16 December 2018

• PETER VARDY SETS UP ROCKAR RIVAL
• NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR LSH
• RETAILERS FACE CONTINUED PHEV SHORTAGE
• DEMAND FOR HOME DELIVERY LCVS DRIVING UP VALUES SAYS BCA
• NEW MANAGEMENT APPOINTMENTS AT MARSHALLS
• WORLD NEWS – Nissan to build cash reserves in Renault crisis
• STOCKWATCH – Inchcape, Motorpoint down
• COMING UP – Retail sales data
• LAUNCH DIARY – Toyota RAV4
• MONEY MATTERS – housing market stalls
• OUR BLOG – Do digital dealers really deliver?

Peter Vardy sets up Rockar rival

Retail group Peter Vardy has spun off an online software company called Silver Bullet set to rival Rockar. The company is offering its Storefront software to other dealer groups and manufacturers on a subscription basis.

Silver Bullet claims retailers can add £250 gross profit per unit, get 80% finance penetration, cut costs and increase sales with a 24/7 e-commerce digital platform described as an industry first.

The new Storefront software has already been presented to dealer groups and manufacturers such as BMW.

It gives users an end-to-end journey that will let them select from a retailer’s stock, get a trade-in valuation, arrange a tailored finance package, select any add-ons and book a showroom test drive/collection. If a retailer does not like the trade-in value given Silver Bullet will honour the deal and take the car.

Peter Vardy said: “We have already proven Storefront will increase gross profit, cut costs and add volume. We know buyers are increasingly wanting to put together a deal in the evenings or at night when the showrooms are closed but Storefront is open 24/7 and lets them put together a complete package from choosing a car, getting a part-ex value, choosing any extras and getting finance.

“There are so many more quick wins with it. We are showing Storefront to groups and manufacturers and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.”

New managing director at LSH

Mercedes-Benz retailer LSH Auto has appointed Martyn Webb as managing director as former post holder Clive Hammond stepped down to take on a new role in the Middle East.

Mr. Webb is a former market area director for LSH’s Mercedes-Benz of Manchester and before that has worked for Mercedes-Benz Retail Group, the Sytner group and the Holden Group in Norfolk.

In the UK the company has nine Mercedes sites in the Midlands but the parent company is the world’s biggest Mercedes-Benz retailer with more than 140 dealerships.

Last year the British operation reported a loss of £10 million.

Retailers face continued PHEV shortage

Retailers could be starved of PHEV stock as manufacturers hold off production until a clearer picture emerges around grants and the government’s promised review of company car tax early next year which is seen as key to their future.

https://bit.ly/2QxCbma

Demand for home delivery LCVs still driving up values, says BCA

Demand for home delivery vans ready for immediate parcel and courier work is maintaining the growth in average LCV values which had a year on year rise of 5% last month to stand at £7,146 despite both age and mileage increasing.

In its Commercial Pulse (November) report, BCA says fleet and lease LCVs averaged £8,198. Average part-ex values were the fourth highest on record at £4,569 despite comparative mileage rising by over 7,000 miles and nearly-new averaged £16,131, an uplift of £1,086 (7.2%).

New management appointments at Marshall Motor Group

Marshall Motor Group has appointed Carole Merry as franchise director for its Volvo, Honda and Maserati Division with Shaun Allen, who held the job for the past three years, moving to head up the Jaguar Land Rover division. Both moves are affective from January 2.

Earlier Marshalls announced Richard Parry-Jones will be joining Marshall Motor Holdings as non-executive chairman from the New Year. He succeeds Peter Johnson. Parry-Jones spent three decades with Ford, latterly as group vice president of global product development and chief technical officer.

WORLD NEWS

Nissan to build cash reserves for Renault crisis

Nissan is said to be considering a cash boost amid tensions with Renault by repatriating around £800 million profit from its Chinese subsidiary, Dongfeng. Renault has a 43% voting stake in Nissan which, in turn, owns 15% of Renault but with no voting rights. Under Japanese corporate law, Renault’s voting rights could be cancelled if Nissan raises its shareholding above 25% in the French automaker. Under French rules, a drop in Renault’s Nissan stake to below 40% would help the Japanese automaker get voting rights in the French company.

https://bit.ly/2Bg1Oxp

BMW and Porsche launch super-fast EV charger

BMW and Porsche have unveiled a prototype charging station that can give EVs enough power for around 65 miles in less than three minutes. The ultra-fast charger has a capacity of 450 kilowatts, more than triple Tesla’s Superchargers, but for now it offers more power than cars can take. The BMW i3 power intake limit is 50 kilowatts and even the battery-powered iX3 will only accept 150 kW when it rolls out in 2020.

https://bit.ly/2UKMKRu

STOCKWATCH

Closing prices at December 14 and weekly movement

BCA 200.0p (-6.0p)

Cambria 52.5p (n/c)

Caffyns 405.0p (n/c)

Inchcape 530.5p (-13.0p)

Lookers 93.8p (-4.4p)

Marshall Motor Holdings 155.0p (-1.0p)

Motorpoint 202.0p (-13.0p)

Pendragon 23.7p (+0.3p)

Vertu 35.5p (+0.7p)

COMING UP

Thursday:  UK Retail Sales, official estimate of retail sales in volume and value terms, seasonally and non-seasonally adjusted. (ONS)

LAUNCH DIARY

February: Toyota RAV4, from £29,635

MONEY MATTERS

Housing market stalls

The housing market is stalling as buyers and sellers sit tight until the Brexit situation becomes clearer.

The November 2018 RICS UK Residential Market Survey revealed that the number of people looking to move, the number of properties listed for sale and agreed sales all slumped last month with economic uncertainty cited as the main cause. Estate agents have an average of 42 homes for sale and property valuations are also down.

OUR BLOG

Do digital dealers really deliver?

Anyone who has had to trudge around shopping centres or retail parks in search of Christmas presents these past few weeks will probably say it has not been a pleasant experience. Trying to find a parking spot, being jostled by crowds, waiting to pay at tills where there are no staff, it’s all aggro and a hassle.

How much easier is it to sit in the comfort of your own home and do it online. True, it lacks the frisson of face to face contact with someone from the sales department or the momentary thrill of getting something marked as `bargain’ but hey, what’s that compared to not having to spend most of a day being stressed and miserable.

For those of us working it has to be done at the weekend because that’s when the stores are open. They aren’t serving in the evening but that is when a lot of would like to shop, given the opportunity.

It is perhaps something the car retailer industry has been not quite so good at embracing as it might think. Like you, I test drive lots of dealership websites out of interest and when compared to the slickness and ease of other retail sectors they are usually found wanting.

Replacing a car is more complicated, and the sums involved rather bigger, than when choosing something off Amazon but too often there is still a gap in the customer experience, between what they want and what the systems let them.

Digital is meant to make buying and selling easier but sometimes in our industry websites let you look at stock online, see the asking price but then lack the sophistication – and perhaps the user doesn’t trust the figures it gives – to go much further which means them driving to the showroom and doing it face to face in the traditional way.

As so many of my school reports used to say `Good but could do better.’

Paul Williams

On a personal note, may I add to the many comments of those shocked by the sudden death of Paul Williams, former head of SsangYong, Kia, Mitsubishi and Daihatsu, at the age of just 57 after a sudden illness. I first met him many years ago in Rome on the press launch of the Daihatsu Move and found him endlessly enthusiastic, positive and engaging but without being brash. Our paths crossed again at Mitsubishi, Kia and most recently SsangYong and I had no reason to change my opinion of him except to add one more characteristic – Paul was a genuinely nice man.

My sympathies to his family and colleagues.

John Swift

Editor

Auto Retail Network

Tags: BCA, LCV, LSH Auto, Paul Williams, Peter Vardy, Rockar, Santander