18 August 2019

Harwoods uses Rockar for online sales

Harwoods has become the first dealer group to adopt Rockar’s online sales platform with its introduction to the South of England group’s Jaguar Land Rover operation.

The initial offering is for new car sales but the ability to search and buy approved used on the platform will be added shortly, according to Rockar.

Harwoods has been running the Rockar e-commerce system for several months in a pilot phase but is now fully live with the online sales system.

Archie Harwood managing director says, “Developing an omni-channel approach to retailing is essential in this day and age and Rockar’s technology offered a fast, tried and tested execution method. We have processed over 60 orders on the platform with two orders having been completely self-service with very little promotion thus far. It’s been an exciting addition for our team who can see great future potential in the use of the platform for the increase in productivity of new and used vehicle sales teams.”

Rockar itself has now sold more than 6,000 new and used cars since it launched in 2014. The current average order value is £61,000, £7,000 higher than the JLR network average. It has also reported deliveries in July were up 90% against the same month in 2018.

Rockar which is aiming to attract more retailers to its e-commerce platform already powers Mitsubishi’s online sales operation and the Ford store within Next in Manchester.

City West Country RoS nears 2%

Mercedes retailer City West Country has reported a 1.9% rise in return on sales in 2018, up from 1.7% in 2017. The group’s annual results show turnover increased 8.6% to £309 million while profit-before-tax rose to £5.7m in 2018 from £4.9 the year before.

Commenting on the results, director Gavin Walker said: “During the year, the UK motor sector stalled with significant pressure on vehicle margins due principally to the extremely competitive UK motor retail sector and a decline in consumer confidence. The desirability of the Mercedes-Benz brand and quality of the product offering significantly offset some of the wider sector challenges.”

Charles Hurst gains Diversity Mark

Charles Hurst Group, Northern Ireland’s biggest car retailer and part of Lookers, has been named as the first motor retailer in Northern Ireland to sign up for the Mark of Progress from Diversity Mark NI, for the company’s continued commitment to advancing gender diversity in the workplace.

Tootle confirms administration

Online Auto Sales, which traded as the used car disposals website Tootle, has appointed administrator ReSolve. The administrators are currently seeking to establish whether there is any interest in the company’s business and/or assets.

WORLD NEWS

Group 1 raises dividend

US-owned Group 1 Automotive has raised its quarterly dividend by 7.7% to 28 cents. The group has also appointed an additional director Steven Stanbrook.

Tesla orders cancelled over quality issue

A German rental company has cancelled 85 out of 100 Tesla Model 3 orders over quality and network support issues, according to a report in Automotive News.

http://bit.ly/2YUxFSU

STOCKWATCH

Closing prices on 16 August 2019 and weekly movement

Inchcape fall continues, now at its lowest point this year.

Auto Trader Group 524.4p (-10.8p)

BCA 241.6p (-0.2p)

Cambria 55.5p (-2.0p)

Caffyns 410.0p (n/c)

Inchcape 546.5p (-30.5p)

Lookers 48.2p (+5.9p)

Marshall Motor Holdings 142.0p (+7.0p)

Motorpoint 228.0p (+5.5p)

Pendragon 10.7p (-0.5p)

Vertu 33.8p (+0.3p)

LAUNCH DIARY

Mitsubishi L200, new model, on sale now, priced from £21,5151

Volkswagen T-roc Cabriolet, convertible compact SUV, on sale spring 2020

Mercedes GLB, seven-seat SUV, on sale now, priced from £34,200

COMING UP

Friday, Mortgage lending figures

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

MONEY MATTERS

Footfall rises at Westfield sites

Westfield shopping centres, and home to several car retail premises, has reported a strong first half of 2019, with a 6.4% year-on-year uplift in footfall for the first six months of the year, with 39.72 million visitors across both centres, according to Retail Gazette.

http://bit.ly/2Pf5UQX

Retail sales grow in July

UK retail sales grew 3.3% in July 2019 against the same month last year. The unexpected rise was helped by a surge in online spending.

https://reut.rs/30apJK6

BLOG

Heycar, do we need another used car website?

Tags: Charles Hurst, City West Country, Group 1, Harwoods, ReSolve, Rockar, Santander, Tootle, Westfield