This week saw the results come in from the 2011 AM Awards. These awards are designed to recognise industry leaders, movers and shakers in front of their peers, and it is with this in mind that many companies enter every year. However, there is a certain amount of nonsense to the awards, which I always find a shame. After all, awards like this can help potential customers decided who to buy cars with, or other dealerships decided who to use as the industry benchmark. If the results don’t actually reflect the best the automotive industry has to offer then they are somewhat pointless.

So, what has made me think that these may not be the most objective award results? Well, lets just look at some of the categories, and you should see what I mean.

First off, what about the award for Best Dealer Website. We all know  how important it is that websites are usable, attractive, and above all functional. They need to do the job they were built to do, making everything as easy as possible for the users. The aim is that the customer comes to the site and finds their car within 2 or 3 clicks. The winner of this category was up against the impressive websites of companies such as Autoquake and Jemca Car Group. Both sites that put ease of use high on their list of priorities, using a variety of different methods and options to make the sites a pleasure to use. However, Harwoods Group took the 1st place position, and they have a website that I think we can all agree is pretty boring. Pretty Average.

I’m not going to rip every award to shreds, because I am sure that some of them are very well deserved on the part of the dealer or manufacturer. However, it just means that the results don’t quite fit in with what this car blog would see as the priorities of the general car lover or automotive buying public. And that just makes them a little harder to trust.

Anyway, the results are:

Innovation Awards

Best Training Programme
Mercedes-Benz UK

Best Dealer Website
Harwoods Group

Best Digital Initiative
Lifestyle Europe - Highly Commended
Marshall Motor Group - Winner

Best Marketing Initiative
The Co-operative Motor Group

Excellence in Business Awards

Excellence in Customer Service
MRG Volvo

Most Improved Company of the Year
Lodge Garage - Highly Commended
Sinclair Group - Winner

Sales Team of the Year (New or Used Cars)
Cross Roads Subaru - Winner
Lifestyle Mazda - Highly Commended

Aftersales Operation of the Year
Blackshaws Garage (Alnwick) - Highly Commended
Rybrook Warwick - Winner
Volvo Cars North London - Highly Commended

Manufacturer Awards

Used Car of the Year
Volkswagen Golf

New Car of the Year
Jaguar XJ

Franchise of the Year
Ford of Britain

Retailer Awards

Best Used Car Retailer
Mercedes-Benz of Salisbury (Jacksons Bournemouth)

Best Dealership
Strathmore Motors (Volvo)

Best Retail Group (up to 10 sites)
Essex Auto Group

Best Retail Group (more than 10 sites)
Lifestyle Europe - Winner

Headline Awards

Carmaker of the Year
Land Rover UK

Supplier of the Year
Black Horse

Retailer of the Year
Lifestyle Europe

Personality of the Year
David Main, BEN

AM Hall of Fame
Mike Muscroft, T.C. Harrison