AM Awards: Used Car Retailer, Wokingham Motors

Best Used Car Retailer sponsored by HPI

Radical thinking and having the confidence to expand paid off for Wokingham Motors. In late 2006, the company re-viewed the decline in its Peugeot Lion approved used car sales.

It was frustrated by an increasing number of non-franchise part-exchanges in which it traded as these vehicles did not match the criteria of the Peugeot franchise programme.

Peugeot’s new and used car market was also in decline. This meant a slower stock turn, resulting in vehicle prices being reduced sooner to stimulate sales.

In addition, the company had to duplicate some models for sale to fill its 50 display spaces, mainly due to a decreasing model mix of used cars available direct from the manufacturer.

Wokingham Motors knew it had to take action as the situation was unlikely to improve.

Historically, anything non-franchise or Peugeots without warranty were traded in, though it became apparent that dealers buying these vehicles were capitalising on a market in which Wokingham Motors was not confident.

The decision was made to market a number of these used cars for a few weeks to see if the company could sell them.

As a fallback, non-Peugeot or high mileage stock was underwritten with traders in case it was not sold.

The cars did begin to sell, although the company was uncomfortable about how they were presented when compared to newer vehicles as they did not come with the franchise material.

The solution was to create a name to justify their place on the forecourt, rather than hiding them round the back of the dealership.

It was also important to have a different sales angle so that traded-in vehicles were not in competition with the Lion used car programme.

The idea was to offer budget price cars branded as ‘Runarounds’.

Customers were encouraged to buy a £30 mechanical breakdown warranty providing six months’ parts and labour cover, and vehicles not sold within 45 days went back to the traders who had underwritten them.

Having captured non-franchise customers, it developed a 3+ Club offering a £59 service and MoT package.

Finalists