Sherwoods Motor Group will launch a car subscription service in partnership with Karzoom before the end of June.

Family-owned Sherwoods is based in the North East of England and represents Peugeot, Suzuki, Citroen, Isuzu and Maxus.

Simon MacConachie, managing director of Sherwoods Motor Group, said that diversifying the number of funding options for cars and vans with a new subscription model provides more flexibility and options for consumers.

He said: “In the ever-evolving world of mobility solutions, it is important that franchised retailers such as ourselves have varied offerings to suit every customer’s requirements. 

“Customers want more flexibility and options so we cannot rely solely on the traditional showroom based sales model if we want to attract and retain the maximum number of customers.”

The vehicle subscriptions are offered from one month to three months and act as an alternative to medium term rental. Customers have the option to renew, replace or return a car.

Subscriptions are expected to help customers that are looking for a vehicle in between their part-ex and new car order to be delivered, or perhaps for customers that are looking to try an electric vehicle without a long term finance agreement.

Chris Elvidge, chairman of Sherwoods Motor Group, said he believes subscriptions have the potential to become “significant business”.

Elvidge said: “I feel there is a real and growing demand for this type of car and van ownership proposition.

“With our multi-brand offering we are confident we have a suitable vehicle for most customer requirements”.

Sherwoods’ partnership with Karzoom is the fifth dealer group to launch a subscription service with the company so far. It also gives Karzoom a new presence in the North East of England for the first time.

Mike Fazal, Karzoom’s managing director and co-founder, said the company’s partnership model enables dealers to deploy a fully managed subscription solution, including insurance, “in a very short period of time”.

Melanie Fazal, Karzoom’s marketing director and co-founder further, said the business is on track to have all major regions of the UK covered with automotive retailers by early 2024.