‘Flying Start’ For New Hi Tech Rochdale Dealership

News
06/11/2019

WITHIN just two months of opening cartime Rochdale has reported double its expected number of used car sales at its new Edinburgh Way dealership.


Cartime, which has operated in Bury for more than seven years and opened a specialist 4x4 centre in 2018, invested £2.6m in the new Rochdale site (the former Aldi supermarket) with the intention of offering ‘a new way to buy a used car’.


Its hi-tech facilities and industry leading showroom give access to one of the largest selections of prestige vehicles in the North West, with more than 1000 vehicles in stock – ranging from popular entry level models through to executive and supercar vehicles. With demand for used electric cars increasing, these are now included in cartime’s stock as well.


The opening of cartime Rochdale has already brought several jobs to the town, with further recruitment underway for staff across sales, management, operations, and aftersales. It aims to create an additional 25 jobs, to take its total staff count to more than 100 across the group.


It is also supporting cartime’s ambitious overall growth. In its last financial year (April 2019), cartime increased turnover by 29 per cent reaching £43m and it hopes that in the coming financial year this will be nearer the £50m mark boosted by its Rochdale operation.


Cartime managing director, Matt Kay said:

“With our Rochdale site we’ve taken our highly successful, unique cartime car buying experience and made it even better with the latest technology and services.

“We know customers expect a seamless online and offline retail experience in today’s digitally-enabled world and have integrated this into all of our processes and facilities with the new site. With any retail business you have to keep upping your game – responding to the needs of your customers and this is what we’ve done.

“Similarly with our aftersales package, where new cars come with a three year warranty as standard, we’ve gone further and offer a six year warranty package on all used vehicles we sell. This is a really compelling offer for customer peace of mind and reassurance that all of our used car stock has been hand-selected to ensure they’re in pristine condition and ready to drive away in less than an hour.

“All of our preparation work is carried out in-house so we can maintain standards and control over the process.

“We’ve also added a little bit of theatre to the car hand over process, which customers love. When buyers come in to collect their car, it’s unveiled on a theatre-style turntable, with lighting, smoke and other effects. While this was designed so that they can check their car in detail before they drive it away, it’s also a real talking point.”


To coincide with the expansion into Rochdale, cartime this month also launched a new website where potential buyers can search for vehicles and view individual cars in intricate detail before arranging a test drive. The customer journey from searching online to booking a test drive has also been digitised with industry leading technology and website functionality.

cartime’s 70,000 sq. ft. preparation centre, which will also serves the new Rochdale showroom, has also undergone significant investment in recent months to ensure vehicles are as good as new when customers take receipt of them. By carrying out all vehicle preparation work in-house, cartime is able to guarantee that cars will meet its standards as well as customers’ expectations.


Matt added:

“We’re really excited to now be open in Rochdale, and further expanding our services within the North West. We’ve worked hard to create something that sets us apart from the more typical used car buying experience and this is fuelling our continued growth.

“This year alone we’ve successfully made significant inward investments to enhance our current capabilities, in addition to growing our profitability that will allow us achieve our vision to become one of the biggest used car groups in the country within the next two years.”


www.cartime.co.uk