Small Manufacturer Franchised Dealers.

[Blakewater]

Reading about RA Creamer, the Jaguar dealer apparently favoured by the Queen, closing down having operated out of little more than a series of sheds for years, albeit high value ones on prime real estate, I've been thinking about the decline in small dealerships with manufacturer franchises.

There used to be a lot of small dealerships in small towns and villages with manufacturer franchises, often Ford. Now most have gone, out competed by large chains and killed by the demand from manufacturers that their dealerships have to be identikit gin palaces with a minimum sales volume.

One exception I've come across recently is this little Fiat dealership in Keswick.

http://keswickmotorcompany.co.uk/

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.5992738,-3.13647...

Does anyone else know of similar small dealerships that aren't gin palace showrooms belonging to chains but little backstreet places that have manufacturer franchises?

[Blakewater]

nicanary said:

I think the existence of these smaller dealerships relies to some extent on the largesse of the large chains. If they don't see the place as a threat, they don't bother to arrange its demise.

In my home town there were franchised dealers who had to close down because the large chains held the manufacturers to ransom - we'll open a gin palace if you dump these guys. Not fair, but it's the real world.

I have my car serviced by the local Kia dealer. They used to be VW agents, then Honda, and in both cases they had to "give in" to a large chain. The main agent for my car phoned the other day to ask why I didn't use them for servicing. They had problems understanding why I didn't want to spend 1 hour travelling there, another travelling back, and then the reverse when I picked up the car - 4 hours of my day gone just to use their services which cost more than the Kia dealer, who are honest and reliable and have got to know me over the years. We have a mutual respect.

I live near what used to be the Craven Ford dealership on the outskirts of Darwen in Lancashire. That ceased to be a franchised Ford dealership when Blackburn's Ford dealer, that used to be on the outskirts of the town centre, moved to a new site a couple of junctions down the M65 along with a lot of other franchised dealers. It then became a Ford Focus specialist, then a general used car dealership and after standing empty for a while it's now a Nisa supermarket.

I don't know if it was the proximity of the other Ford dealer that specifically caused its demise but I imagine it had a lot to do with it.

[Blakewater]

How possible would it be now for a small, independent garage to get a manufacturer franchise, or is it realistically only the preserve of large chains to open new manufacturer franchised dealerships?

[Blakewater]

talksthetorque said:

Used to pass this when I went the more entertaining way to Newcastle from Manchester.
Johnstone's Ford, Kirkby Stephen

I wonder if when a rare beast of a ford comes out, these get an allocation, say the first run of the v8 mustang, or the 500 ltd editions they did?

Only certain Ford dealers get to sell Mustangs, RS and Vignale models. Even my nearest Evans Halshaw dealer doesn't sell them, the nearest to me is Evans Halshaw in Preston or Bristol Street in Bolton.