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The pandemic has had a major impact on business, but dealers have caught up fast and are now hoping for better times ahead
The past year has been tough for dealers as they came to terms with three lockdowns with showrooms temporarily closed for business. Now, as we tentatively begin to emerge from the pandemic, we can see the impact it has had on dealers and where we go from here. The pandemic threw into sharp relief the relationships dealers have with suppliers and carmakers and showed just how far the government was prepared to go in providing relief to companies facing massive cashflow problems.
We started by asking those who took part how the pandemic had impacted their business? Approximately three in four believed the Covid pandemic had negatively affected their business while 20% believed it had been positive for them. This might appear counter intuitive but some of the profitability figures from dealer groups for 2020 show that some dealers adapted fast after the first lockdown, made significant cuts, took advantage of government assistance, and adopted new digital approaches to doing business with showrooms shut.
Respondents pointed out the day to-day difficulties of operating in lockdown. “Although sales have still been strong the ability to keep up with demand due to social distancing and split team working caused issues,” said one. “There were constraints on our sales operation, falling customer demand and no test drives,” said another. “We lost sales and staff,” said another.
Those who have had a positive experience have found they had more time to review internal practises and make changes; others found customers had more time to invest in their current vehicles or the time to properly invest into a new car
“It forced us to look at structure, costs, working practices and overall efficiency and we have improved,” said one respondent. “Although our bottom line was hit due to car dealers trade being restricted, the lockdowns gave me a chance to review internal procedures and to put into place plans for the future of the business,” said another.
“We have adopted new working practises and processes within our business, allowing us to review many areas and improve ourselves,” said another. “People have more time to relax at home and communicate online and conclude the deal,” commented one.
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