Auto Retail Profit earlier this year investigated why energy management is essential in 2022. Subscribers can read where to start if they want to cut their bills.

https://bit.ly/3qSX0rX

Two former Aston Martin retailers have filed a lawsuit against the firm claiming they are owed £150m for underwriting the Valkyrie hypercar. Details are private but Swiss company Nebula Project AG is understood to have been guaranteed royalty payments of around 3% (or £150m) on sales of the Valkyrie, the Valhalla and a third supercar. Aston Martin last year claimed Nebula withheld customer deposits and sued it to reclaim £15m it said it was owed; it also cancelled the contract.

The Nebula suite, says Aston Martin, is “retaliatory and without merit”.

https://on.ft.com/3duXqlg

Configurator tech firm sues Rolls-Royce

A German software firm has sued Rolls-Royce and BMW over the termination of a contract to make a digital configurator for the Ghost – and the £7.9m civil dispute has now escalated to a criminal complaint to prosecutors in Munich over what it says is illegal use of its systems. BMW has called it “an attempt to exert pressure in order to reach a commercial agreement”.

https://bit.ly/3ScacUx

 

WORLD NEWS

Ford demands retailers invest in EV 

Ford has demanded US retailers set no-haggle prices on EVs and invest up to $1.2m to keep on selling them beyond 2023. It’s given retailers until 31 October to opt into one of two EV certification tiers covering staff training and fast charger investment. Retailers who do not invest will be restricted to selling just internal combustion and hybrid Fords. The non-negotiable prices are designed to wipe out what CEO Jim Farley says is a $2k disadvantage against direct-sale brands such as Tesla.

One retailer said the reaction from dealers was optimistic.

Ford premium brand Lincoln has also revealed it expects further retailer consolidation, from 1,000 sites in 2017 to 600 by the end of 2022. The brand has no plans to offer a formal buyout programme, unlike some rivals.

https://bit.ly/3RRsevr

 

Hedin acquires Belgian Mercedes-Benz retailers

Hedin Mobility Group’s Belgian subsidiary has completed the acquisition of four Mercedes-Benz retailers from Mercedes-Benz Group. Hedin operates 19 Mercedes-Benz retailers in Belgium and is the country’s largest retailer for the brand.

 

 

STOCKWATCH

Closing prices on 16 September 2022 and weekly change

Auto Trader Group 614.2p (-44.2p / -6.9%)

Caffyns 550.0p (n/c)

Halfords 156.9p (+2.2p / +1.4%)

Inchcape 737.0p (-15.0p / -2.0%)

Lookers 80.0p (+1.0p / +1.2%)

Motorpoint 186.5p (-6.0p / -3.1%)

Pendragon 21.6p (+0.7p / +3.2%)

Vertu 43.75p (-1.75p / -3.9%)

 

COMING UP

Wednesday, Lookers H1 results

Thursday, Bank of England interest rate decision

Friday, Auto Retail Live

Friday, ‘mini-budget’ expected

Friday, GfK consumer confidence

 

 

MONEY MATTERS

Fiscal event ‘mini budget’ on Friday

The Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates by as much as three-quarters of a percentage point, to 2.5%, on Thursday. The following day, chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will deliver a ‘mini-budget’.

He is expected to outline a fiscal stimulus that will pump £150bn into the economy to help households and businesses tackle the energy crisis. He is expected to cancel the April 2022 rise in national insurance, making it the third change in workers’ take home pay this year. For anyone who has had a pay rise, it will be the fourth change.

He will also cut taxes, and could bring forward the 1p in the pound cut to the basic rate of income tax promised by Rishi Sunak in 2024.

https://bit.ly/3dnbRYF

 

Misery index falls

The misery index, a combination of unemployment and inflation rates, has fallen. CPI was down from 10.1% to 9.9% last month, and unemployment fell from 3.8% to 3.6% – “pretty much as close to full employment as you can get”. The fall will probably not last, warn economists.

https://bit.ly/3dlM1Em