Welcome to AM’s first edition of The Franchise Guide, sponsored by GForces.

With the recovery of the car market well under way, franchised dealers and retail groups are ideally positioned to consider their opportunities for expansion with new and existing partners.

Equally, as manufacturers’ demands have increased for franchisee investment in refurbished or relocated showrooms to suit their latest look and style, it is important for dealers to identify those franchises in their current portfolio that are failing to keep pace with competitors and with consumer desires and will in turn face tougher trading conditions in the coming years.

In the pages of The Franchise Guide we outline the manufacturer brands and the opportunities they present in the near future. Alongside each manufacturer brand are charts from our data intelligence website, AMi, which incorporate data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, to track the 10-year trends for that brand’s UK new registrations and share of the annual new car market.

With the support of certain manufacturers, namely DFSK, Jeep, MG Motor and SsangYong, more detailed reports show the specific opportunities for franchise development that these brands offer.