Motocross in the South West 2014

Regular readers of our blog will be well aware of our sponsorship of local Motocross rider, Mark Osborne. The photo shoot in 2013 was one of our best read posts and the images really were fantastic (even if it did mean digging around next to the dual carriageway for loose grass!) and we're delighted to be supporting him again for the 2014 season. 

We know that Mark has been training hard and wish him all the very best for a safe and successful year. The Motocross events really do offer something for everyone and below is a list of events in the South West Off Road Motocross that Mark will be competing in this year:



6th April- (Non Champ), Littlehempston
13th April- (Non Champ), Whiteway
20th April- (Non Champ), Moreleigh 
11th May- (CH Rnd 1), Littlehempston
18th May- (CH Rnd 2), Moreleigh
8th June- (CH Rnd 3), Crediton
22nd June- (CH Rnd 4), Landrake
29th June- (CH Rnd 5), Garlands
6th July- (CH Rnd 6), Little Silver
20th July- (CH Rnd 7), Moreleigh
27th July- (CH Rnd 8), Littlehempston
10th August- (CH Rnd 9), Whiteway
24th/25th August- (Team Event), Moreleigh
7th September- (CH Rnd 10), Crediton
14th September- (CH Rnd 11), Fraddon
21st September- (CH Rnd 12), TBA

 
If you happen to visit please snap a pictures for us! We'll be sure to keep you posted on Marks progress throughout the season but would love a few action shots!

If you'd like any more information about the South West Motocross Championship do feel free to contact Elise at Devonshire Motors who will be pleased to point you in the right direction. elise.egner@devonshire-motors.co.uk/01271 342600.
         

Winner Takes Home Car for a Year!

A lucky winner has picked up the keys to a brand new Mitsubishi Mirage for a year from us!

An 'ecstatic' Jackie McKeown drove away in the fantastic new super-mini, after being entered into the prize draw for taking the car for a test drive. Mrs McKeown- who has been visiting the showroom for several years with her Mitsubishi Colt- took a liking to the Mirage and took it for a spin when she brought her current vehicle in for its annual service. 

She was not the only one! The competition proved very popular, especially considering the prize on offer was a red Mirage 3 (the highest available specification) with a vast specification- including everything from climate controlled air conditioning and keyless operation with start/stop button to front and rear parking sensors, automatic lights and rain sensors. 

Wesley from our Sales Team was delighted to be able to call Mrs McKeown the good news just after Christmas and she was clearly delighted! She said:

"I am absolutely ecstatic. When Wesley rang me to tell me I had won, I felt sure there must be some kind of catch- but there isn't! I had to come and see the car to prove to myself that it would be mine for a year."

And we couldn't think of a better winner! We are assured the 4 door will be very handy for the family as Mrs McKeown has a five-month old grandson to transport on occasion and hearing that it is the "best car she's ever driven" makes it all the better. 


 

 

Christmas at Devonshire Motors; Santa's not-so-little Helper!

First things first, we would like to wish all of our customers and readers of our Blog a very merry Christmas and- in case we miss it for one reason or another...- a happy New Year. Wishing you all the very best for a fantastic 2014!


We've been a busy team since the last time we updated- with December turning out to be a fantastic month for us with Sales at an all-time high for the time of year. Our annual mince pie and mulled wine event was a great success and we were also able to support our local Round Table in their quest to bring Santa to Barnstaple (& raise a phenomenal amount for local causes in the process!). 


We lent Santa (and his helpers from the Barnstaple Round Table) a top-of-the-range Mitsubishi Shogun 4X4 to tow his sleigh around the town in their annual Santa Sleigh Runs. The tours continued for a fortnight, with trips all over the area including Roundswell, Newport, the Town Centre and, a new route for 2013, Landkey. 

The tours were a huge success, raising an incredible £7031.30 for local charities (smashing their target of £6500 by some margin!) We were delighted to be able to help and loved seeing Santa driving past every evening as he started his journey. (Although he was sat on the cold sleigh behind, rather than in comfort watching a DVD in the back of the Shogun where we would have been ;))

A big congratulations to the Barnstaple and District Round Table and the people of Barnstaple for, yet again, getting behind what is a fantastic, fun, local attraction and helping it be such a success for the seventh year running. 

Second Major Award of 2013 for Your Local Dealership!

We are pleased to announce that the awards shelf has had another new addition- its second of 2013!

Nathan Tomlinson, our Dealer Principal, was named 'Used Car Dealer Principal of the Year' at the high profile Used Car Awards. The event- held at the Brewery in central London- was organised by leading trade title Car Dealer Magazine, and sponsored by Black Horse (part of Lloyds Banking Group). 

The Brewery, London

Launched last year with the aim of celebrating the hard work and efforts of everyone in the used car sector, the awards are already confirmed to be taking place again in 2014 at the same venue. 

More than 400 people attended the black-tie event, hosted by TV personality Mike Brewer (presenter of motoring show Wheeler Dealers) and awards were dished out to worthy winners in 20 categories including to our man in charge!

Nathan with his latest award!

Nathan was, justifiably, thrilled to have won and said, 'The Used Car award is a really great accolade for the dealership- it's been a fantastic year that's seen us go from strength to strength and to win this particular award makes me especially proud. 

We've invested a lot of time and effort in sourcing what we believe are the best used cars in the area. They are prepared and presented to a very high standard and come with the back-up you'd expect from a main dealer. To do this and be able to remain competitive on pricing means we have a unique position which has been recognised at national level".

Used Car Award Winners

As any of you who have purchased from us previously will know, we don't opt for the usual hard-sell routine you may have experienced from other car dealerships. We believe we're different and one of our main motivations for doing what we do is to prove that you can buy a car from nice people who genuinely do care about you and your interests. 

We'd like to offer our congratulations to all those shortlisted and the winners of the awards. A lot of fun was had by all (we won't go into discussion about the free bar ;)) and we're very much hoping to be in attendance next year. Good work Car Dealer Magazine!

A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words...

Or so the popular expression suggests. The important question is: what do the recently released images of Mitsubishi's latest concept vehicles say to you?

Concept vehicles are usually just that, created to showcase the latest designs or technology but very unlikely to ever become a reality. However, the latest incarnations could, if Deputy Editor of What Car?- Ed Callow- is to be believed, break this mould. Here is a brief rundown of the three latest releases from Mitsubishi:

Concept XR-PHEV

Short for 'Crossover Runner'- the XR-PHEV is our favourite: designed to replace the ASX and compete with popular SUVs such as the Hyundai IX35 and Kia Sportage, it features a coupe-like roofline, slim-line headlights and is longer, wider and lower than the current ASX. 

What Car? have quoted Mitsubishi Motors in the UK MD- Lance Bradley- as saying that a very similar vehicle, with as many design cues as possible taken from this concept vehicle, should well be hitting British shores in a little under 2 years. All we have been advised so far is to expect a vastly expanding range over the next few years but we really hope this rumour is true! And it's not just us! Motoring publications and print press such as Telegraph and BBC News have also been raving about it. 


Concept GC-PHEV

The 'Grand Cruiser' as it is known, is designed to be a full sized SUV (not dissimilar in size to the current Shogun) and would, apparently, feature the same plug-in hybrid technology as the Outlander PHEV which is arriving in the showroom early next year. 

It would, however, be unlikely to include the 7 seat set-up that is offered currently as there would need to be some compromise with the additional weight of the battery system so as not to negatively compromise load capacity (an essential in an authentic off-roader such as the Shogun). 

We won't get too excited just yet though, press articles suggest this won't be coming for several years. 

Concept AR-PHEV

If this one was made a reality it would be somewhat of a reappearance of a mid-sized people carrier to the current range. The Grandis was the last- in production from 2004-2010- but this is a far more futuristic version! BBC News reported it as featuring manoeuvrable seating, allowing passengers to move to face each other if they so wish, as well as- what can only be described as- a giant touch screen 'tablet' table. 

Word has also reached us that a smaller SUV (to rival the Renault Captur and Nissan Juke) is currently in discussion over the table with Mitsubishi in Japan and would possibly be based on the Mirage. 

Whatever happens, these are very exciting times for both Mitsubishi and us as a dealership. Having sold Mitsubishi vehicles for more than 25 years, we've seen more changes than most people have had hot dinners, and have never been so proud to be a part of it all. Watch this space!
 

 

A Live Chicken, Mice and Some Unmentionables: The Strangest Things We've Found in Cars

We had a lot of fun writing this blog post and you'll soon see why. Nearly every single member of staff had a story to tell, a few are either very observant or just incredibly unlucky and had many! Here is our selection of the most bizarre items discovered in vehicles:

Bizarrely (and perhaps this is because of our North Devon location), many of the stories related to live- or otherwise- animals. 

We felt images unnecessary for this one...

In recent months one of our technicians discovered an entire family of mice nestled in the spare wheel well of a Mitsubishi Colt Cabriolet. And mice seem to be a popular one- a regular customer of ours once narrowly avoided an accident on the motorway after his wife happened across one of the rodents perched in the travel sweets in the glove box of their Shogun. We imagine her shock must have been quite vocal!

Spiders pop up fairly often too! Thankfully, the exotic-looking bright orange spider lurking on the rear seat of a Honda CR-V turned out, following a quick Google, to be a harmless Orange Orb Spider and was caught and released by a brave member of our Valeting team.

One of our technicians was less lucky- discovering an enormous Tarantula-sized spider in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, just arrived in the UK from Japan. It did not hang around to be caught and (as I'm sure you can imagine) no-one volunteered to chase it!

Vets and Farmers are often the owners of the strangest items- syringes and animal artificial insemination kits are often found in the vehicles of both and the most unusual item? A live chicken discovered hiding in a Mitsubishi L200 two days after it was brought in for part-exchange. 

The Service department were party to the most stories- birds are frequently found in air filters (not live, unfortunately) and among the items discovered in car boots have been dead fish, dog mess- not always in bags- and fleas. A 'couples toy' (we'll leave it to your imagination) was discovered as it rolled out from under the passengers seat of a Honda on a road test. 


 And people, apparently, don't always check their vehicles before they come in for part-exchange as the Sales Team had a few to add too- everything from underwear to a Rambo-style serrated hunting knife have been found in glove boxes of vehicles. 

Have any to add? We've had customers and fellow car dealers alike get in touch on Facebook and Twitter to share their stories. Join in! www.facebook.com/devonshiremotor or @devonshiremotor on Twitter.

Top of the Tweeters

We are very proud to announce that we have been named among the 'most influential' users of Twitter in the UK Motor Trade by leading automotive title Car Dealer Magazine. 

We love to publicise our offers and chat with our customers about everything from industry news, information on what our dealership staff and customers are up to, vehicle launches and images, even the weather! Quite frankly we're shocked every time we log on and see our 3,200 followers but are delighted we've built up such a fantastic community of customers. 

 
To be placed anywhere in the list would have been an achievement in itself but we were delighted to have been listed a very respectable 42nd (especially considering the size of many of the dealer groups beneath us and the fact we are a locally owned and run business!)

To compile the list, which has become a major talking point in the motor trade, the Car Dealer team spent weeks analysing Twitter users via Klout- a website which scores social media users on their influence. 

The magazine then researched each company or individual with businesses of all sizes being considered, from independent traders to multi-franchise dealer groups. 

By no means do we rely on Twitter exclusively- it's just part of what we do to communicate to our family of customers to let them know what's going on. To check out the list in full go to bit.ly/Top100dealers and, to join our ever-expanding social media community, follow us on @DevonshireMotor and send us a tweet or join us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/devonshiremotor.