The Island?s largest car dealership says it is moving to boost the quality of its after-sales service.

And HWP Group is putting its money where its mouth is, with the company reporting an investment of both time and about $1.6 million in funding for infrastructure improvements in its service area, staff training initiatives and additional hires in recent months.

The move comes after HWP said customer feedback revealed that clients coming in for vehicle service were unhappy with a lack of follow up as well as having to wait unacceptable lengths of time for service.

Steering the initiative to improve after-sales service is HWP?s recently appointed chief operations officer Alan Brooks ? a former Royal Navy officer ? who was named to head operations for the firm just over four months ago.

In keeping with his past career on the high seas, Mr. Brooks appears to be running a ?tight ship? having already been able to whittle down wait time for automobile service from six weeks to four weeks.

The goal, in the next few months, is to get that down to three weeks, said Mr. Brooks.

But Mr. Brooks does not plan to stop there, saying he would eventually like to see customers getting their cars serviced the day they call up.

?That is not unachievable provided we get everything in place,? Mr. Brooks said.

By and large, the group?s service centre is designed to service the cars they sell, with Mr. Brooks saying they stock parts for the models they sell and have invested in high-end diagnostic equipment to service a wide range of vehicles sold by the company.

Mr. Brooks said more and more computers are driving service and repairs, including diagnostics.

Cars sold by the company include models from the following makers: Daihatsu, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Opel, Skoda, Subaru, Suzuki and Volkswagen. The company also services Fiat models.

Before being named COO, Mr. Brooks worked for the group?s parent company, New Venture Holdings.

Mr. Brooks told that his main focus has been ? with an investment of ?many hours and expense? ? responding to the main customer frustrations, including lack of follow up from HWP staff, unacceptable waiting times for parts and routine service.

In order to get service times down, the company has expanded its garage premises on St. John?s Road, is currently refurbishing a second garage space on the North Shore Road, has expanded its hours of operation and increased its number of factory trained certified mechanical technicians by 30 percent.

Expanding its garage space, has already resulted in HWP increasing its number of mechanical repair bays by six to 17 with its conversion of what was formerly a parts warehouse.

There are also renovations being made to the garage roof, and the area is also being fenced off to boost security.

Once the North Shore road facility is completed the number of repair ramps will grow to 22, although Mr. Brooks said it will be a few months before that space will be staffed and up and running.

Auto parts are also being ?co-located? into one space and the company will be moving its cycle repair facility from its rented site on Woodlands Road to St. John?s Road.

In addition, HWP is renovating its customer service areas to allow for one service area for independent garage operators coming in to buy parts and a second area for the general consumers.

Mr. Brooks said the group was also undertaking steps to improve customer service from staff with training initiatives already introduced, training partnerships with the National Training Board and sending automotive technicians overseas for training (some have gone as far as Japan) when necessary.

To help ensure the company reaches a higher customer service mark, an after-sales business development manager, Fernando Olivera, has been named.

And two additional HWP employees have been picked to help ?drive forward? a programme rolled out to all staff, designed to make sure customer needs are being met.

HWP is also working longer hours to better meet customers? needs with new hours, as of this month, running from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and a shuttle service to take customers back in to Hamilton after they drop off their cars. Previously the company?s hours were 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Mr. Brooks said that the changes will not result in price increases for customers.

?We are not making innovations on the back of the consumer,? Mr. Brooks said.

Government statistics in July revealed that consumers had seen a hike in car repair costs after automotive technician wages across the Island went up in July.