11:16 am, September 20, 2024
Snows Motor Group has appointed Jack Brockhurst as its new corporate sales manager overseeing its three Kia sites.
Brockhurst was officially promoted over the summer and has quickly got to work in his new role, which sees him take over responsibility for managing fleet and business sales at Snows’ Kia sites in Basingstoke, Guildford and Newbury.
It marks a meteoric rise for the 26-year-old, who only began his career in automotive sales when he joined Snows Kia Basingstoke three years ago.
Since then, he has switched to the group’s business team and has rapidly risen through the ranks to arrive at his latest role.
It is a position which is already keeping Brockhurst busy, working in one of Snows’ most successful divisions.
Last year, more than an 800 Kias were supplied by Snows to corporate customers, ranging from individual business people requiring a single company car, to organisations with hundreds of vehicles on the road.
One customer even runs a fleet of 500 Niro hybrids – all supplied by the South of England motor group.
Brockhurst said: ‘The world of corporate sales is a key driver for Kia.
‘They put a lot of emphasis on it. In fact, the split is roughly 60 per cent fleet, 40 per cent retail.
‘Snows, too, has a great fleet set-up and I am very excited to be involved. The company appreciates people operating at all levels of the organisation and they value their customers massively.
‘They also empower us to deliver good customer service – whether we’re explaining the many finance options available, or the servicing and maintenance packages we offer. It’s hard work, yes, but it’s incredibly rewarding.’
The new appointment is now backing Kia to continue growing its presence in the UK, especially with its current line-up of EVs.
He added: ‘I predict that the EV3 will be a proper big-hitter and a possible successor to the Kia Niro.
‘It will have a 372-mile range and, as a relatively small SUV, will be incredibly popular. It will be very good for retail, but corporate as well. EVs can tend to be corporate-heavy, but demand for the EV3 will be more balanced because of its price point.’
As well as talking regularly with contacts at Kia, colleagues at Snows and his customers, Brockhurst, who lives in Hatch Warren, Basingstoke, deals frequently with leasing companies and brokers.
He finds that Snows’ three Kia dealerships, although in southern England, are ideally placed to supply vehicles to all areas of the country.
London is not too far away, and cities such as Birmingham and Bristol are within easy reach. Even supplying cars to Scotland is ‘never a problem’, Brockhurst says.
He is now hoping that all manufacturers and dealer groups – not just Kia and Snows – will be able to persuade more and more retail and corporate customers that EVs are the way forward.
‘All of us in the automotive industry have a role to play, particularly in building confidence around charging,’ he added.
‘The charging points are there – very much so. We’re a small island, we’ve got a lot of charging points, and most people will have a home charger in any case. At Snows, we’re doing our best to emphasise the benefits of EVs – and the message is definitely getting through.’
