Toyota GB has signed up to use the Portfolio used car retail solution after a three-month trial at 35 dealerships earlier this year.

The ongoing roll-out programme, which started in April, last month generated more than 5,200 sales for Toyota centres. Ninety per cent of the retail network is already signed up with the rest to follow over the next couple of months.

Portfolio manages the input of vehicle data on dealers’ websites, ensuring accuracy of information. It also takes professional photos of the cars, and that has seen the number of vehicle images rise from 35% to 81% – which is helping to generate more sales leads.

During the pilot Toyota found that traffic to its used car locator on www.toyota.co.uk increased by 48%. Vehicle viewings now average 425,000 a month, which each vehicle being looked at around 85 times. Portfolio supports Toyota centres with on-site training and branded marketing literature for all vehicles. A customer-facing intranet system enables dealers to locate and present stock nationally.

“The Portfolio system is not just about providing stock information and management to our centres, but a used car marketing solution which delivers on the bottom line by connecting customers with the right vehicle,” says Vince Everard, Toyota GB used car manager