Klarius is piloting a sales team to visit garages, not
to sell its products but to “sell the brand”, said Paul Hannah, Klarius business development.

The test scheme in the north west will see five people talking to workshops about their business and what products they use, before passing on details to its distributors which traditionally sell products to the garages.

It has added more than 1,000 exhaust systems to its range in the last year. 

“We want people to be able to get everything from us,” said Hannah. “I’d like to be the Coca-Cola of the exhaust world.”

He added: “The replacement market isn’t really growing because life is better. 

“So it makes sense to have a wider range and lower volume rather than a small range and huge volume."Currently with a market share of 44%, Hannah said the need for good service levels is critical.

“Make sure whatever people order, they get. Deliver what you promise to deliver at the time you promise to deliver.”

He added that new customers were attracted by its wide range of products and “world-class delivery performance”.