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The automotive industry designs, manufactures, creates the mood and sells the world's motor vehicles. Even in the recession ravaged 2009, more than 60 million motor vehicles were still made and sold worldwide. In the first quarter of 2010, in China alone - total sales of autos topped 4.60 million. In the year, total sales are expected to be around 17 millions (actual comparison was 13.65 million in 2009) for the whole of 2010. If achieved - this would amount to nearly twice as much as in the USA or 10 times as much as the UK. In 2010, although auto retailers are still recovering whilst learning to live without a government sponsored scrappage scheme - the PLC ethos of value based management to drive share value has regained traction. Rapidly rising oil prices yet again, coupled with a combination of pricing pressures from raw material costs and changes in consumer buying habits, place a big question mark over how long the recovery in automotive can last. The entire industry is facing increasing competition from public transport and consumers continue to re-evaluate their private vehicle usage. For instance around half of the US's 50+ light vehicle plants are projected to permanently close in the coming years, with the loss of 200,000 jobs, that being on top of the 550+k jobs already lost this decade. For how much longer will successive UK Governments ignore the elephant in the corner of the room in favour of papering over it's crack with subsidies, grants or what you will? The day will inevitably dawn when the social cost of producing all this polluting tin will been seen by all to far exceed the social benefit of employment in the sector. Probably the best the industry can look forward to in the next 10 years is an all electric town car which at say £3995 + batteries (£3k) destroys the conventional compact segment. The ensuing reliability and lack of servicing requirement arising from plastic monocoque, regenerative brakes, no gearbox etc will pose a serious threat to aftersales profitability and make the holy grail of 100% absorbtion a pipe dream. It will be this period which will put greatest strain on Block Exemption status as the relative simplicity of the product and low price will lead the motoring public to demand purchase points at Superstores and airports rather than Motor mile.
Doldrums - what doldrums; do the auto's maths The automotive industry designs, manufactures, creates the mood and sells the world's motor vehicles. Even in the recession ravaged 2009, more than 60 ..... more details
Third World markets - opportunity or threat? For generations, the developing world has been seen as a growth opportunity for the West. Improved fortunes in third world countries traditionally had ..... more details
Is the digital age driving decline in U.S. car culture and will it spread to UK? The automobile, once an immediate ambition of American youth is suffering an erosion of social relevance for an increasing number of people under 30 i ..... more details
Bill Gates invests $23.5 million in EcoMotors EcoMotors International has received $23.5 million from Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates and investor Vinod Khosla for engineering and testing of i ..... more details
8,000-mile test drive with no driver
A group of Italian technicians just launched what is being hailed as the longest-ever test drive of vehicles with no driver. An 8,000-mile, three-m ..... more details
About Tom Booth, Company Director
How Much can A Car Salesperson Expect To Earn
A Selection of our Current Motor Trade jobs
How to become a Car Salesman
How much can I expect to earn Want to know how much you can expect to earn working as a Car Salesperson? Check out our no nonsense guide to salary expectation in Automotive Retail Sales. Sample 999tom Sales Training Check out a limited version of our online sales training, With comprehensive Sales training broken down into manageable Modules. The full unrestricted version comes with Audio, Video, testing and assessment. How do I start in Car Sales Want a change of career? Always wanted to drive and sell expensive, top of the range cars? Check out our guide to becoming a Car Sales Person together with the benefits you can expect to receive, including an all expenses paid company car, pension, commission scheme, career progression etc, etc. Selection of our current Jobs Looking for a specific job? Check out or latest vacancies - we can't possibly keep pace with everything we are working on but this should give you a really good idea. And if none suit you - what about your friends and colleagues? Not sure where to start in the motor trade? Looking to ger into the Motor trade, but aren't sure what role is for you? check out our guide to the kind of jobs available to you, including qualification and experience requirements to help you find the job for you!
Disability and Sexual Discrimination KEY FACTS your business needs to know about discrimination legislation Age Employers can no longer discriminate against employees on grounds of age and there is more to that than meets the eye. Redundancy A model guide to Redundancy policy and practice Discipline A model Disciplinary procedure to aid management Bullying and Harassment A guide to identifying and policing bulling and harassment
Quarterly Appraisal for Sales Manager Example of a quarterly appraisal for sales managers to be carried out by the General Manager
Monthly Appraisal for Sales Controller and Business Manager Quarterly appraisal for sales controllers and business managers to be carried out by the sales manager
Monthly Appraisal for Salespeople Monthly appraisal for salespeople to be carried out within 2 days of the month close by the controller or sales manager
Definition of a Sales Appointment Shared responsibility for the creation of footfall is at the heart of all upper quartile motor retailers. The hunt for appointments therefore needs some regulation around exactly what an appointment is - and it is not an appointment until and unless it is confirmed with a date and time.
Customer Requirements Form - Appraisal/Qualification - the first concrete step The essential first requirement of any sales process
Sales managers Standard Operating Procedure Essential core practices to achieve consistent retail results
The Ultimate 5 Minute Briefing Knowledge is power - take our 5 minute briefing and maybe strike a chord with your own business
Business Recovery - High Level Pass See the wood for the trees - establish the vital few from the irrelevant many
Business Recovery Plan - Investor Initial Presentation Heads up for the Bank or key business partners
Business Recovery Plan This is the working recovery master plan. It is the control document and joined up thinking link to which each contributants action plan forms a part
Morning Meetings A few pointers to breath life into current or lapsed morning meetings
Referrals as a profit tool Forgotten by nearly all Automotive retailers - including household names and upper quartile operations yet the backbone still of the personal finance and insurance markets
Tough Targets to hit ? Have you considered if you have the right people in the right place to get the job done next year? Two things to consider in people terms would be sufficiency/over-sufficiency and calibre.
Performance Management, balanced scorecard approach Planning is an unnatural process; it is much more fun to do something. And the nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression
Email - the cheapest route to market Are you finding that traditional press advertising is increasingly ineffective and yet the press continue to charge huge page rates for a dying art? Have you seen a huge increase in internet enquiries over the last 5 years? Do you agree that email and internet enquiries are often one and the same thing?
Hire Slow - Fire Fast 10 simple secrets of letting people go with dignity. Courtesy of the Integrity Centre
Interviewing Tips for Employers courtesy of Kelly Services The interview is the backstop to a good recruitment decision - it is not the beginning or the end; it is the beginning of the end. To that end - it is commercially crucial to establish a recruitment process which is timely, effective and results in lasting placements.
How to undertake salary reviews courtesy Francesca Randle Cactus Research Pay is probably the most emotive discussion point between employers and employees but do you and your organisation have a well thought out appraoch to both annual reviews and ad hoc requests for more money?
EMPLOYEE ABSENTEEISM manage the situation Around 2 million people are reporting they suffer from an illness which they believe was caused by or made worse by their current or past work. Around 35 million working days are lost every year (1.5 days per Worker bet its even higher in your business) 28 million days lost due to work-related ill health and around 7 million due to workplace injury.
Mindmapping - ever heard of it? For those not familiar with Mind Mapping, it is a note making, note taking and thinking system that is designed to help people access their own thinking power in a way that is efficient, effective........and enjoyable. Mind Maps have been around for over 30 years and are used in every country in the world.
Quarter 2 - It's not quarter 1 and it sure ain't quarter 3 Quarter 1 in any year represents around 40% of your full year expectation - so what do you do when it's over?
Used Cars - for volume and profit Written for January markets but good anytime of year as a general recap on your used vehicle sales approach
Perrys Motor Sales - a high octane formula of team dynamics for upper quartile results Polar Motor Group - a Fred Dibnah job around chimney mentality and a clear representation plan Royal Bank of Scotland - an exquisite re-engineering piece Lookers - traditional motor retailing techniques at their very best Stirling Investments Transformation of mothballed office and adjacent wood-turning shed into full facility distance selling operation for motor retailing Endless LLP Undertook senior interim assignments in Chief Executive and Operations Director roles Interim Partners Interim Partners insolvent business solution Black Horse Manage the rundown of an exposed stocking situation and reduce risk
Executive Positions
