Toyota is close to completing its four-year-long dealer network revamp.

The programme aims to improve customer service and satisfaction by introducing new retail concepts, such as taking the salespeople off the floor and letting hosts greet customers.

“We started by organizing our 191 dealers into 96 specific areas in order to centralize costs,” says Paul Philpott, commercial director at Toyota UK. “We also worked on their corporate identity to get a consistent look and feel.”

There are about five dealerships that are still working on the final stages of the revamp, which is due to be completed by the end of the year.

Philpott told AM that Toyota was planning on appointing three or four new dealerships that are “geographically spread” throughout the country, but failed to disclose exact locations.

Retail sales for the manufacturer have seen a drop of 5% in the year to date – less than the 6% decrease seen in the market as a whole. “We expect our end of year volume sales to be the same as last year,” says Philpott. “Our focus will remain on growth through our dealer network as retail sales account for 65% of our total sales.”