The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) has celebrated the successes of its ‘Drive My Career’ scheme to attract a new generation of automotive talent into the car retail sector.

Almost 1,000 retail sites from 63 dealer groups now support the initiative – launched in February, 2018 – which has already attracted over 200,000 views via its newly-established YouTube channel.

In September, the first manufacturer also joined the initiative: Groupe Renault UK signed up all its NFDA member Renault and Dacia dealerships in the UK.

NFDA director Sue Robinson said: “It is extremely encouraging to see the progress that Drive My Career has made over the last twelve months thanks to the support of the nearly 1,000 dealerships now involved in the initiative.

“Today’s retail automotive sector is transparent, innovative and exciting. It is vital that we communicate to the new generations outside the industry how rewarding a career in our sector can be.

“Drive My Career was developed as an industry-first initiative to directly benefit the businesses involved and, as a result, the whole sector. Thanks to our members’ outstanding support we have been able to expand the scope of our work. We have explored new avenues, developed ideas and built partnerships to complement retailers’ recruitment plans in as many ways as possible.

“Going forward, we will continue to follow our members’ directions to ensure that Drive My Career keeps growing”.

Drive My Career is a unique employment initiative which was launched to address franchised retailers’ concerns that young people do not consider the automotive retail sector as an option for their professional careers.

The initiative uses highly-targeted digital marketing campaigns to reach out to a target audience of 16 to 24 years old potential candidates.

Thanks to several different channels, these campaigns make young people aware of the variety of roles available in the industry and the rewarding sides of a career in automotive.

These often challenge old misconceptions of our sector and promote diversity and transparency.

Drive My Career engages with a community of active users on key social media platforms, in particular, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

The ultimate goal of the Drive My Career initiative is to connect young people with the dealer groups based in their local area.

On the website, users can do so by entering their postcode and see what retailers work in their area through the dealer-finder map which shows all the dealerships of the dealer groups across the UK that have joined the initiative.

The NFDA is celebrating several milestones achieved by Drive My Career during its first year:

•             In less than six months, Drive My Career’s YouTube channel has reached over 200,000 views

•             In September, the first manufacturer joined the initiative: Groupe Renault UK signed up all its NFDA member Renault and Dacia dealerships in the UK

•             There are now 994 dealerships and 63 dealer groups involved

•             More than 1,800 potential candidates are redirected through Drive My Career to retailers’ career pages every month

•             Every month, about 700,000 people hear about Drive My Career and working in the automotive industry