Converted high roof Volkswagen Crafter caters for all Zenith’s roadshow needs.

• Converted high roof Crafter caters for all Zenith’s roadshow needs
• Vehicle chosen for its size, load capacity and blank canvas for conversion
• Crafter provides Zenith with ‘substantial point of difference’ from other vendors

Leading UK independent vehicle leasing and fleet management provider Zenith has turned to Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles to provide an innovative solution for its mobile exhibition requirements. 

Working in close partnership with Zenith, Volkswagen helped deliver a fully-converted Volkswagen Crafter CR35 LWB high roof which is capable of providing a mobile display unit, allowing Zenith to engage with its customer base at roadshow events.

The Crafter not only provides Zenith with a means of transportation to each event, but also gives the firm a ‘stand-out’ advantage over other exhibitors. Equipped with additional seating, on-board computers and display screens, Zenith uses the bespoke space to demonstrate the benefits of its ‘MyCar Salary Sacrifice Scheme’ and provide instant quotes for potential customers, all from the comfort of the fully converted vehicle.

The Crafter’s size and load capacity were key reasons for Zenith selecting the vehicle for its roadshows. Providing a highly flexible body for conversions, the Crafter is available with three wheelbases, four body lengths, three roof heights and the ability to carry items of up to 4.7m long, plus a cargo area of up 17m².

Working with Volkswagen to specify the Crafter CR35 with long wheelbase and high roof, Zenith selected a variety of aftermarket options to transform the van into a vehicle that can cater for all its roadshow needs. Providing an ideal base, the Crafter features optional air conditioning, additional storage for Zenith’s marketing materials and striking full vehicle wrap displaying MyCar Salary Sacrifice branding.

Zenith has provided outsourced, end-to-end vehicle management solutions for mid to large nationwide companies for over 25 years, delivering innovative and intelligent vehicle solutions to any employee base, whether that's funding company cars or commercial vehicles, providing flexible benefit schemes, or delivering fully outsourced fleet management services.

Ian Hughes, Commercial Director at Zenith, said: ‘We chose to work with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles due to the strength of our existing relationship and the partnership approach that they have taken with us. ‘The presence of the fully converted Crafter has provided Zenith with a substantial point of difference from the other vendors at the roadshow events that we attend. The van has helped create awareness with potential salary sacrifice drivers and increase the take-up rate of our scheme.’

Nearly 80% of parents claim their children have forced them into buying a new car.

• Children have the most say about colour when parents buy a new car
• Safety, size & space and comfort rated top considerations for parents when looking for the ultimate family car
• Dads are voted the better drivers
• Batmobile tops children’s favourite superhero car

More than three quarters of parents (78%) claim that having kids forced them to buy a new car. And nearly four in ten (37%) say that children go on to influence decisions to buy their next car.

These were the key finding of research carried out for Auto Trader, the UK’s largest digital automotive marketplace, in August, pooling the views of 1,000 parents and children aged between 5 and 11. 

The aims were to look at what parents and children looked for in their perfect family car – and to what extent children influenced their parents’ buying decision.

Findings pointed to a number of differences in the success of pester power. More than half of Londoners, for example (55%), said they were likely to be influenced by their children, compared with just 24% in the North East. 

When it comes to the sexes, the research suggests dads should probably be the target of lobbying. 39% of dads said they were open to influence compared with 33% of mums.

“A substantial amount of research has been done looking at how the decision of the car buyer can be influenced and at what stage in the buying journey,” commented Nathan Coe of Auto Trader, “but few have really considered the role that children play, or the influence of pester power. 

If one of the kids doesn’t like the shape or colour of your next car, or it doesn’t come with plug-in for an i-Pad, then you’d better be prepared for some serious pestering!”

Overall, colour is the most likely area for successful persuasion by children (26% influenced their parents’ choice of colour). Children are most likely to push for red (28%), followed by blue (21%), black (14%) and pink (13%). 

Perhaps unsurprisingly boys tend to favour red cars (28% v 23%) and girls preferred pink (26% v 1%). However, only 2% said they’d prefer a white car, despite white being the most popular new car colour, according to SMMT new car sales data.

Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT): new car registrations by colour 2014

Children also influenced their parents in terms of the comfort (13%), size (12%), design (12%) and entertainment systems (9%) fitted to their new car. Safety however - top of the list of priorities for parents (27%) - was one area where parents tend to go it alone.

After safety, parents were most concerned with the size and space of the new car they were buying so they could get extra boot space or more seats (25%), how comfortable it would be (23%) and how reliable (19%) – entertainment systems were only considered important by 2% of parents.

For children however, their top ten wish list in a family car included glamour features like turbo buttons, ejector seats and flame filled exhausts, perhaps unsurprisingly alongside entertainment systems.

Coe continues: “Car retailers are becoming more aware of the need to cater for children on the forecourt, both in terms of providing entertainment for them whilst their parents are looking at cars, and actively pointing out features that they would be interested in, like in-car entertainment systems. 

As the technical specifications on new cars continues to advance, kids will only become more interested in the car they are transported about in.”

Is mum or dad a better driver? Overall, more children in the survey pointed to their dads (54%). 

However when it comes to dropping off at the school gates, mums rule the playground: 55% voted for them compared to 42% who said they’d prefer their Dad to drop them off.  More than two thirds (79%) of parents would claim they are better drivers compared to their partner.  

When asked to consider their favourite superhero car, children went mad for the Batmobile. It topped the chart for all ages from 5 through to 11, other than for kids aged six year - they chose Lightning McQueen from the Cars’ films. 

When buying a car, which of these factors might your children influence?

	Overall	Dads’ response	Mums’ response
Colour	26%	21%	29%
Comfort	13%	13%	13%
Size	12%	12%	13%
Style and design	12%	14%	11%
Entertainment system	9%	13%	6%
Safety	9%	7%	10%
‘cool’ factor	6%	8%	4%

What is the most important feature in a family car?

	Overall	Dad’s response	Mum’s response
Safety	27%	23%	30%
Size and space	25%	25%	25%
Comfort	23%	27%	19%
Reliability	19%	15%	21%
Entertainment system	2%	3%	1%
Other	4%	7%	4%

The top ten features for your dream car (children aged 5-11):

1. TV Screens
2. DVD Players
3. Internet connection
4. Video games
5. Snack dispenser
6. Toy storage cupboard
7. Turbo button
8. Steering wheel in back seat
9. Ejector seat
10. Flame emitting exhausts

Who do you think is a better driver?			Who would you prefer to drop you at school?
	My Dad	My Mum		My Dad	My Mum	Another family member
Overall response	54%	42%		42%	55%	2%
Boys response	60%	37%		50%	46%	2%
Girls response	36%	48%		33%	64%	2%

What new car buyers really want, new survey tells all.

• carwow conducts UK-wide survey ahead of September registrations to discover new-car buyers’ top 10 most important considerations
• Performance and brand fall outside the top 5, while design and style fall outside the top 10
• Colour features in the top 3, alongside price and fuel economy

carwow the UK’s largest new-car buying platform has conducted a national survey to discover the top 10 most important considerations of new car buyers. 

carwow data shows that August is the busiest research month for car buyers in the UK, ahead of new registrations in September. The survey, of UK-based Google users, shows that the top 10 most important considerations are:

1.   Price

2.   Fuel economy

3.   Colour

4.   Insurance grouping and cost

5.   Safety

6.   Performance

7.   Manufacturer

8.   Size

9.   Quality

10. Engine size

James Hind, carwow CEO, said: “carwow is a business built on putting buyers first, by empowering customers with all the information they need before they buy a car. This is why we conducted the survey – to make sure we are providing the buyers with exactly what they want.  We were most surprised to discover that performance, brand and design fall someway down the list of top considerations. 

He added: “Colour, on the other hand, which barely gets a mention in traditional car reviews, is actually the third most important thing for new-car buyers. This is the kind of information used to make carwow as absolutely up to date and relevant for our customers, particularly in this most busy period for new car buyers.”

Following the new survey results, carwow will launch a New-Car Buyers’ Car of the Year awards. Based on the top 10 buyer considerations revealed in this survey, the new awards will counter the traditional assessments based on performance and design, to become a true buyer-empowered list of the cars that really deliver what new-car buyers want. More details will be announced later in the year.

With carwow, buying a new car is as easy and hassle-free as it should be – car dealers compete over buyers, offering consumers the car they configure at a great price. And because carwow only works with the best-rated dealers in Britain, the customer experience comes with satisfaction guaranteed. 

With more than £300m in car sales through the platform so far, and buyers making savings totalling over £40m, (on average £3,600 per car), both car retailers and consumers are benefitting from the carwow revolution.