Dealer principals now earn more than £60,000 a year, while other franchised dealer staff pay increases were recorded at below the UK average.

National average basic salary for dealer principals came in at £47,086, but with bonus payments amounted to £60,196 a year, according to AM sister title Sewells Information & Research and its latest Automotive Industry Pay Guide.

The highest paid franchise was, once again, BMW followed by Jaguar and Land Rover. However, it seems that franchised dealer pay increases for 2005/2006 might have been below the UK average.

According to Government figures, average earnings excluding bonuses (basic or regular pay) rose by 3.6% in the year to January 2007. For franchised dealer staff, however, a comparison of the years 2005 and 2006 reveals average increases of 2.3% in basic pay.

The online survey for the Pay Guide 2007 attracted 162 responses from franchised dealers and dealer groups. The dealer group response included eight groups with more than 12 sites each, which reflects pay and conditions for 533 franchised dealer sites and 22,555 employees.