The Ladies evening at Wessex Garages Penarth Road dealership in Cardiff

Wessex Garages in Cardiff organised a very successful evening event for their female customers last month at their Penarth Road showroom.

The event attracted an impressive 60 women on a dark and dreary October evening who were entertained whilst a dedicated team of hard working valeters treated their cars to a special Primp & Polish makeover.

Wessex’s Penarth Road showroom represents the Kia, Hyundai, FIAT and Abarth franchises in Cardiff so this was a great opportunity for everyone to give the latest models the once over.

And in case the Abarth brand isn’t as well known as the others, members of the all female audience were treated to a ‘Top Gear’ like review from a panel of  motorists who had just test driven the Abarth. Their feedback was fun and favourable which is what you should expect about such a smart and zippy car with female appeal.

Next on the agenda was an excellent presentation from Conflict Solutions covering road safety issues and survival tactics in the event of the dreaded vehicle breakdown when you are on your own. Undoubtedly the highlight of this talk was the clever self-defence moves that were demonstrated, just in case this know how ever might come in handy!

At this point in the proceedings Wessex Garages female technician, Natasha, joined the party and led a number of fun challenges (for the mechanically less experienced…) including changing wheels, checking tyres and topping up oil levels. It’s always good to have a go for ourselves, even though we know that the professionals are likely to be there to do it for us on request…

During the evening there had been a few exciting prize draws but the ultimate one that most time-strapped motoring maidens would surely covet most was a professional car valet service for a whole 12 months! Just imagine that…

To demonstrate their female friendly credentials to more women drivers, Wessex Garages Penarth Road has recently joined the new FOXY Choice approved FEMALE FRIENDLY garage network and are the first dealership listed in Cardiff.

To tie in with this initiative, all attendees were offered gift memberships of FOXY Lady Drivers Club with Wessex Garages’ compliments.

As one guest said in her feedback after the event ‘It was a cold and wet October evening and I was tempted to go home after work …but I was really glad I forced myself to go!’

Well done Wessex Garages. This was a big event that was professionally managed and organised for the benefit of the lucky ladies who attended. From FOXY Choice’s point of view we have just awarded you a generous handful of female friendly brownie points as part of our garage monitoring processes!

FOXY Steph

Where are the women Lookers?

No wonder so few women want to join the motor industry when all they can see above them are men.

A missed opportunity to do something about this image was at leading UK dealership group Lookers’ new Guild of Excellence staff awards. As you can see, not one winner was female…

Wouldn’t you think a UK dealership group ranked at No 5 in 2010 and who clearly depends on the female purse would have wanted to be seen as a female friendly employer who recognises the contribution of their female staff. Especially knowing that women are the gender spenders who so often feel ill at ease in such a male dominated industry?

Apparently not. This might be because Lookers’ Excellence Award winners are chosen based on performance measures such as profit contribution (with customer satisfaction a given surely) which is a management and dealership benchmark standard. Whereas more lowly individuals are recognised, of course, but monthly and subject to being nominated by colleagues for having gone beyond the call of duty.

Regardless of gender, I would still have thought it made sound business sense to be seen to encourage and reward female staff in ALL Awards categories. Especially females who are nominated as FOXY Choice approved Female Business Ambassadors and go on to represent the best interests of women customers in their respective dealerships.

However, putting my passion for celebrating and supporting more women in our industry to one side for now, may I congratulate the following dealerships and their managers who are the first winners of Lookers 2010 Guild of Excellence categories as follows:

• General manager/dealership of the year, sponsored by GardX – Paul Jenkinson, from Sheffield Ford
• Sales manager of the year, sponsored by The Warranty Group – James Tayler, from Park Royal Land Rover
• Service manager of the year, sponsored by Shell – Jason Hallam, from Brighton Mercedes-Benz
• Parts manager, sponsored by Auto Trader – Cyril Morrison, from Lisburn Vauxhall
• Bodyshop manager of the year, sponsored by IRIS – Martin Sharratt, from Blackburn VW
• Sales person of the year, sponsored by Premia Solutions – Andrew Rowe, from Chelmsford Land Rover
• Financial controller of the year, sponsored by Deloitte – Sukh Khatkar, from Tonbridge Mercedes Benz
• Business manager of the year, sponsored by Santander – Matt Hine, from Birkenhead Vauxhall.

Well done guys and I look forward to you getting some serious female competition in the very near future.

FOXY Steph

No matter your lifestyle, there’s a genuinely female friendly garage choice for women drivers in Leicester.

We first met Sturgess Motor Group when they organised a Women in the Driving Seat evening event for local female motorists. It was a popular feature in their calendar and their Marketing Manager, Nichola Moore, saw this as a way to show women drivers how much the Group cares about their motoring welfare not just the value of their business.

It was only a matter of time before this Motor Group would subscribe to FOXY Choice’s female friendly approved UK garage network as further evidence that they really do care for their female customers long after the car has been sold.

Sturgess operates seven franchised car dealership operations in Leicester covering Toyota, Nissan, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Volvo and Land Rover brands. The dealership name and logo will be familiar in the city with branches in Narborough Road, Aylestone Road, Almond Road and Walnut Street.

All locations are ATA employers (Automotive Technician Accredited) which means their staff are accredited to repair all makes of cars not just their franchised brands. They also subscribe to the Motor Codes Service and Repair code which is working its way towards full OFT Code of Practice approval. These are both signs of superior standards in an industry with too many garage/dealership complaints and where women often feel ill at ease and on their guard.

This female unease is precisely why Sturgess have signed up to the FOXY Promise to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell women services they don’t need or want’ AND have appoined Debbie McIntyre, Gill Clifford, Trish Blaber, Sheena Tegg, Rebecca Hill and Jessica Watts to be Female Business Ambassadors as part of the FOXY Choice female friendly approved garage network.

Sturgess of Leicester is one of the UK’s oldest family operated motor dealers and was founded in 1897. Women shopping for a new or nearly new car to suit their lifestyle and budget will find they have a genuinely female friendly choice here, whether it’s a 4×4, a prestigious executive car, a sporty convertible, something for the family or a stylish and environmentally friendly supermini.

We look forward to working with Sturgess in future.

FOXY Steph

Most women know there is a 50% chance of buying a bad car when they go shopping for a secondhand one even when it shines so appealingly on a dealership showroom forecourt.

But who of us has heard of Akerlof’s economic law? Very few I’d suggest yet it applies well in the Used Car Market. I first read about this in Tim Harford’s book ‘The Undercover Economist’ – it explains that when one party to a sale has inside information and the other does not – markets do not work as well as they should.

Hence the 72k used car complaints recorded by Consumer Direct last year I suppose, costing innocent customers an estimated £85m to put right.

Take for example the case where a car dealer buys his stock of used cars, knowing fairly well from experience whether they are good or bad individual buys. Price, mileage (genuine or otherwise), service history, type of mileage, colour, condition; that sort of thing dictates the price he’ll charge knowing what he can make it look like with a bit of elbow grease and tlc.

But the customer doesn’t have the same background insight when she walks into the showroom. If she makes a low offer and gets the car, perhaps it was a lemon because the inside knowledge the salesman relies on is telling him that’s all it’s worth so take it… whereas a good car is worth more, hence his holding out longer for the asking price.

Clearly Akerlof knew his used cars (this works in other markets too of course) and that this is a hit and miss game that buyers and sellers play.

In general, used cars tend to be cheap and poor quality borne out by complaint levels in this area. Sellers want as high a price as possible so they’ll hold out for a better price for a good car but they can’t prove it is a good car so often the good car will sit around for longer.

Whereas a buyer who doesn’t understand the game goes away with a bad car unwittingly, thinking she has got a good deal. She hasn’t of course because the serious bills will start to arrive just as soon as any promising warranty runs out. That’s called Murphy’s Law. Marketers describe the sickening customer realisation that they’ve been shafted as ‘customer dissonance’ and I imagine we’ve all felt that at some time of our lives and determined never to go back…

The reality is that savvy car buyers don’t play a rigged shopping game like this one but there are many unsuspecting customers who don’t know the rules of the used car market and do end up playing here. Sadly many of them are females who trust the dealer who tells her what he needs to, to get the car off his forecourt.

Akerlof’s point is a serious one because this isn’t just a market where shoppers get ripped off, it’s a market that isn’t working properly because buyers want proof of value and VERY often sellers can’t prove this.

Of course the sensible advice is to buy a used car with a HPI type of finance check and then get it inspected for its mechanical fitness (at a discounted rate c/o DEKRA if you are a member of FOXY Lady Drivers Club) within the 6 months when you may be able to get a dealer to take it back or put things right, based on proof.

A reassuring female factor is likely to be an Approved Car stamp by a franchised dealership but the reality is still that the dealer salesman knows a lot more about the car than the customer and they need to sell it for as much as possible because their commission income is involved.

Certainly the customer needs more ammunition on her side so she can wise up in these instances. Depending on the value of the car I’d definitely counsel investing in checking out the mechanical condition of any secondhand car c/o car inspection experts, Dekra, as soon as possible after purchase; only then will you know if it’s a plum not a lemon.

FOXY Steph

Please see OFT advice here and remember that if you are a member of FOXY Lady Drivers Club we’ll help you sort any used car complaints out – the last resort is that we’ll share really bad feedback within the Club so that other women don’t go there in future.

It would be wrong to dismiss dealerships for female friendly garage services and truly foxy prices in Nuneaton.

The recent Which? garage survey confirmed that Motor Codes garages were on average about £2 cheaper than Bosch Car Service independent garages for the work Which? commissioned. As far as workmanship was concerned, Bosch garages did a bit better than Motor Codes subscribers (both picked up on c60% of faults) and both are operating to the OFT Code of Practice.

NB: Bosch garages have reached Stage Two of the OFT Code and can use the OFT logo whereas Motor Codes service and repair subscribers (88% dealerships) are still at Stage One and can’t use the logo.

So the common impression that independent garages are always much cheaper than dealerships ain’t necessarily so…

Certainly not when it comes to the latest car servicing garage offers charged by Listers Volkswagen – £119 for a minor car service and £229 for a major service. Plus, an MOT for £30 with nothing hidden.

It’s good to see open and transparent pricing in car dealerships. So many seem to doubt their competitiveness? Well done Listers.

Terms apply as you’d expect – these prices are for VWs aged 3 to 10 years with a 2.0 litre or smaller engine and include parts, labour, oil and VAT. Other vehicles will be quoted for as requested.

If you want to be sure of a female friendly garage welcome it’s Listers VW at Nuneaton that has signed the female friendly FOXY Promise to date. To book your VW in for its MOT or annual servicing visit just call the bookings line on 01789 403828 or email VW Listers Nuneaton via their FOXY Choice page.

And tell us how you get on afterwards – there’s a Garage Feedback link on FOXY Choice’s home page.

FOXY Steph

Girls looking for a challenging career in marketing, sales, finance, technology and administration areas should seriously consider the UK motor industry; it is crying out for your talents in future.

My particular interest is to enthuse young girls who might otherwise imagine that the motor industry is a male dominated industry that has nothing to offer them. You’d be totally wrong to think this…

Yes, this is a male dominated industry as is, with a staggering 80% of employees male. Yes, I was personally shocked to find this after the 50:50 male:female leisure and tourism industries I worked in BUT I fervently believe that this is set fair to change for a more balanced future…

I believe this because I speak to and deal with so many good, well-intentioned and genuinely female friendly garages and car dealerships that want to employ more females in future. They realise that women trust women, especially in an industry which may well be the last male bastion. Not only can the very presence of a female in a business reassure wary women shoppers but this can also mean new female customers – serious added value for the bottom line; not to be sneezed at.

And there are so many female role models that have made it to the top – more about them in later blogs perhaps.

And now friendly female employees can promote friendly females they employ in customer facing roles; this is what FOXY Choice does with its Female Business Ambassador network of course.

I hope female recruits end up in a genuinely female friendly business of course – there are a lot that say they are female friendly, thinking that we are happy with male service levels – they haven’t got the message yet!

So if you are looking for a career destination and you’d like to know which motor industry businesses are likely to be the best ones to apply to, I suggest you contact any female friendly local garages or dealerships listed at FOXY Choice or those businesses that are ATA or AMA employers (see via the IMI website) because they have either signed the female friendly FOXY Promise or the IMI’s ethical Code of Conduct; both these commitments single out a business’ integrity over others who can’t be bothered.

Go for it girls – get in at the ground floor of the motor industry now. It knows it is in need of a female friendly makeover; the best businesses are looking for the best female students out there and they could be you learning on the job and getting qualified as you go.

All you have to do is get to work, roll your sleeves up and show the guys how the right women can help them make a genuine difference to service levels for ALL customers in future.

FOXY Steph

Women doing their car buying homework are likely to choose a car that means no road tax, given the choice. This means it has to emit less CO2 than 100g/km and the showroom label in new car dealerships will spell this out.

To do this it is likely to be a small (but see the Prius for a larger car) and lightweight car so don’t expect the full Monty in terms of gadgetry or accessories that might tip the balance over 100g/km.

As things stand, this still gives you a great choice for your shortlist; the following models led by the weeny smart fortwo CDi.

Audi A3 1.6 TDI E – 99g/km

Audi A3 1.6 TDI E – 99g/km

Citroen C3 1.6 HDI 90 – 99g/km

Citroen DS3 HDI 90 – 99g/km

Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCi Econetic – 98g/km

Ford Focus 1.6 TDCI Econetic Start Stop – 99g/km

Ford Focus 1.6 TDCI Econetic Start Stop – 99g/km

Peugeot 207 HDI 90 Economique – 99g/km

Renault Clio 1.5 DCI eco2 – 98g/km

Seat Ibiza 1.4 TDI Ecomotive 3 Door – 98g/km

Seat Leon 1.6 TD Ecomotive – 99g/km

Seat Leon 1.6 TD Ecomotive – 99g/km

smart fortwo CDI – 86g/km

Toyota Auris HSD – 89g/km

Toyota Auris HSD – 89g/km

Toyota iQ 1.0 – 99g/km

Toyota Prius T Spirit – 89g/km – (larger family car)

Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 CDTI Ecoflex – 98g/km

Volkswagen Polo 1.4 TDI Bluemotion – 99g/km

Volvo C30 1.6 TD Drive – 99g/km

Volvo C30 1.6 TD Drive – 99g/km

These cars don’t have to pay London’s Congestion Charge either.

Looking at the manufacturers who are doing best in terms of producing vehicles with low average CO2 emissions the top 5 in order are Toyota, Fiat, Hyundai, Mini and Citroen with c10% improvement in emissions (Q1 2010 vs Q1 2009) recorded by Kia, Alfa Romeo, Nissan, Mazda and Renault.

But these rankings don’t include short term pollutant nitrogen oxide NOx (as in hot weather smog and soot particulates) nor do the environmental labels on new cars mention this. Should we be worried?

FOXY Steph

Find out about a motoring association for women providing advice and support

Find out where the female friendly car dealerships are who won’t overcharge or patronise women drivers

“In an underdeveloped country, don’t drink the water; in a developed country, don’t breathe the air.”
Changing Times



Small car deals in August are to reel in the cost-canny fleet business whilst the female purse might be being neglected by UK dealers.

Ford list prices are due to fall between 6% and 15% for Ka, Fiesta, Focus and Kuga models in August. This is because fleet drivers are taxed on the list price, not the transaction price (the transaction price means the net discounted price to a fleet operator) and Ford is focussing on securing this business ahead of individual motorists.

Kevin Quigg, Ford Dealer Council chairman said: “There was an immediate effect in the showroom as a result of the lower list prices on large cars [in April and for fleet buyers again]. Ford dealers are delighted to see the company continuing to lead the market by applying the initiative across the entire Ford car range.”

Sadly Ford dealers didn’t do at all well in the recent AutoExpress poll of c20,000 customers so perhaps Mr Quigg needs to address the service gap in terms of reported poor standards of workmanship, poor technical knowledge and poor helpfulness scores otherwise they won’t keep that business, fleet or private buyers.

I was surprised I must say to read the Daily Telegraph’s InBrief PR this week stating that Vauxhall and Ford dealers, Britain’s two biggest selling car brands, are the worst in the country, according to this survey.

Could it be that Ford is too busy courting the fleet wallet to bother about the private and typically female purse? This wouldn’t be very foxy at all because so many of us drive Fords and with Hyundai champing at the value for money, customer service and warranty bit they could lose that female support if they don’t pick their skirts up fast.

FOXY Steph

Find out about your female friendly garage choices in FOXY’s Good Garage Guide for women.

See which female friendly garages could look after your car near you.

Join FOXY Lady Drivers Club to sample a female friendly motoring support service with the best deals on offer for women drivers.

Women drivers can now buy their Ford online and cut out Swiss Tonis who women rightly fear will overcharge and patronise them, especially if they go to the dealership on their own.

Following in the footsteps of the likes of Inchcape’s Autobytel car buying website, and others like it, Ford is now cutting out the middle man franchised dealerships and selling cars direct and online.

How do Ford franchised dealers feel about this I wonder?

Especially after comments from their MD confirms what we know already; that many motorists, especially female shoppers, prefer online convenience/anonymity and the joy of not having to haggle with a commission driven salesman who feels the need to demonstrate his male superior knowledge …

From FOXY’s point of view this is good news because a large number of our members drive older Fords, like a canny deal and, with our support if they need it, are prepared to buy a brand they trust without even test driving the car before placing an order.

The only problem is that Ford will sell them a Ford , not help women find the best deal or car on the market, from other makes, to suit their needs and budget. So there will always be a demand for a foxycars buying service for females.

Ford Online’s MD, Steve Hood says “It shows that consumers are now ready to fully use the internet in the car industry.”

The site is backed by a team of Ford specialists working from a UK contact centre to help female customers find the best cars, come up with part exchange values and low prices… without a visit to a showroom.

FOXY advice? Always shop around first. This promises to be a good service and we like Fords but it’s too soon to see how their prices compare yet. Better still – why not join FOXY Lady Drivers Club who’ll pass on their insider nous and you can do the car buying homework and the deal together?

FOXY Steph

To find a female friendly car dealership for MOT’s, car servicing and repairs, visit FOXY Choice. All garages listed have signed the FOXY Promise© to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell you services you don’t want or need’.

Ford dealerships are targeting female motorists who drive cars up to 12 years old offering them a new car service that, allegedly, could cut their fuel bills by a quarter.

The offer is called an Econo Check service which costs £30 and comes with a £15 voucher to be claimed against the next scheduled service.

Garage technicians will carry out a 15-minute check on the car including tyre pressure and condition as well as oil and air filter cleanliness. They will also fit ‘a data logger’ to the vehicle’s diagnostic port which remains in the cabin for seven days after which either the dealer or the customer will detach it and return it to Ford by post. Assuming she has driven enough to make sense of this in the meantime, this will give Ford enough information about the driver’s speed, anticipation, braking and gear change to create a personalised report (the Econo Check) which will then be emailed to the customer.

This report is likely to recommend

1    driving style adjustments that could reduce fuel consumption and emissions by up to 25%.
2    eco driver training, which could be provided through Ford’s driver training partner, the AA.
3    upgrading to a new Ford Econetic car.

“The primary function of this is to help change driving styles so drivers can become greener and save money” a Ford spokesman said.

And the secondary function, says FOXY, is to re-engage with male and female drivers they have lost touch with and who have gone to cheaper independent garages AND to sell them new cars of course.

By and large, this is a good thing but whether cost conscious motorists running older cars will choose to pay £30 to be sold a full service at dealership rates, driver training (unlikely if they’re male ) or a new car in tough economic times is a very different matter.

And the independents will react of course.

FOXY Steph

To find out about FREE quarterly FOXY Car Fitness Checks that include tyres, oil, coolant, CO2 emissions and a seasonal item such as your air conditioning system, visit FOXY Lady Drivers Club.