Visit: Lings Cars

What is the business's market position?

"Hmmm, this is difficult. I am a personal service, competing with faceless dealer groups and finance houses and brokerages. I am top in personal identification terms. I am top in service levels and efficiency. I am quite low in terms of overall size and turnover. Any business (even the most massive dealer group, Pendragon) is far from a dominant position in the marketplace."

A market map showing where Ling likes to position herself within the market.

"Manufacturers strive to control pricing and supply in what I regard as a benign cartel-like structure. I am fiercely independent and often come into conflict with manufacturers and dealers. For instance, in late 2005, Mazda UK terminated my supply of Mazda cars, due to a dealer complaining about my undercutting them. This has been resolved but it illustrates the artificial pricing structure and internal cartel-like pressure of the UK car market".

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