11 August 2019

• TRADE-IN WEBSITE TOOTLE CLOSES DOWN
• FORMER PM TO SPEAK AT NADA
• EASTERN WESTERN PROFITS RISE ABOVE £10M
• LOOKERS OPENS NEW £10M AUDI SITE
• SNOWS SEES RoS GAIN
• TESLA TAKES 28% OF EU EV MARKET
• BMW BOOSTS TECHNICIAN TRAINING
• STOCKWATCH – Pendragon at seven-year low
• LAUNCH DIARY – Peugeot 208 prices revealed
• COMING UP – H1 results for Marshall, Lookers
• UK ECONOMY SHRINKS
• TWO-YEAR LOW FOR PAY GROWTH
• BLOG – Pendragon, is there a plan B?

Trade-in website Tootle closes down

Online car sales and buying platform Tootle has stopped trading and its owner Auto Online Sales is understood to be on the verge of administration.

Launched in 2016 as a rival to sites such as We Buy Any Car, Tootle allowed retailers to bid directly for privately owned cars from people looking to sell. Tootle launched with TV advertising thanks to a deal with Channel 4 that saw the broadcaster’s funding arm invest in the business.

While the firm’s chief executive Gordon Tulloch told Auto Retail Agenda Tootle is not in administration, one of the firm’s non-executive directors confirmed that it had ceased trading and that administrators were in the process of being appointed.

Former PM to speak at NADA

Former Prime Minister, Rt. Hon David Cameron, is to be the keynote speaker at the upcoming NADA Show 2020, which will take place in Las Vegas from Friday, February 14 till Monday, February 17, 2020.

Cameron’s appearance will undoubtedly be the highlight of a four day convention packed with inspirational speeches, informative workshops and a chance to network with over 500 exhibitors showcasing business critical systems and tools for your dealership.

Auto Retail Network is partnering with auto retail profitability experts, ASE Global, to create a visit to NADA Show 2020 that will maximise your opportunity to learn and enjoy your time in Las Vegas.

To find out more about the ARN/ASE visit to NADA 2020, go to: http://bit.ly/2ZFZril

Eastern Western profits rise above £10m

Scottish group Eastern Western has reported an 8.3% rise in pre-tax profits to £10.4 million for 2018. The rise came on the back of a £93.2m rise in turnover to £700m.

The overall figures include the acquisition of Barnetts Motor Group which added Mazda and VW in Dundee and VW in St Andrews. The group also bought John Clark’s Nissan business in Perth and Dundee.

Despite a falling new car market and excluding the newly purchased operations, Eastern Western saw like-for-like new car sales rise 4% in 2018, used car sales up 9% and aftersales turnover up 19%.

Lookers opens new £10m Audi site

Lookers has relocated its Camberley Audi centre to a new £10 million, 20-car showroom in Farnborough. The new 4.75-acre site brings sales and aftersales together on one site.

Farnborough Audi started sales yesterday (10 August) while the new 30-bay workshop will open on 19 August. The previous, separately located, workshop had 21 bays.

Head of business Michael Wrigley told Auto Retail Agenda he expected the service side of the business to be able to look after 70 customers a day.

Snows sees RoS gain

Multi-brand retail group Snows has seen profits increase to £2.0 million on a turnover of £371.9m in 2018. The figures were up on 2017’s £1.4m in pre-tax profit on a £296.7m revenue. The increase in turnover and profit resulted in a slight increase in RoS from 0.47% in 2017 to 0.54% in 2018.

WORLD NEWS

Tesla takes 28% of EU EV market

Tesla has achieved a 28% share of the European EV market in the first six months of 2019 with sales of 45,000 new cars. The Model 3, launched in February has also become the best selling pure EV.

https://yhoo.it/2ZOs90N

BMW boosts technician training

BMW is planning to invest in two technician training centres in the US to make sure retailers have EV-trained staff, according to Automotive News.

http://bit.ly/31xeb3P

STOCKWATCH

Closing prices on 9 August 2019 and weekly movement

Pendragon falls to its lowest point since January 2012.

Auto Trader Group 535.2p (+9.0p)

BCA 241.8p (+0.2p)

Cambria 57.5p (+1.0p)

Caffyns 410.0p (n/c)

Inchcape 577.0p (-13.5p)

Lookers 42.3p (+0.5p)

Marshall Motor Holdings 135.0p (-5.0p)

Motorpoint 222.5p (+2.5p)

Pendragon 11.2p (-2.2p)

Vertu 33.5p (-0.9p)

LAUNCH DIARY

Alpine A110 S, faster version of the A110, on sale from 3 September, priced £56,810

Hyundai Ioniq, facelift, on sale now, deliveries from 5 September, priced from £22,795

Hyundai Kona Hybrid, deliveries from late September, priced from £22,495

Peugeot 208, new model, deliveries from early 2020, priced from £16,250

COMING UP

Tuesday, Marshall Motor Holdings, half-year results

Wednesday, Lookers, half-year results

Thursday, Consumer Price Index figures

Thursday, Retail Sales figures

MONEY MATTERS

UK economy shrinks

The UK economy has shrunk for the first time since 2012, according to figure from the Office for National Statistics.

https://bbc.in/2KpArXF

Two-year low for pay growth

A monthly report on pay has shown that growth in pay for newly recruited permanent staff is at a two-year low. The KPMG and Recruitment and Employment Confederation report also showed a reduction in the volume of new staff.

https://reut.rs/2yQBNUK

BLOG – Pendragon, is there a plan B?

Tags: BMW, Eastern Western, Lookers, NADA, Pendragon, Snows, Tesla, Tootle