11:00 pm, November 26, 2018
IT’S the crowning glory of the used car industry and this evening saw the cream of the crop receive their well-deserved recognition.
The Car Dealer Magazine Used Car Awards – held at The Brewery in London and hosted by TV’s Mr Wheeler Dealer Mike Brewer – recognised the best, brightest, smartest and downright nicest across the full spectrum of the used car trade, and hundreds of auto industry professionals gathered to find out who was going home with the trophies and certificates after an intensive judging process.
James Baggott, chief executive of the Baize Group, which owns Car Dealer Magazine publisher Blackball Media, told the audience: ‘Every year, a staggering eight million used cars change hands – and with the new car market catching a cold in 2018, many dealerships are citing their used car arms as the most vital to profitability.
‘There’s no doubt times are tough out there. Brexit uncertainty is covering the industry in a fog of discontent. Couple that with unhelpful anti-diesel rhetoric from an uninformed government and it’s little surprise consumers are holding on to their cash. But despite these problems, used car businesses continue to shine.’
It was the seventh year that the event had been held, and he added: ‘This year we had more entries than ever before – and those that put themselves forward took the judging very seriously too.
‘Our mystery shoppers were seriously impressed with the service they received from our winners, and our judging panel had incredibly tough calls to make.
‘So let me be the first to congratulate everyone who made our shortlist, our highly commendeds and overall winners – you’ve achieved something incredible to make it here tonight.’
The winners and highly commendeds were as follows:
Social Media User of the Year, sponsored by iVendi
Winner: Romans International
Highly commended: Imperial Cars, Marshall Motor Group
Dealers’ Dealer of the Year, sponsored by the IMDA
Winner: Will Blackshaw, Blackshaws
Highly commended: Rory Anderson – RS Car Sales, Jane Sibley – Redgate Lodge
Service & Repair Outlet of the Year, sponsored by eDynamix
Winner: Crescent Motoring Services
Highly commended: ACC UK, Springfield Autocare & Car Sales
Best Dealership Use of Video, sponsored by CitNOW
Winner: Redgate Lodge
Highly commended: Premier GT, Romans International
Used Car Product of the Year, sponsored by 1Link Disposal Network
Winner: Codeweavers for CreditCalc
Highly commended: Click Dealer for ClickEngage, eDynamix for iConsent
Dealer Used Car Website of the Year, sponsored by CarGurus
Winner: Targa Florio Cars
Highly commended: Alexanders Prestige, SRK Specialist Cars
Manufacturer Used Car Scheme of the Year, sponsored by Lawgistics
Winner: Jaguar
Highly commended: Kia, Network Q
Manufacturer Used Car Website of the Year, sponsored by Codeweavers
Winner: Mitsubishi
Highly commended: Land Rover, Network Q
Specialist Used Car Dealership of the Year, sponsored by Close Brothers Motor Finance
Winner: Otter Motors
Highly commended: Alexanders Prestige, Quirks Car Company
Used Car Sales Team of the Year, sponsored by Aston Barclay
Winner: Trade Price Cars
Highly commended: LNK Motors, RS Car Sales
Used Car Dealer Principal of the Year, sponsored by WMS Group
Winner: Sarah Vilkas of Ecarlogical
Highly commended: Will Blackshaw of Blackshaws, Umesh Samani of Specialist Cars
Rising Star Award, sponsored by Progress Recruitment Solutions
Winner: Joshua Scaife of Yorkshire Vehicle Solutions
Highly commended: Stephenie Lawrence of SuperMini UK, Matthew Nixon of Weybridge Vehicle Consultants
Best Used Car Customer Care, sponsored by RAC Approved Dealer Network
Winner: Imola of Bristol
Highly commended: eCars247, Motonet
Used Car Supermarket of the Year, sponsored by Motion Finance
Winner: Big Motoring World
Highly commended: Imperial Cars, SW Car Supermarket
Newcomer Dealership of the Year, sponsored by Shpock+ Motors
Winner: Emerald House of Cars
Highly commended: Elite Preowned Vehicles, Motor Connect
Used Car Dealership of the Year – Up to 50 Cars, sponsored by Black Horse
Winner: SuperMini UK
Highly commended: The Professional Car Agent, Whitethor Cars
Used Car Dealership of the Year – 51 to 100 Cars, sponsored by Black Horse
Winner: Belgrave Motor Company
Highly commended: MB Motors Ballymena, Motonet
Used Car Dealership of the Year – Over 100 Cars, sponsored by Black Horse
Winner: Beck Evans
Highly commended: Roadside Garages, Trade Price Cars
Used Car Dealership Group of the Year, sponsored by Black Horse
Winner: Hendy Group
Highly commended: CCR Motor Co, Marshall Motor Group
Outstanding Achievement of the Year, sponsored by Ben
BCA Charity Cycle
Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Aston Lark
John Bailey of Cox Automotive
Used Small Car of the Year, sponsored by Cox Automotive
Hyundai i10
Used Mid-Sized Car of the Year, sponsored by Cox Automotive
Mercedes-Benz A-Class
Used Executive Car of the Year, sponsored by Cox Automotive
BMW 3 Series
Used Sports Car of the Year, sponsored by Cox Automotive
Jaguar F-Type
Used SUV of the Year, sponsored by Cox Automotive
Kia Sportage
Used Electrified Vehicle of the Year, sponsored by Cox Automotive
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
Used Car of the Year, sponsored by Cox Automotive
Kia Sportage
And now the countdown begins to the 2019 Used Car Awards!
