01 December 2019

• CAZOO TO GO LIVE THIS WEEK
• BATTERY LIFE REPORT CALL FOR EVS
• ARNOLD CLARK ‘TOP 25 EMPLOYER’
• INCHCAPE JLR DERBY TO OPEN SOON
• WORLD NEWS – Audi, Daimler cut jobs
• STOCKWATCH – Motorpoint falls on H1 trading update
• LAUNCH DIARY – Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Concorde, Subaru Forester E-Boxer
• COMING UP – November new car registrations
• MONEY MATTERS – Pay growth slows, Bosch buys Unipart Car Care Centres

Cazoo to go live this week

Almost exactly a year after it was founded, Cazoo, the online used car retailer, will see its website start to sell cars this week. Sources close to the project have told Auto Retail Agenda this could be as soon as Monday or Tuesday (2 or 3 December).

Cazoo was founded by Alex Chesterman, the entrepreneur behind property sales platform Zoopla. The firm has raised £55 million in funding and is launching two months later than it originally stated.

The online used car dealer is understood to have stockpiled more than 3,000 cars ready for the launch.

Cazoo aims to retail, lease and finance cars online, deliver them to a buyer’s home within 48 hours, and will offer a seven-day no charge return policy. Under distance selling regulations, consumers buying goods online have the right to cancel their order up to 14 days after delivery.

A Cazoo spokesman would not confirm the exact launch day, saying only that it would make a statement on Monday.

Richard Hollis, Jardine Motors’ head of used cars, speaking at the Vehicle Remarketing Association conference last week and commenting on Cazoo’s entry to the market, welcomed the new player as it would raise the awareness of online used car sales for the whole industry.

“There’s a lot of consumers today who are not aware that there’s a different way of acquiring a vehicle. Especially in the used market. And potentially somebody like a Cazoo who, I can only assume are going to spend quite a lot of money building that brand will educate the consumer that there is a different process to go through and I think that’s good news that every single car dealer. If that consumer gets more knowledge that we can actually do things this way.”

Battery life report call for EVs

Retailers could be forced to display a battery condition report when selling used EVs, according to experts at the VRA conference.

For full electric cars, the amount of life left (ability to store energy) in a battery is likely to have a marked impact on its value.

Speaking at last week’s VRA meeting, professor Paul Jennings of Warwick University said: “You have to remember that battery life depends on the type of use [not just mileage] and we need to model battery life to work out how they perform rather than just wait and see what happens.”

Matt Freeman, Cap HPI consultant, added: “The information about a battery’s life will have an impact on the residual value and will have to be made available to consumers. It needs to be available to the buyer and if this isn’t done freely and openly by the manufacturer or the retailer then it will probably be legislated for.

“There needs to be a technical solution for this, just like there is a service record for any other car.”

Arnold Clark ‘top 25 employer’

Arnold Clark has been rated one of the UK’s top employers. The survey by Indeed, the world’s biggest jobs site, is based on reviews written by “tens of thousands” of staff. The jobs site said all top 25 firm scored highly across all areas, including work-life balance and a positive work culture. Employees, it added, are increasingly researching such factors before applying for jobs. Rentokil Initial topped the list, ahead of Apple and the Agincare Group.

 
 
Inchcape JLR Derby to open soon

Inchcape Jaguar Land Rover Derby is set to open this month on the site of a former cattle market. The two-storey JLR ‘concept store’ will sell both brands and also house an SV Specialist Centre. The new site replaces separate Jaguar and Land Rover retailers in Derby and will create 40 additional full-time jobs. Inchcape is believed to be planning an additional retailer on the remaining land.

WORLD NEWS

Daimler cuts jobs

Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler AG will cut at least 10,000 jobs worldwide as part of plans to reduce staff costs by €1.4bn (£1.2bn) by the end of 2022. Management positions will be reduced by 10%. Daimler, which globally employs around 300,000 people, has pledged to make the cuts in a socially responsible way, including natural fluctuation. Earlier last week, Audi said it will cut 9,500 jobs in Germany.

Car configurator ‘frustration’ for US retailers

US car buyers, accustomed to visiting retailers and driving away in the car of their choice, are becoming frustrated with OEM new car configurators, reports J.D. Power. They will “not find it on the dealer lot” said its chief digital officer Bernardo Rodriguez. Customers are increasingly walking away as a result – or demanding discounts on in-stock vehicles near to their chosen spec. He advised OEMs to simplify product lines and dealers to manage inventory more closely.

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Tags: Arnold Clark, Aston Martin, Audi, Bosch, Cap HPI, Cazoo, Daimler, Inchcape, JLR, Motorpoint, Subaru, VRA