LSH Auto boss Martyn Webb says car dealer COVID tests play an important role in the sector’s fight against the pandemic, as showrooms prepare to open next month.
Vertu Motors chief executive Robert Forrester has insisted that his business is not making a switch to online car sales after a 360% rise in end-to-end digital transactions in 2020.
Car dealers should be braced for “a third, successive dismal new plate month” in March after COVID-19 ‘Lockdown 3’ delivered another 35.5% decline to the UK’s new car registrations in February.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has pledged to continue to support businesses and jobs in a “fair and honest” 2021 Budget, but corporation tax rises are on the horizon.
A What Car? survey of 2,359 in-market car buyers has found that 59% are now poised to purchase on April 12 following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement on the re-opening of retail after COVID-19 ‘Lockdown 3’.
AM100 car retail PLC Cambria Automobiles has reported that it has been “trading ahead” of its previous financial year during the first five months of its 2020/21 reporting period.
Orders placed for new vehicles fell by 18.3% in February and used dropped by 30% according to the latest figures from lead management firm, Dealerweb.
Car retail's switch to omnichannel retailing during successive COVID-19 lockdowns have ensured that used cars buyers have “never had it so good”, according to CarShop CEO, Nigel Hurley.
Cap HPI has said that a realignment of used car price values was “always likely” after it reported a fifth consecutive month of declining vehicle prices across the sector.
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) chief executive, Mike Hawes, has suggested that the immediate re-opening car dealerships represents the “fastest way to UK automotive manufacturing recovery”.
Car dealers across Scotland have been left “bitterly disappointed” by news that showrooms are unlikely to be allowed to re-open their doors to customers until April 26.
Further clarification on the legality of car sales test drive provision has prompted rendered the decision over whether to offer customers contact with vehicles “a purely moral decision”, it has been claimed.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic resulted in Europe’s lowest January new car registrations total since 1982 – down 26% year-on-year to just 839,600 units.
Franchised car dealers emerged as the automotive retail sector’s most trusted operators as 95% of car buyers told What Car? they were comfortable with the prospect of visiting showrooms when ‘COVID-19 ‘Lockdown 3’ is lifted.
We have a date. There is an end in sight. Lockdown 3 trading for car dealers will end on April 12.
A car is purchased every nine minutes with the most popular time to buy a vehicle between 10am and midday, according to data by GForces.
Car retail group bosses from Cambria, JCB Group and Arbury Group were among those hoping that news of showrooms re-openings on April 12 will be the start of a prolonged bounce-back from COVID-19 ‘Lockdown 3’.
The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) has received confirmation that car buyers in Scotland can now complete their purchase with a scheduled click and collect handover inside a dealership's showroom.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just set out his four step plan to bring England out of the latest COVID-19 lockdown, allowing non-essential retailers - such as car showrooms - to reopen no sooner than April 12.
The coronavirus pandemic drove a 103% uplift in demand for new car deliveries, according to AnyVan.
