Demand for used vans ‘rocketed’ in December as twitchy buyers switched away from buying new. That’s the view of Shoreham Auctions which said reduced economic confidence helped strengthen the used LCV market in December and January. The market for new vans has taken a hit. Yesterday the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Trders reported new van sales down 20% due ...

The proportion of used hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) stocked by dealers reached record levels in January. The two accounted for 17% of listings on Motors, up from 12% last January. The growth in inventory share was led by hybrids, up from 8% to 11% year-on-year (YoY), while EVs grew from 5% to 6%. Both fuel types have gained at ...

The UK automotive market is no stranger to disruption, having weathered changing consumer preferences, environmental legislation, and the shift toward electrification. However, the rise of Chinese automotive brands represents a unique opportunity for UK car dealers. One thing is clear: disruption creates opportunity, and successful businesses will seize these opportunities to drive growth. According to recent surveys, dealers believe that ...

Light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales fell by -20.5% in January with 19,050 vans, pick-ups and 4x4s registered. The Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT), which released the figures, said it was the second consecutive monthly decline following strong growth in 2024. It forecast that sales would fall by -1.2% to 348,000 units against a tough economic backdrop with weakened ...

January saw new car registrations get off to a weak start, falling for the fourth consecutive month but there were contrasting performances among carmakers with winners and losers. Chinese brand BYD started 2025 as it had finished last year with the strongest performance of any brand, up 550% to 1,614 car sales. In second place was EV maker, Geely-owned Polestar ...

Car sales fell 2.5% in January, the fourth consecutive month of decline. Registrations by both fleet and private buyers were down in the month, by -3.7% and -0.5% respectively. Petrol car registrations dropped by -15.3% to comprise just over half (50.3%) the market, with diesel down -7.7% to claim a 6.2% share, according to figures from the Society of Motor ...

Steve Franklin has been appointed as commercial director of Santander Consumer Finance. Franklin was most recently chief commercial officer for Santander Consumer Finance Nordics, responsible for operations across four countries, making it one of the business’ largest international divisions. Prior to that he was commercial director of Hyundai Capital UK, the captive finance company for Hyundai Motor UK, Kia UK ...

Headline news in the Dutch press last week was that the Louwman Group had cut all ties with Stellantis, terminating the Opel and Peugeot franchises at retail level from March 1st.  This affects a number of dealerships including some acquired just two years ago, formerly Orange Motors.  I am not privy to the reasons behind the decision, nor to what ...

Paul Stapylton has joined Glyn Hopkin Group as group operations director. He previously worked with Marshall Group where he had been for 17 years as franchise director. He also served at Motorline as a franchise director for Nissan and Hyundai and before that as operations director of Toyota and Lexus and operations director for Volkswagen and Skoda. On his departure ...

The Radius Law annual conference on legal issues in the motor sector takes place in May covering a wide spectrum of tops with live sessions and panel discussions. Check out the Interview with Iain Larkins, director Radius Law, outlining his plans this year for the Annual Conference – Business & Law Update for the Automotive Sector. Larkins founded Radius Law ...