Auto Retail Agenda: 22 May 2023
19 May 2023
- CAZOO’S CHESTERMAN DROPS OUT OF RICH LIST
- BOWKER PRIORITISES WELLBEING WITH SIX-DAY WEEK
- USED SUPERCARS FOR SALE UP ‘EXPONENTIALLY’
- AUTO RETAIL LIVE BRIEFING: ARE THINGS BACK TO NORMAL?
- DMS SUPPLIER BUYS TWO RETAILERS
- US WHOLESALE PRICES TO COOL IN 2023
- STOCKWATCH
- COMING UP: CPI, Ofgem energy price cap
- ENERGY BILLS TO FALL £450
- FOOD TO REPLACE ENERGY AS FAMILY FINANCE BIGGEST SHOCK
Cazoo’s Chesterman drops out of Rich List
Alex Chesterman has dropped out of the Sunday Times Rich List, following a slump in the value of Cazoo. He entered for the first time in 2021 with a net worth of £750m, placing him 215th on the list.
Cargiant founder Geoffrey Warren leads auto retailers on the 2023 Rich List, with a £2.55bn fortune placing him 70th. Lady Philomena Clark and family are 91st, with their net worth growing £624m to £1.89bn. Lord Edmiston has risen from 216 to 162 in the rich list, with his net worth growing to £1.09bn.
The Marshall family, former owners of Marshall Motor Group which is now owned by Constellation, have an £830m fortune, giving them a re-entry onto the annual Sunday Times review. JCT600’s Tordoff Family also re-enter the Rich List, with a net worth of £450m, as do Stoneacre’s Richard and Christine Teatum with a £440m fortune, and Eastern Western’s Douglas Brown and family, with a £350m net worth.
Bowker prioritises wellbeing with six-day week
Bowker BMW and Mini Preston is now closed on Sundays. The retailer says the six-day week will provide employees with extra time with family and friends.
“More leisure time will mean happier staff, better performance and stronger loyalty to our business,” said sales director Chris Eccles. He added trends since the end of the lockdown have influenced the move. “New working patterns mean customers have more flexibility when they visit. Higher footfall during the week bears this out.”
Savings in heating and lighting will also reduce the family-owned retailer’s carbon footprint.
Auto Retail Live briefing: are things back to normal?
Join Swansway’s Peter Smyth, Perrys’ Darren Ardon and Auto Trader’s Karolina Edwards-Smajda on Thursday 8 June to discuss whether the industry is back to normal – and if not, when it is likely to happen.
The free session will examine the data, discuss hands-on experience and offer advice about how to get the most out of the second half of 2023. The expert panel will also answer your questions live.
Sign up here: https://bit.ly/3BHWKl8
Used supercars for sale up ‘exponentially’
The supply of used cars priced over £150k on Auto Trader has “increased exponentially and outpaced demand in the last year”. The number of cars is up 42% year-on-year – but enquiries have fallen 4%. It now takes 80 days to sell cars priced over £150k, a full 24 days slower than the 2022 average.
“Some wealthier drivers are felling the pinch and are now more willing to part company with their supercars,” said data and insights director Richard Walker.
1 in 5 cars priced over £150k are Ferraris, although 1 in 4 enquiries sent to retailers are about Lamborghinis.
WORLD NEWS
DMS supplier buys two retailers
US DMS startup Tekion bought two Californian retailers in 2020 to test its product – and executives now say the plan succeeded beyond expectations. The retailers, Buick-GMC and Hyundai outlets, helped it “aggressively test and refine” its AI-driven DMS tech. Tech teams were stationed at the retailers to observe and engineer on the shop floor.
The two retailers are now up for sale.
US wholesale prices to cool in 2023
Wholesale US used vehicle prices are forecast to gradually cool for the rest of the year after unseasonable appreciation at the start of the year. Improving new vehicle inventory levels – and a gradual rise in incentives – will ease pressure on used vehicle prices. However, a deepening inventory crunch will cap the degree of price falls.
STOCKWATCH
Closing prices on 19 May 2023 and weekly change
Auto Trader Group 639.0p (+8.0p / +1.2%)
Caffyns 550.0p (n/c)
Halfords 199.7p (+1.1p / +0.5%)
Inchcape 793.0p (+18.0p / +2.2%)
Lookers 82.7p (-2.6p / -3.0%)
Motorpoint 132.0p (-1.0p / -0.7%)
Pendragon 17.62p (n/c)
Vertu 64.4p (+5.4p / +8.7%)
COMING UP
Wednesday, CPI and RPI
Thursday, Ofgem announces latest energy bill price cap
Friday, retail sales
8 June, Auto Retail Live business briefing: sign up here
MONEY MATTERS
Energy bills to fall £450
Energy bills for a typical household are forecast to fall nearly £450 from July. The latest official price cap will be announced by Ofgem on Thursday. The Energy Price Guarantee is currently set at £2,500 and Cornwall Insight predicts it will be set at £2,054 for July – and fall further, to £1,976, in October.
The Energy Price guarantee, which caps household energy bills, is set to end in March 2024. The government support scheme has cost the taxpayer almost £30bn.
Food to replace energy as family finance biggest shock
Food prices will soon overtake energy as the main driver behind UK inflation. The cost of a supermarket shop could continue to rise this summer, despite food inflation already hitting 19% in March. Food makes up 13% of household consumption, says the Resolution Foundation, compared to energy at 5%. It is “far from clear” that politicians have recognised the scale of the problem.
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