Seat steps up dealer recruitment

Its dealer headcount is currently 112, slightly up on last year's 109, with one of the new signings expected to be in Sheffield, a long standing open point for the brand.

Open points
Richard Harrison, head of operations, said the brand has received a high level of interest from dealers interested in taking on the brand, but it is limiting the number of points it needs until the new car market picks up.

"The network is now bigger than this time last year when we were in the depths of recession. We've grown it in terms of size and profitability," he said.

New signings
The headcount is currently 112, compared with 109 in 2008, with three new signings, including one in Sheffield, likely to be announced before the end of the year.

"Based on what we have in the pipeline we only have 10 open points left with the majority in the south; at the current run rate I believe we shall be filled as a network by the end of next year," he said.

Being "picky"
"We won't simply be appointing the first ones that knock on our door -- we're being picky. We could quite easily fill our remaining open points in the first half of next year but my preference is to wait and get the best partner for the long term even if that means we'll hold a couple open to the back end of the year," he said.

Like most brands Seat's end of year sales will be down in December but Harrison is confident it's market share will continue to rise and beat 2008's record of 1.45 per cent.

Full interview in this month's Motor Trader.

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