Dilemma for car dealers

Although car dealers are at present relaxing with large cigars and a glasses of champagne having achieved record sales figures for Q1 (and this is despite January being a virtual white out) there are many in the trade that are predicting turbulence ahead albeit only temporary.

Once buyers have got their heads around alternatives to scrappage and lock in to the offers being communicated by car manufacturers and dealers keen to keep up the momentum it will hopefully be business as usual.

The major issues however are not really that people don’t want to (or can’t) buy it is more about the confusion. It only takes one piece of negative news to lead to buyers losing confidence and with the country gearing up for an election, fuel prices again at historically high levels, the new showroom tax taking hold, the weakness of sterling against the euro and with our beloved scrappage scheme at an end it can all add up to a whole world of hurt if you let it.

So what do dealers do? Do they baton down the hatches and wait for the storm to pass? Or do they show potential customers a compelling reason why they should still be in the market for a new car, ride the wave of goodwill which has been created in the last 12 months engage with their customers and find interesting and innovative ways of ensuring their sales teams retain their belief that the wagon keeps rolling,

Ultimately the only way success happens is by having the right people doing the right things and delivering a quality service which means customers feel compelled to buy.