7:25 am, November 17, 2010
NISSAN GB chief Paul Wilcox has declared the Juke’s launch as the most successful in the firm’s UK history.
Speaking exclusively to Car Dealer as we handed over the Web Innovation of the Year Eward, Wilcox told us he was over the moon with the Juke’s success so far.
He said the marque had an incredible 3,000 pre-orders for the distinctive crossover and that dealers had seen unprecedented demand for it ever since.
‘Customers can’t get enough of the Juke or the Qashqai for that matter,’ Willcox said. He explained Qashqai 2 has sold out until March and that dealers were extremely busy.
‘We put a one third scale model of the Juke in dealers with interactive screens that let them show off the new car to customers early. This seems to have worked wonders.’
The Juke and Qashqai are helping keep Nissan dealers happy at a time when new car registrations have plummeted.
October saw new car registrations fall 22.2 per cent – the worst fall since May 2009. ‘October was a surprise,’ agreed Willcox. But Nissan is well placed for the remainder of 2010 and 2011, he added.
‘We haven’t heard any of our dealers complaining about tough times,’ he said. ‘The first quarter of 2011 will be tough though – March especially – this December will be the telling month with the VAT rise coming in January, but there is a long time between those two periods.’
‘We are in the fortunate position of having two major launches under our belts. The recent Juke launch was good for us, and the Micra has just landed in the UK. That’s not to mention the exciting new Leaf. These are exciting times for Nissan and our dealers.’
Nissan UK’s Juke microsite won the Web Innovation of the Year Eward from Car Dealer this month. To find out more about the Car Dealer Ewards 2010 click here.
