15 September 2019

• VINDIS ON TARGET ONLY BY ‘SIGNIFICANT’ SELF-REG
• SELLING EVs ‘VERY DIFFERENT’ SAYS JLR MD
• SIMON ELLIOTT JOINS VERTU
• LLOYD ADDS KIA IN CARLISLE
• GERMANY ‘IN RECESSION’
• NISSAN CEO GOES
• STOCKWATCH – Motorpoint new investor
• LAUNCH DIARY – Land Rover Defender, Honda e
• COMING UP – Pendragon half-year results, BCA and Auto Trader AGMs
• FOUR-DAY WEEK ‘UNREALISTIC’
• MOT FAILURES TO PEAK IN SEPTEMBER
• BLOG: Frankfurt shows how soon electric can be ‘normal’

Vindis hits targets only by ‘significant’ self-reg

Vindis has revealed it met all its 2018 manufacturer sales targets only “by significant self registration of vehicles”. This allowed it to “maximise the brand support monies available”.

The group is focused on Volkswagen Group brands with five franchised Audi dealerships, three Volkswagen sites and a Bentley retailer as part of its portfolio. New vehicle turnover fell by 16.7% and the new car contribution declined £1.7 million (despite stronger margins due to supply shortages).

Growth in used cars of 4.3% balanced this with an improved contribution of £1.7m. Vindis’ aftersales demand declined 5.4%. Overall turnover of £382m was down 8.4%, with a large proportion of this due to reclassifying some fleet business to an agency arrangement.

The group’s overall operating profit of £3.1m equalled a 0.8% margin, down from the £4.4m and 1.1% margin achieved in 2017. The board conceded it was a difficult trading year and will “continue to review all costs, overheads and stocking policies”.

Selling EVs ‘very different’ says JLR MD

Jaguar Land Rover UK MD Rawdon Glover says retailers have quickly discovered selling its electric Jaguar I-Pace is “a very different proposition” to a normal internal combustion engine car – and elevates the role of the retailer.

Speaking exclusively to Auto Retail Agenda, Mr Glover said selling an I-Pace was not just about specs and prices, but “the full journey – how to get home charging, how to use public chargers, understanding of energy tariffs. We expect our sales people to understand whether it’s green energy or not, for example, and be tuned into companies who offer cheaper Economy 7-type tariffs for EV drivers”.

This extends to the test drive. “It is essential that we demonstrate how to use a public charger during the test drive.” Mr Glover said retailers also encourage customers to download the I-Pace app, which monitors their journeys and local infrastructure to see if an EV is right for them.

I-Pace demand is already running 20% ahead of target in 2019, he said, with year-to-date sales of around 2,700 vehicles. He forecast an “explosion of interest” in 2020 due to the new Benefit-in-Kind rules which zero-rate EV company car tax in 2020-21. The firm has secured extra UK supplies to help reduce lead times.

Simon Elliott joins Vertu

Former Chrysler Jeep UK managing director Simon Elliott has joined Vertu as commercial vehicle director. Elliot was also formerly Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles managing director, Group CEO of Volkswagen Group Ireland and CEO of MAN Truck and Bus UK.

Lloyd Motor Group adds Kia in Carlisle

Lloyd Motor Group is taking on its first Kia franchise. It will occupy the Carlisle dealer currently being vacated by Honda. Border Cars, which went into administration in June, previously held Kia’s Carlisle franchise.

WORLD NEWS

Germany ‘in recession’

Germany is suffering its worst growth in six years and a predicted second successive contraction of GDP in the third quarter means the economy will fall into a technical recession, says the Ifo Institute. Weaknesses in the export-dependent manufacturing sector have now spread to other parts of the economy.

https://reut.rs/2lWLuO3

Nissan CEO to step down

Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa will step down on 16 September after admitting he had been overpaid. COO Yasuhiro Yamauchi will take over on an interim basis until a successor is found. The new CEO will be charged with improving profits at Japan’s second-largest car firm, which are at a more than decade low. Heavy discounting and low-margin sales to fleets are blamed, and dealer profits – particularly in the US – are suffering.

STOCKWATCH

Closing prices on 13 September 2019 and weekly movement

US firm Hunter Capital takes 4.47% stake in Motorpoint; Inchcape ‘oversold’ and rated ‘hold’ by Questor in The Sunday Telegraph

Auto Trader Group 528.2p (+9.0p)

BCA 242.0p (n/c)

Cambria 56.0p (-1.0p)

Caffyns 390.0p (+5.0p)

Inchcape 650.0p (+36.5p)

Lookers 53.4p (+6.25p)

Marshall Motor Holdings 146.5p (-1.0p)

Motorpoint 215.0p (+5.0p)

Pendragon 10.9p (+0.3p)

Vertu 34.1p (+0.8p)

LAUNCH DIARY

Land Rover Defender, all-new version of the 1948 utility 4×4, launched in 110 guise from £45,240; cheaper 90 and commercial versions follow later

Honda e, electric car to start from £26,160 including Plug-in Car Grant, or £299 a month. Deliveries from early summer 2020

Volkswagen T-Roc R, high-performance 300hp compact crossover SUV priced from £38,450

COMING UP

Monday, BCA Marketplace AGM

Tuesday, Auto Retail Live Profit Briefing: How to drive more sales using Google & YouTube

Wednesday, Pendragon half-year results

Thursday, Auto Trader AGM, Bank of England interest rate decision

MONEY MATTERS

Four-day week unrealistic

A report commissioned by the Labour Party says imposing a four-day week would not be ‘realistic or even desirable’. People should work fewer hours, it says, but an enforced capping of their hours would see them ‘inevitably earn less’. The UK works longer than almost every other EU country, at 42.5 hours a week.

https://bbc.in/2kAzUrX

September 2019 MOTs forecast to break records

Retailer service departments should be geared up for high demand for MOTs, advises Continental. A record month for new car registrations in September 2016 means over half a million vehicles will face their first MOT this month. September 2019 is also forecast to be a record month for MOT failures: over 2 million vehicles will fail, 30% for lights, 17% for brakes and 10% for tyres.

BLOG – Frankfurt shows how soon electric can be ‘normal’

Tags: Inchcape, JLR, lloyd motor group, Motorpoint, Nissan, Pendragon, Simon Elliott, Vertu, Vindis Group