MOTORS & cap hpi on September’s used trends. Time to move on from agency false dawn, says Cox Automotive. Dealer websites top for new car searches
MOTORS & cap hpi on September’s used trends. Time to move on from agency false dawn, says Cox Automotive. Dealer websites top for new car searches. AND MORE!
Motor Trade Radio: 28 September 2024, E60, S10
If you enjoyed this week’s Motor Trade Radio podcast, powered by MOTORS, and want to dig deeper into our featured headlines, then here are the links to all the stories.
HEADLINES
AM Online
Car supermarkets lead September sales with quick turnaround on reduced inventories
Car supermarkets demonstrated their retailing efficiencies in September, achieving rapid sales despite reduced inventories, according to the latest MOTORS’ Market View report.
CAR DEALER
Time for motor trade to move past agency model ‘false dawn’ – Cox Automotive
Agency sales represent a ‘false dawn’ for the motor trade and its time for the automotive industry to move on from the model. That is the verdict of Cox Automotive, which has published its latest Insight Quarterly report into the state of the industry.
AM ONLINE
Dealer websites lead as top destination for new car buyers, JudgeService reveals
Dealer websites remain the most popular choice for new car buyers searching online, according to a new survey by review platform JudgeService. Polling 5,789 buyers, JudgeService found that 54% of respondents rely on dealer websites as their primary source when researching new vehicles.
MOTOR TRADER
Thurlow Nunn acquires Lings Hyundai in Lowestoft
Thurlow Nunn has acquired Lings Hyundai in Lowestoft, Suffolk from the Lings Group for an undisclosed sum. The group, which has dealerships across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, now represents Hyundai, MG, Peugeot and Vauxhall.
Recommended by LinkedIn
FULL-YEAR DEALER GROUP FINANCIALS
CAR DEALER
Listers becomes latest car dealer to see profits tumble as shrinking margins hit
Car dealer Listers has become the latest automotive retailer to see its profits tumble in what has been a difficult period for the motor trade. Car Dealer has reported on the likes of Vindis Group, Vospers, John Clark Motor Group and Hartwell in recent weeks, all of whom saw their pre-tax profits slashed in their latest accounts.
Auto Retail Agenda
Eastern Western reports £50m turnover drop due to agency
Eastern Holdings Ltd, the holding company for Eastern Western Motor Group, saw profit before tax fall from £24.9m to £18.9m in the year ended December 2023.
Turnover grew from £810m to £857m. The directors nevertheless pointed out that turnover is down £50m in the Mercedes-Benz division due to the shift to agency in January 2023. “We now receive a handling fee instead of invoicing the new vehicle”.
MOTOR TRADER
Vospers sees 67% decline in profits to £2.2m in challenging year
Vospers of Plymouth saw pre-tax profits fall 67.2% to £2.2m on turnover up 7.2% to £270.3m in the year to 31 December, 2023. Vospers said the year had been challenging with inflationary headwinds and a difficult used car market in the second half with a sharp fall in used values. Its interest charges doubled to £2m due to increases in bank base rate.
MOTOR TRADE RADIO SUPPLIER SPECIALS
Don’t miss any of our Supplier Special episodes!
We hope you enjoyed this week’s roundup of the big car retailing stories. Catch #AllTheChatterThatMatters on Saturday mornings on the Motor Trade Radio podcast, powered by MOTORS.
Click here for the latest episode.
CEO of Global Tech ♜ HLS | Defense | Automotive | Connecting StartUps & Fortune. Ask about our 𝐁𝐃-𝐚-𝐀𝐒 Solutions (Biz Dev as A Service)
2moLooks like the motor trade is shifting gears—time to accelerate past the agency model!