Inchcape’s Lexus Derby dealership receives brand’s European Kiwami award

Inchcape’s Lexus Derby dealership has been recognised among 10 of the Japanese premium car brand’s European franchisees to receive a prestigious Kiwami award for “retailer excellence”.

The prestigious accolade was awarded as Inchcape retained its Lexus Group of the Year accolade for a second consecutive year in the UK.

David Graham, retail operations director for Inchcape Lexus, said: “I am incredibly proud to have been announced as the winners of both awards for another consecutive year.

"The Kiwami Award is a really prestigious global title and I am really proud of the team at Derby who achieved that award this year immediately after our Guildford business for last year.

“I am even more honoured that our whole Lexus network were given the Group of the Year title for a second year running which has never been done before.

"All the Lexus teams across our network have worked so hard through a really tough year and this is an amazing boost to demonstrate that their efforts have not gone unnoticed.”

Lexus Derby's success comes a year after Inchcape's Guildford dealership claimed a Kiwami award.

In the awards' fifth year judges applied exacting standards as the brand considered how retailers had performed over the past 12 months, while taking into account efforts to adapt procedures and premises to “the most challenging trading conditions the brand has ever experienced”.

Lexus UK said that the assessment of retailers’ performance had included enquiries and visits by mystery shoppers who examined every aspect of the customer journey, the quality of the facilities and the services provided.

Lexus has around 300 dealerships across Europe, among which the Kiwami winners are acknowledged as the finest (the award takes its name from a Japanese word meaning “ultimate”).

Receiving Inchcape PLC’s Lexus Derby dealership award, centre principal Nick Dughan said: “The Kiwami award is the most prestigious customer experience recognition and I am incredibly proud of all the team members at Lexus Derby.”

Lexus UK emerged as the top-rated car retail franchise in the UK once again in the latest National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) Dealer Attitude Survey.

All Lexus dealers are expected to live up to the brand’s omotenashi customer service ethos – treating a customer as you would a guest in your home.

Dughan said: “Omotenashi is at the heart of everything we do here, it’s in the roots of our culture.

“We don’t just provide our guests with outstanding service, we take pride in anticipating and fulfilling their needs, delighting each one of them at every contact point.”

Commenting on the successes of the 10 2021 Kiwami Awards winners across Europe, Pascal Ruch, the vice-president in charge of Lexus Europe, said: “Our retail partners have had to address unprecedented circumstances in the past year, prioritising the health and safety of their teams and their customers, while also doing their utmost to maintain the finest Lexus omotenashi guest experience.

“Their efforts have been exceptional, and I am proud of how they have maintained such impressive standards of customer care and business quality in such a challenging operating environment.

“The Kiwami Awards reward those who have achieved the greatest all-round performance, but our sincere thanks go to all our retailers who have worked tirelessly in the past year in support of the Lexus brand.”

The full list of 2021 Kiwami winners are: