Surveys

The 2018 Motor Trader Top 200 saw turnover rise 5.9% to £73bn but the return on sales fell to 1.14% The pace of consolidation is less frenetic than in the past but the top 10 super groups still managed to increase their share of total Top 200 turnover to 44.8% from 44% last time. The top 10 supergroups’ combined accounted ...

The annual Motor Trader Top 50 Independent Dealers report sees record turnover and profitability in the used car sector. The report tracks a buoyant used car market with the key players growing their businesses organically and through acquisition, despite increasing competition from top franchised dealer groups. Motorpoint Group, the leading used car group this year and last, accounted for almost ...

It has been a busy year in an increasingly polarised used car market with top independents and big dealer groups building market share at the expense of smaller rivals who are struggling to compete. Franchised dealer groups have been turning to used cars as the new car market went into reverse and this is showing in their financials. Lookers, for ...

New car registrations in October declined by -2.9% to 153,599 vehicles as changes to emissions legislation under new WLTP rules continued to cause shortages in the market. Declines were seen in both the private and fleet sectors, with registrations down -1.0% and -5.2% respectively. The onslaught on diesel continues with registrations down -21.3% while registrations of petrol cars rose +7.1%. ...

It is 10 years since the financial crisis which initially, caused used car values to decline before making a strong recovery. In fact we have seen a bull run in the used market over the past seven years and dealers have benefited as a result. The latest data from the Auto Trader Retail Price Index, shows how the average price ...

September saw new car registrations decline 21% because of supply shortages caused by WLTP The UK new car market fell by -20.5% to 338,834 vehicles in September as some carmakers struggled to come to terms with the new WLTP legislation that came into effect on 1 September. Registrations of diesel cars plummeted -42.5% for the month and petrol fell 6.7% ...

Motor Trader’s legal expert Peter Groves thinks block exemption will come under pressure after the UK leaves the EU What is going to happen to the block exemption after the UK leaves the European Union? It will still apply in the EU27, of course, but will it still have the force of law in the UK after 29 March next ...

Demand for electric vehicles (EVs) in the retail market is growing. In August registrations of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure electric cars rose 88.7%, with the sector accounting for 8% of the market, its highest ever level. The number of pure electric cars now include the Nissan Leaf, Renault Zoe, BMW i3, Tesla S and X, Hyundai Ioniq Electric, VW ...

Alphera Financial Services is looking to gain support from dealers for the three Quality Assured Programmes (QAPs) it has developed with the IMI to foster high standards in the sale of finance and insurance (F&I) products. The QAPs are designed for F&I sales specialists and dealership business managers, providing a training platform to promote high standards. Participants who successfully complete ...

These are tough times in the motor trade. Half-year sales of new cars are down 6.3%, while diesel registrations fell by more than a quarter last month. It’s symptomatic of a rocky market. Uncertainty over Brexit is inevitably a factor, but so too is the headline-fuelled angst concerning diesel. Like so many business drivers whose daily motoring choice is a ...