Editor’s Blog

The volume of searches for diesel vehicles on Auto Trader continued a long-term decline in May, falling below 50% of fuel-based searches for the first time. Searches for diesel vehicles have fallen dramatically in recent years, dropping from 71% in November 2016. Average used car prices in the UK dropped slightly in May with diesel recording a steeper decline than ...

Remarketing Company of the Year Award 2018 Shortlist Aston Barclay BCA Manheim

In a move that some industry pundits may have seen coming – but not really believed would happen – Ford has announced that it intends to stop production of saloons (sedans, of course) in North America. This means that such well-known names as Fiesta and Focus (and related C-MAX), together with less familiar names such as Taurus and Fusion will ...

In a recent interview in Motor Trader Dave Hodgetts, MD of Honda UK, was asked about how franchise Honda dealers can get involved with digital selling. He responded by saying that dealers have mixed opinions about online sales. Some are ready to embrace the technology, while others feel it is an invasion of their territory. We continue the series of ...

After 16 years in charge – or even 17, depending on whom you ask! – Curtis Hutchinson has given up the reins at Motor Trader. I’d like to start by thanking him for his work on the title, from what I’ve seen and heard it has benefitted greatly from his experience and leadership. That said, a change is as good ...

Sytner’s acquisition of The Car People makes perfect sense and is part of a wider trend that has seen franchised dealers increasingly concentrate on growing their used car businesses in recent years. The deal follows Sytner’s purchase of the successful CarShop business in January and now sees it owning two of the biggest car supermarkets in the newly published Motor ...

What a gloomy Budget it turned out to be with the chancellor talking down economic growth and announcing some ill-defined measures on the current and future treatment of diesel-engined vehicles. While the measures to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles, with an extra £400m towards the charging infrastructure and £100m towards for plug-in grants, are welcome, the amounts fall short ...

Pendragon’s profit warning came as a surprise. And is very revealing. Yes we know the new car market is in decline as it dips to a more natural and sustainable level after being relentlessly pushed by carmakers with an eye on keeping production lines moving and maximising on favourable exchange rates. Different rules apply now. Consumer demand is down across ...

The new market fell in September for the sixth consecutive month but the level of the fall was not as great as it could have been following a flurry of activity in the closing week. The decline was not a surprise. Conversations I had with carmakers at the beginning of the year suggested the market would fall during the second ...

The scrappage floodgates opened in the closing days of August as a succession of carmakers rolled out trade-in schemes to boost the 67-plate and Q4 sales. The move was promoted by market leader Ford showing its hand with a £2,000 scheme covering all pre-2010 cars and (notably) vans, which also included existing retail offers. Hyundai quickly followed by offering up to ...