Renault is aiming to slash the waiting time in Scotland on its Clio, the country's No1 seller, from nine weeks to three by January.

Andrew Luck, Renault UK's commercial operations director, said the company's new order-driven programme had increased the profitability of its network. “We build every car to the customer's order and as a result we have no stock in the UK. Dealer network profitability has increased – they are not paying interest charges or for a compound to store the cars. The increase has been about 0.2%-0.3% which is worth an average of between £25,000 to £30,000 per dealer.” He said the order-driven programme, in operation for around 14 months, had created an unacceptable backlog in orders. “We've ordered a car for a customer and the delivery dates have moved,” said Mr Luck. “Understandably that frustrates customers and the dealer network. But we're beginning to get it stabilised. “Despite that, Clio is doing a remarkable job for us in Scotland. We have been short of products since the launch of phase two but we will be on top of that demand by the end of November.” Mr Luck said that under the new system, Renault was selling far more options, to make cars unique to buyers. They were not being corralled into purchasing vehicles which had been built by Renault and were sitting in showrooms. Scotland continues to be Renault's No1 territory in the UK with sales up 20% from last year's 16,500 units to around 20,000.