7:14 am, July 5, 2024
MG is the most disappointing brand for dealerships to represent, a new Car Dealer survey has said.
The Chinese-owned British brand came last in Car Dealer Power 2024 – a poll that canvassed the views of the UK’s car dealers.
Dealers were asked to rank their car manufacturer partners in 13 categories, with the individual results creating an overall score out of 100.
MG finished Car Dealer Power with a score of 52.6%, placing it 25th out of 25 brands.
The brand plummeted 12 places on 2023’s finishing place, meaning it was the biggest faller in this year’s survey.
MG was the only brand to score under 60% overall, with its dealers giving it a kicking for aftersales and accessibility to senior management.
It didn’t fare much better with forward planning, used cars and bonus structure, either.
The only small crumb of comfort was that return on investment was higher than that of 23rd-placed Volvo.
The bottom placing is surprising, as the carmaker has seemed almost untouchable in recent years with a band of traditional, long-serving dealers, well-priced products and the sense of a clear strategy from management.
But the Car Dealer Power 2024 survey reveals its dealer network isn’t happy.
In sharp contrast, Suzuki came out on top with a score of 90.8%. It got top marks for requirements, while dealers felt the manufacturer offered outstanding return on investment – the firm received the highest mark in this category.
The results are discussed in detail in our special awards video at the top of this story. It will start at the car manufacturer section.
Aside from MG, the survey’s bottom three consisted of 23rd-placed Volvo with a score of 63.9% and Vauxhall in 24th with 62.9%.
Volvo traditionally ranks well with dealers but not so this year.
It slumped nine places on last year’s position and received very middle-of-the-road scores for accessibility, dealer requirements and bonus structure, while return on investment was a pretty poor 48%.
Vauxhall fared well in finance, warranty, new car supply and used cars – the last two being difficult to balance – but dealers stuck the boot in when it came to forward planning, requirements and return on investment.
Other disappointing performances were Peugeot’s fall of 11 places to 20th with a score of 70.0% and new entrant Fiat only scraping a score of 66.9% to bag itself 22nd place.
Find out where your car manufacturer placed in this year’s Car Dealer Power survey here.
