Customer expectations of manufacturer approved used car schemes are growing, says Network Automotive Management, which assists manufacturers with putting together the parameters and infrastructure for approved used car schemes.

The two in three dealers who use outdated prospecting techniques or fail to prospect at all are the same ones who have failed to see any growth in profitability during the last 12 months as a result, according to Pinewood Computer Solutions, which undertook the research as part of development work to investigate the real-world effectiveness of features incorporated into its Pinnacle DMS.

The research covered 1,040 dealers contacted by Pinewood over a 12 month period and found that more than 70% of dealers had failed to see growth in profitability during the previous year and were also failing to prospect properly by interrogating their database for marketing purposes. Customer expectations of approved used car schemes rise Customer expectations of manufacturer approved used car schemes are growing, says Network Automotive Management, which assists manufacturers with putting together the parameters and infrastructure for approved used car schemes.

Lance Jenkins, sales director at Network Automotive Management, explains that “Customer expectations do tend to grow over time. Used car sales is a competitive arena, standards continually rise, whilst consumer legislation increasingly impacts on commitment.

"The second point is that vehicle remarketing is becoming ever more important to manufacturers because there is oversupply in both the new and used car markets. The challenge is to make used cars attractive enough that profitable dealer stock keeps moving, giving new car sales the room to stay healthy."

A position had now been reached where, for many manufacturers, customers expected an approved used car to offer almost everything that a new one did.

Jenkins explained: "It is dependent on the marque and model in question, but someone buying a three-year old approved used car from a franchise dealer representing a prestige marque often has higher expectations than someone buying a new hatchback from a mainstream manufacturer.”

Jenkins adds that most major and prestige manufacturers had good schemes but some smaller ones needed considerably upgrading.