Auto Retail Agenda: 22 July 2024
21 July 2024
- MON MOTORS ACQUIRES RETAILERS FROM HERITAGE
- FURROWS IN £4.3M PROFIT
- CROWDSTRIKE MICROSOFT OUTAGE TO IMPACT RETAILER PAYROLL?
- ‘MOTORWAY SUCCEEDING WHERE CAZOO FAILED’
- CHINA’S SECOND-LARGEST RETAILER TO DELIST AS CRACKS APPEAR
- PENSKE BUYS WORLD’S LARGEST FORD RETAILER
- STOCKWATCH
- COMING UP: Motorpoint AGM
- HELP PLANNED TO FIND LOST PENSION POTS
- ‘STEALTH’ LUXURY CAR TAX SLAMMED
Mon Motors acquires retailers from Heritage
Mon Motors has acquired seven Volkswagen Group retailers from Heritage Automotive. They include Bristol Seat, Cupra, Skoda and Volkswagen, Gloucester Skoda, Cupra, Seat and Volkswagen, and Weston-Super-Mare Skoda and Volkswagen.
According to bespoke industry data from Auto Retail Network, the deal leave Heritage with two Audi, one Honda, two Ineos, one Skoda and three Volkswagen sites – and Mon Motors with three Audi, two Cupra, two Ford, three Seat, four Skoda, five Volkswagen and one Volvo retailer.
Mon Motors MD Gavin Cleverly said on LinkedIn that he has been out and about meeting the teams, and added there are a number of positions now open across the sites.
Furrows in £4.3m profit
Furrows Group, which operates Shrewsbury retailers Ford, Mazda, Kia and Skoda, has seen profit before tax jump from £3.8m to £4.3m in the year ended December 2023. Turnover grew from £104.6m to £118.3m. The directors cited continued diversification, strong partnerships and the “significant contributions” of its people.
Crowdstrike Microsoft outage to impact retailer payroll?
Global Payroll Association CEO Melanie Pizzey warns the Microsoft outage, caused by a faulty Crowdstrike software security update, “could have very serious implications for businesses”. There is a risk of a backlog in processing payrolls which “could require those managing payroll to work overtime to rectify the issue”.
‘Motorway succeeding where Cazoo failed’
5,000 retailers now use the Motorway platform and, to date, it has sold more than 500k cars. CEO Tom Leathes says the success is through following a fundamentally different business model to Cazoo, operating as a marketplace which now handles 5% of all used car sales in the UK.
Leathes now wants Motorway to become “the best place to sell a car in the UK”.
WORLD NEWS
China’s second-largest retailer to delist as cracks appear
China Grand Automotive Service, the country’s second best-selling retailer, is set to be delisted from the Shanghai stock exchange after shares traded below par value for 20 consecutive days. It is “the latest sign of cracks appearing in the world’s largest vehicle market”.
Penske buys world’s largest Ford retailer
Penske, which owns Sytner in the UK, has bought Bill Brown Ford of Michigan, the world’s largest Ford retailer by sales volume. Established in 1941, it will add $550m (£425m) to Penske’s revenue. The Bill Brown name will remain on the business.
STOCKWATCH
Closing prices on 19 July 2024 and weekly change
Auto Trader Group 802.2p (-20.0p / -2.4%)
Caffyns 460.0p (n/c)
Halfords 146.0p 145.0p (-1.0p / -0.6%)
Inchcape 833.5p (+13.5p / +1.6%)
Motorpoint 141.25p (+2.75p / +1.9%)
Pinewood 325.5p (-30.5p / -8.9%)
Vertu 72.7p (-1.4p / -1.9%)
COMING UP
Wednesday, Motorpoint AGM
MONEY MATTERS
Help planned to find lost pension pots
Last week’s King’s Speech included a Pensions Schemes Bill that the government estimates could leave the typical private pension holder £11k better off in retirement. It could see small pots that are no longer being saved into combined automatically so retirement funds are all in one place.
In 2022, there was around £26.6bn held in lost pension pots, with an average value of £9,470. Last year, there were around 4.8m lost pension pots.
‘Stealth’ luxury car tax slammed
45% of ICE cars surpass the £40k ‘expensive car supplement’ that costs drivers an extra £410 a year. The share is set to keep rising as OEMs continue to increase prices while the £40k threshold remains frozen – leading some commentators to dub it a ‘stealth tax’ and a form of ‘fiscal drag’.
What’s more, 67% of EVs currently surpass the £40k threshold – and while they are currently exempt, they are set to be liable from April 2025, sparking fears the electric car downturn could accelerate.
ISSN 3049-5725
Tags:
car tax, Cazoo, China, Cinch, Crowdstrike, Ford, Furrows, Heritage Automotive, Microsoft, Mon Motors, Motorpoint, Motorway, pensions, Penske 
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