Dealers have to innovate to sell more used vehicles
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VAN DEALERS NEED to develop used sales and exploit every possible niche in the new vehicle market if they are to prosper in what is still a tough trading climate, argues Simon Elliott, director of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.
VVV's 64 van centres are already contracted to take an agreed number of ex-contract vehicles from the manufacturer as part of their dealer agreement. Elliott would like them to sell one used van for every new one they retail, but to achieve this figure, they need to be innovative.
One step they can take, he says, is to ride in on the back of the popularity of high-spec Sportline derivatives of VVV's Transporter and turn some of the more 'bog-standard' used Transporters they hold into Sportline clones.
"We've introduced a kit that allows them to do this," he says. "They can fit alloy wheels, stripes.., whatever is needed to make a van more saleable."