Auto Retail Agenda: 19 October 2020
18 October 2020
- EC CONSULTS ON BLOCK EXEMPTION RULES
- COMPLEXITY SLOWING VOLVO ONLINE SALES, SAYS MD
- LOOKERS TO SELL OFF WEST LONDON SKODA
- SMMT URGES UK EU TRADE TALKS
- CINCH CHANGES FOCUS
- US DMS CEO IN MONEY-LAUNDERING CHARGE
- IRELAND’S ‘ANTI-CAR BUDGET’
- STOCKWATCH – Lookers issues positive trading update but delays results until November
- COMING UP – CPI, RPI
- FCA PROPOSES NEW CORONAVIRUS HELP
- EV SERVICING ‘30% CHEAPER’
- GUEST BLOG: Forget Covid, think trade – by Robert Forrester
EC consults on Block Exemption rules
The European Commission has opened the consultation on the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation to assess its effectiveness.
The current regulation came into force on 1 June 2010 exempting the motor sector from specific areas of EU Article 101 which prohibits anti-competitive agreements.
Block Exemption gives sector-specific guidelines for the automotive sector including access to technical information for independents, freedom to source and supply spare parts, and the prevention of misuse of vehicle manufacturer warranty terms.
The NFDA is to respond on behalf of UK retailers as well as under the Alliance of European Car Dealers and Repairers. The two associations previously contributed to EC consultation on the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation.
“Over the coming months, we will formulate the sector’s response,” said NFDA chief executive Sue Robinson. “We will keep our members updated.”
Consultation is open until 25 January 2021 and the future exemption regulation will come into force after May 2023. The consultation questionnaire is available online.
Complexity slowing Volvo online sales, says MD
Care By Volvo, the Swedish firm’s direct sale flexible lease package, has registered more cars in one month than its online sales facility has in the past 18 months.
Launched in September, the subscription service, which includes all running costs apart from fuel, allows customers to lease a car direct from Volvo for a minimum of three months after an initial 30-day no-risk period. Volvo claims “several hundred” customers for the new service.
Speaking exclusively to Auto Retail Agenda about Care By Volvo and the manufacturer’s online sales system, Volvo’s UK MD Kristian Elvefors said online sales had been “less successful than Care By Volvo. One of the burdens in the online sales platforms is the complexity of it”.
He added: “I would say if you compare Care by Volvo with the online sales platform, where you actually need to log in, you need to have a unique quote from a retailer, compared to a national fixed price where we are actually invoicing the customer directly. People aren’t: they are just using the online test platform more as a configurator, or a lead generator, not buying platform. And I think that’s one of the key elements.
“A subscription on Care By Volvo takes less than a minute. Order it online, I would say, it could be as much as 20, 25 minutes.”
Read the full interview with Kristian Elvefors in the November issue of sister title Auto Retail Bulletin. Sign up here for a free trial subscription.
Lookers to sell off West London Skoda
Lookers is expected to confirm the sale of its Brentford Skoda dealership in West London to Citygate this week, Auto Retail Agenda understands.
The move comes as part of Lookers’ business review announced earlier this year and follows the group’s trading statement on Friday that it “currently holds freehold property for disposal with a net book value of circa £30m. Approximately £12m from these disposals is expected to be received before 31 December 2020”.
Buying the operation will give Citygate its third Skoda franchise.
SMMT urges UK EU trade talks
The SMMT is among more than 70 British business groups urging politicians to strike a trade deal between the UK and EU. An agreement “matters greatly for jobs and livelihoods… with compromise and tenacity, a deal can be done. Businesses call on leaders on both sides to find a route through”.
Vertu CEO Robert Forrester has written here exclusively for Auto Retail Agenda on Britain’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU
Cinch changes focus
BCA used car marketplace Cinch is evolving by selling cars directly rather than on behalf of retailers. The Sunday Times reports it plans to reach 70,000 cars within a year – placing it in direct competition with Cazoo. Executive chairman Avril Palmer-Baunack said Cinch will have more cars on its platform than Cazoo, and £25m is to be spent on advertising.
WORLD NEWS
US DMS CEO in money-laundering charge
Robert T. Brockman, CEO of Reynolds and Reynolds DMS company, has been charged with tax evasion and money laundering. It is suggested the prosecution may be the largest of its kind in US history. Mr Brockman denies the charges, which stretch back 20 years and total around $2bn.
The allegations are separate to his professional responsibilities with Reynolds and Reynolds, said the company, which is the largest private DMS firm in the US. Mr Reynolds continues to serve as its chairman and CEO.
Ireland’s ‘anti-car Budget’
A Cork retailer has described Ireland’s 2021 Budget, which is effective from 1 January, as an “unjust attack” on the automotive sector. Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) bands grow from today’s 11 up to 20, with low CO2 cars rewarded but those emitting over 191g/km subject to 37% tax. The Society of the Irish Motor Industry says average car prices will rise by €1,000.
Blackwood Motors of Cork’s Denis Murphy said the Budget was “anti-car, anti-rural and anti-Cork” and noted Ireland already has the second most expensive cars in Ireland.
STOCKWATCH
Closing prices on 16 October 2020 and weekly change
Lookers issues positive trading update but delays results until November
Auto Trader Group 582.0p (+12.6p / +2.1%)
Cambria 51.5p (+1.0p / +1.5%)
Caffyns 270.0p (n/c)
Halfords 235.0p (-6.5p / -2.7%)
Inchcape 478.0p (-3.2p / -0.6%)
Lookers Shares suspended at 21.0p
Marshall Motor Holdings 127.5p (+7.5p / +6.0%)
Motorpoint 283.0p (-20.0p / -6.8%)
Pendragon 10.04p (+0.69p / +7.2%)
Vertu 30.45p (+0.55p / +1.8%)
COMING UP
Wednesday, UK CPI, RPI
Thursday, retail sales
MONEY MATTERS
FCA proposes new coronavirus help
New proposals have been published by the FCA on how firms should help finance customers in financial difficulty due to coronavirus after 31 October 2020. Measures include allowing reduced or no repayments for a specified period, deferment of arrears and flexibility in interest charges.
They are similar to temporary measures introduced in May – but firms are not now expected to proactively contact customers who miss payments. They should instead encourage those in financial difficulty to make contact in communications and on their website. Comments on the proposals are open until 5pm this Tuesday, 20 October.
EV servicing ‘30% cheaper’
GUEST BLOG: Forget Covid, think trade – by Robert Forrester
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