

As a new and growing segment, dealers are still unfamiliar with the MAV and know little about which drivers will be interested in buying the Tourneo.

According to the brand, targeting the right customers could be a struggle.

‘It’s a tough market and we’re only just breaking into it,’ said Ford UK marketing director Anthony Ireson. ‘Our dealer network is excited about the new Tourneo but, understandably, it is going to be a challenging vehicle for them to sell.’

Ireson explained that dealers will need to understand where potential Tourneo buyers are coming from and the types of cars they will be replacing.

‘It’s certainly going to be interesting to see what buyers the Tourneo attracts, and customers are likely to be previous owners of Citroen’s Berlingo or the Renault Scenic.’

Although it’s uncertain as to what the customer demand will be, Ford still aims to sell 3,000 units of a 14,000 segment this year.

‘This year, we aim to sell 3,000 units of the Tourneo, 90 per cent of which will be the five-seat mid-range diesel Zetec but the predicted segment size is 14,000 units.’

He added: ‘Tourneo customers won’t be interested in a car’s appearance or performance values.

People will buy the Tourneo because it fits in with their everyday lifestyle – it will appeal to SUV customers who seek an alternative to the Max range, without sacrificing the people carrier functionality.’

Five dealers are added in UK SSANGYONG Motor UK has added five dealers to its network.

Archway Motors, Findern, Derby; Ash Bank Garage, Werrington, Stoke-onTrent; Catterick Caravans, Richmond, North Yorkshire; Staddlestones, Ryde, Isle of Wight; and Ullswater Road Garage, Penrith, Cumbria have all joined the Korean firm’s UK dealer network.

failures

The all-new Tourneo hits dealerships this month

Petrol cars more likely to fail MOT

Have your say on this story. Get commenting by logging onto CarDealerMagazine.co.uk/forum

RECENT MOT test data shows that excess exhaustemission levels account for more than a quarter of all MOT failures.

According to Redex, 9.7 per cent of petrol cars tested failed to meet the required emissions standards, accounting for more than double the proportion of dieselpowered cars tested at 3.9 per cent.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 19

DASHBOARD.

alk to any car manufacturer bigwig and they’ll use a tried and tested vocabulary.

Platitudes such as ‘we’re in a good place’, and ‘the future looks bright’ have been said by car manufacturer managing directors the world over, often disguising the complete opposite. But with Mitsubishi Motors in the UK, those clichés are not clichés – they’re the truth.

This year the Japanese company is the fastestgrowing car brand in the UK with year-to-date sales up 44.66 per cent. The firm’s return on sales is the highest on record, dealer profitability sits at its highest level since 2006 and the next four years are expected to reap growth figures of 20 per cent a year in car sales. Mitsubishi has even expanded its dealer franchising team to welcome new dealers to the network – and it’s this area that the company’s MD is really excited about.

‘In March 2013 the network stood at 100 dealers and it is now up to 105,’ says Mitsubishi Motors in the UK boss Lance Bradley.

‘We’re looking to expand it to between 120 and 125 because we know that our volume is going to grow. Last year our volume stood at 12,000 and this year it is going to be about 16,000. We know that it’s going to expand to somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000 – and for this volume we estimate 120 to 125 dealers and for there to be decent profitability for everybody.’

And dealer profitability has – and always will be – a major pillar of Mitsubishi in the UK. ‘We’re protective of dealer profitability,’ says Bradley. ‘Every manufacturer talks about dealer profitability but we really put our money where our mouth is. Every meeting I have, dealer profitability is discussed; even last year, when it was poor, it was still the first thing we spoke about – you can’t hide it so you might as well talk about it.

‘In March of this year, we knew our dealers had had a poor year and we found ourselves with a little bit more money than we expected, so we gave it to the dealers.

So, with less than a week to go in March, we told them there was an extra amount per unit on everything they had done in that quarter.

‘We deliberately left it late because I wanted it to be bonus money and not 20 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Buckle up: The good times are coming back After a challenging 2012 the future looks bright, Mitsubishi UK MD Lance Bradley tells James Batchelor

for them to trade with – I don’t know of any other manufacturer that does that.’

So what type of dealer does Bradley want to attract? Very simple – more of the same. ‘We are looking for small to medium independent dealers who have a strong focus on their local area, have a very high focus on looking after customers, and are able to sell cars and explain why our cars cost more than some rivals’ offerings. If you fit that profile, pick up the phone to a Mitsubishi dealer and ask them what they think.

‘We are looking for similar dealers to the ones we have. We have minimum standards – we need a showroom of 150 square metres, there needs to be enough used car space to achieve a reasonable mix and a reasonably sized workshop. We are not saying to our dealers we are growing and you need to spend £1m on new premises – they don’t.’ For Bradley and Mitsubishi Motors in the

UK, it’s more about the dealership staff and the attitude of the people who work there than how glitzy the dealership is or the colour of the floor tiles.

‘The physical facility is not the most important thing about a Mitsubishi dealership – it’s the people and premises which need to be clean and tidy,’ he explains. ‘We don’t want rubbish but I’ve never believed in making dealers change the tiles because they’re the wrong colour. No customer

New Mitsubishi dealer to open in Wales bit.ly/newMitsWales

We are looking FOR dealers who have a strong focus on their local area and are great with customers

ever comes in and says “I really like that car but I can’t buy it off those tiles”.

‘Customers don’t buy Mitsubishis because they’re cheap but because they are good and our dealerships need to match that. Some of our nearest competitors are getting their dealers to spend £1m on new premises – that’s great news for us because we’re picking up those dealers.

How can you justify spending that much?

You can’t.’

But where has all this positive feeling come from? Experience in knowing the bad times are over, that’s where.

‘We had a poor year last year and a lot of it was on the back of poor exchange rates,’ says Bradley, candidly. ‘It got to the point where the factory was not really keen on selling us cars. The exchange rate last year got down to as low as 120 yen to the pound – before 2008 it was 280. That made things really difficult.

‘Our margins were hit massively so we couldn’t spend so much on our marketing or customer incentives – and not being able to do that affects your competitiveness.’

But Bradley believes in being honest with his loyal dealer network, and last year told them how bad it was. ‘I told all of our dealers that 2012 was going to be a tough year and told them to cut back their costs. I told them 2013 was going to be a good year, and they were going to get growth like they couldn’t imagine.

‘I said there will be a third of you who will believe me and will go back and resource up for it, there’ll be a third of you who wait and see for a bit and there will be a third of you who aren’t convinced about it. The ones that do it immediately will have an excellent year; the ones who wait and see if it will be all right and the ones who don’t will have a poor year.’

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 21

DASHBOARD.

And the result? A dealer network that is firing on all cylinders and is reaping the rewards of some painful times.

‘When you have that kind of partnership and trust with each other it’s brilliant – and if we can find another 20 like that it will be great.’

Putting to one side the confident plans of future growth, there’s another reason why now is a great time to become a Mitsubishi dealer – new products. The Mirage city car is winning customers all the time and the firm’s all-new Outlander is fast becoming a top choice for SUV buyers.

That’s not forgetting large price cuts on the recently refreshed ASX crossover, Shogun offroader and the L200 pick-up.

‘We are in a good position in the UK car market at the moment,’ says Bradley. ‘One of the interesting things in the market is a shift from conventional hatchbacks to crossovers and this shift is good for us. Whenever you launch a new car, you almost need the customer’s permission to be in that segment – the customer needs to understand why Mitsubishi would be in that segment.

‘Any vehicle we launch that looks like a fourwheel-drive, customers completely understand that Mitsubishi is good at that. The fact that the market is shifting towards SUVs and crossovers puts us in a great position because we’re one of the brands that people understand and they feel 22 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

We are on the up and for the next five years our dealers are going to have a good time as though we should be in this sector.’

And there’s new technology coming, too.

Mitsubishi will be venturing into hybrid technology soon with its exciting new Outlander PHEV plug-in hybrid.

‘The Outlander PHEV is really exciting and challenging at the same time,’ explains Bradley.

‘It’s a vehicle that is going to be the first hybrid that’s not compromised.

‘That’s good but also a challenge because both customers’ and dealers’ perceptions of hybrids are that there’s not much advantage to them.

Our car is a real hybrid – it’ll do 30 miles on pure electric up to 70mph and the average journey for the average person is only 30 miles, so there are some real benefits to the Outlander PHEV. It was designed from the very start to take diesel and hybrid power trains so there’s no negative effect to interior space from the hybrid’s motors. We haven’t announced pricing yet, but the intention is that it’ll be priced so dealers can have a conversation with customers.

‘One of the things we learnt about our allelectric i-MiEV is that customers don’t expect to pay a premium for new technology – so I want a customer to walk into a Mitsubishi dealership and the dealer can sell them a diesel or a hybrid Outlander after a conversation about the customer’s needs. It could be our L200 moment all over again.’

That moment that Bradley refers to is when the Mitsubishi pick-up grabbed the sector’s number one spot and has since refused to let go. It did it by being a well-made product full of character and desirability. With new products on the way and renewed excitement in the brand, the future looks bright.

‘Absolutely,’ agrees Bradley. ‘We are on the up and for the next five years our dealers are going to have a good time. We can absolutely see that our volume and dealer profitability is growing. How can I be so confident of that? It’s because we can see it happening now.’ [CD]

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DASHBOARD. Motorpoint thanks air ambulance staff

Vertu’s results reflect its ‘growing maturity’ Pretax profits are up 68 per cent at ÂŁ8.6m

THE UK’s largest independent car retailer, Motorpoint, has donated more than £7,000 to help keep the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance flying.

Based in Derby, staff from Motorpoint have taken part in fundraising events in support of the charity which came to the rescue of one of its directors in January.

Paul Winfield was injured while undertaking repairs at his farm in north Derbyshire.

Without the air ambulance, it is possible that he would not have survived the accident. He spent seven weeks in hospital.

V

ertu Motors has announced record half-year pretax profits of £8.6m – and increase of 68.6 per cent.

In the first six months ending August 31, 2013, Vertu Motors saw its profits before tax shoot up by nearly 69 per cent, while cash conversion increased by a staggering 285 per cent to ÂŁ30.4m.

As a consequence of the market trends, the automotive retailer, which has a network of 99 sales and aftersales outlets across the UK, raised ÂŁ50m from shareholders to finance the ÂŁ31m acquisition of the Farnell Land Rover business and other investments. In line with the latest figures of strong UK vehicle sales, the group has continued to increase its like-for-like aftersales revenues, gross margins and profits by improving customer retention, workshop efficiencies and spend per customer visit.

Robert Forrester Chief executive Robert Forrester said: ‘The board is delighted with the strong results having pursued its successful buy and build strategy for over seven years. ‘With profit before tax up 69 per cent and operating cash generation up 285 per cent, we believe the results reflect a strong market, combined with our growing maturity as a business, and are a testament to the continued hard work of all our colleagues. The board anticipates the full-year results to be significantly ahead of market expectations.’

Pendragon

Group forecast is upbeat PENDRAGON predicts its full-year profit to exceed market expectations, as new car sales continue to boom.

The dealer group said the volume of new car sales rose 15.6 per cent in the first nine months of 2013, with an 8.9 per cent uplift in used car sales. It was ‘cautiously optimistic about the prospects for 2014’. Visits to Stratstone, Evans Halshaw and Quicks dealership websites were up 23.5 per cent on the previous year. Previously, the company was expected to report a full-year pretax profit of ÂŁ41m.

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DASHBOARD.

Video sees sellers Video in get up close and numbers personal to both the car and to the buyer It can seem a big expense but as the cost of production comes down and the benefits in SEO go up, James Baggott investigates why you need to consider video for your dealership

Y

ouTube has some startling facts about car buyers and their consumption of video in the decision-making process.

Nearly half of all buyers take the time to watch a video of their potential new car online before they go out and buy it and some 96 per cent of them have a positive perception of them.

And the medium is moving fast in the automotive world. YouTube found that buyers are likely to demand video more and more – a staggering 78 per cent of new buyers and 74 per cent of used said they would watch car videos before choosing what to buy next.

‘Dealers should be using video to educate users on niche products and features, to influence the purchasing decision, to complement offline

26 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

50

Percentage of BUYERS WHO watch A video of THEIR potential new car

600 million

advertising, to share customer opinions and reviews, and provide video tours of their sites,’ Scott Sinclair, automotive specialist for Google, told Car Dealer. ‘Video content should be used to inform and educate the customer as much as possible.

Number of videos The use of video going forward watched every day will only increase in importance as on mobile devices customers use the internet during the research phase of buying a car more.’

A number of dealers are dabbling in video these days. From large groups showcasing their sites and deals online with glossy productions to smaller independents trying their hand at overviews of their the cars on video and learn more about where and cars themselves. who they will be buying the car from. We’re finding However, many are turning dealers are coming to us for video intros to their to professional production showrooms that introduce the staff and show off crews to assist. the premises and facilities that they then post on ‘We have helped a number their website. of dealers with their video ‘These are invariably shot in a day and consumers needs and are seeing a big love the fact they already “know” the personnel from increase in the number the video before they attend.’ contacting us for help Blackball Media – publisher of Car Dealer producing them,’ explained Magazine – produces videos for a number of dealer Nigel Swan, head of video at groups, car manufacturers and editorial clients.

Blackball Media.

Recent shoots have included work for Nissan, Citroen ‘Car buyers are increasingly and Skoda, as well as Money Supermarket and researching their next purchase Motors.co.uk. online and they love to see The latter has invested heavily in video production

78

PercentAGE of new car buyers WHO watch car videos before THEY choosE their new car

100k number of motors.co.uk videos watched on youtube a month

74 PercentAGE of used car buyers wHO view video to help them decide on their purchase

and Blackball Media has helped to produce a series of car tests, top tips and new model showcases from the Frankfurt Motor Show for the classified advertising portal.

Stephen Jury, marketing manager for Motors.co.uk, said: ‘We have always considered video content of huge importance.

‘The usage stats for YouTube are now staggering, with more than 600 million videos being watched each day just on mobile, and the Motors.co.uk

96 Per cent have a positive perception of video

channel receives close to 100,000 minutes watched each month.

‘Motors.co.uk have developed video content with Blackball Media for car buyers and owners. Working with the Blackball team means we can utilise their expertise in this area.’

So how else could dealers use video as part of their business?

Well, in the States many are using the medium to push ‘information marketing’ messages. In plain English, that means videos that tackle automotivebased questions to which consumers may happen to be searching for the answers online.

Automotive keywords are among the most searched terms on the internet, so if you can tap into that with videos that answer those queries you’ll see an uplift in traffic to your website.

JCT600: YouTube boosts our web traffic We’ve been using video for a number of years now and find it extremely effective. We have found that it increases the time customers spend on our website as it improves customer engagement by communicating in a more immediate way and adding greater impact than purely using text and still images.

Our YouTube channel has proved particularly popular. We use it to feature our more informative videos such as new model reviews, dealership introductions and our latest television adverts as well as details of our career opportunities.

Our YouTube presence also boosts SEO, helping to raise awareness of JCT600 to a wider audience.

Going forward, we expect to expand our use of video to provide a way for customers to view cars from a distance.

Some of our dealerships already offer an informal solution by simply emailing a short video from their iPhone.

Charlotte Murray JCT600 digital media manager

Some of the biggest dealer groups know this and are now focusing large budgets on producing engaging videos.

‘We have used video to get over to potential colleagues and existing colleagues what the group is about and its culture,’ said Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu Motors. ‘We are going to put a lot of investment into website videos in all sorts of areas.’

‘Video makes sense since it helps with search, but it is also an increasingly cheap way to build value, credibility and trust with customers.’

Marshall Motor Holdings chief executive officer Daksh Gupta told us that his group uses video in a variety of ways, too.

‘In my opinion every dealer should be using video,’ he said. ‘We use a combination of used car videos, new car video reviews and CarDealerMag.co.uk | 27

DASHBOARD. corporate video aimed at informing and educating our customers of our services, history, values and customer service.

‘We have had a suite of service-related videos created which explain some of the services we offer, from internet service booking to vehicle health checks.’ While much of the video content Marshall uses is professionally produced – and rightly so for corporate videos – many of the group’s dealers are also producing their own content.

Gupta added: ‘Some of our dealers are uploading used car walkarounds to YouTube then attaching them to the car on our website to increase engagement and leads – that’s been a great success.

‘Our belief is that we use the technology available to us to give the customer as much information about their chosen car, so when they test drive they already feel familiar with the car.’

Many of the web experts we spoke to agreed with Gupta that video was a powerful tool that can help drive engagement and ultimately lead to sales.

‘There are times when a professional job is required,’ explained Blackball Media’s Swan. ‘If you’re adding an introduction video to your site or a corporate showcase of your group then the quality and production values need to be high.

‘However, many dealers could also utilise simple video of cars shot on their phones to give consumers a better look at the product they are buying – but it needs to be explained that it wasn’t a professional job.’

Autotrade-mail director Kevin Watson thinks dealers should be turning video on its head and not focusing on the good points of a used car but on the bad instead. ‘On our platform professional dealers spend more time describing imperfections than they do the general condition and, as a potential buyer, I would be more interested in knowing the tyre wear or the size of a small stone chip than what a straight panel looks like,’ he said.

‘We all know what a straight panel looks like, but minor damage is unique and I’d take comfort as a consumer in the knowledge the dealer wasn’t trying to hide anything.’

The consensus among those we spoke to was that dealers should try to be different with their video – that way they’re more likely to stand out.

‘Video would be more powerful on a unique car that consumers would be prepared to travel to see where it could be used to entice them to make the

human interaction is vital in the process of car buying and selling Edmund King 28 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Watch our Road Test of the Year video by scanning the QR code

or visit youtube.com/user/CarDealerMagazine trip,’ said Motoring.co.uk’s Chris Green.

‘If you look through used car feeds that sites like ours take you can see volume dealers can’t get bloody photos right so video seems a long way off for some.

‘Content needs to be unique and it’s the same for videos – make it unique and you make it powerful.’

Rod Joseph from DesperateSeller.co.uk agrees: ‘There are probably several dealerships within a 10-mile radius selling similar cars at similar prices. Therefore, it’s vital that dealers are able to differentiate themselves from their competitors and providing video content is a great way of doing this.

‘Utilising video is a great way of showing customers that if they buy a car from your dealership they aren’t just getting a car, they are also getting excellent levels of customer service.’

Humanising your dealership with video is also important, says AA Cars director Edmund King.

All too often, consumers see car dealers as faceless businesses and King believes video is a perfect opportunity to change that.

‘Too often, car buying and selling is seen as shifting metal, whereas the human element and human interactions are vital in the process,’ said King. ‘Video can be used to change that.’

It’s clear that video can be used in many shapes and forms and although you might not be dabbling in it now, one thing’s very clear – you sure will need to be in the future if you’re to have any edge on the competition. [CD]

Breeze VW: The personal touch VOLKSWAGEN dealer Breeze uses video as a personal way of staying in touch with potential customers.

Salesmen send customers who have made inquiries on new or used cars specially recorded video messages via email to excite and inform them about what’s in store when they visit the showroom.

One video we saw followed a telephone chat with a customer who asked about a ’60s Beetle. The salesman sends the personalised walkaround of the car to whet the customer’s appetite and it’s produced with real flair and passion.

‘Nick Rees at Breeze is the best retailer in terms of engagement with these video messages and creative use,’ a VW spokeswoman told us. ‘Feedback on the pilot so far would point towards the application of video making real improvements to the customer experience, as well as increased sales.’

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CarDealerMag.co.uk | 29

DASHBOARD. fighting talk

Ford confident of staying in pole position FORD of Britain chairman and MD, Mark Ovenden, expects to retain its market leadership in the new car market next year, despite Vauxhall’s recent claim that it will take the number one spot.

However Ovenden has admitted the firm hasn’t quite had the wide range of SUVs matched by manufacturers such as Nissan.

‘One area where we have not been strong is SUVs where the Kuga has held its own,’ he said. ‘Our position will improve considerably with the introduction of the EcoSport and the Edge tpo a point we could probably achieve any market share we want, but it is the quality of market share that is important.’

False car adverts bring fine of £450 Dealer’s website showed cars already sold

A

Welsh car dealer has been fined £450 for posting false car adverts in order to ‘lure customers’ into the dealership. Carmarthen dealer Rhys Lloyd and his company Moduron GWD were found guilty of nine offences at Swansea Crown Court last month of engaging in misleading commercial practice.

According to ITV News, the court heard that the firm left dated adverts of vehicles on the internet, which had already been sold, in order to bring buyers into the showroom and sell them less attractive vehicles.

Other misleading practices they were found guilty of was advertising vehicles incorrectly with regards to the number of previous keepers.

The case was brought by Carmarthenshire County Council Trading Standards Service, which says it advised the firm on seven different occasions, both verbally and in writing, that such practices were unfair and misleading but it failed to make any changes.

Moduron GWD was fined a total of £450 for the nine offences and ordered to pay £2,000 costs.

Lloyd was given a two-year conditional discharge. Judge Philip Richards said he had tried to create a honeypot effect by using untrue advertisements to bring in customers in the hope of selling them less attractive cars.

Have your say on this story. Get commenting by logging onto CarDealerMagazine.co.uk/forum

Breakers fined £40,000 after mechanic burned A VEHICLE salvage firm in Lancashire has been fined £40,000 after its inspection pit burst into flames, burning a mechanic severely. Lee Roberts was working in the pit at Douglas Valley Breakers in Chorley, draining fuel from a Citroen van, when the pit filled with fire. The blaze grew rapidly, engulfing the entire workshop.

According to the BBC, at Preston Crown Court the firm was ordered to pay £25,000 costs, following the incident in 2010, and was prosecuted for safety failings.

Roberts suffered burns to his hands, legs and face and has not returned to work.

The court heard the company regularly removed oil, fuel and other liquid from vehicles ahead of scrapping, while vehicle tanks were punctured using an electric drill to allow fuel to drain. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found the most likely cause was fuel set alight by a spark, which could have been caused by an electric drill or extension lead. The court heard Douglas Valley Breakers should have ensured there were no ignition sources in the inspection pit and the fuel should have been drained into a sealed container.

An HSE spokesman said the on-site CCTV camera caught other ‘unsafe’ incidents, such as workers riding on a forklift’s forks.

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DASHBOARD.

‘Unconventional’ salesman sells 5,000 Mitsubishis ‘I have a good relationship with my customers – the key is trust’

A

Vindis

Customers test R8 supercar Paul Cook

Mitsubishi salesman is celebrating 25 years in the job – and selling 5,000 cars in the process.

Paul Cook started his career with British Leyland aged 17, before moving to Mitsubishi in 1988.

The father-of-two, now sales manager at Tees Valley Mitsubishi in Darlington, said the highlight of his career was in the late-1990s when his boyhood hero, Ian Botham, came into the showroom.

Cook said: ‘I’d like to think that over the years Mitsubishi have been good to me and I have been pretty good to them. In the last 25 years I have probably sold Hartlepool, who have bought 22 cars from Cook since the more new Mitsubishis than anyone else in the country.

1980s. Retired businessman Fred said: ‘He is a lovely man ‘People who know me will tell you I’m very and he just gives us good service every time. We don’t unconventional in the way I do the job. I don’t do it in a even consider going anywhere else, we just ring Paul and textbook way, like the lads here do. I get involved in every he helps us out.’ deal that goes on in the showroom and I have a very good Bill Robson, joint MD of Tees Valley Mitsubishi, added: relationship with all my customers. The ‘It’s quite rare for somebody to be with Have your say on this key thing is trust.’ story. Get commenting one brand for that length of time. He Two of Cook’s regular customers has got a lot of customers who just keep by logging onto are Fred and Marion Griffiths from CarDealerMagazine.co.uk/forum coming back to him – they love him.’

Flex ad 180mm wide x 128mm high.indd 1

DEALER group Vindis has hosted a ‘ride and drive’ day at Rockingham Motor Speedway. More than 300 customers from Audi centres in Bedford, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Northampton and Peterborough tested the sporty S and RS models and the R8 supercar at the Northamptonshire circuit.

Ridgeway

Group buys up Reading site RIDGEWAY Group has announced its acquisition of Parkview Skoda in Reading.

The group purchased Parkview from PJA Trading Ltd at the end of October for an undisclosed price.

The site will be rebranded as Ridgeway Skoda.

05/11/2013 16:20:10

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 33

34 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

DASHBOARD.

SMC Motor Group is gearing up to open a new MG showroom in Woking – the 12th new MG dealership to open in the past 18 months.

The three-car showroom in St Johns Road, just off the A324, will serve a large area of Surrey, Hampshire and the London commuter belt.

James Kimber, managing director of the SMC group, said: ‘We’re really excited about the new MG franchise and I think MG is going to be a real force again in British motoring.

‘The arrival of MG to our group is perfect timing with the recent launch of the MG3, which is a class-leading car.’ SMC Motor Group is a family-run business employing 71 people. Next year the group celebrates its 30th anniversary. SMC Motor Group also holds franchises for Renault, Dacia and Seat.

Buyers were conned over write-off sales

Accident damage was not revealed to customers

A

used car dealer has been convicted of ‘tricking potential buyers into purchasing former insurance write-offs’.

Peter Robinson, of The Hurst, Birmingham, conned his buyers into the scam while running the Midland Ford Centre in Warwick Road, Tyseley, according to the Birmingham Mail.

Robinson and the used car business were found guilty of five charges following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court for misleading customers by omitting the VCAR notification – the Vehicle Condition Alert Register which records an insurance claim against a car – from vehicle adverts.

Mark Jackson, prosecuting, said buyers were blinded by details of a car’s features.

The court heard that an advert for a Volkswagen Golf did mention VCAR, but failed to explicitly state that it was an insurance write-off. According to the Birmingham Mail, a customer named

Alfred Martin paid £2,850 for a Ford Fiesta for his wife, but it was only when the DVLA wrote to her that they realised the Fiesta was an accident-damaged vehicle.

Jackson said: ‘Mr Martin is in absolutely no doubt if he had been made aware of the fact the vehicle he purchased had been accident-damaged and was an insurance write-off, not only would he not have bought it, he wouldn’t have bothered going to look.’

Robinson’s son, Curtis Robinson, was found not guilty of the same charges, while he and the company were also found not guilty of a charge of fraud, in which he was accused of telling Martin a car had no accident history.

Robinson was to be sentenced on November 15.

good reception XX

Del Boy attends event in spirit THE official opening of Fords of Winsford’s new reception area was attended by two of television’s most popular motors.

Del Boy’s Reliant Robin and the Ghostbusters’ Ecto-1 were at the opening of the £500,000 development.

The mayor and mayoress, Mike and Hilary Kennedy, cut the ribbon at the used car dealership. The cars appeared at a weekend of celebrations to mark 54 years of trading at the dealership, where the lineup included a Formula 1 car.

Have your say on this story.

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dashboard.

Around the world Dealer news from somewhere other than here

GERMANY

BMW has backed the German government’s goal to have one million electric cars on the roads by 2020, which is partly due to the launch of the all-new i3 model.

The call followed the announcement that Volkswagen Group said the target was achievable if partly battery-powered cars such as hybrids were taken into account.

JAPAN

Mazda Motors announced its profits in the quarter that ended September 30 saw an increase in exchangerate gains and a rise in sales. According to the firm, net income rose 60 per cent to $198.5m (ÂŁ124m) as revenue rose 24 per cent to ÂŁ4.054bn.

USA

More new car buyers are choosing to stretch out their loan payments for as long as up to seven years. Today, the biggest growth is in loans lasting for anything up to 84 months – a significant amount of time longer than people are expected to keep their cars. The long-term new car loans have increased by 25.1 per cent in the past year and make up 19.5 per cent of total new car lending.

SOUTH AFRICA

Daimler is set to increase Mercedes-Benz output in South Africa, with a 3bn rand (equivalent to ÂŁ189m) investment. This will boost output of the Mercedes C-Class, despite labour unrest in the industry. According to the South Africa CEO, Martin Zimmermann, Mercedes plans to introduce a third shift at its East London plant to boost capacity to 100,000 units per year.

INDIA

Nissan Motor India has shipped its 300,000th car from its Chennai facility, which was commissioned three years ago.

President of Nissan India Kenichiro Yomura said the company began exports back in 2010 and was the first company to use the Ennore Port as an export gateway. Nissan currently exports to more than 100 countries and regions across the world.

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FINANCE. DEALS

Mitsi’s mega special offers MITSUBISHI has announced its offers on two of its best selling models, including the Outlander SUV and the L200 pick-up.

For the rugged Outlander, Mitsubishi is offering a £1,000 deposit contribution to all buyers looking for an easy and affordable finance package.

Meanwhile, for customers looking for a durable pick-up this winter, the L200 model range which includes the Warrior, Barbarian and Walkinshaw 2014 models are on offer with £400 off the standard price.

Cracking Chevy car deals AMERICAN brand Chevrolet has announced a range of zero per cent APR deals on its range.

The firm’s new Trax crossover leads the deals with the 1.6 LT model now available for for £17,495, or £229 per month for 60 months with a deposit of £3,755.

Meanwhile Chevy’s smallest model, the Spark, is available for £99 per month for 60 months with a £1,985 deposit.

38 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Encouraging year-on-year rise in customers buying cars using dealer finance Plate-change month boosts number of customers choosing finance route

A

fter the influx of new car sales in September this year, the number of customers who opted to purchase their cars through dealer finance also rocketed.

Recent figures released by the FLA show that the number of new cars bought by consumers using dealer finance in September 2013 grew by a notable 19 per cent compared with the same month in 2012.

According to the FLA, the penetration rate of FLA members in the twelve months to September 2013 was 74.2 per cent – this is a slightly lower outcome in comparison to the rate of 74.5 per cent recorded in August.

However, September also saw the consumer used car finance market record its strongest growth in new business volumes so far this year at 23 per cent, with hire purchase still the most popular choice made by buyers.

Head of motor finance at the FLA,

Paul Harrison, said: ‘The strong figures show many customers’ preference for point-of-sale credit, a fact which was borne out in debate at the FLA’s Future of Consumer Credit Regulation conference in November. Those attending the conference felt strongly that it was vital to maintain the availability of responsibly-provided credit, and to avoid any adverse

impact of the new rules on credit intermediaries.’

Meanwhile the FLA also published figures for core asset finance – which includes van finance. Figures show core asset finance new business grew for the fifth consecutive month by three per cent to £1.5bn. CV finance reported its third consecutive month of double-digit growth at 15 per cent.

Kia tempts customers new and old with range of hot offers KIA Motors has confirmed its range of offers for the final quarter of 2013, which also include one year’s insurance for as little as £99 and low finance rates.

Savings on the Cee’d five-door and Cee’d Sportswagon are available with up to £1,000 discount for new customers, while existing customers are entitled to a loyalty of up

to £3,000.

Kia is currently offering a 4.9 per cent PCP with Kia Access, as well as a 4.9 per cent conditional sale finance across the entire range.

Meanwhile, competitive zero per cent finance is available on the Venga and Soul models. In fact, the entire Cee’d range, including the new Pro Cee’d GT, are eligible for a £1,000

Kia deposit contribution. The oneyear’s insurance is available for £99 on selected Picanto, Rio and Cee’d models.

The Carens MPV is available with a 4.9 per cent PCP with a £750 deposit contribution. While the Cee’d and Cee’d Sportswagon are both eligible for a £900 saving and available on the same 4.9 per cent finance deal.

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cent APR, but it’s now available with zero deposit, thanks to Mazda’s deposit contribution. This means drivers only have to worry about paying 42 fixed monthly payments of £247.

The five-door Mazda 3 also comes with a wealth of features as standard including, 17-inch alloys, front fog lights, sports grille and side skirts, and a rear roof spoiler.

Also being the sportier number of the three, the Mazda 3 can accelerate from 0-60mph in 12.9 seconds, but it still has a combined average fuel consumption of 38.2mpg.

skoda octavia SKODA’S new Octavia is available for just £149 per month, also with a zero per cent APR representative. This deal also comes with three years free servicing.

The package is designed to help buyers find the right deal that suits them, whether they have a larger budget and decide to put down a larger deposit and pay smaller monthly instalments, or put down a smaller deposit and have larger monthly payments.

For a customer deposit of £4,527.79, buyers will only need to pay the minimum £149 across a 35-month

paymaent period in order to drive away the Octavia Hatch S 1.2 TSi. This is based on a three-year, 10,000 mile per year agreement.

FORD FOCUS FORD’S Focus Zetec Navigator is on offer for £209 per month, with the innovative 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine under t he bonnet.

time is money

Persistent or a pest?

MAZDA 3 THIS month’s list of hatchback deals is lead by the Mazda 3 1.6-litre Tamura topping our hatchback list, which is also available with a zero per cent APR representative.

Not only does is come with zero per

Meldrum

Giving the Focus a few more desirable highlights, it comes with free metallic paintwork and a free Appearance Pack, giving buyers a little extra when they drive away. It comes with a number of features and is equipped with gadgets as a standard including 16-inch alloys, DAB navigation system and Bluetooth connectivity.

For a deposit of £4,457, customers will only have to pay £209 across a 23-month payment period on a 9,000 mileage limit per year plan.

I

was recently told that some car salespeople were given the task of telephoning previous customers to prospect them for new business.

Now this in itself isn’t a big surprise because new business prospecting is common practice in most sales organisations.

But, what was a surprise was that these customers have had their current car for less than a year!

And before anyone says they have examples of customers who change cars every time the old one gets dirty let me just say the vast majority do not and because of this fact they will probably not appreciate a sales call that, being honest, smacks of desperation.

This particular car dealership needs help to understand the importance of aligning their sales prospecting activity to the buying cycle of individual customers, including how often they should call previous customers; the different messages to deliver and the buying incentives needed at all the various stages.

From a finance point of view this would need to include the likelihood that the current credit agreement can be settled without transferring a horrendous amount of negative equity onto the new car or increasing the customer’s repayments to an unmanageable level.

Simple rule of thumb: A 60 month finance agreement that only had 10 per cent deposit last time around needs to run approximately 43 months before the PX value breaks even with the settlement figure.

Last month I asked how customer centric you thought your business was and stressed the importance of customer retention so I agree that regular customer contact is definitely a good idea but not if it’s going to have the opposite impact from what was intended.

Remember, selling cars is about how we serve individual customer’s needs so please, don’t be a pest.

‘Selling cars is about how we serve a customer’s needs’

Who is Jim Meldrum?

Jim is regional sales manager for First Response Finance. Call him on 07917 460 111 or email Jimm@frfl.co.uk

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 39

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big mike.

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

It wasn’t a pleasure to see him and he won’t get any more favours

A

good businessman looks after his customers, or at least that’s what I’ve always been told. Indeed, it’s a model upon which I’ve built my business for the past 25 years. Look after people, be nice to them, and chances are they’ll come back and buy from you again next time they need a medium-tolong-term transport solution…

That was my mindset when Mr Watts came on to my lot about a month ago. Mr Watts is a science teacher at our local comprehensive school, he has never divulged his first name and insists everyone call him ‘Mr’. Indeed, last time he bought a car off me, he filled in the name section on the V5 as Mr M.R Watts, leaving the mystery as vague as ever.

He’d done the same a few years earlier when he bought his first car from Big Mike’s Motors, though looking back through my records I noticed that time he’d entered his first name as ‘Mister’ and not bothered with a title. But hey, the guy was a good customer, and 10 years and two cars into our professional relationship, it was good to see him again.

Not a pleasure, that’s a phrase I reserve for people I enjoy dealing with, speaking to or looking at and Mr Watts has never fitted into any of those categories but good because it meant he was a) happy with the past two cars he’d had from me and b) probably looking for another one.

Indeed he was, and so ensued the same terminally dull process we went through last time he bought a car from me (the first one was a Volvo 480ES, the second a Saab 9-3 diesel, as somehow during the intervening period he had managed to find a willing partner with which to procreate).

This time, though, he’d been doing his homework, and whipped out his trusty iPad. He’d logged on to a consumer review website and whittled down his shortlist to three estate cars on the basis his 9-3 saloon wasn’t big enough for his pushchair and his telescope.

‘My issue is this,’ he told me. ‘The Volvo V50 is a little too racy and might attract the wrong kind of attention, the Saab 9-3 Wagon is defunct and therefore I may have difficulty procuring the necessary consumables and the Skoda Octavia is a fine motor car with a good reputation but I find it a little bit, well, dull really…’

On the basis that the Volvo, that byword in pulseracing, knee-trembling, red-blooded excitement, was both a little too racy and also a bit smaller, we settled on the Skoda, whereupon Mr Watts went on to bore me with his analysis of the necessary engine and

Big Mike Our man on the inside spills the beans on the car business...

specification combination that would best suit his lifestyle.

A lifestyle that consisted, as far as I could tell, of commuting to and from the school, the occasional trip to whichever local supermarket passed that week’s offersbased fiscal analysis and his weekly pilgrimage to the local astronomy club, which I ascertained consisted of Mr Watts and his friend Roger. After an hour, we agreed the best choice for him would be the 2.0 TDI SE model, ideally in grey or “that lovely light metallic gold that they do”, or silver if he had to, though he’d often found his silver Saab a little too flashy ‘if I knew what he meant’. Which I didn’t.

At that point, he left, saying how grateful he was for my indispensable advice as yet again I’d helped him choose his ideal vehicle. Of course, I didn’t have anything that specific in stock at the time, or I wouldn’t have let him go, but I promised him I’d go away and hunt one down that

‘The Volvo, that byword in knee-trembling red-blooded excitement, was a little too racy’ was definitely within his price range. Three weeks later, I hit gold dust. There it was, coming through the block with a nice mileage and optional brown leather trim (which, for some reason, I guessed would be up Mr Watts’ alley) at a price that left me with a reasonable, if not massive, profit based on his prescribed budget.

That evening, I called him and asked him to drop by the lot the following day, as I had something very exciting to show him. And so he did. A little after 4pm, Mr Watts drew up on my lot in a slightly older, slightly scruffier and (as I later found out to my inner delight) slightly more expensive Octavia estate.

‘Yes, Mike, I can see that the vehicle you have uncovered is indeed a rare and desirable find,’ he told me. ‘Such a shame, therefore, that on your sage and most valued advice I went round all the car supermarkets at the weekend and unearthed my own automotive holy grail. I remain in your debt for being such a good and loyal friend and helping me reach this decision.’

Damn right you do, mate, and don’t expect any favours from me next time. Oh, and if anyone fancies a diesel Octavia estate, I’ve got a cracking one in that lovely light metallic gold that they do…

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 | 41

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bAGGOTT.

Have you got our FREE iPad app? Download here bit.ly/CDMiPad

Isn’t it time we tackled the kerbside motor traders ourselves?

W

ith car dealers in the media spotlight once again and yet another government crackdown on the ‘evil’ that Whitehall believes lurks within every showroom, isn’t it about time we got together as a trade to weed out the real rotten turnips?

Every industry has its bad apples (I promise that’s my last fruit-and-veg-based metaphor) — just look at the press and the bad name that sewer-scraping tabloid hacks have tarred us all with. I struggle to listen to my own voicemail let alone anyone else’s, but if I tell anyone what I do for a living I can see them grab for their phone as if I could hear Aunt Jude’s soppy message about Sunday lunch just by looking at their Nokia 3210.

Just as in the car industry, working in the media requires a level of trust. I’ve often been told stories that would make the editors of weekly car magazines foam at the mouth (baby Jag, anyone?), but when the source tells you that it’s ‘off the record’, then that’s exactly what it means. If they can see that I don’t leak sensitive information like a Lotus Elise’s roof, then they’re more inclined to give me the lowdown on something they want to shout about in the future.

It’s the same with car dealers ­— if your customers don’t trust you then you’re already on the back foot. In fact, building up trust, in my eyes, should be the most important thing for every dealer. Sadly, there are many in the motor trade that don’t see business that way — and it’s this minority that are ruining it for the rest of us.

Earlier this month the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and the Trading Standards Institute clubbed together to launch its ‘Check It, Don’t Regret It’ campaign. It appears that the government is fed up with second hand cars being the most complained about topic on the CAB’s advice line.

In the last 12 months, the charity has been told of 84,000 complaints about used cars. That’s quite a lot.

In the first two weeks of September alone there were more than 2,500 angry punters on the blower and some 83 per cent of them had valid faults on their ‘new’ used car. Four out of five of the callers’ motors needed essential repairs. Incredibly, 139 of them were fit only for the scrap heap.

That’s not good news for dealers as a whole. While you may be genuine, honest and helpful, there are many out there that are not — and most of them, if I were to hazard a guess, are selling their cars not from a showroom or used car pitch, but from a layby at

James Baggott *EDITOR’S NOTE: it sounds a good idea — it will keep him busy*

the side of a busy main road. While it’s all well and good for the government and its enforcers to get angry about dodgy used cars, their latest campaign should really have a simple message and one alone: Don’t buy a used car from the side of the road.

Seriously, who are these people that buy machines costing thousands from a guy in a grotty layby? With the desire to save a few quid clouding their craniums, they’ve thrown all sense out of the window and decided that yes, they might not know where the dealer lives, or trades from, what his real name is or have anything more than a pay-asyou’re-gone mobile phone number, but still handing over £1,695 for a fading red Ford Ka for his daughter is in fact a solid and sound investment.

What’s that, you say? The head gasket has gone? And you want the number for Citizens Advice? Oh. If aforementioned doting dad had spent a couple of

‘What’s that, you say? The head gasket has gone?

And you want the number for Citizens Advice? Oh’ hundred quid more and bought from a car dealer — one with premises, one paying business rates, advertising costs, VAT and all the rest of the big bills that come with running a legitimate business ­— then he’d have had some comeback. And that’s not forgetting he’d have known where to take the faded Ford Ka back to in the first place.

If the government focused its efforts on killing off kerbside traders (not literally), then I’d wager those 84,000 complaints a year would fall dramatically.

A simple message to car buyers warning them of the dangers of buying dodgy motors at the side of the road and instead to head to a dealership would be far more effective than simply scaring consumers into thinking all dealers are out to get them.

Maybe it’s time the industry clubbed together ­— threw some cash into an advertising pot — and launched a campaign of its own to get the message across.

I’m up for organising it. Who’s with me?

Tweet me @CarDealerEd.

Who is James Baggott?

He’s the founder of Car Dealer Magazine and managing director of parent company @BlackballMedia, an automotive services provider. He now spends most of his time on Twitter @CarDealerEd and annoying the rest of us.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 43

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Little Austin Seven is perfect for picnics Classic vintage two-seater makes a good investment as well as a fun purchase

I

t’s not everyday you come across a vintage car, especially one that’s still roadworthy and has had just three owners since it rolled off the production line in 1935.

That’s right, this little 80-year-old Austin Seven, which is kept in a temperature-controlled garage, has had only three owners within a 50-year period and counted up just 29,048 miles on the clock – or at least that’s what the car itself thinks.

The Austin’s previous owner was an elderly gentleman who kept the car for a groundbreaking 38 years. According to Ben Boxhall, director of the car’s new owner, The Bright Ideas Factory Vr3 Prestige, he enjoyed every moment of it.

So much so, he took this vintage classic on an adventure by loading his gramophone into the cockpit and taking his friend on a trip from Oxford to France. It was on this journey that they paid a visit to a number of Austin motor clubs, with their classic music on full volume.

‘This is a quirky little car and as far as I’m aware its previous owner was quite an eccentric,’ said Boxhall. ‘He actually took the Austin to France and back, where he visited Austin Seven Clubs with his gramophone attached to the back.’

Handyman and manager David Lewis at The Bright Ideas Factory Vr3 Prestige, said the only reason the gentleman was selling the Austin Seven was simply because it was no longer practical for him. ‘As far as I’m aware, he really enjoyed driving the Austin Seven but due to his age, he started to struggle getting in and out of it,’ says Lewis.

The little Seven has undergone a full bodywork conversion and, as a result, is in top condition.

‘It originally started life as a saloon but changed to an Austin Special in the 1970s,’ Lewis

explains. Although the Austin has undergone some serious upgrades, it still has a number of original features, making it a beautifully-built vintage two-seater.

‘The chassis, engine, gearbox and front axle are original parts and I love taking it out on the road – I’ve driven it numerous times and as a niche market there will be someone out there who is desperate to buy this car,’ says Lewis.

The Austin also has something of a racing background, competing in both sprints and hill climbs. Lewis, who has spent much time working on and driving the Austin, still takes the car on a number of track day events – even if it does only just manage to reach 40mph.

‘I’m a member of the 750 Motor Club and I’ve done a few hill climbs and sprint events in the Austin,’ he says.

‘It’s definitely a Sunday car or a little toy to have sat in the garage – I even take it on track days just to have a bit of fun in it.’

It’s also important to

remember that this little beauty is exempt from MOT and road tax, allowing drivers to enjoy stressfree, roof-down motoring in a truly wonderful example of automotive heritage.

And while it’s sitting in the garage, it could be growing in value.

‘Vintage and classic cars are of course a specialised market,’ says Boxhall. ‘Customers often invest in these cars, rather than just buy them, because they usually continue to increase in value.’

It’s still equipped with its original log books and has evidence of service history.

The car is currently waiting for a new owner to take it on hill climbs or simple summer picnics.

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ENGINE

CABIN

Exige S Roadster is powered by the most powerful engine in the Lotus range – a 3.5litre supercharged V6 from Toyota

It’s posh for a Lotus but spartan by anyone else’s book. For £53k you’d expect a lot more for you money

STYLING

Roadster ditches not only the roof but also the rear wing. It makes for a more retro and stylish image – it’s very pretty

Lotus Exige S Roadster

the knowledge

The British firm has lopped the roof off its Exige and created an open-top model. But does it still excite? Leon Poultney finds out What is it?

Picture the Exige range as the angry brother of the little Elise.

This new roadster version of the Exige S certainly looks like it means business – with the massive rear wing removed, it appears longer, more taut and beefier at the rear. It’s very pretty.

equipment. The car costs £52,900 in its standard form and that sort of money doesn’t even buy you air conditioning. Don’t even get us started on the stereo – it’s a basic Alpine unit that looks like it has been rescued from a Halfords bargain bin – and then there’s the £350 for a cupholder, a USB socket and possibly the trickiest cruise control known to man.

it broadens the Exige’s repertoire and has enough talent and ability to tempt buyers who previously wouldn’t have considered a Lotus, let alone an Exige.’

What DO WE THINK OF IT?

The Exige S frustrated us a lot because we wanted to fall madly in love with it. It looks fantastic and draws all of the right attention from passers-by.

The Exige S houses a screaming It handles only like a Lotus can and supercharged Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre What’s it like the V6 provides endless hours of V6 that sits slap bang in the middle of to drive? hilarity as you wind on the power. the vehicle. The powerplant performs Completely fantastic in every way.

The Lotus offers old school driving But it is way too expensive, doesn’t brilliantly and sounds incredible, thrills like very little else on sale offer the comfort or everyday the V6 grumbling and barking on today. The steering is completely usability of a Porsche and presents the overrun and revving to well unassisted, the suspension set-up is potential customers with a long list of over 7000rpm. The lack of roof only extremely well judged. It is a track day compromises. There’s no room in the heightens the sensation of sprinting from a standstill to 60mph in just 3.8 weapon that, despite the insane road boot, passengers will quickly tire of and wind roar, is actually surprisingly clambering over the enormous door seconds as the V6 screams through comfortable on longer journeys. sills, you can’t see out of the back, the rev range. parking it is a pain and the road noise hurts. But there’s no What’s the spec like? What do the press think of it? denying it remains a model that In short, completely and utterly offers the thrill of driving like few abysmal. The Lotus Exige S Roadster’s Top Gear Magazine said: ‘It may not be a great leap forward, but others on the market. biggest downfall is its lack of basic

What’s under the bonnet?

Model: Lotus Exige S Roadster Price: £59,350 (as tested) Engine: 3.5-litre supercharged

V6, petrol Power: 345bhp, 400Nm Max speed: 145mph 0-60mph: 3.8s MPG (comb’d): 28.0mpg Emissions: 236g/km Residual values (three years): tbc

target buyers: Mostly Lotus owners who ‘get’ the brand or buyers who love British sports cars

the rivals: Porsche Boxster S, Jaguar F-Type, Audi TT-S

Key Selling Points: 1. Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre V6 makes a great noise 2. Feels like a slightly more grown-up Elise 3. Performance is very rapid and could worry some supercars currently on sale

Deal Clincher:

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ENGINES

INSIDE

Just two engine options – and they’re both petrol units. There’s little difference in overall performance between the 1.0 and 1.2

One of the biggest changes with this new i10 is the leap in interior build quality. The cabin can also be specified in bold colours

STYLING

The new car is still unmistakably i10 but the frumpy styling has thankfully been replaced by more bold creases

Hyundai i10

the knowledge

Hyundai has the unenviable job of replacing the UK’s best-selling city car. Has it done a good job?

What is it?

What’s the spec like?

More than five years after its predecessor went on sale, Hyundai will be delivering the first new examples of its clever and compact city car, the i10, early in 2014. The new car looks sharper, has enhanced equipment levels, yet crucially has not gone up in price, of which more later. Hyundai says it’s a car that ‘gets you from A to B’ by which it means B-segment equipment levels on an A-segment budget.

The range begins with the S trim, which, as standard, comes with the 1.0-litre powertrain – prices start at £8,345 (no change from the outgoing i10). Mid-trim SE available with both engine options kicks in at £9,295, but the range-topping Premium is the one Hyundai is really keen to shout about. Buyers will enjoy features such as Bluetooth connectivity with voice recognition, steering wheel controls, rear speakers and LED daytime running lights. There are some additional nice design touches and Premium purchasers will need to find £9,995. Hyundai expects 90 per cent of purchasers to go for SE or Premium.

What’s under the bonnet?

A choice of two petrol engines – a 1.0litre three-cylinder powertrain which can get from 0-60mph in around 15 seconds and has a top speed of 96mph, or a 1.2-litre four-cylinder unit which can get to 60mph in 12 seconds and tops out at 106mph. Naturally, the bigger engine will come into its own with a fully-loaded car and boot while still delivering pleasing fuel economy. Buyers can expect 59.6mpg combined.

What’s it like to drive?

Refined and roomy, comfortable and quiet, it’s a worthy successor. The gearbox is smooth, the steering is light and accurate and the overall impression is of big-car refinement in a much smaller product.

What do the press think of it?

Car magazine said: ‘The new Hyundai i10 still doesn’t create the same pang of ‘want’ as a VW Up, but it is better value, on a par for overall refinement, and substantially more mature than its predecessor too.’ Autocar concluded: ‘Now more than ever Hyundai’s city car is a purchase that can be considered as much with the heart as with the head.’

What DO WE THINK OF IT? If we were working for Hyundai we’d be feeling pretty optimistic about the i10’s prospects. It deserves to do well. And one thing we have neglected to mention so far is that the car is backed by the company’s five-year unlimited mileage warranty.

Impressive equipment levels, a big step up in interior quality, sensible pricing and an interior that makes our much-loved long term Skoda Citigo look a little cheap. Good job, Hyundai.

Model: Hyundai i10

Premium Price: £9,995 Engine: 1.0-litre, three cylinder petrol Power: 65bhp, 93Nm Max speed: 96mph 0-60mph: 14.9s MPG (comb’d): 60.1mpg Emissions: 108g/km Residual values:

tbc

target buyers: Mainly owners of the outgoing model but also new-to-thebrand customers

the rivals:

Kia Picanto, Volkswagen Up, Skoda Citigo, Seat Mii, Citroen C1, Peugeot 107, Toyota Aygo

Key Selling Points: 1. No price rise for the entrylevel model 2. Build quality has improved greatly 3. Range of colourful interior styling

Deal Clincher:

i10 comes with five-year unlimited mileage warranty Searches supplied by Monthly AutoTrader.co.uk searches: 47,433 CarDealerMag.co.uk | 49

forecourt.

INSIDE

STYLING

Excellent build quality and an almost unending (and expensive) array of options

You’ll either love or hate the Panamera’s bulbous look but there’s no denying it’s different

Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid Porsche’s Panamera has been refreshed, with new styling, tech and a hybrid option. Daljinder Nagra has driven it What is it?

What’s the spec like?

Conspicuous consumption with a conscience. For those less interested in the ballistic pace of its V8 engine Turbo offerings, Porsche is serving up its four-seat Panamera with a hybrid system that is able to propel the car up to 22 miles (and at speeds of up to 84mph) on battery power alone. It returns an incredible 91mpg on the combined cycle and thanks to CO2 emissions of just 71g/km, the E-Hybrid is even exempt from the London Congestion Charge, something – due to the new, more stringent rules – not even a Toyota Prius can boast.

No trim levels as such, just increasing levels of standard equipment the higher you venture up the model hierarchy, and an extensive options list which can see you easily add £20,000 to the car’s list price should you get too happy ticking boxes. With the refreshed model a manual gearbox is no longer offered, with all cars bar the diesel and hybrid coming with Porsche’s excellent PDK twin-clutch automatic instead. Also available are a plethora of electronic safety aids, such as lane change assist and adaptive cruise control with Porsche Active Safe, which alerts the driver to potential obstacles.

What’s under the bonnet?

Don’t think all this eco-worthiness makes the Panamera S E-Hybrid slow – this is a Porsche after all.

The 410bhp shove from the 3.0-litre supercharged V6 and 70kW electric motor means this will sprint from 0-62mph in 5.5 seconds and on to a top speed of 167mph.

50 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

experience somewhat. Jump out of an S or Turbo model and the E-Hybrid feels a tad lethargic, less eager to change direction and with acceleration at odds with its 410bhp headline power output.

What do the press think?

Car Magazine said: ‘It costs a chunky £88,000, but promises to offer the economy of a city car and the performance of a super-saloon, depending on your mood and the selected on-board modes.’

What do we think of it?

The Panamera remains a highly accomplished, involving and desirable GT car. Its new plug-in What’s it like hybrid system certainly makes it to drive? the eco-darling amongst its peers, Thanks to its battery pack and electric motor gubbins, the Panamera but you’ll really have to want a part hybrid weighs in a whopping 325kg EV vehicle to shell out the weighty premium over the impressive and more than the normal entry-level frugal diesel model which, in our model, and unfortunately this opinion, performs even better. extra bulk does blunt the driving

ENGINES

The 3-litre supercharged V6 and electric motors provide a mammoth 410bhp

the knowledge Model: Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid Price: £88,967 Engine: 3.0-litre, six-cylinder,

supercharged, petrol Power: 410bhp, 590Nm Max speed: 167mph 0-60mph: 5.5s MPG (comb’d): 91.1mpg Emissions: 71g/km Residual values:

tbc

target buyers: Conscientious luxury saloon buyers who want to save the planet but not trade-in performance

the rivals: BMW Active Hybrid 5, Infiniti Q50, BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe

Key Selling Points: 1. It can drive up to 22 miles on battery power alone 2. Impressive performance from supercharged engine 3. Luxury feel throughout

Deal Clincher:

A fuel-efficient luxury saloon with green intentions Searches supplied by Monthly AutoTrader.co.uk searches: 113,308

in association with INSIDE

ENGINES

Fairly basic to look at but packed with essential everyday technology

The 1-litre petrol or 1.6-litre diesel are the pick of the bunch. The 1.6 petrol is best avoided

STYLING

Ford Tourneo Connect

Ford has launched the latest addition to its MPV range and Sophie Williamson-Stothert was among the first to drive it What is it?

It might look like a van, but it’s safe to say it definitely isn’t one. Following the launch of the original Tourneo back in 2002, the all-new range consists of the five-seat Tourneo Connect and the slightly larger sevenseat Grand Tourneo Connect. It’s based on the Transit Connect with additional rear seats and windows transforming it into a spacious and practical MPV. It’s designed to combine Ford’s modern people carrier looks with its high-quality reputation for robust commercial vehicles.

What’s under the bonnet?

The choice of three engines, including Ford’s direct-injection 99bhp 1.0-litre petrol EcoBoost unit or the latest fuelefficient 1.6-litre 113bhp TDCi diesel variant. The 1.0-litre petrol does seem to struggle carrying the extra weight and needs to be worked harder as a result, but there is a decent amount of pull through the rev range and its smooth six-speed gearbox makes it

easy and effortless to drive. The fact it only produces 116g/km of CO2 and has a combined fuel economy of roughly 64mpg, means drivers can travel further for less. Finally, there’s the 1.6-litre petrol, which comes with an automatic gearbox. Sadly, this is a little more frustrating to live with.

What’s the spec like?

Ford has kept the Tourneo Connect as basic as possible so it can take a battering from today’s hectic lifestyles.

The Zetec trim is expected to be the most popular specification when coupled with the diesel unit, which is set to make up a predicted 90 per cent of all sales. It comes equipped with air-conditioning, automatic headlights and window wipers, Bluetooth connectivity and DAB Radio.

What’s it like to drive?

Although the Tourneo is a large MPV and certainly looks bigger than a number of its rivals, it actually feels surprisingly small and easy

to manoeuvre. The steering is impressively firm and feels planted on any road. When it comes to running costs and practicality, the more refined diesel unit is arguably the better option and has the extra torque to pull the additional weight – especially when you have a small kayak in the back.

What do the press think of it?

The boys at Top Gear Magazine said: ‘It might lack the outright sophistication of its B-Max or C-Max relatives, but it drives well despite its van platform, is refined and handles much like them albeit – with a touch more body roll.’

What do we think of it?

The Tourneo Connect isn’t the most exciting MPV on the road, but it’s certainly one of the more practical buys. It is basic, easy to drive and it’s cheap compared to rivals. Perfect for those looking for a fuel-efficient workhorse that’s easy on the wallet.

It is basic and looks like a van but does come with personalisation options

the knowledge Model: Ford Tourneo

Connect 1.6-litre TDCi Price: £17,395 Engine: 1.6-litre Duratorq TDCi Power: 113bhp, 285Nm Max speed: 96mph 0-60mph: 14.7s MPG (comb’d): 56.5mpg Emissions: 116g/km Residual values:

tbc

target buyers: Active families or sporty individuals who need a practical yet comfortable machine

the rivals:

Citroen Berlingo, Renault Scenic, Fiat Doblo, Ford C-Max

Key Selling Points: 1. Rugged interior that can handle the odd scrape 2. Spacious and comfortable yet easy to drive 3. Cheap to buy and as cheap to run

Deal Clincher:

A spacious and hardy people carrier that drives well Searches supplied by Monthly AutoTrader.co.uk searches: 15,607 CarDealerMag.co.uk | 51

skunk FEATURE.

Honda CR-Z Mugen

Mazda MX-5 Superlight

52 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Mitsubishi Grandis VIP Limousine

Toyota Picnic GT4

Nissan Micra 350 SR

rock Toyota Aygo Crazy

Meet the skunkworks cars – the backroom projects that you’ll never be able to sell. Here we bring you the stories of how they were created PICTURES: DON JAMES

Nissan Juke R

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 53

FEATURE. SKUNKWORKS Nissan Juke R As skunkworks projects go, there aren’t many that have been quite as successful as Nissan’s Juke R. Cooked up by a team of executives desperate for an idea to hammer home their new baby crossover’s sporting credentials, the stunt not only achieved thousands of column inches but even spawned the most expensive road car Nissan has ever sold.

No one at Nissan knew just how successful the project would be when one bright spark came up with the idea of shoehorning a Lamborghinislaying GT-R’s engine and powertrain into the little Juke. In fact the car’s success is still surprising the team behind the project, even now.

Darren Cox was the Juke’s chief marketing manager at the time and was tasked with making one man’s Friday-afternoon brainwave a reality.

‘We always knew the Juke was going to be sporty, but we needed to get that message across to buyers,’ he explained. ‘We also knew that the Nismo range would be coming along during the Juke’s lifecycle and needed to introduce the idea of a sporty crossover to the public, so it wasn’t a shock when it arrived.

‘When Vauxhall made the Zafira VXR it was panned by the press because they didn’t understand the need for it – the last thing we wanted was for that to happen to the Juke too.’

Cox explained that building the Juke Rs – Nissan made one left- and one right-hand drive – was time consuming (around 14,000 man hours), but not as complicated as they feared.

The team behind the project first thought about placing an engine from a Z car – like the Micra 350Z project we’ve also featured in this issue – and making it rear-wheel drive for drifting. But that plan was ruled out.

When the decision was made to go with a GT-R set-up the team first tried to elongate a Juke shell to fit the larger GT-R platform. However this distorted the looks too far from the road car which wasn’t ideal, so the team went back to the drawing board.

Eventually the engineers at race team RML – bussed in to make the cars a reality – worked on cutting down the powertrain to fit the Juke body.

The prop shaft was shortened and the bulkhead moved closer to the driver so the 3.8-litre V6 twin turbo engine would fit.

The results were incredible. The four-wheel drive from the GT-R remained in place giving the Juke awesome grip and the lightweight matt black monster could hit 160mph and crack 60mph in just 3.8 seconds. That’s what 485bhp does for you.

‘We launched the car in Dubai and the press attention it got was incredible,’ added Cox. ‘We raced it against a load of supercars for a video and that went viral. In terms of value for money the project has given us – so far – a return on investment of 11 to one. And it’s ongoing — the car has just toured America and Russia, and 54 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

There’s no doubt the Juke R project has been a roaring success for Nissan

the knowledge: Nissan Juke R Price: Engine: Power: Max speed: 0-60mph:

£460,000 3.7-litre V6, twin turbo 485bhp, 588Nm 160mph sub 3.7s

Australia wants it next.’ Rumoured build cost for the cars was £250,000 each and that’s despite many of the bits coming from the parts bin.

Cox explained the Jukes used were preproduction models they couldn’t sell and the GT-R mechanicals were left over from other projects. ‘It was a very frugal project and has been a huge success for Nissan as a brand, not just for the Juke,’ said Cox. The fact Nissan has sold three road cars off the back of it – at a cost of £460,000 each – comes as somewhat of a bonus.

When the car was in Dubai, a wealthy sheik

offered £3m for the car on display – and it was that ridiculous offer that saw the manufacturer decide to put it into low production.

So impressed with the results was that particular buyer that he bought two.

There’s no doubt the Juke R project has been a roaring success for Nissan, so what’s on the cards next? ‘Nissan is all about innovation, so I doubt we’ll do something the same with another model – but you’ll just have to wait and see,’ said Cox. If the results are anywhere near as exciting as the Juke R, we can’t wait to see it.

James Baggott (@CarDealerEd)

Scan the QR code to watch the Nissan Juke R v John Reynolds’ Suzuki GSX-R1000

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 55

FEATURE. SKUNKWORKS Mazda MX-5 Superlight An international car show is the place for a modern manufacturer to flex its design muscles and wow the crowds with something truly jawdropping. However, rather than opt for pure style over substance, Mazda created a showstopper that exuded the lightweight performance philosophy as well as impressed the hordes with this, the Superlight.

Rewind four years and the concept was polished to within an inch of its life and gleaming on the Japanese marque’s stand at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

A minimalistic approach to the popular twoseater sports car saw most of its innards ripped out in an attempt to shave weight, yet retained a large dollop of futuristic styling.

Peter Birtwhistle, chief designer at Mazda Europe, was the man tasked with coming up with the zany project that he very modestly reveals was ‘simply a task to keep our team of designers motivated’.

With regard to styling, the MX-5 Superlight takes a lot of inspiration from the vintage club racers from 1950s America, where enthusiasts would take classic British and European roadsters such as the Austin Healey and strip them back to bare metal to improve performance.

‘I thought it would be fun to take a club racer approach on an MX-5, to make it pure and lightweight,’ Birtwhistle told Car Dealer.

‘Lightweight engineering is part of Mazda’s development philosophy in terms of being more efficient, so we wanted to see what happened if we stripped an MX-5 down to the minimum.’

Stripping it right back involved some serious gutting, with many creature comforts (most notably the windscreen) removed to relieve the standard MX-5 of around 250kg, meaning it tips the scales at just under 1,000kg.

‘Many parts of the bodywork were visible after we had so savagely stripped the car of a roof, windows and a windscreen,’ said Birtwhistle.

‘We had to draw the eye to other areas with various interesting highlights – nicely trimmed seats, nice minimalistic areas of detail, flashes of chrome and retro-inspired touches like the flick starter buttons.’

The project took a pair of designers around three months to sketch and build, with a selection of external contractors roped in to help with the engineering and sports fettling – the chassis, brakes and roll-cage were fitted by a racing specialist in Cologne.

Surprisingly, the whole project ‘only’ cost the marque £100,000 which was, according to Birtwhistle, a snip considering the global press the eye-catching car mustered. ‘It’s probably some of the best coverage we’ve had for any car. So it was a good investment,’ he added.

But what happens to such a gorgeous concept after it has impressed at motorshows and got the media chatting?

‘It will likely be stored under a cover 56 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

somewhere and kept maintained by our team,’ explained Birtwhistle.

‘The trouble is that the next MX-5 is on the horizon so interest in this model will drop off and technology will have changed so much, our findings won’t be so relevant.’

There is one major role the MX-5 Superlight has played and that is influencing the interior of the upcoming production model.

‘The colour combination of tan leather interior, dazzling white paint and chrome flashes is something we are still looking at now for the next generation,’ revealed Birtwhistle.

It seems a shame that such a striking model will never see the light of day but we could say that about many concepts and Skunkworks specials. We were just delighted we got to test the nimble Superlight concept on track.

Lift up the fighter jet-esque ignition switches, depress the large, red starter button and the

seemingly small 1.8-litre engine barks into life.

The gear change into first is elegant and slick, despite boasting a shifter shaped like a dinner party table decoration.

The car instantly feels tauter and the ride firmer than the production model, then nail the throttle and the wind smacks you in the face like a gusty baseball bat.

The lack of windscreen makes it almost impossible to breathe, see and hear anything but it’s a life-affirming experience.

Luckily, there is a pair of Star Wars-style helmets in the boot that drivers can pop on should they want to take things above the 30mph mark. ‘I’d have liked to put a little screen on the front of the car in hindsight,’ added Birtwhistle.

‘The driving experience is a little hectic but I can assure you, it pulls, corners and stops better than the production model.’

Leon Poultney (@Blokesincars)

the knowledge: Mazda MX-5 Superlight Price: Engine: Power: Max speed: 0-60mph:

ÂŁ100,000 1.8i, 4-clyinder, 16 valve 124bhp, 166Nm 121mph 9.8 seconds

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 57

FEATURE. SKUNKWORKS Nissan Micra 350SR Think of a vehicle to use as the base for a mid-engined supercar and it’s fair to say the Nissan Micra wouldn’t usually spring to mind. It’s been around for 30 years now and with its nondescript looks, dependable mechanicals and comfortable seats, the Micra has been the darling of more, how shall we put this, mature types.

But that wasn’t the case in 2005. Nissan GB wanted to show its oh-so-sensible supermini could have a wild side and drew up plans to create the Micra 160SR. That car was a mildly made-over Micra, sporting a 106bhp engine designed to rub shoulders with Fiat’s Panda 100HP, but it had a secret up its sleeve. To get the public geed up, Nissan called upon longtime racing partner RML to create a very special one-off Micra – the 350SR. ‘We took a Micra shell and ripped everything out,’ says Michael Mallock, business development manager at RML Group. ‘The shell then had a variety of aerodynamic tweaks added to the body while a full racing roll cage and two race seats were added inside. The overall weight is around 1,250kg and the 3.5-litre V6 used is positioned in the middle of the car. It has the block from a Murano but with 350Z heads.’

Nissan’s performance arm, Nismo, helped to tune it and used some high lift cams, a modified ECU and a straight-through exhaust. A six-speed manual gearbox drives the rear wheels – the same wheels and tyres as the 350Z – and the car manages to crack 60mph from rest in under five seconds with a 150mph maximum.

‘For the suspension, we raided the Nissan parts bin, modifying Almera components to fit and finished it off with racing-spec Brembo brakes,’ says Mallock. ‘The project took around five months to complete. We’re used to working fast at RML and we’ve done plenty of projects for Nissan. Most of that time was spent refining the design digitally. Actually building the car was the relatively quick bit.

‘It’s always fun taking delivery of a cooking supermini and then turning it into a racing car for the road. Just going into the workshop every day and seeing the transformation take place was great in itself. The best bit was the day we shoehorned in the monstrous V6 engine — right where the back seats should have been.

‘It was great fun to build, but the best bit was developing it. With all that power, not much weight and a mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive layout, it could have been a real handful to drive.

I think we managed to make it useable enough for a road car, but still thrilling enough for more capable drivers.’

But the 350SR wasn’t the only mad Micra Nissan GB built. A couple of years before, Nissan asked RML to build a similar car. But instead of using the tried and tested mechanicals from a 350Z sports car, the Micra-R was altogether more sporting.

58 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

the knowledge: Nissan Micra 350SR Price: Engine: Power: Max speed: 0-60mph:

£200,000 (est) 3.5-litre V6 310bhp, 363Nm 150mph sub-5.0s

‘The Micra-R was the predecessor to the 350SR which we built in 2003,’ Mallock recalls.

‘It had a detuned 2.0-litre engine sourced from the Nissan Primera British Touring Car which we ran for Nissan in the late-1990s, and a six-speed sequential gearbox.

‘While it was certainly manic, it wasn’t especially reliable, which is why we went back to the drawing board and fitted the 3.5-litre V6 from the 350Z for the 350SR.’ The Micra 350SR project wasn’t the last time Nissan and RML would work together. Like many motor industry relationships, the two companies seem to have an eye for great one-offs and know how to make them work properly – both mechanically and as a promotional tool.

‘Nissan and RML work very closely on projects,’ adds Mallock. ‘This relationship goes all the way back to the works Primera BTCC team.

‘The Micra 350SR project led directly to the Juke R project, itself a project designed to get buyers used to the idea of a hotter, faster Juke, which became the Juke Nismo.

‘More recently, we’ve split a Leaf in half too! Currently, we’re working on the ZEOD RC – Nissan’s electric Le Mans racer for 2014 – so you can see our relationship with Nissan encompasses almost everything.’

James Batchelor (@JRRBatchelor)

Scan the QR code to watch the Nissan Juke R v Nissan Micra 350SR v Toyota Aygo Crazy

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 59

FEATURE. SKUNKWORKS Toyota Aygo Crazy

Scan the QR code to watch the Nissan Juke R v Nissan Micra 350SR v Toyota Aygo Crazy

I remember blasting around Sussex in it where it was spotted by a photographer who nearly scooped it Out of all of the Skunkworks cars in this feature, it’s arguably the Toyota Aygo Crazy which had the greatest job on its hands. When launched, the Aygo was a joint venture with PSA– Peugeot Citroen Group – which had a greater historical affinity with younger buyers than Toyota did, thanks to the Peugeot 106 and Citroen Saxo.

‘We knew we had to come up with story angles to create cut through and get the new name across,’ Toyota’s Scott Brownlee explained.

‘Various projects were proposed, and the two which got the green light were Aygo Crazy and Aygo football with Top Gear.’

But there was a wider issue here, too. Creating a new city car is one thing, but getting the British 60 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

public to pronounce its name correctly is quite another. The Aygo Crazy was tasked with this job.

‘Aygo Crazy was really born from the idea of putting words after Aygo that helped convey the correct pronunciation of the new model name – for instance, “I go do this” and “I go do that”.

At least that’s the conscious reason – subconsciously, my history as motorsports press officer at Austin Rover when Metro 6R4s were competing means I set out to build a little version of that Group B rallying icon.’

And it does look like a downsized 6R4. With its fat arches and a rear wing from a Champcar, the Aygo Crazy really was a racer for the road.

‘The project took two years to complete, but it was not worked on continuously,’ recalls Brownlee. ‘It was mechanically finished in about

six months then we kept it under wraps, often at my house for the weekend, waiting on the right opportunity to use it. That came in the run-up to the last British Motor Show. We billed it as a concept car you could drive, the plan always being that we could give this unique car to a journalist to drive rather than leave it pampered in a museum.

‘The base car was one for the original launch vehicles and it was sent to our partner, Roger Dowson Engineering based at Silverstone, along with the various MR2 bits needed to turn an economical FWD hatchback into a mid-engined tearaway. The late Roger Dowson carried out all the engineering work and had the car ready in about six months.

‘We put no pressure on them as the Aygo

the knowledge: Toyota Aygo Crazy Price: Engine:

Power: Max speed: 0-60mph:

launch had gone well and there was no issue with awareness, so Aygo Crazy moved from being a launch project to a life-cycle support.’

After this, the Crazy was dropped off to top classic Ferrari coach trimmers O’Rourke, which created the interior trim.

‘During this time the little upstart sat wheel by wheel with multi-million-pound Ferrari GTOs and even Sir Norman Foster’s re-creation of the Dymaxion, a futuristic car designed by Buckminster Fuller in the 1930s,’ said Brownlee.

The original build cost was ‘well over the £100k mark’ and the car features a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder 16-valve engine and rear suspension from a MKIII Toyota MR2, a TTE turbo charger kit, bespoke roll cage, seats and interior bespoke by O’Rourke Coach Trimmers, and adjustable dampers.

£100,000 (est) 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged 200bhp, 240Nm 160mph 5.9s

‘It’s half-Aygo, half-MR2. Like most one-offs, the Aygo Crazy project was kept top secret. But a test outing at Goodwood before the car’s official reveal almost blew the car’s cover.

‘I distinctly remember blasting around Sussex in it, including a visit to Goodwood where it was spotted by a German car magazine photographer who nearly scooped it,’ recalls Brownlee.

‘The first track test was done at Bruntingthorpe Airfield. It was great right off, thanks to the expertise of Roger Dowson.

‘The famous road tester we had evaluate it liked it straightaway and asked for no changes to the setup.

‘I had a few laps at Bruntingthorpe, including a heart-stopping spin that fortunately caused no damage, then drove it home to Sussex.’

The Aygo Crazy isn’t the only mad one-off created by Toyota GB. Along with the Picnic Sport featured in this magazine there have been a number of projects which didn’t make it from Brownlee’s brain to sheet metal.

‘In the past there have been ideas to marry a MKII Toyota Rav4 MK2 with running gear from a Corolla World Rally Car, a Prius convertible and a Lexus SC F – an SC 430 fitted with the transmission and 5.0-litre V8 from the IS F.’ Will Brownlee have his own way? Quite possibly, as it seems there’s no shortage of mad ideas at Toyota GB. ‘We still have the SC 430 base car – it used to hang from the roof of our HQ building in Epsom – so we could still do that one day...’

James Batchelor (@JRRBatchelor) CarDealerMag.co.uk | 61

FEATURE. SKUNKWORKS Mitsubishi Grandis VIP Limousine Of all the performance-bent engineering marvels we’ve seen delivered by the ‘skunkworks’ of their respective manufacturers, the Mitsubishi Grandis VIP Limousine is different in that it hasn’t been created to showcase the company’s prowess to the world’s media or take up space on a glittery show stand.

Indeed, it’s unlikely that many have even heard of it. Instead, the VIP Limousine was a bespoke project created at the request of the company’s former managing director Jim Tyrrell to ease the burden of running the UK arm of a multinational carmaker. Finding himself on the road more and more, and fed up with the frustrating process of tapping an email into a BlackBerry, he teamed up with Mitsubishi Special Vehicle Operations (MSVO) and third-party vehicle customisation outfit Designer Vision to create an executive express worthy of ‘Pimp My Ride’.

Darren Hughes, manager of MSVO, told us: ‘We designed the VIP limo as a mobile office so our directors could be more productive when away on meetings across the company. Rather than them having to work on a tiny smartphone or computer, it’s fitted with all the office furnishings anyone could reasonably need.’

It seems what a managing director could ‘reasonably need’ is far removed from the crumb-encrusted keyboard and influenzariddled telephone you or I would call office accoutrements. In terms of toys, the Grandis VIP Limousine is stuffed to the gills with tech.

Highlights from the extensive kit list include 3G wireless internet, a printer, scanner and fax machine built into the door panels as well as an upgraded driver compartment with DAB digital radio and sat-nav.

‘We also built a 25-inch flat screen monitor into the sliding tinted glass divider, which you can hook a laptop up to,’ said Hughes. ‘Though it can also be used to watch DVDs on the 10-disc auto changer.’

And to ensure it doesn’t feel completely like a utilitarian office cubicle, the interior was slathered in lambskin rugs and new upholstery.

The cabin is fitted with a refrigerator and the rear cabin lighting has been replaced by more welcoming halogen spotlights.

However, the Grandis VIP Limousine is much more than a cosmetic effort, according to Hughes: ‘Because we removed the middle bench of seats, passengers are sat over the rear axle, which made for quite a hard ride. We upgraded the standard suspension for air dampers, which give the limousine ride we were aiming for.’

For the ultimate in wafting, the standard soundproofing was also upgraded and extensively applied across the body, including the roof.

Despite utilising the talents of an external company for this project, MSVO has extensive experience in building (albeit less opulent) bespoke creations for its diverse range of fleet customers.

62 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

the knowledge: Mitsubishi Grandis VIP Limousine Price: Engine: Power: Max speed: 0-60mph:

£70,000 (est) 2.4-litre, four-cylinder 162bhp, 215Nm 118mph 11.7s

‘We’ve created everything from ventilated boxes for chainsaws for utility companies, through to gun safes for police force armed response units,’ elaborates Hughes.

‘But we’d happily consider a commission from a private owner looking to customise their car.

The Shogun in particular is a car well suited to this kind of makeover.’

So, will we be seeing anything similar from the manufacturer? ‘The VIP Limo is still going strong, being used by the company directors, but it won’t last forever,’ says Hughes. ‘There’s nothing concrete in the pipeline at the moment but it will need replacing, so I can definitely see us doing something like this again.’

Daljinder Nagra (@DJonMotors)

The VIP Limo is still going strong, being used by the company directors, but it won’t last forever

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 63

FEATURE. SKUNKWORKS Toyota Picnic GT4 Okay, so it might appear to be just an ordinary Toyota Picnic, but take a look under the skin and you’ll find this is no normal Japanese MPV. Under the bonnet of this unique and British-built Picnic people carrier is a Celica GT4 rally engine, which produces nearly 200bhp!

It’s a one-off machine built by experts at Toyota GB’s technical centre near Gatwick in 1998, using out-of-production GT4 parts.

‘Since we put the already out-of-production GT4 bits into the Picnic, it was never intended to be a future concept,’ says Toyota’s Scott Brownlee.

Although it’s known as a sensible builder of everyday family cars, Toyota transformed its innocent people carrier into a full-blown experiment, one which no one knew exactly how it would turn out or what to expect.

‘We liked the incongruity of a supposedly dull, functional, family MPV with the engine from a homologation special rally car – the Celica GT4,’ says Brownlee. ‘The mechanical work was done by our own technical team and the interior trimming was carried out by then renowned coach trimmers Connolly Leather.’

The Picnic GT4 was unveiled in February 1999 and was soon in the hands of an intrigued press.

‘It was used as a press car and loaned out to magazines, but not displayed at a motor show,’ says Brownlee.

It started its life as the company car for the team’s press fleet manager, John Brooks, before Brownlee himself saved it from retail with a few more interesting plans for its future. In fact, later that year, Toyota used the Picnic GT4 as a crew support vehicle on the original Lexus IS 200 UK launch in Scotland.

‘I enjoyed a very good blast from Wick to Fort William down the Loch Ness/Great Glen road,’ says Brownlee. ‘But the real fun came from outdragging other cars, which technically should be faster – I recall one time when a very unhappy Porsche 944 owner couldn’t fathom why he was eating the dust of this mere Toyota MPV.’ The GT4 Picnic was eventually sold to an Irish dealer who used it as a workhorse on a number of local rallies to support his own rally cars. It inevitably suffered a bit of damage, including a broken piston from a turbo stuck on full boost.

But when it came up for sale again in 2012, Brownlee bought it back. ‘A few years ago, I mentioned my regret at selling it to my colleague who built it and he said he knew it was up for sale, so we bought it back and tidied it up,’ says Brownlee. ‘It was in surprisingly good condition and the only difference was the wheels.

‘The original wheels came from a UK limited edition Camry and are long out of production – the only way to get those again would be to buy a Camry Sport and those were pretty rare when new, let alone now as a 15-year-old car.’

Although the GT4 had hidden horsepower under the bonnet, it didn’t attract quite as much attention as you would expect from a 200bhp 64 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

the knowledge: Toyota Picnic GT4 Price: Engine: Power: Max speed: 0-60mph:

£30,000 (est) Celica GT4, 2.0-litre turbo, 1998cc 210bhp, 305Nm 120mph (est) 7.5s (est)

Picnic, mainly because of its subtle appearance.

‘Because the look was quite subtle it was really only folk “in the know” that paid it much attention – this was all part of the Q-car effect we wanted at the time,’ says Brownlee.

‘The body kit was a genuine Toyota Team Europe rally team accessory, but I’ve never seen another anywhere.’

Even though the Picnic GT4 was essentially a one-hit-wonder, its ability to thrill and offer a package of wheel-spinning fun provided the brand with a sporty recognition it never had before. ‘It hopefully gave the message that although the company is big and serious, we can also have a bit of fun,’ said Brownlee.

Sophie Williamson-Stothert (@1Sophie_W)

it was really only folk “in the know” that paid it mucH attention – this was all part of the Q-car effect we wanted

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 65

FEATURE. SKUNKWORKS Honda CR-Z MUGEN

As fun as the CR-Z might be to drive, it’s always been a little more Al Gore than Alain Prost.

Hybrid might not be a word synonymous with honed, highperformance stripped-out sports cars but Honda seems intent on proving that this needn’t necessarily be the case. As fun as its half-petrol, halfelectric CR-Z might be to drive, the fuel-sipping coupe has always been a little more Al Gore than Alain Prost.

Enter Mugen: Honda’s crazed performance arm with a penchant for big wings and loopy performance upgrades. Based in Japan, the firm has been tuning Hondas for more than 40 years, and is well known to the PlayStation generation, who are used to tacking Mugen-performance upgrades on to their virtual cars in the likes of Gran Turismo and Forza.

66 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

When Honda handed a CR-Z over to the tuner’s European arm, based in Northampton, the real question was just what to do with the sporty but lukewarm coupe. The easiest option would have been to do away with the standard car’s internals completely – removing the fuel-economy-biased 1.5-litre petrol, and shoehorning in one of Honda’s beefier powerplants instead.

Ever up for a challenge, Mugen decided against that approach. Rather than binning the hybrid system altogether, its boffins worked around it: by upping the power from the car’s existing drivetrain to keep the CR-Z’s unique nature intact.

‘When we first approached this programme, we considered what to do with the Honda IMA system, and the answer was immediate and obvious – utilise it and build on it,‘ explains Colin

Whittamore, Mugen Euro’s managing director.

Mugen started by stripping and almost completely rebuilding the car’s standard engine – prepping it for extra power with upgraded and strengthened internal parts, bespoke to the show car. It wasn’t then simply a case of bolting on a supercharger and calling it a day – instead, the boffins set about creating a system for integrating this addition seamlessly, with both the petrol and the electric motors.

‘The idea was to use the significant advantage of the early torque provided by the electric motor, then increase the torque available from the engine progressively,’ says Whittamore.

Effectively then, the CR-Z’s battery and electric motor take care of power low down the rev range – giving a nice initial bite when accelerating off

the knowledge: Honda CR-Z MUGEN Price: Engine:

Power: Max speed: 0-60mph:

£150,000 1.5, 4-cylinder, supercharged hybrid 197bhp, 215 Nm (est) 135mph (est) 6.5s (est)

the line – while the supercharged petrol engine kicks in to provide the big boost later on.

Combined, the Mugen’s power has been boosted a whopping 50 per cent over the standard car, with Honda estimating that its power output is a more meaty 197bhp. What’s more, thanks to this clever engineering, the CR-Z Mugen was able to retain the clever computer game-like power boost button – something which should be welcomed by the ex-video gamers.

‘We wanted a car that has genuine performance available at the touch of a button, but can perform just like a standard CR-Z and offer good fuel economy when the driver wishes,’ says Whittamore.

‘For that reason we’ve kept the three driving modes, so the driver can select “eco” or “normal”

to switch to economy and low emissions for the daily drive, but press the Mugen button for the full-blown “weekend warrior” settings.’

Mugen didn’t stop at making drivetrain changes, though. In order to cut the CR-Z’s already low kerb weight, the team set about removing anything deemed unnecessary. The back seats were thrown out, front seats were replaced with feather-light race-spec buckets and more than a sprinkling of carbon fibre was introduced.

Both the bonnet and doors were swapped for composite equivalents, helping to bring the total weight down a handy 50kg – despite the useful but weight intensive addition of uprated brakes.

The standard 16-inch wheels have been swapped for gnarly-looking 17-inch Mugen versions, too, giving scope for extra rubber

without adding extra ounces. That doesn’t mean it’s a complete track monster, though.

For starters, while the larger wheels might look mean, they’re wrapped in tyres exactly the same size as those fitted to the Toyota Prius.

Similarly, Mugen says that the adjustable suspension that it’s fitted is set up by default to suit ‘fast road’ driving – providing ‘better handling on the road without being excessively hard for passengers’.

‘I have to say that when any of us have jumped into the CR-Z Mugen it has delighted us all,’ says Whittamore. ‘It’s exactly what we were looking for. And the real beauty is that it can still be driven in the way customers of the standard CR-Z would recognise.’ [CD] Jon Reay (@JonReay) CarDealerMag.co.uk | 67

FEATURE.

curiosity

SKUNKWORKS jaguar c-X75 Car manufacturers love to set ambitious targets – and as dealers you’ll know just what I’m talking about – but when the team behind the incredible C-X75 received the diktat from on high with stipulations for the most ambitious car Jaguar had ever embarked on producing, I’m sure there were a few open mouths of disbelief.

Not only did the Jaguar board want the production version of the supercar to look exactly like the outrageous concept shown at the Paris motor show in 2010, but they had some pretty high targets too: They wanted it to have the performance of a Bugatti Veyron, but with the CO2 emissions of a Prius – and an electric range to match a Chevrolet Volt. This was building-aTesco-on-the-moon levels of ambition.

‘Our first thought was, “are they serious?”’ explained Felipe Austin Bodely, the Brazilian tasked with making the Jaguar concept a reality.

‘When I realised they were, we just set about getting the job done.’

Bodely makes ‘getting the job done’ sound as if he was asked to put up some tricky shelving, not make a car to rival some of the most desirable and fastest ever to hit the world’s roads. This was, without doubt, a monumental engineering task.

A team of 80 engineers, made up of the best of the best from project partners Williams (the F1 team) and Jaguar, were brought together in 2011 at JLR’s headquarters and they began to fathom the sheer complexities of making this dream hypercar a reality. ‘The board wanted it done fast and when speed is of the essence you need to lock engineers in a room and tell them not to come out until they’re finished – and that’s exactly what we did,’ explained Bodely.

‘F1 teams have to develop things in a very fast cycle. We got wind of rival hypercars from Ferrari (La Ferrari) and McLaren (P1) and knew of Porsche’s 918 and we wanted to launch our car around the same time.’

But there were a few issues to overcome before then – not least the small matter of the show car’s jet engines. The Paris 2010 concept had two turbines installed as power plants and the manufacturer’s top team were keen to push ahead with putting them into production.

‘I remember the company that makes them, Bladon Jets, came in to see us with them in a small suitcase,’ said C-X75 designer Matt Bevan.

‘Jet engines are a fantastic technology – they’re very powerful for such small units and would have made the car extremely futuristic. We wanted to cast convention aside and think what cars of the future would look like. Unfortunately for production, they just weren’t ready so they were swapped for a hybrid set up.’

While jet-powered cars are the stuff of little (and big) boys’ dreams they may still make an appearance in the future. Bladon Jets is now part-owned by Tata, the same parent company as Jaguar Land Rover…

68 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

It’s the ultimate skunkworks project – a jet-powered hypercar to rival the Veyron but with the emissions of a Prius. Sadly Jaguar’s C-X75 backroom project was killed off before it even made it into dealers’. James Baggott has exclusive access to the team behind the project With the turbines ruled out, the engineering team decided upon a powerful hybrid set-up instead – and what they came up with was truly incredible. Williams developed its very own batteries for the car and these were coupled with two electric motors, one in the back and one in the front, producing 200bhp each.

Further JLR magic dust was sprinkled on the internal combustion engine. Just 1.6-litres in size it produces a staggering 502bhp – that’s some 313bhp per litre – boosted by a turbo and supercharger. When all three units were combined, the output was a kidney-shifting 900bhp.

The C-X75 emits just 89g/km and is capable of running on electric power alone for around 60 miles – even then it has nearly 400bhp on tap. A

fast charging system tops the cells up in just 40 minutes. However, it’s when both electric and combustion power are combined that the Jaguar really comes alive.

‘The performance figures surprised even us,’ explained Bodely. ‘It can hit 60mph in under three seconds and, in EV mode, achieves the same speed in less than six. 0-100mph is cracked in six seconds and we topped out at around 222mph. It is incredibly powerful.’

By August 2011 the engineers had cracked the hybrid set-up and, despite the battery packs that were built into the floor to aid handling weighing 250kg, they had still managed to make it weigh less than an F-Type.

In August 2012 the first prototype rolled out of the R&D department and the project was moving

killed the cat

ahead at speed. Three more prototypes followed, the last (seen here in blue) was car number five and the exterior was pretty much production ready while the interior was very close to a finished design, too.

‘We had to make some changes from the concept car because cooling was a major problem,’ explained Bodely. ‘The exhaust generated 850 degrees C so a large amount of work went into the air ducts. We had to engineer a “cool box” in the rear to keep the important components below 90 degrees C at all times.

These were big challenges as we didn’t want to alter the shape.’

With these challenges overcome and testing revealing some exciting

results, it reached a point in the C-X75’s development when some major decisions needed to be made. Despite many millions already spent on development, and a very polished product to show for it, major investment was still required to finish the job.

‘Car number five was good but to take it into production it needed another 50 per cent again in development,’ explained Bodely. With his work done, all he and his team could do was wait for a decision from the board on the next steps.

In December 2012 the project was canned.

Economic uncertainties and a need to divert funds into other new models were blamed, but that didn’t quell the heartache.

So what was it like having to return to a room full of determined engineers – many of whom had spent the best part of two years on the C-X75 – to tell them that their dream was over?

‘We spent a long time on the car and we did everything they asked for – we’d hit all their targets,’ explained Bodely, the pain CarDealerMag.co.uk | 69

FEATURE. SKUNKWORKS jaguar c-X75

still clear behind his professional façade. ‘The supercar market at the time was uncertain.

The economy was very fragile and the timing just wasn’t right. Jaguar had other exciting projects it needed a little more than a supercar, so I understood the decision. It still hurt, though.’

Jaguar’s global brand director Adrian Hallmark told Car Dealer: ‘It was like killing the family puppy. No one wanted to do it, but someone had to. Sometimes you have to be brave.

‘We set out to achieve certain things with the C-X75 and we did it. But it cost a lot more than we planned and in the meantime the whole supercar market that was supposed to take off after the 2008 doom and gloom, went into a double dip.

We know for a fact, because we took people from those companies, that the competition were struggling with their supercars too.’

Of course Jaguar has form here. The XJ220 was the ultimate skunkworks project, conceived by a team of engineers in their spare time in the ’90s, again during similarly troublesome economic times.

Originally that car had a V12 engine, but when the production versions hit the market it had been replaced by a turbocharged V6.

Still, at least the XJ220 did eventually make it into showrooms. ‘We learned lessons from the XJ220,’ added Hallmark.

‘That helped us make the decision. We thought at the time let’s not, because of pride or passion for the family puppy, keep on going when we don’t think it’s the right thing to do.

‘It was bloody tough – it really was – but we had to do the right thing.’

70 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Even now, Hallmark and his team are often approached by customers who want to buy a C-X75. For those petrol heads for whom money isn’t a consideration, one of these ultra-exclusive Jaguars would be the pièce de résistance of their collections.‘We displayed it at Buckingham Palace at the Coronation Festival in the summer and I had one guy who wouldn’t take no for an answer,’ said Bodely.

‘He went on and on and it’s when you meet people like that that you start to think again.’

And he isn’t alone. Even Hallmark has had similar experiences: ‘I was on the stand at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show and I had people offer to buy one – it wasn’t even on display,’ he said. ‘One was a man who put a deposit on a C-X75 before we canned it and he kept asking if he could buy one of the prototypes, but we can’t allow that.

‘Money is not the object – what is, is the high voltage running through the car. If a certain light comes on on the dashboard you’re told don’t put your feet on the floor and touch the car at the same time because something has gone wrong.

‘And those volts would smart a bit! The car needs more development before we could sell it.’

But something tells us that all is not lost – there’s a definite glint in Bodely’s eye when I ask him if the project is dead and buried.

‘Oh, it’s not dead,’ he says. ‘It’s suspended…

You never know what’s going to happen. Even though the project was stopped we continued to work on the cars until May this year.

‘The project was certainly not a waste of money. We developed some clever new technology that will cascade into other projects

FIRST DRIVE It was like killing the family puppy. No one wanted to do it, but someone had to.

Adrian Hallmark

The performance figures surprised even us Felipe Austin Bodely

Hitting 205mph in a priceless Jaguar It’s the noise that hits you first. For a hybrid supercar running in pure electric mode the C-X75 makes a meaty growl. In a world of silent EVs, the Jaguar is purposefully noisy – humming, breathing even, with a bassy beat as it ‘ticks over’. Engineers made the roof vibrate to create the artificial sound, amplifying a Tron style soundtrack through the car’s speakers.

The soundtrack is matched to throttle position, increasing in tone and intensity as you accelerate. In electric mode the car produces 400bhp – and on the JLR test track, with a Williams test driver behind the wheel, it’s impressively rapid.

The artificial sound adds to the drama and it pulls strongly, corners flatly and generates intense grip.

Back in the pits, we swap cars. This time Mike Cross – Jaguar’s chief test driver – is behind the wheel. Cross is the man tasked with making Jags feel like Jags. He’s what Walter Rohrl is to Porsche, to the Big Cat. He takes me for a full-blooded high-speed lap of the circuit, even power sliding around a closed roundabout.

JLR has a four-lane high-speed bowl at Gaydon and, as Cross buries the throttle on the slip road, the air is sucked from my lungs.

The sound and feel is much like a highly tuned superbike – think Suzuki Hayabusa on acid. With a rev limiter at 10,500rpm the tiny 1.6-litre engine screams towards the higher reaches of its song with ferocious

intensity, pinning you into the bucket seats.

On the straight we climb through the sevenspeed paddle box and I watch the needle rise – 156mph, 174mph, 187mph and yet still it climbs. As Cross clicks into seventh, I can see the end of the straight but we’re still accelerating. The C-X75 eventually tops out at 198mph, or so I thought. I later learn that the prototype has a standard Jaguar digital speedo incapable of clicking over 200mph – the real top speed was 205mph.

I only notice how fast we’re going when Cross stamps on the brakes. We’re slowing for a good few seconds but I look across to see we’re still travelling at 110mph – and about to turn a corner.

My time behind the wheel is a nervous experience. On my first lap the savage gear changes and drama of the whole event wash over me. I know this is a special moment but I find it hard to let it sink in. Then Cross shouts at me: ‘You need to really push it, power it right up the rev range.’

So I do just that. On the same straight we’d just topped 200mph, I let rip. In third, fourth and fifth I quickly crash into the red line. The acceleration is immense; it’s like nothing I’ve experienced before on four wheels – this Jaguar is superbike fast. I hit 187mph before chickening out and plunging the long travel brake pedal into the floor. My time in this special Jaguar is short but it’s long enough to leave a memory that will remain imprinted on my mind for a lifetime.

We wanted to cast convention aside Matt Bevan and we learnt the benefits of extreme downsizing of engines. We’ve broken barriers with the C-X75 and that’s very valuable indeed.’

Whether the C-X75 will see the inside of a Jaguar showroom remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure – the team behind the project, and the top brass at the manufacturer, would still very much like to see it happen.

We’ll let Hallmark have the final say: ‘I hope we can do it again.

‘We still have three running regularly. The cars exist, as you’ve seen, and they are unbelievable.

‘When you drive them it is truly amazing technology – and I think that really would be a shame to waste.’ Hear, hear. [CD] CarDealerMag.co.uk | 71

FEATURE. bangers4ben 2013

Bangers ’n’ smash

Bangers4BEN 2013 saw Car Dealer celebrating five years of the charity run.

But have we got the hang of organising it yet?

James Batchelor reports

I

t’s five years since Car Dealer drove to John O’Groats to raise money for the automotive charity BEN, and by that deduction you would have thought that we’d be pretty clued up on how to do it by now.

I’m afraid not. Just like every other year, Bangers4BEN 2013 was left until the very last minute. Oh, it started so well – the idea of travelling from Porsche GB’s HQ to the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart was laid down approximately six months ago and so too was the suggestion that we popped into that automotive mecca the Nurburgring. Strangely, we were also quick off the mark with choosing our wheels.

Car Dealer operations director Andy managed to source a mint (his words, not mine) Vauxhall Omega 2.2-litre petrol of 2003 vintage, and it was even sent to his pal Pete in very good time to have a general check-over – to see if the brakes were working, that kind of thing – and a little fettle.

But the theme of our entry was left until the eleventh hour. And by the eleventh hour I mean four-days-before-the-event-eleventh-hour.

So you can imagine the trepidation we were feeling when we made our arrival at Porsche GB HQ in Reading. The Omega had spent two days at the jolly talented vehicle wrapping firm Wraptition, which had transformed a dull lump of saloon car into a rather fine-looking American police car, and Duncan, Sophie and I had spent all of 10 minutes scouring eBay for suitable costumes. It’s fair to say the results were mixed – while Dunc looked rather comfortable in his Dorito-coloured polyester suit with ‘Jail Convict’ stencilled on the back and a fake tattoo sleeve, I felt remarkably less at home in my £29.99 New York policeman’s outfit. My costume was the type of thing even Ann Summers would turn her nose up at.

Still, we had little to worry about with our questionable garb as we were in good company.

As we rolled past the impossibly clean glass frontage – such a trademark of Porsche GB’s headquarters – we were greeted by everything from Alice in Wonderland to two Marios and Luigis. Trader Media Group had managed to get hold of a Ford Granada Estate and dressed it as a Lancaster bomber – how very apt considering our 72 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

First day saw B4B claim the lives of three cars. Here’s the AA team Nothing to see here – just another ordinary day at Porsche HQ

s’ prank. Made ou ri ila ‘h s t’ ne rs de pi S k, t hough.. for a nice tast y snac German mission ahead of us – while Marshall Motor Group didn’t fail to impress with its entries headed up by a Suzuki Wagon+ fire engine.

With the emergency breakdown kits handed around (once again we were loyally supported by two AA vans), we hit the road, but within 10 miles of leaving Porsche GB, news came through that a pothole of similar proportions to the size of Newport Pagnell had taken out the tyres of In

Porsche Museum in Stuttgart had many crackers including this famous 917 Automotive’s Honda CR-X. Then at Folkestone to join the Channel Tunnel, the AA’s Suzuki Swift was receiving life support.

Within hours, more news came through that the Swift had died and that Merlin MOT’s classic ’60s Mercedes Fintail had given up the ghost too – leaving the team stranded.

But, in a turn of events that quickly became a theme, both the AA and Merling MOT teams travelled back to the UK and picked up their own cars to carry on in the trip.

Into France and through into Belgium and our

accidentally purposely crashing into their Citroen Xsara, and as day two dawned the battle was really on.

Hurtling through Germany on the autobahns, Laura and Jo – dressed as Santa and an elf – took upon themselves to throw mince pies at our car... at 102mph.

Festive treats aside, day two saw us reach our most southerly destination – the Porsche museum in Stuttgart. With the German brand celebrating 50 years of the 911, the museum – predicably fastidiously laid out – was chock-full of the classic sports car, covering every iteration since 1963. For me, it was far from what you’d call scintillating but Dunc and Sophie were like schoolchildren.

y were lobbed Mince pies before t he at our car at 102mph

Marshall’s M G all of t he t im F had its r oof of f e. True Br its

tackling t e k r a m r e p u S Imper ial C ar in t heir 3 Ser ies ell t he Green H

Marshall Mot or G r ou car t hanks t o t his p won t he prize for best Wagon R+ f ire en gine

2003 Vauxhall Omega was performing very well.

A slight wheel wobble at 70mph meant a steady 75mph was the order of the day, but that’s all that really bugged us.

Actually, that’s not true. Our overnight stop was in Spa and it would seem I’d drawn the short straw when it came to accommodation. I thought it strange that as Duncan and I exited the lift, he turned right down the corridor with walls painted in tasteful grey and decorated with Picassos while I turned down a corridor mostly painted beige with Monets. Naturally, I was in a

sulk for the rest of the evening, as his room was twice the size of mine and didn’t have a TV that was permanently tuned into a channel showing Ronnie Corbett talking about dogs.

DAY TWO We like to have fun on Bangers4BEN and quite often life-long friendships are created. Sometimes it’s rivalries instead – all perfectly friendly, you understand – and thus it was between team Car Dealer and the girls from Spidersnet – Laura and Jo. Day one had seen a little bit of our car

DAY THREE Oh, how we laughed as we made some ‘light modifications’ to Spidersnet’s car the previous night. Naturally, it was our revenge for them pelting stale brownies at our precious Omega at 102mph the day before, and loosening their car’s vinyl wrap while it sat in the hotel’s car park was more than reasonable.

But as we went to our car on the morning of day three, we discovered it to be covered in shower gel, mince pies and candy canes – the pranks were really on.

Fighting our way through Stuttgart traffic with shower gel on the windscreen began the day nicely – we had four hours of autobahn-bashing ahead of us to trek north to the Nurburgring.

Progress was super – the Omega soaked up the miles with aplomb. A wheel bearing – or three – started to take an effect on the Omega’s ride quality, but overall the big Vauxhall was as barge-like as you’d ever want it to be.

Some 15 miles away from the Nurburgring, though, and our progress came to a sudden halt. A massive lorry crash had closed the whole autobahn- meaning the normally wellorganised Germans lunged for the motorway’s exit in a fashion that resembled a primary school’s fire drill. Complete chaos. It was so bad for one Fraulein that she had to stop on the hard shoulder and empty her bladder in full sight of other road users. I was naturally horrified at such an exposure; Duncan less so.

Within a few miles of leaving the motorway, the fast, flowing roads turned distinctly Nurburgring-like – tall pines at the roadside, their upper-most branches puncturing low clouds and a distant chill in the air. But before I had time to dwell on the atmosphere, flashes of the Nurburgring Nordschleife’s famous corners came into view and it was then the excitement began. You can pull up at the side of the road and walk straight up to the catch fencing and be within sniffing distance of the legendary Tarmac – Tarmac that smothers 187 corners and has claimed nearly 300 lives.

Car manufacturers love the Nordschleife. We caught a glimpse of CarDealerMag.co.uk | 73

FEATURE. bangers4ben 2013 The auction After embarking on a 1,400-mile journey that saw us go from Porsche HQ in Reading to the Nurburgring in Germany, we were finally reunited with our BEN bangers just two weeks later to watch as they went under the hammer at Aston Barclay in Chelmsford.

With 23 of the 24 contenders that took part in the BEN rally parked side-by-side and stickered-up ready to enter the auction house, it became apparent just how much the event had grown, recording the largest number of cars to enter the Bangers4BEN rally run yet.

Discounting BEN’s Nissan Qashqai, sadly it was just the Close Motor Finance Mazda MX-5 that was unable to make it to the auction.

However, the MX-5 will be sold on eBay with the final sale price going directly into the charity fund.

Meanwhile, Merlin MOT Centre’s Mercedes Fintail that never made it to the Nurburgring, forcing the team to complete the run in their everyday car, was replaced by a Vauxhall Meriva and managed to sell for £500.

Along with the BEN team, a small group of contenders managed to make it along to wave off the cars for the final time, including the Samson Motor Engineers drivers. They did try to buy back their precious Toyota Celica, but just missed out when the bid reached an impressive £1,000.

The Celica was the second-most sought after BEN banger to sell for the highest price, behind Citygate Colindale’s Volkswagen Golf at £1,450. In fact, despite a few dents, only six cars sold under the £200 mark to raise £9,030 for the automotive charity, with Aston Barclay’s generous £1,500 donation pushing it up to a grand total of £10,530.

After spending more than 30 hours behind the wheel, Car Dealer’s Omega cop-car managed to raise £350 for the BEN fund – a reasonable price considering its unique Blackball Media wrap and dented-door panel, courtesy of the Spidersnet team.

Although we didn’t raise the largest sum, the sheer number of contenders taking part in this year’s rally made it one of the best yet.

Next year we’ll aim to keep those digits rising…

special thanks

Just another nor mal day at Aston Barclay

results Team

Car

Bought for

Sold for

Profit

£0

£350

£350

Aston Barclay Westbury Ltd Toyota Previa Campbell Cars BMW 318 Compact

£440

£200

-£240

Citygate Colindale

Volkswagen Golf Match

£500

£1,450

£950

Eden Vauxhall

Vauxhall Vectra

£500

£300

-£200

£100

£300

£200

David Graham Vehicle Repairs Honda Civic Fourmative Toyota Corolla

£250

£150

-£100

Johnsons Honda Honda Civic Executive

£0.01

£850

£849.99

£0

£275

£275

£150

£450

£300

£316.07

£275

£41.07

£0

£500

£500

Moneybarn Rover 620

£400

£150

-£250

Pro-Align Suzuki Swift

£425

£125

-£300

Samson Motor Engineers Toyota Celica

£400

£1,000

£600

£0

£120

£120

Johnsons Honda Honda Civic S Marshall MGF Marshall Suzuki Wagon+ GL Merlin MOT Centre

Vauxhall Meriva

Spidersnet

Citroen Xsara

Spidersnet

Vauxhall Astra

Spidersnet Simply Group Honda Civic CRX

£0

£110

£110

£450

£200

-£250

£50

£575

£525

The AA Suzuki Swift

£100

£150

£50

Trader Media Group

Ford Granada Estate

£260

£300

£40

Bransons Cars

Vauxhall Astra

£355

£225

-£130

Car Dealer Magazine

Vauxhall Omega

£600

£350

-£250

£255.48

£625

£369.52

The AA

Ford Puma

Imperial Car Supermarket BMW 3 Series TOTAL RAISED FROM CAR SALES:

£9,030.00

TOTAL RAISED FROM SPONSORSHIP*: £8,502.18 *Total raised from sposnorship includes £1,500 donation from Aston Barclay

Grand total

£17,532.18

Bangers4BEN 2013 couldn’t have take place without the help and support of the AA, Aston Barclay and Porsche. Here’s to next year’s event!

forthcoming prototypes from BMW, Lexus and Volvo pounding the local roads around the track, obviously after spending a day of Green Hell-bashing.

We loafed around the track and popped into the Grand Prix circuit, and it was here that Sophie spotted a sign for a ‘Rent a car around the ‘Ring’.

One look at the impending storm ruled out the 74 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Looks just like a police car. No?

idea of attacking the fabled asphalt for me, but not Sophie. She dutifully handed over 99 euros for the chance to drive one lap in a track prepped Suzuki Swift Sport.

DAY FOUR The final day brought sheer disappointment – it was time to go home. We turned the big Omega

towards Blighty. B4B2013 was a cracker – and thanks to all involved to help make the trip work.

As we boarded the train for the Eurotunnel, thoughts turned to next year’s event. We’re still in the very early stages of planning, so if you have an idea then let us know. Just don’t expect us to know what our costumes will be until at least four days before the event begins... [CD]

spidersnet / / noun. providing dealers with innovative, award-winning web solutions since 1997.

01273 767651

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 75

focus on.

DSG Financial Services

A vital second string DSG Financial services

G

iving your customer the news their finance application has been approved by a lender can be good news all round – for both the dealer and the buyer.

But often that great feeling can turn sour if the application gets rejected by a manufacturer’s finance programme, often meaning the dealer loses that important customer relationship.

Happily, however, there is an alternative – and it comes in the helpful shape of DSG Financial Services. The firm has been providing point-of-sale finance for car dealers for the past two decades and has leagues of happy dealer customers right across the UK. One of its keys to success is being flexible and providing products and services that simplify the finance process – and one example of this is being a dealer’s second or third ‘string’ provider.

‘Most dealer groups are now committed to supporting their “manufacturer” funder relationships for both new and used vehicles,’ DSG’s sales director Mark Gow tells us. ‘However, there are going to be occasions when a customer requires funding that is outside the manufacturer’s underwriting or product parameters – and this is how DSG can help.

‘With an underwriting parameter, the manufacturer might say they don’t want to write

‘‘

Most dealer groups don’t have the time to then have to manage multiple other funder relationships 76 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

W: dsgfs.com T: 0844 880 0660

that customer because of their credit profile,’ explains Gow. ‘That doesn’t necessarily mean that customer is not a prime customer, but they may have just fallen outside of that particular manufacturer’s underwriting criteria – and we may be able to take that customer.

‘The second parameter concerns product,’ says Gow. ‘Not many manufacturers are able to accommodate negative equity, for example, while there are others that are brilliant when it comes to leasing on new LCVs but they don’t have a leasing product for the used or pre-registered LCV stock – so those dealers cannot satisfy those customers’ needs.’

Gow continues: ‘Most dealer groups’ senior management teams do not have the time – or sometimes the desire – to then have to manage multiple other funder relationships on top of their existing manufacturer relationship. By combining DSG with its existing manufacturer funder relationship, a dealer group can satisfy all its customer funding requirements in just two “relationships”, instead of having to manage several.’

For a dealer group, the benefits of this are threefold. This simplified funder policy makes it easier to communicate throughout all the various dealerships within the group;

there are fewer funder reviews or meetings for senior management to attend; and it’s far easier to manage the dealer group’s internal ‘compliance’ policies.

But by having DSG as a second string partner must surely mean dealers need to commit a specific number of customers to keep DSG happy?

Absolutely not – unlike most funder relationships, DSG does not try to commit dealer groups to a minimum volume of business, says Gow: ‘In the event the manufacturer funder relationship is the dealer group’s priority, then the only commitment DSG looks for is regarding its formal status behind the manufacturer. We then let our underwriting and product expertise generate any volume that may potentially be available.’

It’s an approach which

dealers love. Many ‘second string’ providers make demands that some dealers just cannot commit to. Ultimately, this results in pressures on the manufacturer’s “share” of the volume or them suffering a change to their retail package terms.

So, what products can DSG offer to dealers to make them the perfect second ‘string’?

‘Our panel of 15 lenders – eight prime and seven non-prime – allows us to cater for every possible funding requirement that falls outside the manufacturer’s parameters,’ explains Gow. ‘As well as placing credit applications that may have either been termed or declined by the manufacturer, we are also able to cover “niche” areas such as PCP on used cars up to five years old, solutions for negative equity, comprehensive non-prime facilities, a range

of used LCV HP and leasing products and specialist facilities for prestige vehicles. Our products are specifically designed not to “undermine” a dealer’s primary funder relationship. The only way we can truly help a dealer increase their finance penetration is by writing business that the primary funder cannot.’

But a range of products is one thing, knowing a dealer has support when they need it is just as important. Happily, DSG has this well covered too.

The firm is proactive when it comes to support and has a team of regional development managers who are responsible for working closely with a dealer group’s senior management in order to help improve used car finance penetration. That’s not forgetting helping to generate incremental vehicle sales too.

‘Feedback from the senior management of most dealer groups is that they do not want their showroom personnel’s time being taken up each day with having casual conversations with “reps”.

There was a notorious incident with a regional director who entered one of his showrooms and was astonished to see four finance company reps from different finance providers all queuing up to see his business manager. By contrast, DSG’s regional development managers arrange specific appointments to see dealer group senior management when it is convenient for them, so that they can share ideas and initiatives to help the dealer group achieve its goals.’

DSG is also switched on with account management too and runs a day-to-day approach provided by its office-based support team. ‘Each region has a dedicated team of people to assist dealerships with any aspect of their proposals or queries regarding our range of facilities,’ says Gow. It’s clear to see DSG is well placed when it comes to working with dealers in the finance process. With great products, helpful support and a passionate head office team, DSG could be dealers’ best ‘second string’ around. [CD]

By James Batchelor

(@JRRBatchelor)

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 77

DATA FILE.

Thestatistics n

SMMT Sales Data

n

Taking Stock

Sales continue to climb as SMMT raises its forecast Hawes: October previews more moderate growth as market stabilises NEW car registrations in October grew by four per cent to 157,354 units, according to the latest SMMT figures.

SMMT raised its new car forecast from 2.22m to 2.25m units for 2013, with the market set to stabilise and grow at around one per cent in 2014 and 2015. Registrations year-todate climbed 10.2 per cent to reach 1,952,328 units.

According to the SMMT, the private market continues to drive total volumes up, with a 4.5 per cent gain in October and a 15.7 per cent increase over year-to-date.

SMMT chief executive, Mike Hawes, said: ‘With October new car registrations up we have now seen 20 consecutive months of growth. These sustained rises have been driven by robust private demand, a trend that has given us the confidence to raise our year-end forecast to 2.25 million

units – 10 per cent ahead of last year. Looking ahead, we anticipate more moderate growth as the market stabilises.’

Director of the National Franchised Dealers Association, Sue Robinson, said: ‘It is positive to see that new car registrations are continuing on an upward trend as 2013 draws to a close, and it is clear to see consumer confidence is still on a high following last month’s plate change.

‘Figures show month-on-month sales were 10 per cent ahead of last year and we expect the market to remain stable for the remainder of the year. Consumers are opting for smaller, fuel efficient vehicles which are cheaper to maintain. The trend appears to be driven by consumers wanting to reduce motoring costs.’

KPMG’s UK head of automotive, John Leech, said: ‘The UK new car

market grew by four per cent in October 2013, compared to 12.1 per cent growth in September and 15.7 per cent growth year to date for 2013.

‘The figures suggest that the tremendous growth we have seen in the UK new car market over the last few months is starting to return to a more sustainable growth path.

‘And for the first time in over a year, the three other main European markets have had a similar experience, with new registrations in Germany growing by two per cent, France by three per cent while registrations in Italy fell by five per cent due to a VAT increase taking effect. With improving UK economic conditions and rising house prices having a positive impact on consumer confidence we continue to forecast that strong private demand will see new car registrations grow by five per cent in 2014 and beyond.’

Ford shows its Fiesta is still Britain’s favourite THE Ford Fiesta has pushed ahead once again in the sales charts after topping October’s best-sellers list.

According to the SMMT, the top 10 best-seller list for October was once again dominated by Ford, Vauxhall and Volkswagen – all of which recorded very similar figures yearto-date.

Following record figures in September, Ford’s Fiesta remained on top, shifting 8,574 units in October, a significant proportion ahead of 78 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Vauxhall’s Corsa, which sold 5,155 units last month. As usual, the Ford Focus followed close behind in third place, selling 5,069 units in October and the Volkswagen Golf came in fourth with 4,562 sales.

In fifth position was Vauxhall’s Astra, selling 4,420 units last month.

Meanwhile, Nissan took sixth and seventh place with the Qashqai recording 3,579 units, while the Juke achieved 8,309.

Vauxhall’s Insignia popped into

eighth position selling 2,710 units and rounding up the top 10 was Fiat’s 500 in ninth with 2,672 units and the BMW 3 Series holding onto the final spot with 2,582.

However, when looking at the year-to-date figures, the top-seller list is quite different. The Fiesta continues to top the chart with 104,621 units, followed by the Focus with 76,493 units. Ford sits comfortably ahead of the Vauxhall Corsa in third at 72,493 units.

SMMT sales data Oct/year to date

5

Top

Most improved manufacturers in October

Lotus +1,300.00% Mazda

+47.27%

Suzuki

+46.57%

Lexus

+42.66%

Mercedes +27.97%

5

Bottom

Worst performing manufacturers in October Proton

-60.00%

Perodua -59.09% Infiniti

-32.20%

Smart

-28.43%

Alfa Romeo - 21.06%

Lexus +42.66%

Volvo -9.11% Figures supplied by SMMT

October 2013 October 2012 February Marque

Abarth Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Audi Bentley BMW Chevrolet Chrysler Citroen Dacia Fiat Ford Honda Hyundai Infiniti Jaguar Jeep Kia Land Rover Lexus Lotus Maserati Mazda Mercedes-Benz MG Mia Mini Mitsubishi Nissan Perodua Peugeot Porsche Proton Renault Saab Seat Skoda Smart SsangYong Subaru Suzuki Toyota Vauxhall Volkswagen Volvo Other British Other Imports Total

2013

100 416 66 10,720 115 8,493 700 139 5,211 1,442 4,096 21,325 3,641 5,509 40 944 342 5,103 3,965 719 28 32 1,779 8,346 36 5 3,904 439 8,346 9 6,859 715 2 3,761 0 2,903 5,641 365 62 105 1,369 5,963 18,116 12,594 2,772 34 43

157,314

% market share

0.06 0.26 0.04 6.81 0.07 5.40 0.44 0.09 3.31 0.92 2.60 13.56 2.31 3.50 0.03 0.60 0.22 3.24 2.52 0.46 0.02 0.02 1.13 5.31 0.02 0.00 2.48 0.28 5.31 0.01 4.36 0.45 0.00 2.39 0.00 1.85 3.59 0.23 0.04 0.07

0.87 3.79 11.52 8.01 1.76 0.02

0.03

2012

118 527 80 9,232 98 9,959 568 159 5,888 0 3,960 20,740 3,352 6,861 59 845 339 4,837 3,465 504 2 33 1,208 6,522 37 0 4,265 473 7,197 22 6,888 636 5 3,271 16 2,851 4,759 510 67 103 934 5,179 18,023 13,480 3,050 62 68

151,252

Year to date (YTD)

% market share

0.08 0.35 0.05 6.10 0.06 6.58 0.38 0.11 3.89 0.00 2.62 13.71 2.22 4.54 0.04 0.56 0.22 3.20 2.29 0.33 0.00 0.02 0.80 4.31 0.02 0.00 2.82 0.31 4.76 0.01 4.55 0.42 0.00 2.16 0.01 1.88 3.15 0.34 0.04 0.07

0.62 3.42 11.92 8.91 2.02 0.04

0.04

2013 % Change

-15.25 -21.06 -17.50 16.12 17.35 -14.72 23.24 -12.58 -11.50 0.00 3.43 2.82 8.62 -19.71 -32.20 11.72 0.88 5.50 14.43 42.66 1,300.00 -3.03 47.27 27.97 -2.70 0.00 -8.46 -7.19 15.96 -59.09 -0.42 12.42 -60.00 14.98 -100.00 1.82 18.53 -28.43 -7.46 1.94 46.57 15.14 0.52 -6.57 -9.11 -45.16 -36.76

1,214 4,912 791 124,981 1,056 113,806 10,682 2,376 68,984 13,073 51,683 270,342 49,135 66,719 345 14,200 1,800 63,410 47,881 7,769 169 271 27,806 94,970 309 5 44,168 7,855 102,887 202 92,878 6,736 20 36,081 3 38,371 55,217 4,681 567 1,862 28,556 78,794 218,473 167,130 27,623 678 767

4.01

1,952,238

%market share

0.06 0.25 0.04 6.40 0.05 5.83 0.55 0.12 3.53 0.67 2.65 13.85 2.52 3.42 0.02 0.73 0.09 3.25 2.45 0.40 0.01 0.01 1.42 4.86 0.02 0.00 2.26 0.40 5.27 0.01 4.76 0.35 0.00 1.85 0.00 1.97 2.83 0.24 0.03 0.10

1.46 4.04 11.19 8.56 1.41 0.03

0.04

2012

1,057 6,642 818 110,622 1,075 107,651 12,260 3,091 64,286 0 43,740 245,109 47,496 62,980 433 11,984 2,011 57,736 42,312 7,571 122 273 23,921 79,923 668 0 42,401 5,430 91,716 365 88,033 6,594 202 33,640 231 33,294 46,281 4,549 755 1,848 21,898 74,068 197,721 160,200 27,300 819 735

%market share

0.06 0.37 0.05 6.24 0.06 6.08 0.69 0.17 3.63 0.00 2.47 13.83 2.68 3.55 0.02 0.68 0.11 3.26 2.39 0.43 0.01 0.02 1.35 4.51 0.04 0.00 2.39 0.31 5.18 0.02 4.97 0.37 0.01 1.90 0.01 1.88 2.61 0.26 0.04 0.10

1.24 4.18 11.16 9.04 1.54 0.05

0.04

1,771,861

% Change

14.85 -26.05 -3.30 12.98 -1.77 5.72 -12.87 -23.13 7.31 0.00 18.16 10.29 3.45 5.94 -20.32 18.49 -10.49 9.83 13.16 2.62 38.52 -0.73 16.24 18.83 -53.74 0.00 4.17 44.66 12.18 -44.66 5.50 2.15 -90.10 7.26 -98.70 15.25 19.31 2.90 -24.90 0.76 30.40 6.38 10.50 4.33 1.18 -17.22 4.35 10.18

SMMT HAS REMOVED DAIHATSU AS it registered no new vehicles in 2012. new entry for october 2013 is mia CarDealerMag.co.uk | 79

TAKING STOCK. Once again, Motors.co.uk and BCA give their thoughts on what dealers should be paying attention to in the months ahead. Here’s what they have to say

The mobile Growing new car revolution is sales will freshen set to continue used car market says Simon Henstock, BCA’s UK network operations director

believes Dermot Kelleher, Motors. co.uk’s head of business intelligence

S

ince we relaunched Motors.co.uk as a fully responsive site in September, we have seen 43 per cent of visits coming from mobile and tablet devices.

This is up from less than 22 per cent a year ago. In fact, as we predicted at the end of 2012, there is a realistic chance that by December around half of all traffic to dealer and classified websites will come from mobile devices.

The mobile phone and tablet have become the instruments of choice for most consumers to search for their next car online and, with the launch of a number of new mobile devices due to hit the high street in time for Christmas, this trend is set to keep growing.

So, there’s absolutely no doubt that dealers can take advantage of this style of internet browsing when it comes to showcasing and selling cars.

Indeed, dealers can benefit from the likes of responsive websites that automatically change layout to adapt to the screen of the device being used, whether desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet, to ensure they display their stock in an appropriate and appealing manner.

With many car buyers now visiting classified sites or dealer

websites to narrow their vehicle selection before visiting a forecourt, dealers should take the opportunity to think about how to make their stock stand out online.

And, with hundreds of thousands of cars now available at the click of a button, it is important that dealers use every tool available to help encourage customers to make the journey to view the car in person.

To help translate interest into sales, dealers should use quality imagery or video, combined with detailed specification information to grab the attention of technologysavvy car buyers and maintain healthy levels of enquiries and, in turn, drive overall sales.

W

ith new car sales volumes improving steadily and some great deals around for retail buyers, commentators are asking if this will impact on demand in the used car market.

Thanks to our latest Used Car market report, we know the average age of the used car parc reached a 30-year high of 7.59 years in 2012.

Any trend that freshens the used car mix is very welcome.

The wholesale sector has experienced an ongoing shortage of first-time-to-market used cars as a result of lower new car volumes in the wake of the financial crisis.

This has impacted used car dealers who have had to focus

1.25 million cars sold

80 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

on older used cars to mitigate the uncertain supply of younger vehicles. Last year, dealers sold 1.25 million cars aged six to eight-yearsold – a rise of 125,000 units (11.1 per cent) in one year.

More cars aged over nine years were sold by motor retailers last year than cars aged under two years.

However, any effects on the used car market from new car sales will not be seen for some time.

In the here and now, how will the used car market perform in the final months of the year in terms of supply and values?

There has been a growing sense of general economic optimism over recent weeks and that feelgood factor has definitely been apparent in the wholesale used car markets.

We are seeing an upturn in the supply of dealer partexchanges reflecting reports that retail sales have been strong in recent weeks.

Looking ahead to the final quarter of the year, we expect to see demand maintained at the current levels – allowing for the typical seasonal pressures as Christmas approaches – and values to remain relatively strong. [CD]

Buyers’ guide

Mini

..in association with

(R56) ’06-current

Warrantywise helps you choose the best stock for your forecourt.

This month the Mini is the model in the spotlight

What is it?

The R56 Mini was launched in November 2006, on a re-engineered platform incorporating significant styling and engineering changes over the first-generation R53.

The second-gen Mini was launched in Cooper and Cooper S trim levels; with the Mini One following in 2007. Convertible, Clubman, Coupe and Roadster versions followed, as did the Cooper SD variant. Minis come loaded with extra kit and there’s no such thing as a standard car – so choose wisely.

much, this will require new roof cassettes, which cost upwards of £900. Convertible roofs also suffer with micro switch failure and chaffed wiring. If the passenger door won’t lock it’s likely to be the locking module due to water ingress into the front footwell.

The module is £400-£500 and the door motors are £75 each. Coolant pipe to heater matrix can become worn and the air conditioning evaporator can fail involving a £500 bill. Early warning signs are specks of white powder coming out of the air vents.

What CAN GO WRONG?

What’s the perfect Mini?

Timing chains can rattle. This is due to an incorrectly sized chain and causes stress on the chain tensioner, which can lead to failure. These are part of a recall but any car with a noisy chain should be sorted. Timing chain failure means a new engine. Power steering pumps fail – a noisy pump normally means it’s on its way out – and requires a replacement steering column costing around £500. Sunroof malfunctions are not uncommon, particularly if they have not been used

Remember these cars are bought by the style conscious so don’t buy poverty spec Minis unless very cheap.

Well-spec’d ‘Ones’ are popular, these are cheaper to insure than Coopers, while a Cooper S will appeal to ‘drivers’ so these need to have the right level of spec – air conditioning and leather. The ideal car is a Mini Cooper Hatch in red or blue with the Chilli pack and 16-inch alloys.

[CD]

Warrantywise’s top facts Pricing (subject to change depending on engine size/ age/mileage): Trade price - £95 – six months – Platinum cover Top claims: n Reconditioned engine £ 1,605 n Reconditioned gearbox £1,056 n Head gasket £795.64 n Gearbox overhaul £703.50

Top problems: n Gearboxes n Power steering pumps

KNOWN PROBLEMS

Not too many problems but be wary. Biggest fault is a rattling timing chain but this should have been fixed under recall

THE RIGHT BUY

Stock a Mini and there’s a good chance it’ll sell, but stocking a MIni Cooper in red or blue with the Chilli pack and 16-inch alloys is a sure-sell

Cover your customers from unexpected repair bills & maximise

your profits.

0800 001 4550

www.warrantywise.co.uk CarDealerMag.co.uk | 81

data file.

OCTOBERSEARCHES Percentage of total number of searches on TheVanWebsite.co.uk for the month

Volkswagen Transporter

5.73%

Citroen Berlingo

3.29% Volkswagen Crafter

2.48%

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

5.54% Ford Transit

5.49%

Mercedes-Benz Vito

4.71%

Blue Oval creates special ‘Transit Centres’ More than 100 dedicated dealerships will offer high-tech facilities and unique benefits

T

he Blue Oval is launching 100 ‘Transit Centres’ across the UK. The centres will offer new high-tech showrooms, elevated aftersales and service standards, extended opening hours and Ford’s new Transit24 aftersales programme.

Announced in February this year, Transit24 is aimed at minimising vehicle downtime and

reducing whole-life costs for commercial vehicle operators. The 100 Ford sites will be upgraded by the end of 2014 as part of the company’s on-going investment in Britain’s largest dealer network.

Each Transit Centre site employs a dedicated CV sales team as well as Ford-trained technicians and offers specialised workshop equipment, tools and training, and can manage all service, maintenance

and warranty work. Transit24 will offer whileyou-wait servicing to suit the customer, including regular late-night appointments, and will respond within 20 minutes to online service booking requests made through Epyx 1Link.

Collection and delivery of vehicles can also be arranged and every vehicle leaves the dealership washed and ready for work.

Hartwell Ford in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, was the first Transit Centre to launch in the UK. Kevin Godfrey, Hartwell Ford managing director, said: ‘Hartwell Ford always strives to deliver the best in customer service and aftersales support. The launch of our new Transit Centre is a brilliant opportunity to showcase the excellent new range of commercial vehicles from Ford and further improve the level of care for our customers.’

Lawton, p81

DEALFINDER. Latest deals on COMMERCIALS PRICED at £10,800, steel wheels and has a RENAULT Renault’s little Kangoo maximum loading weight kangoo van is already one of the of 800kg. Inside, it’s top contenders for buyers equipped with a radio looking for a sturdy LCV cassette and CD player, with a bit of character. air-conditioning and The LL21 dCi 90 features two integrated produces 90bhp, child seats for those emits 130g/km of CO2 and has family day outs. a combined fuel consumption Type bit.ly/KangooDecDeal into of 56.5mpg. It sits on 15-inch a web browser for more details.

FORD’S all-new low roof of 883kg, so buyers can FORD Transit Custom is priced at fit a few more bits and transit a competitive £14,273. pieces into the loading The inline four-cylinder compartment.

TDCi engine is bolted to a Inside, the Transit six-speed manual gearbox Custom has a sliding and produces 125bhp, sunroof blind, front 178g/km of CO2 and sports seats and combined fuel consumption coloured autolux leather upholstery. is 42.2mpg.

Type bit.ly/TranDecDeal into a It has a maximum loading weight web browser for more details.

your sales...

With the #1 website dedicated to vans 82 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

..in association with Ford Transit Custom

3.03%

Lawton

Vauxhall Vivaro

4.33%

COOL CONVERSIONS

Ford ups the ante Mitsubishi L200 Fiat Ducato

3.47%

3.88%

BCA Glasgow’s new light commercial vehicle sales prove to be a winner BCA’s Glasgow sale day dedicated to light commercial vehicles is proving a hit with buyers.

The new Friday sale offers a wide selection and is attracting a large number of ‘van-man’ buyers to BCA’s centre in Royston Road.

Up to 200 vehicles are offered every Friday from 10am. Regular sellers include UKCGR, Lex Autolease, Black Horse and Arnold Clark Contract Hire.

Vans entered by UKCGR, Lex Autolease and Black Horse have pre-sale video appraisals posted

online at BCA’s website alongside BCA Assured.

BCA’s general manager, commercial vehicles, Duncan Ward said: ‘With the on-going shortage of used vans, this sale offers everything from car-sized vans to long-wheel-base panel vans, and 4x4 pick-ups to minibuses, to meet the needs of buyers. We have also seen a major upsurge in online bidding for commercial vehicles via BCA Live Online at Glasgow, both from local Scottish buyers and from further afield.’

MERCEDES-BENZ’S recently gearbox. It emits 222g/km MERCEDES of CO2, produces 129bhp and refreshed workhorse, Sprinter sprinter has a combined average fuel medium wheelbase high-roof van, is priced at £23,058 but consumption of 33.6mpg. to help business buyers handle Inside, it remains relatively the extra cash, it’s available on simple, but it does come with a a very attractive £79 per week 10-speaker sound system and payment period - so buyers will an easy to use multi-function hardly notice the extra cost. steering wheel.

It has a four-cylinder, 2143cc diesel Type bit.ly/MercDecDeal into a web engine, coupled with a six-speed manual browser for more details.

B

eating the opposition into submission – that would appear to be on Ford’s agenda at the moment. Not only is it far and away the UK’s most popular CV brand when it comes to new van sales, with an excellent range of new models, but they’ve now turned their attention to the dealer network with the announcement of the new Transit24 scheme and the roll-out of impressive new Transit Centres.

Sure the investment will need to be substantial but if Ford gets this right it will only serve to strengthen its grip on the UK CV market. The Blue Oval’s roll-out of 100 enhanced van sales and servicing centres over the coming months and years goes much further and deeper than new carpets and a lick of paint.

Recognising the importance in today’s fast paced work environment of flexibility, the benefits of the new Transit Centres’s extended opening hours and improved service levels remains to be seen.

But Ford is promising priority for urgent repairs, while-you-wait servicing and an improved recalls programme.

You can argue that nothing Ford is planning to do is out of the ordinary but that would be missing the point.

The UK’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer has recognised that it needs to operate on a united front – regardless of location – and by setting, confirming and reaffirming certain commitments, it is saying to customers old and new that you can rely on them to minimise your downtime and control costs.

Even with the economy beginning an upwards trajectory these are still key messages for businesses, both large and small.

‘If Ford gets this right it will only serve to strengthen its grip on the UK CV market’

Who is Richard Lawton?

Richard is marketing manager for Really Good Domains and on the team at TheVanWebsite. co.uk and ContractHireAndLeasing.com.

Contact: richardl@reallygooddomains.com

Call 0161 482 7650

for your 3-month trial or visit thevanwebsite.co.uk/trial CarDealerMag.co.uk | 83

84 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

auctions.

Citroen enhances approved used programme bit.ly/Citroenused

Bitter winter to push up prices of 4x4s

Henstock auction stations

Cream rises to the top

Onset of bad weather marks an increase in fourwheel-drive demand

I

T

he used car market should be expecting sales of 4x4s to rocket.

That’s the view of BCA which says that as the UK heads into the winter season, the demand for 4x4 vehicles such as the popular Land Rover Discovery or BMW X5 is already beginning to increase.

According to recent data from the company, 4x4 values are already on the move, with October recording a 7.3 per cent increase over September.

The data reveals that the average value of 4x4s at BCA auctions in October sat at £13,864 – recording an increase of £948.

This also shows that sales values are £841 ahead of October last year.

With values last winter reaching nearly £15,000 BCA says anyone planning to purchase a 4x4 this winter should be aware that prices may well rise further if the severe weather reports prove accurate.

‘The onset of bad weather usually marks

an increase in demand for four-wheeldrive vehicles and that generally pushes up average prices,’ said editor of the BCA Used Car Market Report, Tim Naylor. ‘And, despite the fact that temperatures were unseasonably warm in October we’ve already seen prices creeping up as demand increases.’

According to BCA, dealers should be stocking 4x4s with the best possible specification. ‘Alloys, leather interior, air-con and sat-nav are all desirable, while more ‘rugged’ accessories such as mounted spotlights, running boards and winches can drive prices up too,’ Naylor said.

Another strong month for part-ex values MANHEIM’S Market Analysis report shows that values of dealer partexchanges at auction remained high in October, with average values rising by 3.9 per cent to £2,898.

The headline figure has been fuelled by a fall in age from 101 to 99 months and a reduction of average mileages from 76,851 to 75,328 during October, says Manheim. Meanwhile, when comparing values year-on-year, the average sellingcowboy price lastads month28/8/13 was 3.3 Car dealer

per cent higher than in October 2012, despite an increase in average mileage to 1,573 and two months in average age. However, the average days in stock at auction has stayed relatively the same year-on-year.

Manheim’s Daren Wiseman, said: ‘The perception that cars are better value at the end of the year may well see more buyers coming to the auctions as they look to collect stock that can be sold at thePage start of 15:49 1 the year.’

No cowboys.

Just Just trade trade professionals. professionals.

t has been a peculiarity of the financial downturn that demand for high-value cars remained strong relative to the rest of the marketplace. In many ways, this makes perfect sense – if you are in the market to buy a Ferrari, Bentley, Lamborghini or Rolls-Royce, you are less likely to be worried by the rising cost of living.

In fact, if you are a saver, you may well have decided your money might as well be put to good use on a prestige car rather than languishing in a savings account paying very little interest. In fact, the highest values ever achieved by BCA for individual vehicles have all been post-recession, including the record setting £625,000 for a Bugatti Veyron two years ago.

And now with economic conditions seeming set to improve, the market for high-value prestige vehicles remains buoyant. The recent sale by BCA of a 2012-registered McLaren MP4-12C sportscar for £127,000 underlined this and was further proof that the top end of the used car market remains in good health. The car was sold to an online buyer via BCA’s Live Online service, following some very competitive bidding in the auction hall at Blackbushe.

Other prestige and performance cars sold on the day, include a 2009 Porsche 911 Turbo Tiptronic for £48,400, a 2010 Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S that realised £40,200, a 2010 Nissan GT-R Black Edition (£38,800), and a 2013 Jaguar F-Type Roadster (£62,400). Two 2011-registered Bentley Continental GTCs were sold for £83,700 and £83,000. While the McLaren was the star of the show, generating a huge amount of interest in Europe and further afield, it was notable that there was interest across the range of high value vehicles on offer. It underlines that there is plenty of confidence from buyers to invest often considerable sums of money in these ‘top end’ vehicles.

So is the demand sustainable? There is no sign of demand waning for these ‘top end’ cars with plenty of buyers prepared to bid some serious sums.

Who is Simon Henstock?

Simon is UK network operations director for BCA. Visit british-car-auctions.co.uk or call 0845 600 6644.

Strictly Trade only (VAT No. and verified bank details reqd).

Purpose built 12 acre auction complex .

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CarDealerMag.co.uk | 85

TRADER TALK.

..in association with AutoTrader

Use Live Chat to turn a warm lead into a hot prospect If salesman is friendly and helpful it is likely a potential buyer will follow up

L

ive Chat, the online messaging service that instantly connects potential customers who are ready to talk with sales staff at a click of a button, gives dealers the best chance of turning a preliminary call into a good chance of selling a car.

Auto Trader’s Live Chat, introduced in January 2012, has already hosted more than 120,000 consumer conversations with 400 dealers, resulting in nearly 60,000 leads. This direct, real-time interaction allows dealers to influence consumers’ purchase decisions by engaging in a dialogue at the earliest possible opportunity in the buying process.

It provides the opportunity for a dealer to develop a relationship in a way that static online web pages or social media alone cannot achieve.

And unlike telephone calls and face-to-face conversations which can only occur one at a time, Live Chat enables dealers to have several ‘conversations’ at the same time and at any time of the day.

The success of Live Chat depends on the way it is used. Auto Trader’s Live Chat top tips are: n Answer chat requests immediately. This medium demands instant response to ensure a good consumer experience. If you’re late they may already be talking to a competitor.

‘Develop a process for answering chats to maximise chance of leads’ n Always ensure someone is available to answer the chats during working hours and remember that customers will use Live Chat outside normal business hours. Developing a process for answering these chats will maximise the lead opportunity. n Use friendly introductions. Introduce yourself and assure the customer that you’re happy to answer any questions about the vehicle. n Don’t demand customer contact details in return for information. That’s the quickest way to end a conversation! n Don’t ask for contact details straight away.

Introduce this into the conversation as you go. Remember, if they wanted to speak to you, they’d have called. n Be mindful that the customer may be at work.

Pushing for a call won’t work. Build up rapport and exchange details for later conversations.

n Always suggest the customer visits the dealership to take a test drive. It’s a great opportunity to provide your dealership contact details, address and opening times. n If they seem keen to talk prices, suggest a quick chat and ask for their contact details. But don’t delay in calling them. n If you don’t know the answer to a question then tell them you will find out and get back to them (ask them how they would prefer to be informed – email, text or call). n Once you’ve engaged with a customer, stay in touch. Just because a customer wants to end a conversation doesn’t mean they are gone for good. More often they’ll return to those dealers who they find friendly and helpful.

Dealers with properly implemented Live Chat are getting leads in most cases in addition to the leads they had already.

Who is Nathan Coe?

Nathan is group director of Auto Trader, the UK’s number one digital marketplace for new and used cars.

Visit autotrader.co.uk

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ON TRACK.

..in association with TRACKER

Technology is best way to fight crime Joyriding is gone, now organised criminal groups ship stolen cars overseas

T

his year marks the 20th year TRACKER has been recovering stolen vehicles, so this month I thought I would take a look at the ways car crime has changed in that time. A lot has changed since 1993 – not only in UK culture and politics, car criminals were completely different, too. 1993 was the high watermark for car crime in the UK, with almost 25 per cent of all crimes linked to motor vehicles, costing the insurance industry around £600m per year.

But this high level of crime is misleading – we have to remember this was the era of the ‘joy rider’. Car theft was almost an extension of antisocial behaviour, with the likely culprit being a male between 14 and 17 stealing the vehicle for a quick thrill. ‘Hot hatches’ such as the Sierra Cosworth and Golf GTI were the rage and attracted boy racers with a taste for speed as well as owners who might get their car back but often it would be badly damaged by the activities of those who had taken them.

In 1993, crime prevention advice was limited by available technology. It was possible to break into even the latest model by slipping a piece of plastic or a metal coat hanger inside the door to release the lock. And this was often down to lack of appetite for security in vehicle owners. Quite simply, security did not sell cars but sunroofs and updated radios did.

If we move forward to today, dramatic changes have occurred. Police strategy has evolved to tackle vehicle crime and modern manufacturers

‘Quite simply security did not sell cars but sunroofs and updated radios did 20 years ago.’ have made security a priority, with central locking, electric windows and modern engine management making vehicles harder to steal.

However, the car criminal has also moved with the times, utilising the same advanced technology intended to defeat them. Rather than a screwdriver or coat hanger, today’s criminal is likely to have electronic means of defeating inbuilt security systems, sometimes even rewriting the car’s own computer code, using computer hardware to plug into the vehicle’s own electronics and remove the manufacturer’s security systems.

Sadly, we have also seen that if criminals don’t have the technological know-how, they either steal the car’s keys, often from the owner’s home, or conduct street robbery or carjacking.

“And the people behind today’s high tech

or violent thefts are no longer interested in joy riding. In 2013 it is all about profit, with cars often shipped to eastern European destinations.

Vehicles are broken up for parts, to feed emerging countries who do not have sophisticated vehicle aftercare networks in place.

Crime today is the realm of OCGs, organised criminal groups. So protection is crucial. There is a less than 50 per cent chance that a stolen car will ever be recovered. All this demonstrates the need to use all the technology we can to protect assets. A TRACKER system is one of the most infallible ways of protecting a vehicle.

Who is David Wilson?

David is sales and service director for TRACKER. Read his column here every month.

C A L L O U R D E D I C AT E D T R A C K E R D E A L E R S U P P O RT T E A M TO DAY

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CarDealerMag.co.uk | 87 18/3/13 12:55:27

MOTOR MOUTH.

..in association with Motors.co.uk

Time to face up to extra risk factor Dealers must evolve to keep up with buyers in a multi-channel world

I

n days of old, it was enough for dealers to put a classified ad in the local paper. Stock the right mix of vehicles, offer the right incentives and the local buyers would come. However, times have changed and we are now in the age of the ultrainformed consumer.

This technology-savvy buyer arguably knows just about as much as you might about the vehicles on your forecourt, having looked up the specifications online and read through the professional and consumer reviews.

They are also able to compare prices and finance packages on their mobile devices in real-time, so negotiations in the dealership have taken on that extra risk (or excitement!) factor.

In the world of supermarkets and electrical stores, there is much talk about multi-channel retailing. And, this jargon is starting to make its way into the automotive sector.

But, what does this actually mean for dealers?

Putting it simply – we need to evolve. The industry is already doing a fantastic job at introducing the tools and technology to deliver a much more rounded customer experience. But there is always more that can be done.

For example, there is a strong emphasis on ensuring that your online presence is flexible, social, responsive and visual but you also need to keep on top of the training needs of sales staff, making sure that everyone is equipped for in-depth conversations with consumers who are ready to buy.

‘We aim to deliver a must-visit experience for buyers while helping retailers to sell more cars profitably.’

Likewise, the ‘open all hours’ culture that permeates retail in the US is starting to make its way over to the UK, albeit in a watered down approach. We may not necessarily have dealers open until midnight every night but we are seeing more investment in out-of-hours call handling services, social media and live chat facilities.

In addition, while a number of people are now prepared to commit to a car purchase online, the majority still want to kick tyres and check that the product matches up to its description.

This means that showrooms need to work harder to integrate the virtual and physical retail experience. In support of all of these consumer trends, Motors.co.uk has invested heavily in our online offering, delivering a brand new responsive web platform which majors on photography and video content.

In addition, we’ve focused a great deal of attention on our social media channels, building

the brand equity online in order to drive traffic back to our website. Around 40 per cent of the traffic from Facebook to the Motors.co.uk website lands on a car details page, further extending the reach of our dealer customers’ vehicles.

By the end of the year, we will have a stand-out TV advertising campaign alongside significant investment in our print, online and broadcast media advertising channels.

We are aiming to create a network which delivers a must-visit experience for consumers, while helping motor retailers to sell more cars, more profitably.

Ultimately, we will achieve this by making the Motors.co.uk brand a consumer household name – and by delivering a genuinely multi-channel retail experience.

TheisE The Eye Motors.

Motors.co.uk complete complete respo tracking tracking syste The Eye is

Motors.co.uk’s The Eye is complete response Motors.co.uk’s tracking system complete response Who is Andy Coulthurst?

The Eye is tracking system The Eye The is EyeMotors.co.uk’s is complete response Motors.co.uk’s The Eye is Motors.co.uk’s tracking system complete response Motors.co.uk’s complete response tracking system system complete response tracking tracking system It monitors vehicle views and gives you

ears too. With detailed call informatio Andy is managing director of download, monitor and trackreports’. your callA It monitors vehicle views and gives you live ‘response too. With detailed information and full call recording Motors.co.uk. Read his ears thoughts herecall Best all, you this world-class trac download, monitor and trackof your callsget instantly and accura part of your advertising package with M every month.

Best of all, you get this world-class tracking and monitoring se To find out more, email eye@motors.co part of your advertising package with Motors.co.uk

To find out more, email eye@motors.co.uk or call 0843 634 14 Your response tracking dashboard from

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It monitors vehicle views and gives you live ‘response reports’. And The Eye h ears too. With detailed call information and full call recording, you can liste download, monitor and track your calls instantly and accurately.

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part of yourad.indd advertising quater-page 1 package with Motors.co.uk 88 Eye | CarDealerMag.co.uk

To find out more, email eye@motors.co.uk or call 0843 634 1410.

Best of all, you get this world-class tracking and monitoring service for FREE part of your advertising package with Motors.co.uk To find out more, email eye@motors.co.uk or call 0843 634 1410.

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CRYSTAL CLEAR.

..in association with Glass’s

Regional pricing patterns could work in your favour ÂŁ8,200 ÂŁ8,00 ÂŁ7,800 ÂŁ7,600 ÂŁ7,400 24 n Ju 01 n Ju 08 l JU 15 l Ju 22 l Ju 29 l Ju 05 l Au 12 g Au 19 g Au 26 g Au 02 g Se 09 p Se 16 p Se p

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lass’s has conducted the largest ever study of regional pricing patterns in the UK to bring insight to dealers on the hows and whys of regional price differences. Richard Parkin, director of valuations & analysis at Glass’s, says: ‘At Glass’s, we use our spot pricing product, Radar, to monitor the retail asking prices of more than 200,000 vehicles nationwide on a daily basis. It is this insight that has allowed us to show that there is a marked price difference in pricing between three broad regions: North (including Scotland), Midlands/ Wales, and the South. ‘There is a sustained difference in retail asking price, for example, between North (lowest) and South (highest) on a three-year-old Ford Focus Zetec 1.6 (100PS) 5 door manual of around ÂŁ320 (or four per cent) after normalising to national average mileage. ‘Such regional differences are not just confined to volume brands either but are also evident in such examples as Volvo’s V50 and Jaguar’s XF ranges, although the differences can be more muted. There are many possible reasons for this, which we can consider in turn. ‘Firstly, the market is not as transparent as one might think. Customers rarely look beyond their locality, even when trawling internet listing sites: 500-plus matches for a common model from around the country isn’t helpful in shortlisting a few to go and look at. ‘Equally, such portals are keen to discourage users from casting the net too wide as returning so many matches – and all the photos that goes with them – slows their system down. ‘Even so, a potential saving of around ÂŁ400 on a three-year-old Focus or similar, given the

Regional price differences

27

Data lets dealers manage their stock across their locations more effectively

North

South

Midlands/Wales

Source: Glass’s Radar. Sample includes a basket of 250-300 identical speciďŹ cation cars each week.

additional hassle for the prospective purchaser, is possibly insufficient an incentive. ‘This is even more likely to be the case when the usability of any warranty offered, given the distance involved, is also taken into consideration. ‘Secondly, retail expectations are subtly different between the North and the South, with absolute condition on the forecourt and levels of preparation being slightly lower in the North. ‘This is not entirely surprising; Northern buyers are more likely to be looking for value, whereas Southern buyers are looking more at condition as an indicator of future reliability. ‘In our study, we also made the observation that a greater proportion of higher-mileage examples were to be found in the North versus the South. ‘Thirdly, whilst these trends are a true reflection of retail asking values, the actual transacted values may deviate from this somewhat. However, our research suggests that the level of discount offered tends to be lower in

the North. It is not the case that Northern dealers are sourcing cheaper equivalent stock. ‘On comparing a sample of 30,000-plus cars, the average ratio between the advertised price and the auction price was almost identical between the regions, as was the mix of auction condition grades. ‘However, there is evidence of higher option fit levels in vehicles presented on Southern forecourts, which are reflected in higher trade and retail prices. ‘So what is the opportunity offered to dealers through regional price difference? It’s simple – by understanding the trends and considering consumers’ buying processes, dealers can manage their stock much more effectively across their locations. ‘It sounds easy, but doing it properly could make a significant impact on a business.’ Wilkins Who is Glass’s? Motor Company To find out more or about how Glass’s can help you. Log onto to www.GlassBusiness.co.uk to learn more details

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CarDealerMag.co.uk | 89

FRONT RUNNER.

..in association with Frontline Solutions

From April FCA will look to check spirit of regulation It’s not just a rulebook – car dealers must be seen to be ‘treating customers fairly’

T

his month I want to look at the upcoming regulation of Consumer Credit from April 2014. As you may have heard the Financial Conduct Authority is to take responsibility for ensuring that anyone with a consumer credit licence is treating people fairly – and that obviously includes the automotive finance sector.

Although the new regime will involve a substantial change over the existing one, it is important to stress that no-one knows at the moment what the new rules will say.

I have been contacted by several dealer groups who maintain that they have been told what to expect from the new FCA regime, but this is an impossibility – the final rules haven’t even been decided yet, for goodness sake!

So best to use the time between now and regulation constructively!

‘It is important to stress that at the moment no-one knows what the new rules will say’ 90 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Firstly, bear in mind that there will be a lot more people on the ground enforcing any new regime, largely because the existing Office of Fair Trading is being absorbed into the new FCA structure. There are well over 100,000 consumer credit licence holders in the UK and they will all need regulating.

To put this in context, there were about 30,000 firms brought into general insurance regulation back in 2005! I believe that the chances of being visited (or caught!) by the new regulator will have significantly increased compared to the general insurance regime, which many dealers opted out of by choosing not to offer insurance-based products. Secondly, remember that regulation is not just going to be about a rulebook.

Whereas rules are useful to establish a structure, the regulator will also be looking to make sure that car dealers embrace the ‘spirit’ of regulation and are ‘treating customers fairly’.

This is a more subjective and ethical measure and I believe will include practices such as needlessly multi-proposing a customer to many lenders without justification.

Why would this practice be seen potentially as not treating the customer fairly? Simple – by needlessly multi-proposing a customer you would

be racking up credit searches that would show on their file, and would ultimately reduce their ability to obtain credit in the future.

We have all seen the staggering amounts of money that Banks and lending institutions have put aside for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance.

The claims management companies have made millions from this scandal.

I believe that in the future the attention of these companies will turn to other areas where they can maintain these profits.

One of the likely candidates, because of the size of the agreements, could well be consumer credit. Imagine the advertisements in the papers and on TV – “Have you wrongly been sold a loan or credit product? Were you treated fairly?”.

It may well be on the horizon, and maybe sooner than we think.

I’ll come back to this subject as things take shape. In the meantime, just remember to keep regulation on your radar!

Who is Martin Hill?

Martin is national sales manager at Frontline Solutions. Contact him on 07739 751748 or martin.hill@ frontline-solutions.co.uk

MARKET INSIGHT.

..in association with ASE-global.com

Is now the time to exit?

I

n recent years it has been a challenging UK automotive market with profitability remaining on average under one per cent. Could 2013 be a significant year in the automotive cycle?

So far this year we have seen the number of automotive businesses changing hands possibly returning to the levels last seen in 2007 and 2008, prior to the credit crunch hitting the UK. ‘Goodwill’ is returning to transactions and vendors are starting to realise fair value for their long-established businesses.

Over the past couple of years, in many circumstances it has been a significant challenge to dispose of a motor business unless you were looking for simply a Net Asset Value transaction with little goodwill.

If you were fortunate enough to be representing one of the desirable premium

Remaining profitable has been a challenge for the automotive sector, but could this change in 2013? brands such as Land Rover, Audi, BMW or Mercedes, this is unlikely to have been the case with value still attributed to these businesses regardless of performance in a number of circumstances.

In 2013 we have seen the property market showing signs of recovery, average dealer profitability heading for the strongest annual performance in the past five years and the appetite of banks/funders returning to the sector.

This gives opportunities to shareholders who wish to exit their business, a chance to realise true value and also with the increased funding options a larger number of potential acquirers to talk too.

ASE Plc has advised numerous businesses

with their exit strategy in 2013, most recently completing five transactions in October alone.

The consolidation will no doubt continue as the PLCs and larger groups looking to grow their market share with certain brands and specific groups such as Vertu Motors Plc looking to expand into the premium sector for the first time with their latest Land Rover acquisition.

With the right advice, business owners with long-established businesses that have a good track record of profitability and desirable locations should now be able to realise their true potential and complete a successful exit.

With many acquirers also looking to rent property, this can be an attractive proposal to give additional income in years to come.

Who is David Kendrick?

He’s the corporate finance partner at ASE, confidentially assisting dealers with acquisition or disposal strategies.

David can be contacted on 07900 245396 CarDealerMag.co.uk | 91

data file.

James Litton TRADER TALES

Where’s complaining come from? Abroad!

I

have no problem with the European Union. I could even deal with the prospect of a straight banana, but I do have one major issue with influence from abroad: Complaining.

Historically, as true stiff upper lip Brits, if we had a problem with a car, be it mechanical or otherwise, we would phone the dealership, enquire as to whether the garage could look into it as and when they had a moment, and report back at their earliest convenience.

I accept that our industry was not always as customer focused as it should be. Legislation, consumer television programmes and general media coverage, has rightly forced the bulk of the trade to start behaving in a way which is fair to all.

One would hope that as a result, the customer experience would be more fulfilling, and the amount and nature of complaints, would diminish in equal measure.

Sadly, this does not appear to be the case.

We had an issue recently with a customer who had a cherished transfer. Determined to do his own paperwork, he sent the tax disc back for a refund which was promptly rejected. The customer then told us that we had not managed the process correctly and demanded compensation.

Compensation seems to be the word of choice for the complainers.

Another ‘problem’ I had to deal with, surrounded a low mileage car with damage to the rim protectors. Tread was perfectly within our approved limits, but they looked unsightly. Having told the customer that the rim protectors had done exactly what they had been designed to do, he proceeded to tell me I had to change them and wanted compensation.

Not satisfied with my response, I was threatened with everyone from the managing director, the manufacturer, and maybe even the court of human rights. But God bless the law – it is there to protect us in the same way as it protects our clients.

‘Compensation seems to be the word of choice for the complainers.’

What do you think? Share your views on our brand new forum – it’s easy to sign up.

Type CarDealerMagazine.co.uk/forum into a web browser to get commenting

Who is James Litton?

James is sales manager at Tony Purslow Mercedes Benz, Guildford. He always has something to say about the industry he loves.

92 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

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How to look good semi-naked...

T

his isn’t the usual confession, as I am actually the receptionist rather than in sales. Not much that I could do to warrant me writing about you’d think?

Wrong.

One Friday, I managed to show off quite a bit more than usual.

It was 5.25pm and quiet in the dealership and I needed to be out at 5:30pm on the dot for my friend’s hen party.

I couldn’t leave the floor in case the phones rang so thought I could get away with secretly changing behind the tall reception desk.

I took a quick look around before crouching down under the desk and took my work shirt off. I grabbed my lees-than-conservative top for the party and put it on. So far, so good.

While keeping an eye on the front door, I whipped my trousers off and dived into my bag to get my jeans out.

As I did this, the phone rang.

I had to answer in case it was a sales call. So, standing behind the desk, with no jeans on, I answered the phone.

Then, a customer walked in and straight up to the front of the reception.

I dealt with the call and turned my attention to this late visitor.

This was fine as he couldn’t see below my waste. No problem I thought. I pointed the man in the direction of the service desk and waited until he was out of sight. I quickly bent down a grabbed my jeans, pulled them on and turned around to get my jacket.

To my horror, the sales manager was standing about five feet behind me with a letter he needed posting. He slowly handed it to me and just said: ‘We have a uniform for a reason.’

I naturally apologised saying I’d never do it again, and got on my way to the party. It did however make for a great story to tell my friends as we had a few glasses of wine. I am not sure if my boss told his wife about the incident during his evening, though. I think from now on, I will just ask to leave a little early instead!

‘I whipped my trousers off and dived into my bag to get my jeans out.’

Tell us your story

Have something to confess? We’d love to here your tale of woe – email the editor (you can find our details on page three) or post them on our new forum – simply type cardealermagazine/forum into a web browser and get confessing

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Wrap up this winter....

Call : Email : Web :

94 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

07794 903235 chris@wraptition.co.uk www.wraptition.co.uk

the fleet.

WELCOME TO THE FLEET...

New arrival:

FordMondeo R

ewind to the mid-nineties to a time where the Spice Girls were shouting about Girl Power, dinosaurs were brought to life in Jurassic Park and Playstations were all the rage, and for Ford, it’s Mondeo family car was at its most popular. It was the third biggest selling car in the country, and even referred to in the labour party electoral campaign as a way of describing the type of voter they needed to attract.

Now, 20 years on, and times have seriously changed. The term downsizing and crossover, words not even in the English dictionary in the 90s, have become ever more important to the consumer, not to mention increasing competition.

Yet despite all this change, the Mondeo has remained one of the most popular family cars in the UK.

But what is it about the five-door estate that keeps buyers coming back for more. Well, over the next 12 months, that’s what we’re going to find out. The Mondeo family estate joins the long-term fleet at an exciting time. Car Dealer’s publisher Blackball Media is expanding heavily into video and what better test for the cars practicality than by being used as a load lugger, carrying kit to and from shoots, as well as crew.

The boot may not be the largest in its class, but that’s not to say there’s more than enough space in there for a demanding film crew. Already it’s played a key role as support vehicle for a Mercedes SLS showcase video shoot in London, where not only did it have to carry a full set of kit, but it also had to carry four crew members in comfort from Southampton to the capital. Fortunately there were no complaints. The boot is well shaped and can be extended further thanks to rear seats that fold into the floor expanding it from 537 litres to an impressive 1,728 litres.

Not only was the Mondeo a perfect choice as a suppert car for the film crew because of its practicality, but it’s also pretty economical too. Power takes the form of a 2.0-litre diesel engine capable of a combined fuel economy of

around 60mpg, but as it’ll be spending most of its life ploughing on motorway miles, that should be closer to around 70mpg.

Standard kit is pretty impressive, with dual zone climate control, rain sensing wipers and DAB touchscreen sat nav system. We’ve opted for a few optional extras though including adaptive cruise control, forward alert and hill start assist (£800), driver assistance pack – with blind spot information and lane departure warning (£525) and an electric sunroof (£525), not that we expect to see much sun this time of year.

Nigel Swan (@motoringnut)

the knowledge Model: Ford Mondeo Estate Titanium X Price: £29,490 (as tested) Engine: 2.0-litre, turbocharged diesel Power: 161bhp, 340Nm Max speed: 137mph 0-60mph: 8.7s Emissions: 119g/km Mileage this month: 642 This month’s highlight Can perform admirably well when packed full of camera gear and humans CarDealerMag.co.uk | 95

the fleet.

WELCOME TO THE FLEET...

New arrival:

Second report:

NissanQashqai MitsubishiASX Gutted Car Dealer team begs for another...

WE were gutted when we had to give up our trusty Nissan Qashqai 360 long-termer last month. The phrase ‘I’ll take the Qashqai’ had often been heard at Car Dealer Towers over the preceding months as the rock-solid performer established itself as a firm favourite among members of the team.

But, after thousands of miles of hassle-free, comfortable, practical and enjoyable motoring, the time came for us to say ‘goodbye’.

So, imagine our delight then, when the lovely folks in the Nissan Press Office finally ceded to our begging and cajoling and agreed to give us another one.

Happily, it was everything we remembered.

Even with delivery miles on the clock, our new Qashqai 360 was as sharp, responsive and smooth as its predecessor had been throughout its time with us.

Now it’s as though nothing had ever changed and, when there’s an errand to be run or a journey to make, the Qashqai hook in the Car Dealer key safe is always one of the first to be keyless. We know the second generation Qashqai’s on its way, and if Nissan can better the current model as they promise then they’ll have a surefire winner on their hands.

Mal Hay (@MalcolmHay)

the knowledge

Long-haul triumph for ASX on Scottish trip

THE ASX has been put through its paces this month on a long drive. Almost 1,000 miles in two days – first to Wallyford, eight miles east of Edinburgh, and then to Berwick-upon-Tweed, just south of the England-Scotland border.

Regular readers of our ASX reports won’t be surprised to read that, as ever, the car didn’t disappoint. It was comfortable and more than up to the job of a spot of long-haul motoring.

However, I did come across a couple of niggles... one was to do with the satnav. If you’re in England, and you want to go to, say, somewhere in Scotland, you have to ‘change country’ on the console before the device will recognise the postcode. And am I missing the switch that cancels all heating and ventilation? Even when the dial is definitely pointing to ‘off’, there still seems to be a draught coming from somewhere.

But look, these are tiny grumbles about what is essentially a great car. Far more serious concerns are that half the nation’s motorways seem to be shut for repairs every night, and no matter how many times I text Radio 2’s Steve Wright (from various service stations, of course), he never interrupts a song half-way through to say hello to the Car Dealer team.

Not lovin’ the show Steve.

Dave Brown (@CarDealerDave)

the knowledge

Second report:

KiaCarens New MPV is thrown straight into duties

I CAN’T help but feel a bit sorry for our (previously) sparkling white Kia. When it arrived at the Car Dealer office a month ago, it probably had hopes of a nice quiet tenure with us – leisurely trips to the beach with Leon, lunchtime jaunts to Waitrose with Batch, that sort of thing.

If its first four weeks are anything to go by, the poor Carens has probably had a bit of a shock.

LJ63 YYT had barely been in the car park ten minutes before I’d brimmed its boot with camera gear and set forth for central London. How did it cope? Admirably. Okay, so a diesel MPV is never going to be the perfect thing in which to tackle the capital’s streets, but the Carens did at least prove to be a comfortable ally as I crawled my way to Hoxton.

I did find one gripe, though: The integrated sat nav. It’s attractive enough and easy-ish to use, but it lacks the sort of intelligent route planning most £99 portable systems manage. Still, it can’t have been that bad, as two days later I found myself subjecting it to almost exactly the same trip. And then all the way to Rockingham just a few days after. To top it off, a nice man from Kia came the other day to fit it with some hefty-looking roof bars, so it’ll soon be on kayak transport duties too.

Sorry Carens, you’ve got a hard 11 months ahead of you.

Jon Reay (@JonReay)

the knowledge

Model: Nissan Qashqai 360 Price: £22,090 (as tested) Engine: 1.5-litre, turbocharged diesel Power: 128bhp, 320Nm Max speed: 118mph 0-60mph: 10.7s Emissions: 135g/km Mileage this month: 729

Model: Mitsubish ASX 4 Price: £19,130 (as tested) Engine: 1.6-litre, petrol Power: 115bhp, 154Nm Max speed: 113mph 0-60mph: 11.4s Emissions: 137g/km Mileage this month: 1,129

Model: Kia Carens ‘3’ 1.7 CRDi manual ISG Price: £23,895 (as tested) Engine: 1.7-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged diesel Power: 134bhp, 330Nm Max speed: 119mph 0-60mph: 10s Emissions: 132g/km Mileage this month: 587

This month’s highlight That new car smell is especially pleasant in a car built in Sunderland

This month’s highlight A comfortable ride north of the border – my first time in Scotland, unbelievably

This month’s highlight The man from Kia. He was jolly nice and fitted the roof bars with sheer professionalism

96 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

longtermers

Fifth report:

SkodaCitigo

Tenth report:

Peugeot208

Citigo Sport is still making the editor smile

DESPITE those niggles I reported about last month, the Citigo Sport is still pleasing me and it was my chosen steed to take to Silverstone a few weeks ago.

I naturally left the office with very little time to spare so I had to plant my foot to the floor to get to the track in time. Use the Sport’s 58bhp wisely and progress is perfectly acceptable – jolly, even.

Fail to plan ahead or start singing the words to Making Your Mind Up and lose concentration, and the Sport’s measly 58 horses make for very sloooow motoring.

This was the case on the hilly and lorry-laden A34 and M40, but turning off onto the A43 and much fun was to be had. There’s something really quite fun in heal n’ toeing and squirting the power on the A43’s characteristic long straights and roundabouts.

I do have to moan about the fuel gauge again this month. It proudly read a full tank all the way to Silverstone’s main entrance (from Gosport that’s around 130 miles), but then between there and the paddock – half a mile at most – it plummeted to half a tank. There’s either something wrong with it or I have a very heavy foot when I get a sniff of the track. It’s probably the latter, to be fair…

James Batchelor (@JRRBatchelor)

the knowledge

Little Pug gets a big thumbs up from Mum

THE plucky Pug has played an important role in the Blackball Media offices this month, coming to the rescue of a certain CarDealerEd’s mother after she was left stranded while awaiting the arrival of a brand new Skoda Citigo.

Most of the chaps in the office have castigated the 208 for its lack of steering feel, wallowing chassis and underpowered engine but as road testers, we often forget who a car is aimed at and in this instance, it clearly isn’t us.

CarDealerMum positively raved about the 208 during its spell under her stewardship. ‘It was comfortable, it had a decent-sized boot and getting the child seat in and out of the back was really easy,’ she beamed upon handing the keys back.The soft suspension and light steering encourages the driver to take it easy. It is in no way a sporty drive and performs best at speeds under 70mph with a relaxed demeanour.

But before we gush too much over the 208, we have to point out that we weren’t overly impressed by the fact it required a new rear wash and wiper motor at its first service, despite being covered by warranty. That, and the colder months are on their way so we can look forward to an entertainment system that goes a bit doolally and heaters that take an age to get warm…

Leon Poultney (@blokesincars)

the knowledge

Final report:

RenaultTwizy Everyone is sad to see the little Twizy leave

THERE are sad faces at Blackball Media. No, we haven’t run out of chocolate digestives. Nor has the security level at our military-spec lair been risen to ‘Cavity Search’. Nope – Renault has repatriated their Twizy.

After six months running lunchtime errands, making Batch’s quiff messy on the way into work and scaring grannies in Waitrose’s car park as it silently crept up on them, HV12 UWJ has departed on a Renault-liveried trailer.

The little Twizy has left a lasting impression.

Everyone who’s driven it has returned the keys with a huge smile on their face. It might not be fast and it sure isn’t the most comfortable but for smiles per hour it would beat any car in a bout of Top Trumps. Even after six months, Gosport didn’t really get used to the wacky Twizy. Some mistook it for a glorified grandma carrier, while most just stopped and stared. We soon got used to charging it. Its three-pin plug meant we could do it at home or at work and it topped up quickly.

It is lacking a bit in the range department, though, and struggles to keep up with motorway traffic. But we loved it and were very sorry to see it go. The good news is that Renault took pity on us and replaced it with the more grown-up Zoe. Let’s hope that will still put a smile on our faces.

James Baggott (@CarDealerEd)

the knowledge

Model: Skoda Citigo Sport Price: £11,050 (as tested) Engine: 1.0-litre, three-cylinder, petrol Power: 58bhp, 95Nm Max speed: 99mph 0-60mph: 14.2s Emissions: 105g/km Mileage this month: 621

Model: Peugeot 208 Active Vti 1.2 Price: £14,550 (as tested) Engine: 1.2-litre, petrol Power: 82bhp, 118Nm Max speed: 109mph 0-60mph: 13.8s Emissions: 104g/km Mileage this month: 324

Model: Renault Twizy Colour Price: £7,690 (as tested) Engine: Electric motor Power: 17bhp, 57Nm Max speed: 50mph 0-60mph: n/a Emissions: 0g/km Mileage this month: 150

This month’s highlight Time it right, and the Sport’s small power output is a load of fun. Time it wrong, and...

This month’s highlight CarDealerMum puts a few miles on the clock for us and says ‘it’s lovely’

This month’s highlight Sad to see it go we are delighted to welcome the Zoe to pursue our electric dreams CarDealerMag.co.uk | 97

data fiLe.

Regulatory changes are on their way and they are confusing S

ince writing my last piece for this magazine the sales teams within First Response Finance have been working with car dealers nationwide to offer advice and assistance in relation to the regulatory changes which are coming our way.

We have been focusing on the movement in regulation for consumer credit licensing from the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) from April 1 2014, and what impact this has on car dealers and their ability to continue carrying out regulated consumer credit activities after this date.

Back on July 15, the OFT and FCA wrote letters to existing consumer credit licence holders to advise of the changes which are taking place and asking people to ‘act now’ to ensure that the activities listed on their licence are correct, along with their name, address and company information.

The consequences of these details not being correct are that the licence holder risks operating illegally.

Upon contacting car dealers there has been an element of confusion (rest assured we felt the same way when we first became aware of these changes!) about which government body is which, what categories car dealers require, how they go about making amendments to their licence and, once this is completed, what they have to do next.

Some car dealers have put the letters they have received on the ‘to do’ pile as the complexity of what they are faced with can wait for another day or possibly they do not seem to realise the importance (which I fully understand and appreciate) of what they have to

Jonathan

Such TIME IS MONEY

do. Others have gone into the OFT website and clicked on the consumer credit licensing section, selected the ‘change details’ option and then completed the variation application or notification form (depending on what they needed to change).

Once the licence has been updated, or for those whose licence was correct anyway, car dealers can then register with the FCA for ‘interim permissions’ which will enable them to carry on supplying consumer credit to their customers after March 2014.

What has worried us slightly so far, is the lack of activity from some car dealers, where we believe they should be moving now to change some of the details

‘The worst thing to do if you want to continue to offer finance is nothing’

on their consumer credit licence by contacting the OFT (www.oft.gov.uk) before they even consider the next stage. We will continue to support car dealers nationwide as First Response Finance appreciates that this can be confusing, and sometimes it’s nice to be able to ask somebody questions if you are unsure of what action is best to take.

The worst thing you can do; particularly if you want to continue offering finance within your dealership post March 2014, is nothing!

If you are stuck or want somebody to talk to then please contact us and we will be happy to offer any advice or assistance.

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

Coming FEATURE Used Car Awards next month

If there’s something you think we should be covering get in touch. Our details are on page three 98 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Full report on all the winners

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