10 March 2019

• MITSUBISHI AIMS FOR 50,000 A YEAR
• HYBRIDS SEE APPROVED-USED WARRANTIES CUT
• SUBARU BRAND OVERHAUL
• BCA UPGRADES DEALER PRO
• PENTAGON EXTENDS VAUXHALL WARRANTY FOR MARCH
• HYBRIDS BETTER FOR CO2 TARGETS THAN EVs SAYS TOYOTA
• GERMAN CAR MAKERS FACE £860 MILLION FINES – EACH
• STOCKWATCH – Caffyns halts share price slide, Inchcape doesn’t, Motorpoint reverses earlier gains
• COMING UP – Full year results for Pendragon, Marshalls and Lookers, Spring Statement, ARN best practice day on aftersales and parts
• LAUNCH DIARY – Mercedes-Benz CLA coupe, VW T-Cross, SsangYong Korando, MG ZS EV
• MONEY MATTERS – Interest rates likely to fall after no-deal Brexit
• OUR BLOG – what is going wrong at BMW?

Mitsubishi aims for 50,000 a year

Mitsubishi has introduced a five-year growth plan including a hike in retailer numbers to 140 and a 2% return-on-sale target.

Managing director Rob Lindley said he aimed to take Mitsubishi from 30,000 vehicles sold last year to 50,000 in the next five years: “Our five-year vision includes a 2% return-on-sales figure for the retailers, we also want to be top quartile in the NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey and more frequent new products and their faster delivery. We also want to be in the top 10 countries for Mitsubishi by volume because this gives us more influence when it comes to the type of products Mitsubishi develops. And we also want to be in the top three in the UK for customer satisfaction.”

Mitsubishi currently has a network average return-on-sale figure of 1.2%, which equated to a profit of £107,000 in 2018.

* Read the full interview in the March issue of Auto Retail Bulletin.

Hybrids have approved-used warranties cut

Toyota and Mitsubishi are reducing the lengths of their approved-used warranties, the former for hybrids and the latter for all models. Toyota has traditionally offered a 24-month warranty with hybrid cars sold via its used approved plan but is dropping the level of cover to 12 months in line with petrols and diesels.

A spokesperson said the lower level was expected to become effective by the end of February and due to “the ‘normalisation’of hybrids. In the past consumers may have been unsure about investing in the technology, but we see a very different market today.”

Similarly, Mitsubishi will cut its 24-month warranty for all used approved vehicles to the industry-standard 12 months on 1 April.

Subaru brand overhaul

Subaru has launched its first new car service plans as part of a major overhaul for the brand which also includes new customer service and sales targets.

The programmes start from £30 a month depending on the vehicle, are available from three to five years and can be transferred to subsequent owners. It did not disclose an upper cost limit.

The company has not previously offered such a service directly from its brands in the UK but has been planning to for some time. However, the plan will also be run on sister brand Isuzu.

* Read the full story in the March issue of Auto Retail Bulletin.

BCA upgrades Dealer Pro

BCA has planned quarterly upgrades and more integration with dealer management systems for its Dealer Pro service throughout the year.

It is working on DMS providers such as Dealerweb, EnquiryMAX, Pinewood, Fast Track and CDK to give a deeper integration into their software and take away the need for rekeying and improving data accuracy.

Pentagon extends Vauxhall warranty for March

Multi-franchise car and LCV retailer Pentagon is looking for a March boost by giving an extended warranty on all 19-plate Vauxhall vans registered by March 31.

It is bolting on another two years to the three already given by Vauxhall and the policy will have the same terms as the factory cover.

WORLD NEWS

Hybrids better for CO2 targets than EVs, says Toyota

Toyota expects half its sales to be hybrids this year, 12 months ahead of schedule, rising to 60% by 2021 and says they are a better way to achieve CO2 targets rather than expensive EVs which are currently priced beyond the reach of many drivers.

https://bit.ly/2UnkqnL

German car makers face £860 million fines – each

BMW, VW and Daimler face fines of around £860 million (€1m) each from EU antitrust authorities for their collusion in reducing the effectiveness of exhaust filtering systems, a German magazine says.

The car makers collaborated to reduce the size of so-called AdBlue tanks which cut nitrogen oxide emissions and agreed not to include filters on petrol engined vehicles to reduce fine particulate matter, Der Spiegel said.

https://reut.rs/2C799Re

STOCKWATCH

Caffyns halts share price slide, Inchcape doesn’t, Motorpoint reverses earlier gains

Closing prices at 8 March and weekly movement

BCA 203.0p (-2.5p)

Cambria 63.5p (-0.5p)

Caffyns 385.0p (n/c)

Inchcape 568.0 (-10.0p)

Lookers 103.6p (-0.2p)

Marshall Motor Holdings 158.5p (+0.5p)

Motorpoint 195.0p (-9.8p)

Pendragon 26.8p (+2.3p)

Vertu 35.3p (-1.1p)

COMING UP

Tuesday: Full year results, Pendragon

Wednesday: Full year results, Marshall Motor Group

Wednesday: Full year results, Lookers

Wednesday: Chancellor’s Spring Statement

May 15: Auto Retail Network Aftersales conference. Speakers include Michael Hunt, aftersales director of Marshall Motor Group, Carlos Ovilo, customer services director of Ford GB, and Mike Jones, chairman of ASE. Full information here.

LAUNCH DIARY

Mercedes-Benz CLA Coupe. 1.3 and 2.0 litre petrol engines, two or four wheel drive. From £30,550.

VW T-Cross. Fifth and smallest in its SUV range. From £16,995.

Summer: SsangYong Korando. Fourth generation nameplate for SUV. Prices tbc.

Q3. MG ZS EV. First all-electric car for MG Motor UK. Prices tbc.

MONEY MATTERS

Interest rates likely to fall after no-deal Brexit

One of the interest rate setters at the Bank of England said it is more likely they will be cut in the event of a no-deal Brexit in a move which is the latest in a series of signs indicating the Bank would step in to help consumers and business.

https://reut.rs/2UmVA7n

John Swift

Editor

Auto Retail Agenda

Tags: BCA, BMW, CDK, hybrid, Mitsubishi, Subaru, warranties