07 September 2015

I’ve spent the past week or so trying to balance different impressions of the auto retail market. 

On the one side we’ve seen yet another month of new car registrations growth coupled to some positive stock market statements both about profitability and also the under-valuing of auto retailer shares. 

On the flip-side, we’ve seen increasing warnings (mostly from the guides) about pre-registrations, ‘requests’ from manufacturers to ‘invest’ in upgraded premises and the wider retail market fall.

The feedback I’ve been getting is that September and the new 65-plate will also be a good one for retailers in terms of volume.

The question however remains that if retailers are clearly very good at selling cars to customers, how much more profitable would they be if manufacturers put less pressure on retailers? 

If the relationship between retailers and manufacturers was better, would a greater, or fewer, number of cars be sold? And would these be sold with a greater profit margin?

If you think you know the answer, then we’d love to hear your thoughts.

Tristan Young

Editorial Director

Auto Retail Network

Tags: 65-plate, manufacturers, New car registrations, pre-registrations, relationship, Retailers, September