ONSIDE /COMPANY PROFILE
Rockar
www.rockar.com
0330 200 0330
ROCKAR
MOTORS ON
A
Seneca backed car retail pioneer achieved £1m
turnover in its first five months of trading from the
Bluewater shopping mall in Kent.
Seneca invested in Rockar in 2014 as it announced its
partnership with Hyundai to take a retail outlet at Bluewater.
Founder Simon Dixon is planning a £9m sales target in
the first year, buoyed by over 100,000 visitors in the first
5 months, a figure beating that of Hyundai’s entire UK
retailer network over the period. The unique retail concept,
Hyundai have said, is on track to account for 1,000 unit
sales by the end of the year. To put that in to perspective,
the average sales per outlet was 512 across 160 Hyundai
dealerships in 2014.
Simon has been encouraged by a 92% conversion rate to the
brand, and 72% of customers saying they would otherwise
have bought second-hand. Almost half of all buyers have
part-exchanged their old car as part of the deal.
Also, what’s very interesting is that on average 60% of
buyers are female, while the average buyer’s age is 37 – far
lower than the 56 years of age average for UK customers of
the Korean car marque.
Simon Dixon, chief executive said, “Rockar is challenging
every preconception about how buying and selling a car
should be done. When looking at the success of Rockar so
far, it is clear that challenging the historical approach to car
buying is the way forward.”
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Rockar staff are paid without commission and equipped
with computer tablets with which they can help customers
configure models, book test-drives and arrange finance.
Rockar staff carry online terminals so that payments are
taken on the spot. Customers can choose to complete the
entire purchase process online or in store. The buying
process, Rockar says, can be completed in less than five
minutes.