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It came as no surprise that the February car sales figures fell with showrooms shut for business. Although, the decline was smaller than it might have been as more dealers used digital tools and click and collect to transact business.
The problem for dealers is that showrooms are not set to open until April, and they will miss out on the critically important March plate-change, which accounts for a fifth of annual registrations.
The trade bodies have lobbied for showrooms to open. The National Franchised Dealers Association described as ‘very disappointing” the government decision not to reopen until April.
The NFDA had lobbied government, arguing that dealerships have a lot of outdoor space on the forecourt and already have social distancing procedures in place for employees and customers. But it is not to be.
There was some welcome news in the Budget this month with the announcement that furlough will be extended until the end of September, for those dealers that need to avail of it.
And there are lots of dealers who need the help. Many are suffering, and they need all the help they can get. The offer of further relief on VAT and business rates is also welcome for many businesses.
This month we take our annual look at the Top 200 Dealer Groups in the UK, ranked by turnover. It has its highs and lows.
On the upside the combined MT Top 200 turnover is up 1.9% to £76.6bn, but the rate of growth has tailed off for three surveys running. The average return on sales for the entire MT Top 200 declined for the fifth year running to 0.78%.
Return on sales for this survey’s Top 25 performers was like previous surveys ranging from 1.6% to 4.6%.