Arnold Clark MD Eddie Hawthorne, centre, with Sophie Raworth and Experian’s Andrew Round

 

Arnold Clark Automobiles is a used car powerhouse. The group has a very clear brand in the marketplace, which respects price-sensitive used car customers.

The group’s “value” proposition gives customers full visibility of what they are acquiring. Through the controls and processes that the group implements, this drives profitability.

	Best Used Car Performance

Arnold Clark is an expert at sourcing vehicles, with the ability to de-fleet vehicles quickly, allowing the business to be reactive to the market and lead on price, choice and availability.

It holds a stock of 16,000 used vehicles across 190 sites and the average stock turn is 136 days. Used car sales increased by 4.6% in 2013 to 122,398 units.

The group introduced a star rating across all its departments, which empowers customers by encouraging feedback to create the best possible retail environment.

The star ratings, made up from customer satisfaction surveys,  allow Arnold Clark to focus on areas that need to improve.

As a result of this process of continuous improvement, customer satisfaction levels have maintained a steady increase over the past few years, climbing from 69.75% in 2010 to 76.33% in 2013.

Arnold Clark’s approach is built around its “one business” model of car retailing. The business launched its value range in February 2013, which allows the group to offer cars under £5,000 with a minimum 11-month MoT, pre-delivery inspection, 60-day warranty, 14-day money-back guarantee, 24-hour breakdown cover and funding for cars over 10 years old.

Value range cars benefit from Arnold Clark’s reduced in-house labour rates and its access to parts gives the business a competitive edge with its stock over rivals.

The value range has allowed Arnold Clark to retain customers that might have been looking to reduce expenditure and lets it explore a new market to grow the business.

The judges were impressed by Arnold Clark’s committed focus to developing the retail journey and to making sure customers were getting the best deal possible.

Also shortlisted: Marshall Grantham; Peter Vardy

Previous winners: 2011 Mercedes-Benz of Salisbury 2012 Eddie Wright Car Supermarkets 2013 Milcars Mazda

Category sponsored by Experian Automotive.