Guest Blog

Dealers and their customers need to be aware that the differences between GAP products. “Dealers and their customers need to be aware that the distinctive nature of Personal Leasing, notably the cost of early termination that would arise in the event of a total write-off, means that offering a dedicated Lease GAP product is the right way to go in ...

Writing this after a four day holiday weekend in the UK, when I had the chance to more or less put work to one side and do other things, it would be easy to start thinking about the options of everyday being a holiday and retiring or at least slowing down on the work front. This was also brought home ...

I have long been enthusiastic for an automotive business model based on usage rather than ownership, primarily coming from the viewpoint of the potential to maximise the profits derived from a car over its lifetime. The traditional model which I nicknamed ‘sell and forget’ maybe an over-simplification off the importance financially of aftersales to both manufacturers and dealers, but it ...

The news last week that an agreement had been reached between the European Commission, Germany and other interested parties who had raised last minute protests about the ICE ban from 2035, might be interpreted as a U-turn. As I’m sure you are well aware, within the EU and aligned states such as Norway and the UK, we have been working ...

As expected the deal was finalised last week for the acquisition of UK based dealer group Jardine Motors by Lithia of the US. It is anticipated that the coming months will see more activity by Lithia as they seek to expand their UK footprint from the upper premium focus that Jardine currently has. Although not published, it appears that the ...

Demand for public transport, which plummeted during the lockdown, has not fully recovered. Falling demand for buses has seen bus networks shrink. At the same time, consumer confidence in trains continues to come under strain due to regular rail strikes, over-crowding and unreliability. The net result is that in an environment where worker flexibility and the emergence of working from ...

The last few days have been busy for ICDP as we prepare for our spring members meeting in Berlin this week. At this point in the year we are wrapping up a number of research streams before launching out with the new programme activity starting in April. The spring meeting is therefore a ‘best of the best’ recap and an ...

Before Christmas we saw headlines from around the world as Tesla cut prices dramatically in order to stimulate sales before the year end. This achieved the desired result for Tesla of getting close to their previously declared shipment target for the quarter, but also attracted negative headlines from customers who had recently purchased at the original price and from those ...

It may be a well-worn cliche – but the car sales business is still sometimes seen as ‘a man’s world’. However, with International Women’s Day just around the corner on March 8, Snows Motor Group is keen to demonstrate that doesn’t have to be the case. Snows Motor Group, based in Southampton, Hampshire, operates more than 50 franchised car and ...

The title of my blog is not intended to suggest that there is anything about Chinese cars that you need to brace yourself for in terms of the driving or ownership experience. On the contrary the quality and general competitiveness of cars coming from the major Chinese manufacturers now appear to be on a par with European volume brands. Many ...