OUR DEALERSHIPS ARE NOW OPEN

We’re delighted to announce that Subaru dealerships across the country have re-opened both aftersales and sales operations, following the latest Government guidance.

For Subaru, safety is always paramount. A focus on personal safety is now more important than ever before. We’re committed to keeping dealership employees, customers and the communities in which we operate as safe as possible during the COVID-19 outbreak and we’ve been working closely with the network to introduce new policies and procedures to ensure the health and wellbeing of the Subaru community.

We have a range of new and used vehicles in stock and a series of flexible finance offers to suit every need. To ensure that your next visit to your local Subaru dealership is a safe one, we’ve made a number of key recommendations to the dealer network.

Safe staff practices

We’ve recommended the implementation of various new staff policies and procedures:

• General hygiene rules to be reinforced through regular team briefings – to reiterate the importance of regular handwashing, contactless appointments and social distancing.
• Monitoring and recording the temperature of every employee on a daily basis.
• Advising any member of staff feeling unwell to stay at home and monitor their symptoms.
• Offering dealership employees protective masks and disposable gloves, which should be changed regularly. 

Social distancing

We’ve advised the dealer network to adopt social distancing measures in the showroom and workshop: 

• Encouraging customers to agree an appointment time prior to visiting the dealership to minimise the number of people in the building at any one time.
• Parking bays to be clearly marked to provide appropriate distancing between spaces.
• Where possible, one-way systems to be set up at showroom entrances and exits.
• Reception and waiting areas set up to support social distancing.
• A minimum distance of 2 metres maintained between staff and customers at all times. 
• Dealership staff to avoid sitting in demonstration vehicles with customers.
• Gatherings of people within the dealership to be limited to a maximum of 2 customers and 1 advisor – always standing at least 2 metres apart.
• A minimum distance of 2 metres to be kept between customers who are viewing vehicles in the showroom or on the forecourt. 
• Where possible, using a clear dividing screen to minimise direct contact during essential desk-based transactions.

We’ve issued guidance to ensure improved hygiene practices and advised that guidelines should be clearly visible to staff and customers:

• Improved cleaning and sanitation practices to be adopted.
• Coffee and vending machines should not be in use.
• Surfaces that are frequently touched to be disinfected at regular intervals – and always between every customer contact. These include door handles, desks and telephones, both in the showroom and in ‘behind-the-scenes’ workshop and staff areas.
• Installation of sanitisation stations in each dealership, with these cleaning facilities freely available to staff and customers.
• Brochures, leaflets and magazines removed from the showroom and available on request only.
• Vehicle interiors accessible by request only, with use of disposable protective sets for seats, steering wheels, gear and handbrake levers where possible – and all surfaces sanitised following each customer contact.

New test drives and vehicle handover practices

We’ve also suggested changes to the way that test drives and vehicle handovers are facilitated:

• Allowing only customers to sit in demonstration vehicles – showroom staff must stand at least 2 metres away.
• All test drives to be unaccompanied for the time being, to support social distancing.
• Using disposable protective sets for seats, steering wheels, gear and handbrake levers for vehicles in workshops and test drive vehicles wherever possible. 
• All contact surfaces – including keys – to be thoroughly sanitised before vehicles are returned to owners or available for the next customer.
• Where close contact between showroom staff and customer is required – for example, for the signing of documents – ensuring that the process is as contactless as possible and observing strict social distancing guidelines followed by enhanced hygiene procedures.

If you’d like to find out more about the changes that are happening across the Subaru dealer network, you can speak to your local dealership. Alternatively, you can contact Subaru UK’s customer care team on 0121 730 8166 or email us at contactus@subaru.co.uk – we’ll be happy to help.