As showrooms reopened, April saw the expected huge rise in registrations compared with the first full lockdown month of last year, but volumes are still some 12.9% down on the decade average. There is...

With the new car market having found a small sweet spot of pent-up demand, the SMMT has raised its forecast for the year to 1.86 million units by the end of the year, up 13.9% on the end of the year....

The NFDA and SMMT have published updated restart guidance for retailers. The ‘best-practice’ guide, now in its fourth edition (link below), covers the entire customer experience and has been...

  RELIEVED RETAILERS REOPEN SAFELY TWO RETAILERS CELEBRATE LANDMARKS GLASGOW MOTORPOINT SOLD CLAIMS MANAGEMENT COMPANY COMMISSION WARNING POLESTAR RETAILER SUSTAINABILITY DECLARATIONS SPAIN...

The headline figure for March registrations might be one of overall growth, with the total up 11.5% over the same month in 2020, but the retail element within that total was down by 4.1%. And the...

March 2021 new car registrations are set to be up 10% despite retailers remaining closed. The forecast for 280k sales is “testament to dealers rapidly embracing online sales and click-and-collect...

  NEW CAR SALES TO JUMP – BUT POST-LOCKDOWN BOOM ‘UNLIKELY’ DS PILOTS NEW AFTERSALES NETWORK ‘MOST RETAILERS WERE PROFITABLE IN 2020’ CAZOO ‘THE CARVANA OF EUROPE’ NFDA TO ADVISE ON...

Lockdown has seen another poor month for registrations, depressing the market ahead of the crucial March plate-change. Retail registrations were down 37.3% in February compared with the same month...

The impact of the January lockdown was laid bare by the month’s figures for new car registrations, with big falls across the board compared with the same month last year. Retail registrations were...

The publication of the December registrations figures brought full clarity to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the 2020 new car market, which dropped to 1.63 million, down 29.4% on 2019. Retail...

  VAT BREXIT WARNING FROM NI RETAILERS KNIGHTS FOUNDER JOINS WILLIAM MORGAN DARREN GUIVER INVESTS IN MONEYSHAKE NEW CAR SALES SLUMP; 2021 FORECAST TO BE CUT FRENCH SALES DOWN 12% DESPITE...

England’s new Tier 4 restrictions have been descried as “another blow to Covid-secure auto retail” by SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes, who added with frustration: “But you can still buy your...

With online sales processes and ‘click and collect’ services firmly in place following the first lockdown period, retailers will surely have been hoping for a less impactful second lockdown. But...

Retail registrations rose a modest 0.4% in October, but retailers will surely have been hoping for more given that October 2019 was itself a weak month. The market wasn’t helped by the...

Robert Forrester, Daksh Gupta, Mike Hawes and Sue Robinson have all criticised the lockdown measures to be introduced on Thursday 5 November, which sees auto retailer showrooms forced to close. Mr...

  AUTO INDUSTRY SLAMS LOCKDOWN DECISION LLOYD PROFIT FALLS 24% IGA SHORTLISTED FOR COVID CHAMPION AWARD AUTO RETAIL LIVE TO DISCUSS LOCKDOWN FRENCH RETAILER LOCKDOWN BLOW GROUP 1’S HESTERBERG:...

  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...

Commentators are bemoaning the weakest ever ‘new plate’ September following a 4.4% drop in new car registrations, but the true picture is rarely as simplistic as the headlines. It should be noted...

The headline figures for registrations in August might on the surface look disappointing, with the month finishing 5.8% down compared with 2019. But the retail element of those registrations was down...

The used car market figures don’t look good, but there is always more to the situation than one alarming statistic According to the SMMT, the UK’s used car market declined by 48.9% in Q2, falling...