Greenacre cemented its reputation for customer service excellence by becoming the sole UK car dealer to win Honda Motor Europe’s coveted Yūshū award.

Not only did the Clitheroe-based Honda franchisee become one of just 10 of the Japanese carmaker’s retail partners from across Europe to receive an award, after emerging top of 155 UK sites, but its Blackburn dealership was also highly commended after finishing in second-place.

Greenacre dealer principal Graeme Edmondson said: “I could not be prouder of the hard work and dedication that every single staff member has contributed to ensure that our customers get the highest level of satisfaction.

“It is an honour to be recognised by Honda UK and we will continue to go above and beyond to provide exceptional customer service.”

The all-new Yūshū programme, an award scheme to recognise the top performing dealers in Customer Experience across Europe, was introduced to the Honda Motor Europe retail network in 2022.

The annual awards are a celebration of dealer performance measured by the Honda Customer Satisfaction Index, which is aimed at improving customer satisfaction in dealerships.

Honda explained that Yūshū – meaning ‘Excellence’ in Japanese – is demonstrated by strong dealer engagement and achieving a high overall satisfaction score.

It also encourages commitment to Honda’s mission statement, supplying products of the highest quality and at a reasonable price for worldwide customer satisfaction.

Mark Rogers, general manager of Honda Motor Europe’s customer division, said: “It has been great to see how dealers have engaged with the Yūshū programme during 2022 and we are delighted to see the customer satisfaction levels that have been achieved over the year.

“We are really pleased to be able to recognise our top-performing dealers in aftersales and would like to congratulate not only the winners, but all of the network for their commitment to the Customer Satisfaction programme.

“We look forward to this positive result continuing in 2023.”

This year promises to be busy from a product launch perspective for Honda UK retailers across the UK.

AM reviewed the new Civic Type R in February and further launches include an updated Jazz; plug-in hybrid and hybrid versions of a new CR-V SUV; a new ZR-V crossover; and the much anticipated e:Ny1 crossover EV.

Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) new car registrations data for 2022 showed that Honda’s UK volumes declined by 10.6% to 24,084 units last year.

Product and business planning section manager at Honda Motor Europe, Andrew Winfield told AM the brand expects a “modest” volume rise in 2023, with supplies increasing as the range refresh takes shape later this year and in early 2024.