Automotive industry advisor ASE Automotive Solutions has opened an office in Sydney, Australia, as part of its on-going global expansion.
Suggestions that Ford car retailers could go out of business as the result of a Brexit-related change to the brand’s VAT invoicing have been branded as “scaremongering”.
Ford retailers who are unable to find £750,000-per-dealership site to fund a post-Brexit change to the brand’s VAT invoicing regime could be forced out of business, it has been claimed.
The average UK car retailer delivered a £28,000 year-on-year swing to profitability in August to ensure “a profitable 2020 seems very much in reach for the average retailer”, according to ASE.
ASE Automotive Solutions has secured its largest international agreement with Jaguar Land Rover.
The strength of the car retail sector’s bounce back recovery from the UK’s full COVID-19 lockdown period could make businesses ineligible for Job Support Scheme (JSS), it is feared.
The average UK car retailer recovered more than half of the losses suffered during a Q2 trading period devastated by the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown, according to ASE Global.
A 26% increase in June profits helped the average UK car dealer to claw-back COVID-19 losses which amounted to around £100,000, according to ASE’s latest market insight.
Car dealers are among businesses across the UK who have been told that they must pay back any overclaimed funds from Government’s coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) – deleting any online claims made in error within 72 hours.
ASE chairman Mike Jones has urged car retailers to focus on their "cash position" after the sector's businesses lost an average of £63,000 during April’s COVID-19 lockdown.
Dealers are being urged to have a ‘second wave plan’ to deal with the prospect of a another COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown later this year.
Car retailers who have sought government support during the COVID-19 lockdown period are being warned to be on their guard as scammers posing as the HMRC launch an opportunistic fraud campaign.
The initial impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic resulted in a 43% decline in profitability for UK car retailers during the key March number plate change month, ASE data has revealed.
While used car performance helped to deliver stable levels of profit and volume in 2019 there have been some signs of an early wobble in 2020 with pressure on petrol values in particular.
Franchised car retailers have been accused of abusing the Government’s Job Retention Scheme (JRS) as businesses across the UK prepare for the opening of the HMRC's portal to register for the salary support.
Car dealers focussing on what should have been a busy numberplate change month of March suffered a £17,500 loss for the month prior to of the outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus, ASE has reported.
The rate of “cash burn” within automotive sector businesses will come under close scrutiny during the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown, according to GlobalData.
Dealers will need cashflow to bridge the gap until the Government’s business and employee support funds drop in, however they must resist a fire sale of stock, ASE Global’s chairman Mike Jones has warned.
Car retail staff will be among the UK employees whose commission-led monthly salaries will be detrimental to their income as “furloughed workers” as part of the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
More motor retail industry suppliers are pulling out the stops to help their dealer customers as the majority of the UK population is ordered to stay home while the coronavirus threat remains.
