Dealers challenged by stock availability and consumer uncertainty

Two thirds of dealers consider consumer uncertainty and the availability of suitable stock to be the biggest challenges they face in 2020.

And one in five dealers cite achieving margin in an increasingly competitive market as a key challenge to overcome in the year ahead, according to the latest NextGear Capital sentiment survey.

Despite the surge in demand for alternative fuelled vehicles (AFVs), less than one in 10 dealers saw AFVs as a major challenge in 2020

The majority of dealers said they planned to invest in their businesses throughout the year to overcome the challenges.

More than half of the dealers said they would invest in additional stock and marketing and social media tools to help sell that extra stock.

And a third planned to invest in infrastructure to support AFVs on their forecourt, while one in 10 planned to invest in wholesale funding to enable business expansion.

Liam Quegan, NextGear Capital managing director, said: “With the UK only recently exiting the EU and now facing the threat posed by the Coronavirus, it’s not surprising to see dealers highlighting consumer uncertainty as a major challenge in 2020.

“The Coronavirus brings with it a large degree of economic uncertainty, certainly within the short term, and adds another variable to the challenges dealers currently face within the market.

“There are also various market factors putting pressure on stock availability and dealers are therefore right to recognise that they will have to work hard to source the right stock at the right price.”