More than half of UK car dealership sales staff intend to vote for Britain to leave the European Union in next Thursday’s referendum.

Through its cloud-based showroom management system, Dealerweb polled more than 300 frontline sales executives, sales managers and senior directors at UK dealerships.

The survey suggests that 49% of respondents believe ‘Brexit’ would positively affect the UK economy as a whole, with an even higher proportion (58%) saying they intend to vote ‘leave’ in Thursday’s referendum.

A poll on AM-online last month revealed 52% of respondents supporting this view. But the poll by AM revealed senior automotive retail executives wanting to remain in the EU. 

21% of respondents admitted they were unsure of the impact that leaving would have on the wider economy, while 17% of car dealers’ sales staff are still undecided as to which way they will vote.

When asked whether they thought UK vehicle sales would be affected in the event of Britain leaving the EU, the answers from dealership staff were more balanced:

36% believe Brexit would have a positive impact on new and used car sales

29% believed that leaving would have a negative effect

35% said they were unsure.

James Hill, sales operations director at Dealerweb, said: “While the survey suggests the majority of sales staff are in favour of a British exit from the EU, there remains an atmosphere of uncertainty over the impact that Brexit could have on the UK automotive industry and the wider economy.

“Whichever way the vote goes, UK vehicle sales are very unlikely to be substantially affected in the short term, but there may be wider implications for the automotive retail sector further down the line.”