• FORD PLANS TO HALVE DEALER NETWORK – AGAIN
• VERTU ADDS FORD IN NEWCASTLE
• CMS VAUXHALL CALLS ADMINISTORATORS AFTER £3.6m DISCREPANCY
• WORKER EMBEZZLES FROM LLOYD LAND ROVER
• STELLANTIS STARTS AGENCY IN BENELUZ AND AUSTRIA
• INCHCAPE ENTERS PHILLIPPINES
• STOCKWATCH
• COMING UP: Lookers H1, Ofgem energy price cap
• NEW ENERGY PRICE CAP FORECAST TO FALL UNDER £2k
• NEW CALL TO FREEZE BUSINESS RATES

Ford plans to halve dealer network – again

Ford is planning to cut more than half its current retailer network in time to for a switch to agency sales, according to Auto Retail Agenda sources.

It is understood the network was issued with termination notices last year and it was known a cut back was planned. However, final numbers for those that will survive the cull have only more recently come to light.

Earlier this year, retailers said they were told by Ford that the aim was to hit 120 new car sales sites. However, some businesses have since been told by Ford this target will be “over-achieved and the final number could be fewer than 100 showrooms”.

Other retailers were more sceptical of Ford’s ability to reach the target and expected the final number to be higher. One business owner that Auto Retail Agenda spoke to said the move was a continuation of Ford’s plan from the start of 2020 when it first said it would near-halve its network in the UK from 400 sites to around 210 dealerships.

This plan, exclusively revealed by Auto Retail Agenda at the time, aimed to complete the reduction by the end of this year. According to Auto Market Data, Ford currently still has 302 new car sales points.

Speaking to retailers earlier this year, Martin Sander, Ford European boss of its Model e electric car division, confirmed the manufacturer would adopt the agency model for all new car sales.

Ford has been trialling the agency model approach in the Netherlands since the start of this year and will used the country as a learning experience before rolling out the plan to other European countries, including the UK.

A Ford spokesperson said the UK had not set a date for the switch to the agency model and was still in the “learning phase”.

The spokesperson did not deny the cuts but added: “We haven’t confirmed any timings around when the ‘agency’ model will come to UK, nor what the size or shape of the network will look like under any agency agreement in the future. We don’t recognize the numbers that you quoted to us; they have not been communicated by anyone from Ford.

“We hope to have a firmer position toward the end of 2023 or early 2024 around more precise timings of implementation, and our dealer network will always be the first to hear about what our plans are going forward.

“We continue to work constructively with our dealer network and dealer working groups at all levels within the Ford Britain team, including and up to Lisa Brankin as managing director.”

 

Vertu adds Ford in Newcastle

Vertu has, this weekend, added the Ford franchise in Newcastle, moving the brand into its former Vauxhall site to the west of the city centre.

The Vauxhall operation has been moved to Westerhope, just off the A1 on a site which has been empty for the past five years. It was originally set up by Reg Vardy but is now owned by Pendragon. Vertu has a long-term lease on the site.

Vertu already operates the Ford franchise to the north of the Newcastle, in Morpeth. The addition brings the group’s total to 21 locations. The Newcastle territory was previously operated by Arnold Clark. It was revealed the Scottish group had lost the Ford and Toyota franchises early in 2022.

Vertu is also due to add the MG franchise to its Chesterfield operations which already includes Nissan and Skoda.

Meanwhile, Vertu has appointed Spencer Clayton-Jones as group strategy director. Clayton-Jones was previously Nissan’s network development director.

 

 

CMS Vauxhall calls administrators after £3.6m discrepancy

CMS Vauxhall Kidderminster is to appoint administrators after its directors discovered an unexplained discrepancy of £3.6m in its 2021 accounts. The sum relates to a stock contra account and, after “several detailed investigations,” the directors were unable to provide sufficient evidence to support the stock.

The business still made a £487k profit on turnover of £94.2m.

https://tinyurl.com/36ujmjzt

 

 

Worker embezzles from Lloyd Land Rover

A worker has been given six months to repay more than £12,000 after he embezzled it from Lloyd Land Rover in April 2019. Sentencing has been deferred until the 54-year old repays the full sum.

https://tinyurl.com/9duc86ec

 

 

 

WORLD NEWS

Stellantis starts agency in Benelux and Austria

A Stellantis agency pilot in Austria, Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands has been confirmed to begin in two weeks’ time. The September agency launch, a spokesperson told Auto Retail Agenda, is part of Stellantis’ “sustainable distribution model in Europe… all stakeholders will benefit from these changes.

“The company is working at full speed to introduce its New Retailer Model, by allowing its network to adapt with a sufficient time-lead.

“This is in an increasingly more competitive context with new entrants arriving.”

For the rest of European NSCs – first with Alfa Romeo, DS and commercial vehicles – agency will “progressively launch in the course of 2024. Stellantis will keep supporting all its countries during the transition phase, during this year and beyond, with the objective to launch a solid physical and digital ecosystem for our customers and partners across Europe”.

 

Inchcape enters Philippines

Inchcape has entered the Philippines in a joint venture with luxury vehicle distributor CATS Group. Alex Hammett, Inchcape South Asia and Pacific MD, will oversee Inchcape Philippines. The market is expected to see automotive sales reach 500k by 2026, with the luxury sector growing at an even faster rate.

https://tinyurl.com/3pmtj76j

 

 

 

STOCKWATCH

Closing prices on 18 August 2023 and weekly change

Auto Trader Group 598.0p (-24.6p / -4.0%)

Caffyns 540.0p (n/c)

Halfords 181.2p (-10.3p / -5.5%)

Inchcape 723.0p (-58.0p / -7.7%)

Lookers 129.0p (+0.4p / +0.3%)

Motorpoint 95.6p (-6.15p / -6.2%)

Pendragon 18.98p (-0.3p / -1.5%)

Vertu 70.5p (-0.5p / -0.7%)

 

 

COMING UP

Tuesday, Lookers H1 results

Friday, Ofgem to announce new energy price cap

Friday, GFK consumer confidence

 

 

MONEY MATTERS

New energy price cap forecast to fall under £2k

Energy bills are forecast to fall by 7% from October, taking the average bill to under £2k for the first time in 12 months. Ofgem will update the energy price cap this Friday.

However, they are then forecast to rise again in January 2024, when the cap is updated, following a surge in wholesale gas prices.

https://tinyurl.com/5dxtmduc

 

New call to freeze business rates

The chancellor is being urged to freeze business rates again amid fears small firms could be left on the brink. Last year, business rates, which usually increase annually, were frozen, and the discount for retail hospitality and leisure businesses was increased from 50% to 75% for 12 months.

Business rates are now set to increase in April 2024 under the government’s multiplier, which is pegged to CPI inflation in September 2023.

https://tinyurl.com/zwjynfcz