There’s plenty of life in the traditional dealer yet

REGULAR readers will know my view on today’s car dealers very well. Based on your (and my) experiences, the report card continues to read: could do better.

I’m excited by the rising interest in online car shopping – both new and used – and by the increasing numbers of car makers choosing to sell their cars in shopping centres.

But, for me, car retailing is both fascinating and frustrating. So it was interesting to spend some time recently with a guy who’s responsible for selling cars – through his network of dealers – across the world for the UK’S biggest automotive brands, Jaguar and Land Rover.

Andy Goss is JLR’S sales operations director and even when he’s flying around the globe, he knows what’s selling where – and is well aware of the targets he has to meet. So what does he make of the future of car retail? “Clicks and bricks are still the way forward for us,” he told me. “With servicing and part-exchanges, it’s still a hugely complex business.”

Pop-ups and retailers in shopping centres – like the Jaguar Land Rover outlet in Westfield Stratford, East London – will complement online retailing, according to Goss. But the combination of online leads and traditional dealers (hence “clicks and bricks”) will evolve with what he describes as normal dealers, service centres and ‘lighthouse’ dealers such as the three-storey centre about to spring out of the ground alongside the M3 motorway in south-west London.

That dealer will be run by the UK arm of Penske, the US company set up by former racer Roger Penske. His firm is renowned for its levels of customer service, so let’s hope it helps to give so many of its rival dealers the kick up the backside many of them still need.