Car manufacturers and the iPhone generation

628 More

Earning the right to be successful

610 More

Knowledge is power

714 More

Selling cars – it’s all about timing

1,006 More

Truemag

  • Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Subscribe

Plate change mundanity

I know we probably say it every year about this time and sorry for being boring but things just aren’t the same! I visited a few showrooms on the 1st in the hope that all staff would be far too busy to have time for me and look incredulously at me whilst exclaiming “don’t you know it’s the 1st of September?!”

Well at the places I visited all the 6 60 plates had been delivered and the sales guys were flicking through a takeaway menu to order lunch after their underwhelming mornings work.

Without wishing to go back to the past I couldn’t help try and regale these fresh faced youngsters with tales of delivering 35 cars by 10am on the 1st and arriving at work at midnight in my quest to assist some eager buyers in getting their sparkling new cars on the road first.

I don’t know if they believed what I was saying but they could at least have pretended to enjoy my war stories, and although the reasons for the modern registration change system have been well documented it somehow dilutes the whole emotion which existed with customers having the new plate. In fact I now doubt many customers would even know what the new plate is such is the frequency with which they change and, of course that is exactly what the changes made over 10 years ago were designed for.

The slightly curious joy I also got from counting how many new plates I could spot during the course of the big day also seems less than worth it as I only saw about 20 and 8 of them were at a car showroom waiting to be collected!

I know it’s a little, how can I put this, trainspotterish but car ownership and the selling of new cars which go out on the roads in the new reg month are what break up the mundane nature of the trade today and by creating excitement for customers and making the experience feel special it is just basically much more fun. It often leads to the feelgood factor spreading and more customers coming in as a result.

Alas we will probably never go back to the ‘good old days’ so I will probably just write about them, so see you same time next year…sorry I mean March.

Sep 3, 2010In51der
  • New plate lethargy
  • Reminiscing about plate change days gone by
  • Traditional car retailing may soon change forever
  • Time to change?
  • Missing the plate change madness
  • Plate change madness still continues
  • Chinese car sales surge as US declinesAs used car prices heat up could demand swing back to new cars?
    Comments: 1
    1. Shane Teskey
      12 years ago

      Interesting post. The Irish Motor Industry is currently lobbying Government to have our registration system changed. At present the registrations change on the 1st of January every year meaning over 50% of sales occur in the first quarter of the year.

      What is your opinion on the UK system? Any advice for us across the water?

      Regards,
      Shane.

    In51der

    Motor Trade Insider - Bridging the gap between the customer and the Motor Trade

    12 years ago Blog, Consumercar sales, Featured, new car buying, new car registration, new car sales117
    Most viewed
    Top 100 UK Dealer Groups
    39,745 views
    The car sales process and the “9 point plan”
    11,807 views
    webuyanycar review – They will buy any car but beware of the asterisk
    6,189 views
    Most commented
    Car sales and the power of silence…
    25 Comments
    Car dealers still not prepared to play the “we buy any car” game
    23 Comments
    A Traders Tale – Part Four
    22 Comments
    Win a pre-loaded Ipod Shuffle!
    19 Comments
    Bargain of the Week – StreetKa 1.6i Luxury
    14 Comments

    Auto Transport

    About MTI

    Motor Trade Insider
    is written by people working actively in the motor trade for people on the inside and people on the outside.

    Our aims
    Build a bridge between consumers and the trade, create Interesting and informative content, break down barriers and create better understanding, expose bad practices and rip-offs and promote outstanding products and service.
    Have something to say?
    We are always looking for experienced writers who can write good original quality posts on motor-trade-insider.com. Please contact us if you would like us to consider you. Make sure you give us details of your own blog or a link to some articles you have written.
    2017 © Motor Trade Insider
    Truemag theme by StrictThemes