American online training specialist CyberCar.com has poached new media director Dave Hawkins from Kalamazoo International to head its £6.2m European launch.

CyberCar chairman and chief executive Eustace W Mita claimed specialist training would bring a three-fold increase in conversions of internet-derived sales leads.

In the US, CyberCar trains all Ford, Volvo and Lincoln/Mercury dealers and is used by 40 of the top 100 dealer groups.

Hawkins, CyberCar's European operations director, said: “There are some fantastic websites generating huge numbers of sales leads but dealers have failed to convert them. Learning how to do this should be an essential element in any franchised dealer's new media strategy.”