Motor Trade Monthly Round Up July 2016 News

Everything you need to know from the last month.

Things To Know

A survey conducted by the NFDA showed that 87% of consumers who always used franchised dealers were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the aftersales service, compared to 46% for independent dealers. In June, new car registrations reached 255,766 units, down 0.8% from May. A survey commissioned by Intelligent Environments has found that the majority of consumers would prefer to manage their car finance online. Land Rover Defenders have become a target for car thieves with an 8% increase in claims between 2014 and 2015 according to insurer NFU Mutual.

Need To Know

The Driver and Vehicle Standards agency have launched a new qualification for MOT Testers and Managers. You can find out more about this in our News section.

Brexit

Used car dealers may not see the impact of Brexit on sales until October at the earliest, according to Glass’s, the used car valuation specialists. Director of Valuations, Rupert Pontin said: “We’re in a period that you might characterise as the calm before the storm. The decision to leave has been taken but we have yet to see many material changes. The first factor to hit the car and van markets is likely to be fuel costs. As the pound has dropped in value, oil will become more expensive and pump prices are likely to rise.”

Employment

The Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover UK, Jeremy Hicks, has called for JLR dealers to pay higher basic salaries to sales staff instead of low salaries with high bonuses, suggesting a basic salary of £20,000. He said: “I am really keen that we start to get away from sales people being paid low basic and high commission, to much more fixed salaries. That’s where we need to be. I look at it really simply. If you want to get a mortgage, you have to have a decent salary. That is just one reason, never mind the customer experience issues. It is something I am starting to champion.”

Financial

Figures released by ASE in July show that the average UK motor dealership made a loss of £10,315 in May. ASE chairman, Mike Jones, said: “We will clearly have to wait until the accounts for June have been closed to see the effect on overall profitability for the quarter and it’s certainly too early to call this as the start of a slowdown.” The Finance & Leasing Association has released figures that show the point-of-sale consumer used car finance market saw business growth of 18% by volume and 22% by value in May. Head of Research at the FLA, Geraldine Kilkelly, said: “The POS consumer car finance market continued to report robust growth in May, as new business volumes overall grew by 14% compared with the same month in 2015. New business volumes in these markets in the first five months of 2016 grew at a similar rate.”

Interesting News

Linda Jackson, the Global Chief Executive of Citroën is the most influential woman in the car industry, according to a panel of judges which included experts from the SMMT and Autocar. Jackson said: “It is such an honour to receive this award and to be recognised by Autocar in this way. At Citroën, our motto is ‘be different, feel good’ and I believe this award is testimony to the hard work and creativity of everyone in the team.” Luxury car manufacturer Bristol Cars, has unveiled their first new car in over a decade. Revealed last month, the Bristol Bullet is a handmade two-seater with a top speed of 155mph and will cost around £250,000.