How are such results achieved, when the world is in the grip of an economic crisis that saw the total number of cars sold in Belgium down by 17%?

"The crisis has had a major influence on the purchasing behaviour of the consumer," explains CEO Karel Cardoen. "He's no longer going to go automatically to the brand's own dealer; he's deliberately looking around for the cheaper alternative." Cardoen dealerships have also been able to buy cars for good prices from overstock held by European manufacturers, and supply has never been stronger. Cardoen, for example, normally offers a discount of about 20% on list price, but that figure has now grown to 25%.

The forecast for the rest of the year is more of the same. "The recent failures of large dealers and importers into Europe, like Kroymans in the Netherlands, will increase the supply even further," Cardoen said. "The crisis is an opportunity to buy a car for a really low price."

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