Hartwell has taken on three new managers in an effort to drive car sales at its newly opened Nissan and Citroën dealerships in Scunthorpe.

The move coincides with the group’s announcement of a new customer focused business strategy aimed at reintroducing the Nissan and Citroën brands to the area, which have been missing since the demise of the Dixon Motor Group in 2006.

Paul Kellett has joined Hartwell at Station Road as the new general manager and has already promoted his managers into new areas of responsibility.

With more than 25 years of motor trade experience, much of it gained with locally-based retail groups, Kellett will be spearheading a new approach to customer service: “One of my tasks is to create a customer focused, friendly face for Hartwell in Scunthorpe and invite Nissan and Citroën owners to meet our new team.

 

“There is a new spirit at Hartwell and we want to tempt customers back with a combination of unbeatable new and used car deals, excellent value for money and customer-friendly service,” he said.

Kellett said the new strategy was already bearing fruit, with sales of new and used cars up 300% in the first quarter of this year.

The growth was also put down to the introduction of new models from Nissan and Citroen, including the facelifted Qashqai, Micra, Note and new C3 and DS3.

Central to opening up Nissan and Citroen sales has been the appointment of Gary Medden as Hartwell’s new sales manager.

Medden, who was previously business manager at the Scunthorpe dealership, brings more than 10 years of experience to his new appointment and strongly favours the personal approach: “I believe that people like to buy from people, not computers, and so customer service is our number one priority.

“Word of mouth can be a powerful selling tool and we want to make things right first time for our customers and be the best in Scunthorpe.”

Another key appointment is Ian Beckett as the new business manager at Scunthorpe.

Ian has worked with local car dealerships for over 10 years and joined Hartwell Scunthorpe in 2007 as a sales executive. Since then he has worked his way up the promotional ladder to his new position.