Westerly Exeter and Cotswold Cheltenham win big at BMW/MINI retailer awards

Westerly Exeter and Cotswold Cheltenham have been crowned BMW and Mini Retailer of the Year at an annual awards event hosted by comedian Alan Carr and radio presenter Edith Bowman.

A total of 21 awards recognised the efforts to of retailers across the premium German and compact car brand’s retail networks, with a range of categories covering areas such as sales, marketing and sustainability.

Westerly Exeter won the BMW Sales award before going on to take home the overall BMW Retailer of the Year title for 2022 at Wednesday evening’s (January 18) event at the ACC Liverpool.

Head of business at Westerly BMW Exeter, Simon Emery, said: “My entire BMW sales team set out their ultimate team goal of achieving the BMW Sales Retailer of the Year award following last year’s virtual event. I know how much time and effort was put into 2022 by the entire team and I could not be happier for them."

Also among the BMW awards were Lloyd Carlisle took home BMW’s award for Aftersales, Rybrook Wolverhampton for BMW Financial Services and Bowker Group for Sustainability.

Reflecting upon the achievements of retailers over the past 12 months at Wednesday night’s event, BMW UK chief executive Chris Brownridge said: “Last year our retail network delivered best-in-class customer service whilst successfully launching a range of innovative new models.

“I'm incredibly proud of all our retailers as their agility and passion for our brands means that BMW starts 2023 as the fastest-growing brand for pure electric vehicles in the UK and every fourth Mini hatch registered is a Mini Electric.

“Tonight, we say thank you to each team for their hard work and dedication and we are delighted to celebrate their achievements with them.”

Among the new model launches of 2023, BMW introduced its iX1 crossover, i4 saloon and i7 limousine to a growing portfolio of zero emissions vehicles.

In this week’s showcase OEM event, Cotswold Cheltenham secured the showcase Retailer of the Year 2022 accolade in the Mini awards after emerging as top performers in the Used Cars category.

On receiving the awards, group manging director Paul Neale said: “It is great recognition for the whole team, who have passionately delivered the very best service for our customers, whilst consistently performing at the very highest level. To be awarded Mini Retailer of the Year for 2022 is incredibly special for all the team.”

Among the other winners, Soper won the very first Mini App award, with Prentice Portadown taking home the win for Customer Service and Stephen James Woolwich for Best Improvement.

Federico Izzo, the director of Mini UK, said: “While dealing with turbulent times, our incredible retail network handed over 45,000 vehicles to customers in 2022.

“I'm extremely proud of our retailer teams; their resilience throughout the last 12 months has created a solid foundation as we begin a very exciting year for the Mini brand. Congratulations to all our winners this evening.”

Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) data showed that BMW registrations declined by 6.8% to 108,624 during the 12-month period, as Mini’s volumes remained flat at 45,756.

BMW is planning to follow the likes of Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis in ditching traditional franchised agreements in favour of an agency model.

Last month BMW Group sales and marketing director Pieter Nota revealed that the OEM had set the wheels in motion for a 2024 switch for the Mini brand, with BMW set to follow in 2026.

The full list of BMW and Mini retailer awards winners is detailed below: