EVERY August, people making polite chit-chat ask where I’m planning to go away on holiday.
We all know that suggesting someone in the retail motor industry take a break in the run up to a plate change month is a bit like suggesting a sandwich shop closes for a lunch hour.
Our customers are coming back from their own trips to countries like Spain and Portugal where the economy has almost come to a standstill and, unlike their holiday hosts, are looking forward to a new car.
Our latest information shows customers are buying our cars despite the continuing difficult market conditions. Showroom traffic is up and July’s trade-in values demonstrated the relative strength of the market.
So, happily, the British are still buying. But they’re being fussy. They love Nissan’s products but we need to keep our pencils sharp. Rivals are becoming increasingly desperate to keep the metal moving through the factories and showrooms and it shows in the deals being offered.
That’s why we’ve introduced a number of enhanced offers on our cars which will help keep the buyers where they should be – signing up for a new Nissan.
We’re doing our best to monitor the situation to make sure we perform well.
Sales success
From Saturday September 1, it’s over to you to see if we can deliver the sort of sales success we all deserve.
It’s not just the cars which attract customers to the showrooms and keep them coming back; I don’t need to tell you that the dealership experience is crucial too.
A new survey of 29,000 motorists shows that all the work you’ve been doing over the past couple of years has really paid off, with Nissan dealerships grabbing fourth spot in this year’s Auto Express Driver Power survey.
That’s a rise of 21 places since 2010, a climb the magazine’s journalists describe as ‘meteoric’.
What did we do well? A customer was quoted saying: ‘I always get a courtesy car, my car is always cleaned and prices are given in advance.’ We came second in the ‘value for money’ category and were placed ninth for helpfulness and attitude; standard of workmanship; level of technical knowledge; and progress of work updates.
Keep up the good work and continue to push for improvement. As a result we’ll keep winning customers and awards.