Motorline was named as Hyundai Motor UK’s retail group of the year as its dealerships claimed dealer of the year and aftersales dealer of the year awards to mark a memorable hat-trick at the Korean car franchise’s annual awards.

The Canterbury-based AM100 group claimed Dealer of the Year 2020 with its Hyundai Worcester business and Aftersales Dealer of the Year 2020 with Hyundai Maidstone at the brand’s virtual awards event.

It claimed wins in three of Hyundai’s seven awards categories as Holdcdroft Motor Group, Read Motor Group, Richmond Motor Group and Smith Motor Group were also rewarded for top performances in a COVID-impacted trading period.

Paul Stapylton, Hyundai operations director from Motorline, which represents the brand at sites in Ashford, Canterbury, Gatwick, Gloucester, Hereford, Maidstone and Worcester, said: “To win these awards is testament to the hard work and dedication of the management team.

“I was impressed with the way in which they navigated through 2020 in the challenging conditions everybody had to face but to come out on top was fantastic. 

“The attention to detail and the pursuit of focusing on all the key KPI’s gave them the performance to receive such accolades and I am very proud of their achievements.”

Nick Tunnell, Hyundai Motor UK’s business transformation director, said: “To secure three wins against such fierce competition is really quite remarkable.

“It illustrates how effectively the business operates, both at a group level and within each dealership.

“With strong management and engagement with our business at all levels, Motorline has achieved remarkable results for themselves and for the Hyundai brand over the past year.”

Hyundai Motor UK’s dealers were ranked using their 2020 Balanced Scorecard metrics to determine the winners of the 2020 awards.

The scorecards assess performance across five key areas: new car objectives, aftersales performance, customer experience, dealer profitability and brand representation.

Hyundai Motor UK’s full list of winners:

• Overall Dealer Group – Motorline Group
• Overall Dealer – Motorline Hyundai Worcester
• Market Share Dealer – Richmond Hyundai Guildford
• Volume Dealer – Holdcroft Hyundai Stoke
• AFV Sales Dealer – Smiths Hyundai Peterborough
• HCX Dealer – Read Hyundai Kings Lynn
• Aftersales Dealer – Motorline Hyundai Maidstone

Commenting on Motorline’s awards hat-trick, Hyundai Motor UK managing director, Ashley Andrew, said: “To secure three wins against such fierce competition is really quite remarkable.

“It illustrates how effectively the business operates, both at a group level and within each dealership.

“With strong management and engagement with our business at all levels, Motorline has achieved remarkable results for themselves and for the Hyundai brand over the past year.”

Hyundai is targeting a transformative 2021, with a keen focus on elelctric vehicles and new products across its range.

As well as launching its new Ioniq EV brand with the new Ioniq 5 hatchback, other new models reaching showrooms this year include the new Tucson SUV, new i20, 2021 Kona and Kona N, 2021 Santa Fe, i20N, 2021 i30N as well as the Bayon compact crossover.

SMMT new car registrations data for February, which was published this morning, revealed that the brand is 32.7% down year to date (4,357) in a market down by 35.5% in amid COVID-19 ‘Lockdown 3’ showroom closures.

Last year, the brand’s registrations dipped 43% (to 47,507) in a market down 29.4%.