publication date: Aug 4, 2008
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author/source: Robin Roberts
| Cardiff and West Wales are among open points being targetted by Proton as it relaunches the Malaysian made models in the UK. |
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In Wales there are open sales points in Cardiff and Haverfordwest with dealers in South East Wales and in North Wales.
Over 80 dealers have applied for Proton franchises in the last few weeks, the Bristol-based importer has revealed. It supports dealers with its own finance facility in conjunction with BlackHorse.
The boom in enquiries follows the relaunch of the brand in the UK this year and the opening of an in-house PDI facility and parts distribution centre at Avonmouth, Bristol.
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From the new 100,000sqft UK headquarters on 4.5 acres which includes on-site training centre, finance, dealer support, the company can handle 1,000 new cars a month and refurbishes to retail standard its own demonstration fleet, so order to delivery is cut to about three days for the Savvy, Satria Neo and Persona (below).
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Brian Collier, MD of Proton Cars (above left with Simon Park GM) said, “We have a network of 76 dealers at the moment and about 30 service outlets and our sales are modest. We are a small company but our dealers expect a quick turnaround in orders for cars and parts and we can give them this improved service now we have everything under one roof at Avonmouth.
“We have 83 enquiries from potential dealers at the moment; I think it’s a sign of the retail motor trade and their desire to increase their business.
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“I would like to have about 110 dealers and we have some open points we are particularly keen to fill spread all over the country.”
During the consolidation of facilities at Avonmouth, where it has been since 1989, Proton Cars (UK) retrained about a score of staff and brought them up to the latest technical standards in their particular fields and also took on 20 new employees, and they are still recruiting.
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Simon Park, General Manager Sales and Marketing, said, “Our unique selling point is the size of our business and if you ask our dealers they say we are the friendly car manufacturers.
“We are consistently in the top five of dealership surveys for distribution, parts service, warranty and technical training and over the last four years we have been going up the rankings for sales and marketing as well. About 40pc of our dealers are solus operations but we are alongside Skoda, Hyundai, Kia and Ford in some locations. It’s quite a spread.”
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With new models arriving and a major development coming this autumn, Proton is keen to increase its dealer base and the downturn in the market is actually working in their favour as some disgruntled businesses leave the bigger manufacturers and see the greater earning potential in the Proton range with some models providing margins of up to £3,000.
They point out that there is tremendous buyer loyalty to the brand with a typical owner running seven or eight cars in succession and the introduction of the new Savvy and Satria Neo has brought down the age profile as younger drivers are attracted by the price and three-years/ 60,000 miles warranty as well as the Lotus-developed handling and ride.
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