The list of finalists for this year’s AM Awards has been decided. Dozens of nominations have been scrutinised by the our judging team, with best selected to go through to the next stage.

The following companies have been chosen:

Carmaker

Mazda
Kia
Lexus
Honda

Large retail group

Marshall Motor Group
Listers of Coventry
Pendragon
Lookers
Arnold Clark

Small retail group

Hodgson Automotive
Norton Way Group
Holdcroft

Volume dealership

Norton Way Honda
Perrys Rotherham
Perrys Barnsley
Derek Sims (Toyota)
Citroen Birmingham

Small/niche dealership

Holdcroft
Brooklyn Mazda
Clive Sutton Premier Marques
Marshall Jaguar

Used car retailer

Carland Group
ADL
Available Car

Trade parts programme

Ford Parts Plus
Vauxhall Trade Club
Volkswagen Parts Club
Renault Trade Partners

Used car scheme

Seat UK
Saab
Vauxhall Network Q

Fast-fit programme

Ford Rapid Fit
Peugeot Express Fit
Renault Minute
Vauxhall MasterFit

Bodyshop

Just Car Clinics Doncaster
Blue Bell BMW
Richmond Motor Group

Independent/authorised repairer

Nationwide Autocentres
Richmond Motor Group
Perrys Peugeot

Factor/distributor

Brooklyn Direct
Lookers/FPS
Reg Vardy parts centre
Marshall Motor Group parts centre

E-commerce

White Clark Group
Foray Motor Group
Ryland Group
Spyder RedSpy
Mazda

Marketing

Bush2
Clark McKay and Walpole (Adbuilder)
Foray Motor Group
Lookers/Charles Hurst
Kia Motors UK

Training

Inchcape
Nationwide Autocentres
Volvo Car UK
Lookers
Drive Vauxhall

Recruitment

Audi Academy
Sims Toyota
Listers of Coventry
Hodgson Automotive

The judging process

AM has brought together an expert panel of judges, who between them offer knowledge and experience covering every aspect of the automotive industry. They assess each company on the entry forms, which are comprehensive but easy to follow, and the information gathered through mystery shopping and site visits (retailer and aftermarket categories only) carried out by awards assessor Carter & Carter, the specialist automotive outsourcer.

Entries to the retailer and aftermarket categories are judged on the following criteria: Planning and strategy (with examples of business plans, marketing plans and focusing on the competition), people management (including the recruitment process, development plans and performance targets), operational processes (i.e. those practices that drive success in the entry category), performance monitoring (financial, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction).

In each case we are looking for a correlation between how the business has done or changed things and a measure of success. So under ‘Performance Monitoring’ we assess what has changed, how it was changed, over what time scale and for what investment, but we also look for examples of how the changes have been monitored.

For the innovation categories – marketing, training, recruitment and e-commerce – we encourage applications from retailers, carmakers, repairers, bodyshops and suppliers. In each category, the winner will have a unique proposition and will be able to clearly show how it has helped their business become more efficient, effective and, ultimately, more profitable. Tracking success will be a vital aspect.

This year we have five new categories, which takes us to 19 awards. The AM Hall of Fame will recognise the person who has made an outstanding contribution to the automotive industry during their career, and is the highlight of the Awards evening.

Van retailer is either a franchised or independent company, while fast-fit operation honours either an individual or manufacturer operation. Entries are encouraged from both manufacturer parts clubs and those operated by independent parts suppliers for the trade parts clubs category, while all AM readers can enter the recruitment award.