Aftersales will be a core focus for Peoples Motor Group as it reports record 2010 results while cautious of weak consumer confidence that will impact on new car sales into 2012.

Profit before tax at the Scotland and Merseyside dealer group is up 102% at £3.04 million (2009: £1.51m), helped by external factors such as falling interest rates and the scrappage scheme together with a reduction on Peoples’ administrative costs.

This included an approximate 7% cut in headcount through natural wastage and redundancies.

Turnover reached £141.2m (£132.9m), with more than 6% attributed to the scrappage scheme.

Brian Gilda, Peoples’ chairman, said: “Vehicle sales make up 43% of our operating profit. I’ve seen consumer confidence paired back in September and the market will continue to be combustible because of the economy.

“So, our focus will increasingly be on used cars and, particularly aftersales that represents 57% of operating profit. I want to see it in the 60s, but not simply at the cost of vehicle sales.”

He said the growth is expected to come from working harder to retain customer loyalty and effective use of its customer database.

“We’ve invested in systems and people so our aftersales CRM is as good as it can get. We’re also continuously refreshing and extending our database.”

> More on Peoples Motor Group in the November 26 issue of AM. Subscribe here.