Blogs

Dealers should see the car market in 2020 in a more stable condition than the last few years. Exchange rates are likely to remain at a level that discourages manufacturers from forcing registrations into the UK, and the SMMT’s forecast of 2.25M registrations in 2020, down just -1.2% on 2019, looks reasonable. Diesel car registration share will fall a little ...

The February issue of Motor Trader includes the now well established Top 50 Movers & Shakers where we do our best to pick out the people who have influenced the business over the past year and look set to do the same in 2020. Many of these Top 50 individuals will be looking closely at how new car sales are ...

James Fairclough, CEO at AA Cars Could 2020 be the year the UK electric car market reaches a major milestone, and hit 5% of new car sales for the first time? The fast-evolving market forces point to it, as the introduction of Clean Air Zones, new models on the market and impassioned campaigning for stronger CO2 regulations mean the stars ...

The latest SMMT figures show a surge in alternatively fuelled vehicle (AFV) registrations in 2019. Those 170,434 registrations represented a record market share of 7.4% compared to 6% in 2018. But the SMMT data also shows the UK new car fleet average CO2 rose for a third successive year, by +2.7% to 127.9g/km. This is a worrying trend in light ...

In the 11 months to November 2019, the UK saw a declining new vehicle market of 2.7% versus the prior year. However, within this, battery electric vehicles increased their market share by 135.6% taking them to 1.5% of the overall UK market. The NFDA is working with retailers to help them achieve Electric Vehicle Approved (EVA) status. EVA is a ...

Paul O’Donoghue is vice president solution engineering at Uberall Car buyers used to visit five dealerships before making a purchase, but that number has now dropped to roughly two visits or less, according to McKinsey’s auto shopper survey. Consumers are researching thoroughly online before even considering stepping foot into a car showroom, with nine out of 10 car buyers going ...

New car registration figures for November don’t come as a huge surprise; it’s a continuation of the trend that we’ve seen in recent months, but it does highlight the significant challenges facing the UK car retail market. Manufacturers are coming up against unprecedented cost hurdles as they take the journey towards the electrification of their fleet and also fight to ...

The pace of development in digital technology is having a dramatic impact in the aftersales space. An increasing number of tools and sensors are available that can test a vehicle’s condition and performance in highly sensitive and sophisticated ways. And vehicles are becoming smarter with onboard sensors that collect data on a car’s performance while it is being drive. Such ...

Motor dealers have seen a fall in their pay over the past year as commissions and incentives were cut. This is not surprising given the pressure on the new car market. Even the used car market has felt the pain in recent months with a fall in values hitting the bottom line. The pay pain was felt at the top. ...

The electric vehicle (EV) revolution has yet to get into its stride in the UK, largely due to affordability. The inevitable change will begin when used car buyers see electric cars as affordable alternatives to internal combustion power. Today, the optimal price for used car consumers appears to be around £5,995.  For many of course, the affordability level is much ...