Would you buy a car from this man? Probably

"Sellin' a motaar? Maaht be. Oo's askin'?"

It's not the image many car dealers want, but when it comes to shifting a motor nothing beats a hard-nosed, slick talking "dodgy" dealer, writes Jonathan Duffy.

Ask no questions, I'll tell you no lies.

It's the last thing you want to hear when splashing out on a new motor, but car dealers have always had a reputation for being a bit shifty.

Now a study shows that we, the consumers, only have ourselves to blame.

Sensitive? No. Empathetic? No. He's The perfect car dealer

Research into the selling techniques of car dealers has revealed that those who adopt hard-sell routines are likely to trump their more touchy-feely colleagues.

The news will come as a blow to those who want to tighten up practices in the industry.

The findings are the work of occupational psychologist Debbie Bromwich, who was invited by a car dealership to look into what makes a successful salesperson.

The top performers were those with the slickest tongues. Dealers who could be persuasive and enjoyed selling were most likely to succeed in the showroom.

In profit terms at least, it doesn't do to be faint hearted, says Ms Bromwich, who presented her findings this week to the British Psychological Society's annual occupational psychology conference in Winchester.

No time for sensitivity

"Sensitivity and empathy are bad traits for car dealers. Those people just don't make the sales. They need to be motivated most of all by money."

With some dealers, you can expect an easier ride

Ms Bromwich analysed more than 180 car dealers, looking at their competencies and asking them probing questions about their personality.

Although she concentrated solely on new car dealers, the results show that clichéd portrayals of hard-nosed, dodgy second-hand dealers such as TV's Arthur Daley, from the series Minder, were as true today as ever.

"The most effective dealers tend to be competitive and do things their own way.

"The more participative they are, that is the more they share in their customers' concerns, the less likely they are to thrive."

But a polished sales patter is itself not enough. Proficient dealers also need to be organised and be able to prioritise to get things done in advance, says Ms Bromwich.

The bottom line

Ruthless dealers are one-man profit machines. Of the salesmen studied, the top 25% made £80,000 more profit for their employer than the bottom 25%.

The findings are bad news for those dealerships which have recently adopted a more softly-softly approach to selling.

Last year, one Volkswagen dealership in Scotland announced plans to take on more female traders in an effort to rid the industry of its shifty image.

Verve, which has showrooms in Rutherglen, Glasgow, and Wishaw, Lanarkshire, wanted a 50/50 gender balance among its sales staff.

It is estimated that there are only 500 car saleswomen in the UK.