9:32 am, September 25, 2017
FAILURE to complete vehicle health checks resulted in the average franchised dealership missing out on more than £11,000 in aftersales revenue this summer, according to recent data.
In July and August of this year, UK dealers accepted an average of 542 vehicles into their workshops. According to data from autoVHC, which sampled 500 UK dealerships, a third of these were released without undergoing a full vehicle health check.
With an average invoice standing at £64 per completed health check in July, and £63 per completed health check in August, this equated to a potential loss of £11,295 in missed aftersales opportunities. Across the UK’s 4,900-strong franchised dealer network, this represents a total lost sales figure of £55.3 million for the two-month period.
Chris Saunders, business unit director at autoVHC, said: ‘Missing out on such a a significant amount of aftersales work poses a number of concerns for dealerships, not least in terms of staff performance. The volume of vehicles being presented to workshops is fairly consistent, so sales opportunities are certainly there.
‘Yet, as our data shows, by failing to complete a large proportion of vehicle health checks, service departments are simply throwing away revenue opportunities.
‘This is despite the typical service department making up 50 per cent of a dealership’s overall profits.
‘Considering the expectation of a tough period for the car sales side of the automotive industry, neglecting aftersales activity in this way is very unwise. Trust also comes under the spotlight, with unsatisfactory VHC completion rates casting doubt over whether clear care and attention is being paid to customer vehicles during the servicing process.’
The latest data from autoVHC follows recent insight into sales of replacement tyres. Figures from July revealed that the average dealership is failing to replace 66 per cent of severely worn tyres, drastically increasing the chances of exposure to repercussions, including potential legal action.
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