LTI fires all UK dealers!
July 17th, 2009 by Richard Aucock
LTI has ended contracts with ALL its UK independent main dealers, comes shock latest news.
The Coventry taxi maker has issued 12-month termination notices to all its dealers. It plans instead to sell taxis directly.
Sales director Rob Laidler said ‘it has not been an easy decision to serve notice on our independent main dealers.
‘It is important that we have a structure and approach that enables us to thrive in the years ahead, to the benefit of our customers.
‘We are extremely grateful to the independent main dealers for their support in the past, and hope they will consider becoming service dealers in the future.’
LTI’s plan is to appoint service dealers instead. This, it says, will provide a boost in aftersales to taxi drivers – and, as it’s a rare area of continued profits for car dealers, it may still be of interest to them.
There is no denying LTI sales have fallen in recent years. The company’s latest dramatic move is a bold step towards ensuring its future sustainability.
Or, as Laidler put it, the changes ensure ‘easy access to new and used LTI products, along with excellent aftersales care provided by a local service dealer who is trained and equipped to maintain our vehicles to the high standards our customers deserve.
‘We will be investing in further direct sales sites in order to deliver on this promise’
What do YOU make of the shock news? Will you be directly affected? Whatever your views, be sure to drop us a line.
By Richard Aucock
Tags: lti
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July 17th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Painful, but makes good business sense to them. Why bother with a dealer network? It’s not as if there were many options – “colour – black, engine – diesel. Sign here, press hard…”
Plus they get all the lovely long term after sales profit.
July 17th, 2009 at 10:58 am
This doesn’t suprise me in the slightest. I expect all the small volume manufacturers to do withis within 5 years and the majority of bigger ones within 10 years