Nissan GB says 10% of its dealer network has given up or will give up the franchise as the automaker seeks to drive up the quality of the customer experience.
Speaking to just-auto in Geneva, Nissan GB managing director Paul Willcox outlined some of his dealer rationale.
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“We have made our network less complex,” he said, adding: “[Some] 10% of our network have or will be departing the franchise and 10% have improved.
“We know those scores are increasing – every month I know who is improving and I have an active scorecard.”
He was also looking to achieve 5% growth, given the introduction of new models such as the Juke crossover. UK market share has grown from 2.8% in 2007 to 4.5% last year.
“That [5%] is not unrealistic as we have only had the Juke for six months, the new Micra has been launched and so we have the products,” he said.
“We will only focus on one or two projects at a time. We will focus on the used car programme for 2011 mainly to support 100% network profitability – we are looking to gear up for the wave of used cars.
“The second area [of the ‘Planning for Growth’ project] is a focus on quality through Nissan’s sales and service way.”
Willcox is estimating “pretty much parity” in 2011 sales with those of 2010 in a market of around 2.15m vehicles in the UK.
He conceded the next three or four months could see some impact on consumer confidence as the impact of government austerity measures becomes apparent but maintained purchases would remain robust.
“From September onwards, we expect to see a slight improvement, we believe the market has stabilised,” he said.
