Suzuki GB has teamed up with technical data provider Autodata to give its franchised network the chance to grow workshop business, attract all makes of cars and increase their revenue and profits.

The manufacturer says it is the first in the UK to give all its dealers the chance to link up with a technical supplier in this way. 

In addition, Suzuki has struck a deal with PSA Group’s Motoquip which will provide dealers with a next-day
delivery service from its range of 12,000 parts at its distribution base at Milton Keynes.

Suzuki and Autodata have launched the scheme as a trial, but both are confident it will become a permanent arrangement with growth potential.

Michael Le-Flay, Suzuki GB aftersales marketing manager, said: “We asked our dealers whether they were running at full workshop capacity and they said they were not. This initiative will help them to increase aftersales revenue, which has a higher margin than sales of new cars.”

Le-Flay said Suzuki’s prime objective was to help its dealers stay in business through the recession. 

“This gives them another opportunity to increase their income, through servicing work and the sale of parts and accessories,” he said. 

“It also brings them into contact with people who might want to buy a new Suzuki or another make of used car from one of our dealers.”

He said it was up to Suzuki’s 152 dealers to decide whether to opt into the scheme. 

“Feedback suggests that between 40% and 50% will want to implement the scheme immediately, and I believe we will have 75% in by the end of the year,” he added.

Tony Swiatek, managing director at Autodata, said he expected the alliance with Suzuki to lead to similar ventures with other car manufacturers in the future. 

“We expect the vast majority of Suzuki’s dealers to extend their subscription to Autodata beyond the trial period,” he said
Autodata has been publishing technical automotive data in Europe since the early 1970s and provides it in all major languages. 

Participating Suzuki dealers will use MAM Software’s Autocat+, a web-driven parts catalogue which links component and vehicle data.

Among areas covered are repair times, tyre sizes and pressures, manufacturers’ service schedules and diagnostic trouble codes. Its objective is to enable franchised and independent workshops to service or repair all brands of cars.