Consumers are 'not quite, but nearly ready' to purchase a car online without visiting a showroom first, according to Peoples' managing director Brian Gilda (pictured).

Quoted on The Scotsman website, Ford dealer boss said: “They’re almost there but not quite. They’ll look at the Mustang, for example, and get all the information they can, before looking at other opportunities, such as a Nissan Z, and benchmarking them. In truth, some of my customers come in better informed than some of my sales people.”

Gilda acknowledges that the shift from physical to virtual showrooms is partly “and regrettably” down to the fact that many people don’t actually like shopping for their next car.

“We’re not in the Mother Teresa world, and while we’ve won all sorts of awards for customer care and how we look after people, they don’t necessarily enjoy the experience.”

He said complaints the business receives are typically due to poor communication: "By the time they come to me, they want to choke me rather than talk to me.

“But apart from one customer who must remain nameless and who nobody could have sorted, we’ve managed to solve everyone’s complaint. My people know if they’ve got it wrong I’ll come down on the side of the customer. The customer used to be king; now they’re God. It’s that simple.”