F&I Management & Training

Nissan expects to lose 20% of its UK dealers by the end of 2010, though the current economic climate could accelerate the process. Nissan GB managing director Paul Willcox said 40% of the dealer network was not performing to expectation, and half of those outlets were likely to part company with the franchise. He said: "In August we had around 180 sites, of which 60% were doing a fantastic job, the rest were not and 20% were poor on every KPI score you can think of. "We had a clear, open policy to these dealers, improve or find another franchise. We hadn't terminated dealers for a long time, but we terminated four in December despite the downturn, on the basis of consistently poor performance." Mr Willcox had expected to remove the worst-performing 20% of dealers over two years but the current economic climate is likely to accelerate the process. "In September the world changed - and in a downturn if you are consistently poor on all your KPIs the one that will impact on you will be profitability. In a growing, buoyant market you can coast through on poor performance but you can't any more." Nissan will help strong performing dealers through the downturn, along with struggling outlets which have the potential to turn things around. "However partners who don't address their operational issues will find we won't support them if they run into problems," said Mr Willcox.

DATED: 16.03.09

FEED: AW