Retail space

According to Westaway, the recent acceleration in five-year plus Bentley sales are due to a number of factors including the acquisition of Broughtons, late last summer, which has dealerships in Berkshire, Surrey and Cheltenham.

Broughtons already had a strong used car portfolio, outselling new by a ratio of four to one, but its inclusion now provides the group with the luxury of space hitherto lacking at its London Jack Barclay dealership.

He said: “In central London we have very little space to retail used vehicles and we didn’t have the demand, but that can be chicken and egg – if you don’t have the stock, you can’t create the demand.

"Now we have a lot more acreage our job for 2012 is to further develop our used car business and this age group of vehicle is set to play an important part.

“We think these cars can be found in London and they will have massive appeal in the capital.

"As the credit crunch took its toll in the premium sector first, Bentley sales in the UK dropped by about 50% or 60% in 2008-09 which means we are now experiencing a dip in two to three year-old vehicles and we need to replenish the stock in other ways.

"More than any other brands, we have to seriously look at retailing these older vehicles.”

In order to incorporate older vehicles into the retail fold, the division has implemented what it calls a ‘two tier preparation process’ which basically means the workshop charges a lower rate to prepare the older Bentleys for sale.

“We all take a slightly reduced slice of the pie,” explained Westaway. “But we would rather do that, retail the car ourselves and keep the customer in our business.”

Natural process

The proliferation of five to seven-year-old stock for Eden Vauxhall has been a natural process although general sales man-ager at the Reading branch James Kurd admits it has resulted in an excellent profit stream, generated by an increase of older part-exchanges, which they will continue to exploit.

He said: “People are holding onto their vehicles longer. Consequently, we part-exchange an increasing number of older vehicles and that has naturally created its own market.

"We have been driven by these market factors rather than us actively making a business decision to develop this sector.”

The main obstacle to growing this area is the availability of stock in good condition so while Eden Vauxhall would happily retail more in this age group, Kurd does not envisage it growing substantially.