Yesterday I recieved a letter from Triumph advising that my local dealer will no longer be a triumph main dealer. I was very surprised that Triumph were doing this as I’ve always had great service from these guy’s. They have now moved their support to another outfit based on the other side of Chester who are building a new showroom dedicated to just Triumph. I spoke to the guys at Bill Smiths today and I’m relieved to discover that they will continue to provide servicing and parts even though they will no longer be the main dealer for the area. Apparently manufactures in both the car and bike dealership networks do this on a regular basis without explanation. Seems a bit harsh to me.
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I get the feeling that manufacturers force dealers to display their product in a way specified by them. I know a vauxhall garage near me was forced into a complete revamp of their showroom to which they said, shove your brand. I don’t like this sort of marketing personally.
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I doubt they lost the franchise without explanation. More likely they were unwilling or unable to make whatever changes Triumph were demanding.
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That May well be the case. Be interesting to see if any other Triumph main dealers suffer the same fate.
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My local Triumph had a big revamp last year. Its the only triumph we have here in NI.
The garage in Deeside is Completely Motorcycles ex Woods Abergele. I wouldnt let them service a scateboard - only my opinion. Triumph will only deal with Corporate schemes - colour of signage colour of workshops etc etc Great example is Staffordshire Triumph - they had to change their whole operation to keep Triumph brand.
Just for information - its near to the Amatola Indian Resteraunt. Just off carriageway.
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Yep absolutely correct, I was there today. The showroom is still a bit like a building site, but you can clearly see where it is going and the Triumph branding.
Same thing happened to Wylie And Holland and few years ago. They told them to be a single manufacturer dealer and wanted then to pay thousands to rebrand their shop. They said no thanks.
Honda and Harley also insist on “solas” retail area, at M&P in Swansea the Harley and Honda showrooms are separated. All part of the Corporate identity b.s.
So it would seem that this practice is reasonably common. What I guess makes it worse for retailers as in Bill Smiths case 27 years as a Triumph main dealer counts for nothing.
Strange thing is - Staffordshire Triumph had to change nearly everything, colour of table lifts, lighting and desks - I know this is fact as I purchased all the old Triumph desks and lighting.
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