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Nissan rampant on a field of blue: discreet design to distance the dealership from the pile ’em high philosphy of the 1980s, the new Nissan livery is a ‘sincere’ blue totem, ‘reminiscent of a beefburger’
THE long awaited unveiling of Nissan’s new European corporate signage look took place last week at Ilkeston Co-op’s new œ1m operation in Nottingham.
THE long awaited unveiling of Nissan’s new European corporate signage look took place last week at Ilkeston Co-op’s new œ1m operation in Nottingham.
Delay in the roll out was due to difficulties in assigning contractors across Europe, said planning manager with Nissan dealer development, James Deacon.
Ilkeston Co-op’s Nottingham site is the first to get the revamp both inside and out. The programme was piloted in Birmingham and Romford, leading to some changes to the colour scheme, with white getting the chop to be replaced with grey. “The original was too cold,” said Deacon.
Some Scandinavian countries are due to take on the signage after this year, with eastern Europe due to come on board later in the decade.
Dealer development manager, Jon Beveridge, said that no dealer had refused to go with the signage and the firm expected to have all 320 dealers on board by the end of 1996.
One hundred dealers will have the signage by the end of the year, with more than 30 already having gained planning permission. Nissan staff still have to visit 200 dealers to discuss the particular needs of their operation, said Beveridge.
Nissan is subsidising the cost of the Nissan 2000 programme. Dealers are being asked to pay 33 per cent of the costs of the signage with payment possible in a finance deal with Nissan Finance over three to five years.
The use of the Nissan logo has been kept discreet to distance it from a pile ’em high, sell ’em cheap image, said Deacon, with the Nissan logo on the totem pole – affectionately known in Nissan circles as the hamburger – raised and front-lit to provide a quality image. The blue colour, like all the programme, was test marketed. “Customers equated it with sincerity,” said Deacon. Across Europe the look is near identical, although the UK has a yen for carpet whereas Mediterraneans go for tiles.
Totem pole aside, use of the Nissan logo on the blue signage is restricted, the thinking being that, in the enlightened 1990s, discretion wins out over the brashness of the late 1980s.
Outside is a red Welcome-board to let customers know what the dealer offers in terms of services. Everything, in fact, in keeping with revamps carried out by other car makers – although not surprisingly, Nissan claims that it has done it better.
As part of the scheme, Nissan is requesting dealers, whenever possible, to paint buildings in a light grey so that the blue totem stands out proud against the light background.
Nissan is aiming for its eventual total of 320 dealers to take on the corporate revamp. Originally a total of 400 dealers were envisaged in 1992 when it took the franchise back from Octav Botnar’s Nissan UK operation.
Jon Beveridge believes that the smaller number of dealers is a better way of doing things, with more cars being sold through a smaller number of dealers.
He also believes that other marques will follow Rover in cutting their dealer numbers. Nissan’s market share for the half-year stands at 4.56 per cent, which compares with 4.03 per cent in Octav Botnar’s final year. But in 1990, Nissan UK’s share stood at 5.32 per cent, selling more than 106,000 cars.
The tendency to have dealers getting a larger slice of the action is reflected in the number of plc companies and large independents who are on the payroll – between 80 and 90, according to Beveridge.
Part of the strategy is to use larger groups to represent Nissan in specific areas, including Charles Hurst in Northern Ireland and the John Martin Group in Scotland. Beveridge says the number of dealers originally targeted for London was cut down “radically”.
Ilkeston Co-op’s first Nissan outlet in the town, situated between Derby and Nottingham, has a 75 per cent absorption rate (aftersales and all activities outside new car sales cover three-quarters of overheads) which is higher than the Nissan average across the country. Dealer principal Brian Shields says that Nissan aftermarket programmes are working to bring in more aftersales business. A recent mailshot for the Bluebird, offering free RAC membership and cheaper servicing, upped aftermarket business by œ7,000 a month at the Ilkeston dealership, he claims.
On the fleet front there are a number of schemes, notably the four year unlimited mileage warranty targeted at the sector.
So how is the new Ilkeston dealership doing, resplendent in its new clothes? Shields seems pleased. Since the dealership opened four months ago, it has sold 116 new cars and around 150 used, and Shields claims that the outlet is already in profit.
A dealer which was runner-up in 1993 and 1994 in Motor Trader Customer Care Awards, the firm is not lagging behind. Shields claims a 60 per cent repeat business for new car sales. And in the UK, while 16 per cent buy a Nissan because of the reputation of the dealer, the figure for Ilkeston Co-op is double at 32 per cent. The corporate look is the icing on the cake. And it also serves to put in the background the legacy of Nissan UK. One of the staff at the dealership, looking around the outlet commented that it has the feel of something that is going to be around for a long time.
Dressing for businessJohn Kirwan reports on how Ilkeston Co-op’s new Nottingham branch is fairing after being the first Nissan dealer to swap its existing clothes for the new corporate liveryWelcome to the showroom: the Welcome board will feature at all dealerships and will inform the public what is available there
Ilkeston Co-op’s Nottingham site is the first to get the revamp both inside and out. The programme was piloted in Birmingham and Romford, leading to some changes to the colour scheme, with white getting the chop to be replaced with grey. “The original was too cold,” said Deacon.
Some Scandinavian countries are due to take on the signage after this year, with eastern Europe due to come on board later in the decade.
Dealer development manager, Jon Beveridge, said that no dealer had refused to go with the signage and the firm expected to have all 320 dealers on board by the end of 1996.
One hundred dealers will have the signage by the end of the year, with more than 30 already having gained planning permission. Nissan staff still have to visit 200 dealers to discuss the particular needs of their operation, said Beveridge.
Nissan is subsidising the cost of the Nissan 2000 programme. Dealers are being asked to pay 33 per cent of the costs of the signage with payment possible in a finance deal with Nissan Finance over three to five years.
The use of the Nissan logo has been kept discreet to distance it from a pile ’em high, sell ’em cheap image, said Deacon, with the Nissan logo on the totem pole – affectionately known in Nissan circles as the hamburger – raised and front-lit to provide a quality image. The blue colour, like all the programme, was test marketed. “Customers equated it with sincerity,” said Deacon. Across Europe the look is near identical, although the UK has a yen for carpet whereas Mediterraneans go for tiles.
Totem pole aside, use of the Nissan logo on the blue signage is restricted, the thinking being that, in the enlightened 1990s, discretion wins out over the brashness of the late 1980s.
Outside is a red Welcome-board to let customers know what the dealer offers in terms of services. Everything, in fact, in keeping with revamps carried out by other car makers – although not surprisingly, Nissan claims that it has done it better.
As part of the scheme, Nissan is requesting dealers, whenever possible, to paint buildings in a light grey so that the blue totem stands out proud against the light background.
Nissan is aiming for its eventual total of 320 dealers to take on the corporate revamp. Originally a total of 400 dealers were envisaged in 1992 when it took the franchise back from Octav Botnar’s Nissan UK operation.
Jon Beveridge believes that the smaller number of dealers is a better way of doing things, with more cars being sold through a smaller number of dealers.
He also believes that other marques will follow Rover in cutting their dealer numbers. Nissan’s market share for the half-year stands at 4.56 per cent, which compares with 4.03 per cent in Octav Botnar’s final year. But in 1990, Nissan UK’s share stood at 5.32 per cent, selling more than 106,000 cars.
The tendency to have dealers getting a larger slice of the action is reflected in the number of plc companies and large independents who are on the payroll – between 80 and 90, according to Beveridge.
Part of the strategy is to use larger groups to represent Nissan in specific areas, including Charles Hurst in Northern Ireland and the John Martin Group in Scotland. Beveridge says the number of dealers originally targeted for London was cut down “radically”.
Ilkeston Co-op’s first Nissan outlet in the town, situated between Derby and Nottingham, has a 75 per cent absorption rate (aftersales and all activities outside new car sales cover three-quarters of overheads) which is higher than the Nissan average across the country. Dealer principal Brian Shields says that Nissan aftermarket programmes are working to bring in more aftersales business. A recent mailshot for the Bluebird, offering free RAC membership and cheaper servicing, upped aftermarket business by œ7,000 a month at the Ilkeston dealership, he claims.
On the fleet front there are a number of schemes, notably the four year unlimited mileage warranty targeted at the sector.
So how is the new Ilkeston dealership doing, resplendent in its new clothes? Shields seems pleased. Since the dealership opened four months ago, it has sold 116 new cars and around 150 used, and Shields claims that the outlet is already in profit.
A dealer which was runner-up in 1993 and 1994 in Motor Trader Customer Care Awards, the firm is not lagging behind. Shields claims a 60 per cent repeat business for new car sales. And in the UK, while 16 per cent buy a Nissan because of the reputation of the dealer, the figure for Ilkeston Co-op is double at 32 per cent. The corporate look is the icing on the cake. And it also serves to put in the background the legacy of Nissan UK. One of the staff at the dealership, looking around the outlet commented that it has the feel of something that is going to be around for a long time.
Dressing for businessJohn Kirwan reports on how Ilkeston Co-op’s new Nottingham branch is fairing after being the first Nissan dealer to swap its existing clothes for the new corporate liveryWelcome to the showroom: the Welcome board will feature at all dealerships and will inform the public what is available there