INNOVATIVE British automotive retailer Rockar is poised to expand its business with another new-car franchise within its shopping centre stores and is close to finalising a similar concept for used cars.

Founder and CEO, Simon Dixon, said the new franchise would also include the roll-out of its website technology to the vehicle manufacturer’s dealer network.

This unique technology is at the heart of Rockar’s plans to expand its business outside the UK. The company has already been approached by six Australian businesses, only two of which are existing automotive retailers, but are yet to introduce the concept here.

Mr Dixon, in an interview with AM Online, said Rockar is “actively engaged” with four other car manufacturers and was currently designing sites to meet their needs.

“I don’t want to tempt fate but there’ll certainly be one or two more announcements to do this year in line with brands,” he said.

“We’ve got similar discussions going on with one or two dealer groups about how we can facilitate this and make it work.”

Rockar started working with Hyundai in 2014 when it added a retail location at Bluewater shopping centre in London and then added a second location at nearby Westfield in December 2015.

Jaguar and Land Rover followed as Rockar’s first premium franchise at Westfield in October 2016.

Mr Dixon said part of Rockar’s strategy was to licence the technology that runs its business to other manufacturers and dealer groups.

“We’ve got something we can offer that gives us a very simple and easy solution and it works because we’ve got proof it works now across three brands,” he said.

The Rockar system is an interactive platform that will roll out with updates, much like Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android for smartphones.

Mr Dixon also told AM Online that though it launched with new cars, he is planning to expand the format to include used vehicles in the next quarter.

The used operation will stay within franchise, so it would only stock used Hyundais, Jaguars and Land Rovers.

“In all honesty, I felt that we could just live life selling new vehicles but we get a lot of enquiries for used vehicles and it’s disappointing we’re not fulfilling the customer experience on used as we are on new,” he said.

Rockar is primarily a digital business, with 60 per cent of purchases made online. However, despite its online focus, its location in two of UK’s busiest shopping centres means that more than 800,000 people have visited Rockar across its sites since the 2014 launch, in addition to the tens of millions of passers-by.

The online system at the heart of Rockar allows customers to search for what they want, value and sell their old car, choose a finance option to suit them, specify, order and track delivery of a new vehicle – all without speaking to a member of staff if they don’t want to.

By Neil Dowling