Auto Retail Agenda: 9 December 2024
08 December 2024
- NEW FINANCE LEGISLATION COULD BOOST RETAILER PROFITS
- BLAZE LEADS TO JOB LOSSES AT RON SKINNER & SONS
- JOHN O’HANLON AND GRAEME POTTS TO JOIN AUTO RETAIL LIVE
- MCGOVERN AND MARDELL: JAGUAR’S ‘ODD COUPLE’
- AUTO RETAIL AGENDA EDITOR SCOOPS TOP AWARD
- STELLANTIS REJOINS EU LOBBY GROUP
- CADILLAC COMMITS TO EUROPE
- STOCKWATCH
- COMING UP: Auto Retail Live outlook for 2025
- STATUTORY SICK PAY ‘STAFF SACK’ WARNING
- WATER COMPANIES WANT TO RAISE PRICES AFTER NI HIT
New finance legislation could boost retailer profits
Retailers could see improved profit from finance sales once the legislation around commission payments has been clarified and finalised, according to Auto Trader CEO Nathan Coe.
Speaking to Auto Retail Agenda, Coe said the “finance situation will work itself out, in future it will be more transparent and better for the consumer.”
He said that finance was a good way of buyers protecting themselves against residual value volatility, particularly with used electric vehicles.
“You have to look at why only one in four used cars are bought on finance when 80% of new cars are on finance. That ratio could increase [for used cars], if transparency was better and there was more competition in the market – especially when you can see supermarket loans for 3% and car loans are at 7 or 8%. There could be more profit for retailers in used car finance thanks to greater finance protection.”
* Read the full conversation with Coe in this month’s Auto Retail Bulletin – sign up here
Blaze leads to job losses at Ron Skinner & Sons
Philip Skinner, joint MD at Ron Skinner & Sons, has been forced to make 18 redundancies after a blaze in August ravaged its Tredegar site. More than 350 cars were also destroyed in the blaze at Wales’ largest car supermarket and Skinner says losses run into millions.
The retailer has now opened a new site in Tredegar, next to the old site which remains a pile of rubble. “We are very positive for the future,” said Skinner. “It feels like going back 25 years to one of our oldest sites and kicking off again – this is the start of what will be a new era.”
John O’Hanlon and Graeme Potts to join Auto Retail Live
Waylands’ John O’Hanlon and Eden Motor Group’s Graeme Potts will join Carwow’s Philipp Sayler von Amend in the latest Auto Retail Live webinar this Tuesday to help retailers get ready for 2025.
Discussion topics will include a market overview, industry themes for 2025, tackling rising employment costs, consumer behaviour, likely vehicle supply scenarios under ZEV and the impact of a rising EV mix on retailers.
The 40-minute webinar starts at 2pm on Tuesday. Registration is free and you can sign up here.
McGovern and Mardell: Jaguar’s ‘odd couple’
JLR insiders apparently describe chief creative offer Gerry McGovern and CEO Adrian Mardell as “the odd couple”, because they are so different – McGovern being an extrovert artist and Mardell being a quiet, shy accountant and Jaguar ‘lifer’.
However, their partnership has been very successful to date, with JLR now generating revenues of £2.5bn a month – and now they plan to replicate the success of Land Rover and Range Rover with Jaguar.
At last week’s launch of the Type 00 concept, Mardell hinted some models will nudge £150k, three times the price of the current range – and added the company will only need to sell 30k cars a year to break even.He said Jaguar already has 16,000 expressions of interest and, by the end of the year, expects them to hit 40k.
“I’ve never been more confident in anything that we’ve done.”
Auto Retail Agenda editor scoops top award
Auto Retail Agenda editor Richard Aucock was named Business Writer of the Year at last week’s Guild of Motoring Writers’ Annual Dinner and Awards. Judges cited a deftness at getting to the core of an issue and an ability to generate an incredible amount of quality content week on week.
WORLD NEWS
Stellantis rejoins EU lobby group
Following the departure of CEO Carlos Tavares, Stellantis is to rejoin European auto lobby group ACEA. It left in 2023 after Tavares opposed ACEA’s call for the EU to review its 2025 CO2 reduction goals. Rejoining, says Reuters, is a sign Stellantis may take a more cautious stance over its electrification plans.
Cadillac commits to Europe
Cadillac has launched sales in Germany, France, Switzerland and Sweden, offering the electric Lyriq in a ‘direct to consumer hybrid’ model. It is now readying the Optiq and “we are not going to stop there,” said GM Europe president Pere Brugal. “We are definitely here for the long run.”
The brand has confirmed it plans to enter the UK too.
STOCKWATCH
Closing prices on 6 December 2024 and weekly change
Auto Trader Group 845.0p (+6.0p / +0.7%)
Caffyns 450.0p (n/c)
Halfords 145.6p (-4.6p / -3.1%)
Motorpoint 137.0p (+4.0p / +2.9%)
Pinewood 339.0p (-4.5p / -1.3%)
Vertu 62.0p (+1.9p / +3.1%)
COMING UP
Tuesday, Auto Retail Live webinar: outlook for 2025. Sign up here
Tuesday, FCA’s Nikhil Rathi and Steven Braviner Roman appear at the Treasury Select Committee
Wednesday, Driving Automotive 2024 Special Edition: New Brand Entrants
Friday, GFK consumer confidence
Friday, UK GDP
MONEY MATTERS
Statutory Sick Pay ‘staff sack’ warning
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation has warned sick staff risk losing their jobs under Angela Rayner’s workers’ rights overhaul. The burden of extra costs risks forcing employers to let staff go if they fall ill repeatedly or for long periods.
Under government plans, workers will be able to claim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from the first day of illness, rather than the fourth. More staff will also be eligible for SSP, with the current £123 a week earning threshold to be abolished.
Water companies want to raise prices after NI hit
Water companies expect a £400m hit from a rise in employers’ national insurance contributions over the next five years – who have submitted calculations to the regulator, Ofwat, in a bid to allow them to put up customer bills. Ofwat will announce its decision on 2025-30 prices on December 19.
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