Car Dealer Magazine: Issue 114

FIRST DRIVE: BMW’S COMPACT DROP-TOP GETS A REFRESH

Issue 114 | September 2017 | CarDealerMag.co.uk | £3.50

r e v o R Range

R A L E V

OT NOW WE’VE G S ESTATE DRIVER , IN OUR SIGHTS SAYS JLR BOSS

PLUS: BIG MIKE LOOKS BACK IN HIS 100TH COLUMN

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EDITORIAL HEAD OF EDITORIAL Rebecca Chaplin

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HEAD OF DESIGN Graeme Windell

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PRODUCTION EDITOR Dave Brown

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FEATURES EDITOR Jack Evans

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SENIOR STAFF WRITER Darren Cassey

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STAFF WRITER Simon Davis

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MANAGING DIRECTOR BLACKBALL MEDIA Andy Entwistle andy@blackballmedia.co.uk Twitter: @CarDealerAndy Contributors

Felicity Bestwick, John Bowman, Jess Ernerth, Jack Healy, Jon Reay, Tristan Shale-Hester, Ted Welford

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been a lot of WELCOME. THERE’S motoring news again this month, and recent stories and headlines have left huge questions to be answered about consumer attitudes and the future of car sales. Our first impression is that what is being said isn’t really what will happen, but only time will tell.

I’m talking, of course, about the announcement that new petrol and diesel cars will be banned from sale in 2040.

In my opinion, it’s ridiculous. I mean, what manufacturer will even be making new petrol and diesel cars in 2040?

The emissions regulations they’ll need to meet 23 years from now will be so stringent that even Volkswagen won’t be able to fool the testers.

Other countries are so far ahead of where we are with alternatively-fuelled vehicles that they’re driving the agenda of car manufacturing. Unfortunately, we’ll have to catch up.

What’s more ridiculous is the attitude of those people who think we can’t do this. The two main arguments I’ve heard so far are that ‘people don’t want to drive electric cars’ and ‘the infrastructure can’t cope with charging’.

People do want to drive electric cars. I’m seeing more and more people learning to drive in electric cars. And why not?

Does it matter if you can only drive a manual any more?

You’ll read all about a recent Tesla adventure I embarked on from p46, but if you think the miles don’t quite add up once you’ve read my sparkling prose, it’s because I omitted one bit. I have a 28-year-old friend who has no interest in cars, but on my way back from Cornwall I texted him to ask if he wanted to see the Model S. An instant reply: ‘F*** yes.’

His words were, ‘if you’d had a Ferrari for the weekend I wouldn’t have cared, but this is unbelievably cool’.

He doesn’t want to drive, but has to. He wants to play his music and let the car do the work.

To the second point, people won’t be charging every

night. I’m willing to be proved wrong on this one, but most of the time people will drive short distances and that’ll mean they will only need to charge their cars once or twice a week at most.

Therefore not everyone in the country will be plugging in their Nissan Leaf at 5pm every single day.

Sometimes they’ll charge at work, sometimes at the shops and, yes, sometimes at home.

Maybe I’m dreaming too big, but more than anything, I think people will want to drive electric cars because they’ll be just as appealing as every traditionally-powered model that’s currently on the market.

Don’t get me wrong, I won’t be scrapping the Thunderbird I recently imported, but the chances are we’ll be out of petrol by then anyway so it’ll be nothing more than a large ornament (still).

No idea what I’m talking about? Luckily, we’ve covered the whole affair in a big electric cars feature (turn to p44).

I’ve had my rant, now I’d love to hear yours. If you’re worried, not worried, or simply infuriated by my completely incorrect comments, please let me know by dropping me an email using the address on the left.

If you want to tell me to my face, don’t forget to enter the Used Car Awards (clumsy segue). There are details on p20 and more chances to win than ever before with some new categories! Make sure you get your entries in as soon as possible to avoid missing out!

Enjoy the issue.

Rebecca Chaplin Head of Editorial

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 03

Make sure you’re properly covered.

Then you can focus on moving your business forward.

It’s good business sense.

Call

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We take the latest Tesla Model S 100D on a Great British holiday as part of a special 11-page section on electric cars

INSIDE. ISSUE 114 I SEPTEMBER 2017

Dashboard

06 Dealer gives car to disabled mum 08 A Perfect Partnership 10 Around the UK 14 So You Wanna Be A Car Dealer? 18 Used Car Awards 20 Rebecca Chaplin 27 Around the World 29 Finance 32 Big Mike 36 Feedback

78 14

Forecourt

Meet a Mitsubishi superfan... and check out the rest of the news in our UK round-up

36

It’s Big Mike’s 100th column! What’s changed in the time he’s been writing for Car Dealer?

42

‘‘

A modern-day hot hatch for sale in Real Deals

BMW 2 Series Convertible Range Rover Velar Hyundai i30 Tourer

‘Dieselgate’ scandal continues to linger like a toxic carbon monoxide cloud.

Feature Will we be ready for 2040?

Data File 84 Car Dealer Club

James Litton

The Statistics Auctions Taking Stock A Global View Market Insight Recruitment Suppliers Guide Key Notes with Traka Long-termers

Why Aidan Rennie-Jones thinks Hyundai’s new i30 Tourer is a breath of fresh air compared with the car it replaces

James Baggott

39 40 42 44

72 74 76 77 80 81 83 84 86 87 90

OUR EVENTS...

As voted for by dealers, Car Dealer Power is unique. It’s all over for 2017 but you can go online to bit.ly/winners-2017 to find out who won the trophies this year.

The Car Dealer Used Car Awards, sponsored by Black Horse, celebrate the used car industry.

To find out more about this year’s event, turn to pages 20-21.

The UK’s biggest and best automotive trade expo features the Live Stage, breakout sessions, workshops and more. Planning is well under way – visit cardealerexpo.co.uk for more info.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 05

FEEDBACK. Your comments via email to dave@blackballmedia.co.uk

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Forum CarDealerMagazine.co.uk/forum

Are we sales people, or just order takers?

ANY salesman who has had a successful career in car sales can remember their very first sale. The first time they felt the buzz of sealing a deal with a customer, drawing up the paperwork, thinking about that first commission, and starting on the rollercoaster path of pushing tin.

It was the summer of 1998 and I was helping my father at his Skoda dealership during time off from university. I recall a middle-aged chap walking in one lunchtime, in the market for a new car after seeing our ad in the local paper.

I introduced myself, showed the man around a few different trim lines, completed a test-drive, talked part-exchange figures and signed him up for a new Felicia LX in silver.

No computers, no internet, just old-fashioned banter and some pen and paper.

Twenty years on and technology has clearly played its part in not just evolving the products in the showroom, but how the whole sales experience plays out. With the wealth of online PDF brochures, YouTube channels, websites and blogs to trawl through, it’s a bit of a nonstatement to say the customer ‘knows’ more than the salesman when he walks into the showroom to place his order.

Not too long ago I was talking with a sales manager at a VW dealership where I was told that product knowledge was not high on the agenda of his sales staff’s skills, as customers generally ‘know what they’re buying’.

Personally, I was rather disheartened by this; I used to take great pride in truly knowing what I was selling: from the poverty models all the way through to the flagship cars and the plethora of different option packs you could chuck at them.

One of the greatest tools a good salesman would have in his armoury would be the ability to build a strong and long-lasting relationship with his customer.

But, where is the customer who would walk in after 12 months, or two years, go to his salesman and ask him for a new car? When was the last time you heard a salesman greet his customer and say: ‘I’ve got just the car for you, Mr Smith,

Picture month Pictureofofthe the month

Apprentices at Blackball Media really do have a unique learning experience. Here you can see Adam Weller learning a key motoring fact: The Caterham Seven 310S is not the world’s most practical car. As editorial assistant Aidan Rennie-Jones fiddles with the car’s starting mechanism, Ted Welford struggles to close the door on his fellow trainee. Due to the unforeseen complications of this lunchbreak trip, Weller decided not to get out of the car once they had reached the local branch of Tesco, for fear that he wouldn’t be able to get back in!

come this way.’ Probably not the phrase you’ll hear coming out of the mouth of the salesman at your local Ford dealer any more, is it?

With today’s customer already confident of what they want, and having a good idea of what they want to be paying, is it now less about building the relationship that will last and more about how fast the pen can hit the order form without making the customer feel he is being taken for granted?

Of course, you don’t even need to go into a showroom any more to buy either a new or used car… or even speak to a salesman if you don’t want to.

While technology may have empowered the customer, it certainly seems to have been at the cost of the aptitude of the sales staff.

So, have today’s sales staff, armed with their iPad and sales script, merely become order takers, rather than bona fide sales people?

I’ll let you decide.

Richard Hilton

Sunday trading: Is it worth it?

Sunday is my most hated day, I know the old cliché is that all we get are tyre kickers and people wasting a few hours before their roast dinner but it actually does seem to be the case

Top tweets A new V6 engine that produces 354PS all wrapped up in a powerful visual statement, the new Audi S5 is definitely our #WednesdayWant Marshall Audi @MarshallAudi We just can’t get enough of the All New Ford Fiesta! Not only does it look good it’s got loads of smart tech too :) #fordfiesta #allnew TrustFord @TrustFordUK Company car drivers should order their new vehicle 2-3 months ahead of time due to increasing manufacturer lead times.

Aston Barclay @AstonAuctions 06 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Noise pollution is unacceptable no matter where you are. What would you enjoy about a noise-free city? #ElectrifyTheWorld #NissanElectric Nissan Electric UK @NissanEV_UK The SsangYong Korando has a car buyer’s rating of 4.3/5 on carbuyer! We have the NEW Korando from just £232pm!

Desira Group @desiragroup We’re so confident in the Isuzu D-max, we gave it a 5-year, 125,000-mile warranty.

Isuzu @Isuzuuk

for my dealership. During the week we are manic.

Saturday can be a so-so day, but Sunday is painful. How does everyone else find it?

Dan W We have been closed on Sundays for two years now. It is great for staff morale and communication within the business, too.

We analysed the deals done on a Sunday over a six-month period before coming to the conclusion that most Sunday sales came from people who we either dealt with on the Saturday or who we had been dealing with during the week. Now being closed Sundays ensures that the deals are done on the Saturday or the Monday. It has also made Fridays really busy for retail customers too, which even I don’t fully understand. Analyse it yourself and see where everyone is coming from, poll your Facebook followers and make a decision from there. jimreidvehicle I’m a one-man band with my compound next to me. I stopped doing Sundays three years ago. If your cars are right and your prices are right, the genuine punters will still be there on Monday.

BHM

Buyers and their bad habits What really annoys you about customers?

When the car is, in their words, perfect for them: in budget, the best one within 40 miles, their favourite colour, the right spec, mint, they researched it and turned up on it, I haven’t talked them into viewing it... and they need to think about it. What do you need to think about and what do you think will be out there that is better?

It makes me want to smash heads together. grant8064 The more I think about it, the more I think I pick the customers these days, not the other way around. I just told a right snooty mare and her spoilt rotten brat of a son they might be better off looking for a different car in another garage. justina3

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DASHBOARD. CARWOW

Extra £29.7m to fund expansion CARWOW has raised a further £29.7 million to fund growth and expansion.

Bolstered by the new funds, Carwow is looking to build on its market-leading position in new car buying with further investment in marketing campaigns, building the dealer network and growing the team.

The round was led by new investor Vitruvian Partners, with existing investors Accel Partners and Balderton Capital also participating.

NEW MODEL

VW dealers taking orders for Arteon VOLKSWAGEN’S stylish new flagship, the Arteon, is available to order for the first time from retailers across the UK priced from £34,305.

An avant-garde gran turismo with svelte fastback styling, the new five-door, five-seat car combines sports car detailing with luxury motoring. It sits above the successful Passat in the Volkswagen range and brings more space, premium functionality and greater levels of autonomy than before.

TRIBUTE

Fiat 500 inducted into art museum THE journey of the Fiat 500 has been 60 years in the making and now it has been inducted into the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

The unrelenting ‘great little car’ has gone from Dante Giacosa’s desk to the gates of the Mirafiori factory, and from the long avenues of Torino to the MoMA in New York.

It’s a global success for Fiat – four million units of the original and two million examples of the current model have been sold.

08 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

New car appraisal tool from Cap HPI integrates valuations into an app bit.ly/appraisal-114

Disabled mum gets car of her dreams free of charge – thanks to generous dealer ...and kind-hearted Leon even travelled from Norfolk to Devon to deliver it!

by TRISTAN SHALE-HESTER @tristan_shale

A

dealer from Norfolk has gone above and beyond the call of duty to give a disabled mother a specialised car for free.

Leon Docwra runs Docwras, a vehicle dealership, parts supplier and scrapyard in Great Yarmouth that regularly buys and sells used cars, and when he sent a driver to pick up a 2002 Nissan Micra 30 miles from his business, he was surprised by what was brought back to him.

The supermini had undergone a series of expensive modifications so that a disabled person with no legs and only one arm could drive it. The car was controlled by a single handle, which could be used in the same way as a motorbike handle to accelerate and could be pushed in various directions for steering and braking.

The total cost for the components and their installation would have been about £20,000, and Docwra said he didn’t think it would be appropriate to charge someone for something that must be so badly needed.

‘It hadn’t cost me a fortune to buy and someone was going to need it. I knew I’d get paid back just by making somebody smile,’ he said. ‘I wanted to make sure someone had the use of it and make their life a little bit easier.’

After putting all the information on Facebook, his post was shared hundreds of times and he received a lot of messages. The one that stood out, though, was from Emily Wilkins – a mother who had lost her legs.

‘She said she was a double amputee,’ said Docwra. ‘I could see from her pictures that she was a lady with a young family and I knew it had to go to her. I asked what her address was so I could deliver the car to her and she told me it was in Devon – the other side of the country.

‘My word is my bond, though – I’d said she could have it, so I told her I would bring it to her.’

Leon Docwra with Emily Wilkins and the car he delivered to Devon Docwra put out another post on Facebook explaining what had happened and asking if anyone could help. What happened next was a huge display of community spirit.

First, Suffolk Road Motoring Services offered to give the car a full MOT for free. Then Tesco gave the Micra a full clean and valet, again at no cost. After this, Docwra set out on the 380-mile journey from Great Yarmouth to Plymouth.

When he arrived at Wilkins’s house with the car, she was ecstatic.

‘There was a big hug, which was touching,’ said Docwra. ‘She was over

the moon and couldn’t wait to sit in the car. Then her little boy came out and said: “Mum, does this mean you’ll be able to take me to school now?” Some people try to get out of taking their children to school. They take it for granted. She can now do something she could never do before.’

‘My word is my bond.

I’d said she could have it, so I told her I would bring it to her.’

Leon Docwra

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DASHBOARD.

Lexus dealerships are hailed as UK’s finest once again bit.ly/Lexus-114

Greenyer A PERFECT PARTNERSHIP

A great opportunity in a dynamic marketplace

T

Rolls-Royce unveils ‘world’s most silent car’ New Phantom is packed with tech and very luxurious

R

olls-Royce has pulled the covers off the new eighth-generation model of its iconic Phantom luxury saloon, claiming it is the ‘most silent car in the world’.

The opulent motor car is based on a new all-aluminium ‘Architecture of Luxury’, which lends the Phantom a greater level of ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ owing to it being ‘lighter, stiffer, quieter and more technologically advanced’, according to the British brand. Power comes from a newly developed 6.75-litre, twin-turbocharged V12 engine. Producing 563bhp and 900Nm of torque, it is coupled with an eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom has 6mm twolayer glazing all over the car and more than 130kg of sound insulation to achieve its silent claims.

The latest Phantom is also pitted as the ‘most-technologically advanced Rolls-Royce ever’, thanks to a wide range of assistance systems. These include a four-camera system with panoramic view, night vision, collision warning, cross-traffic warning, a wi-fi hotspot and the latest BMW Group navigation and entertainment systems.

As far as the Phantom’s exterior is concerned, it bears all the hallmarks of a classic Rolls-Royce. There’s the iconic Pantheon grille, which has been integrated into the car’s bodywork for the first time, large 22-inch wheels, and of course the Spirit of Ecstasy statuette.

Inside, the new Phantom is the pinnacle of luxury. There’s the Starlight Headliner, which gives the roof the appearance of stars in the night sky, swathes of leather, and even a drinks cabinet with whisky glasses and decanter in the centre console.

Rolls-Royce has also developed what it calls ‘The Embrace’. This means as the owner or passenger settles into the car, and an assistant or valet touches the sensor on the door handle, the door automatically whispers closed of its own accord.

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO of RollsRoyce Motor Cars, said: ‘From its debut in 1925, a Rolls-Royce Phantom has been the choice of the world’s most influential and powerful men and women, and as a result, a constant presence at history’s most defining moments. The new Phantom points the way forward for the global luxury industry.’

Opulent: The new Rolls-Royce Phantom

hose of us working in the motor retail sector live in exciting as well as challenging times.

Notwithstanding the continued focus on car finance in the bigger consumer credit picture, the innovation that is taking place to improve the motoring experience as well as tackle pollution levels is exciting to watch – and potentially be part of.

The Queen’s Speech in May introduced the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill, which could see every petrol station and motorway services required to install electric charging points. And at the end of July, the government announced its Clean Air strategy with a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel engine cars and vans from 2040.

In addition, the evolution of driverless cars is getting more and more column inches – although we are still quite some way off these becoming a mass-market reality.

And I think that is a key point. What is future vision and what is today’s reality? Clearly there is a push for greater take-up of electric motoring. But this is still only being adopted by a tiny minority – and is still the preserve of the franchised sector aligned to the key manufacturers.

According to research from Venson Automotive Solutions, 61 per cent of motorists said limited battery range put them off. And a study of 2,000 drivers

by Carwow revealed that 83 per cent think ‘green’ cars are overpriced.

There are also the issues of insurance and servicing & repair. The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) found insurance costs for ultra-low-emission vehicles can be up to 50 per cent higher than for petrol or diesel equivalents and said these won’t become more competitive until more people are qualified to work on them. But, while the sale and servicing of electric vehicles may not be within reach of the independent retail sector yet, there is an opportunity to tap into the driving habits of motorists.

According to Go Ultra Low (GUL), the average commute in the UK is less than 10 miles. Even for longer journeys, GUL says more than a third of UK motorists never travel more than 80 miles in a single trip.

For the motor retailers who align themselves to this sector – with the right stock and the right financing – that is a good immediate opportunity. And that, I think, is the key in the current highly dynamic automotive marketplace.

The winners will be the businesses that remain focused on the here and now while keeping a weather eye on the future. And they will be the businesses that pick the partners that enable them to offer choice to their customers to meet their current motoring needs.

‘What is the future and what is reality?

Who is Darren Greenyer?

Darren Greenyer is deputy head of lending at Raphael Finance

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DASHBOARD.

‘2020 target to be missed’ as car production declines Things have changed for automotive industry since Brexit vote, says SMMT

T

he number of cars built in the UK in June fell by almost 14 per cent as the industry continued to be affected by uncertainty over Brexit.

Almost 137,000 cars left production lines – 13.7 per cent down on June last year – amid a decline in demand for cars in this country.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reported that exports were driving production, with almost four out of five British cars shipped overseas in the first half of the year, making it the highest for five years.

The number of cars built in the first half of the year was down by 2.9 per cent to 866,656, with home demand down by 9.5 per cent following a long period of record growth.

A study for the SMMT showed that the ambition of building two million

cars in 2020 will now be missed.

Despite uncertainty in the industry, production is forecast to rally for the rest of the year as new and updated models are launched.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, above, said: ‘World-class engineering, productivity, strong government collaboration and massive investment have helped UK automotive become a global success story.

‘At the heart of this has been the free and frictionless trade we’ve

enjoyed with the EU – by far our biggest customer and supplier – but Brexit uncertainty is not helping investment and growth is stalling.

‘The government has been in “listening” mode but now it must put on the table the concrete plans that will assure the future competitiveness of the sector. Investors need certainty so, at the very least, the UK must seek an interim deal which maintains single market and customs union membership until we have in place the complex new agreement sought with the EU.’ Hawes said things had changed for the industry since the EU referendum, describing the year so far as ‘turbulent’. He said it was clear that firms were waiting for clarity on future trading arrangements.

SMMT registration figures, p74

PROFITS UP

VW is ‘back on the right path’ VOLKSWAGEN Group has not let Dieselgate hold it back, recording an operating profit of €8.9 billion (£7.9bn) in the first half of 2017.

The result is a €1.4 billion (£1.2bn) increase on the same period last year – a rise that was driven by a 0.8 per cent lift in sales. From the start of January to the end of June, VW Group delivered 5,156,000 vehicles to customers – an increase of 40,000 units.

Audi has been the group’s biggest earner so far, with the brand bringing in an operating profit of €2.7 billion (£2.4bn).

Porsche recorded profits of €2.1 billion (£1.8bn), while VW passenger cars contributed €1.8 billion (£1.6bn).

Matthias Müller, chairman of VW Group’s board of management, said the result showed the company was back on the right path.

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COUNTY TYRONE: A car dealer who sold clocked vehicles has been sentenced in court, reported the Belfast Telegraph. Michael Molloy was fined a total of £500 and ordered to pay £2,860 compensation to two victims at Dungannon Magistrates’ Court. Molloy (42), of Derrymagowan Road, Dungannon, pleaded guilty to five charges under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Trading standards staff conducted an investigation after a complaint from one of Molloy’s customers. They found he had sold a Volkswagen Passat which had been clocked by at least 67,000 miles. Another three cars he had advertised online had each been clocked by around 50,000 miles, said the Telegraph.

Dealer sentenced for selling clocked cars

LEEDS: Luxury car dealership Players Cars is seeking planning permission to open a showroom in Leeds.

The proposed site is at 110 Gelderd Road in the Wortley district. The address is currently occupied by a derelict warehouse and a café. Gelderd Road already has dealerships for brands such as Bentley, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz, so a new Players Cars showroom wouldn’t be short of friendly competition. According to the plans, the building currently on the site would be demolished and a new one built. A large part of the site would accommodate the showroom itself, and the plans include space for a workshop and offices.

Players Cars planning new showroom

What’s been hitting the headlines on the home front? Here’s a round-up of stories

COVENTRY: Pendragon has opened a new distribution centre in the city, creating dozens of jobs from entry level upwards. The state-of-the-art centre is designed for defleeting vehicles returning from lease and preparing them for Evans Halshaw outlets across the UK. It also has a used car retail outlet – Car Store Coventry – that can display more than 400 cars, plus an extensive workshop for vehicle refurbishment.

Jobs boost thanks to new distribution base

TEESSIDE: The philanthropic boss of Jennings Motor Group has received an honorary doctorate from Teesside University. Nas Khan was made an honorary doctor of business administration in recognition of his contribution to the economy and for his charity work. He said: ‘I’m delighted to have been awarded the honorary degree from Teesside University. It was an absolute privilege to attend and be part of the graduation ceremony.’

Honorary doctorate for Jennings boss

ABERDEEN: Arnold Clark Volvo is planning to build a new showroom on the site of an Aberdeen supermarket.

Lidl on Wellington Road in the Torry area of the city is going to be demolished and replaced by an improved store on the site of the Peter Vardy Land Rover showroom on Greenwell Road, as part of a £1.5bn nationwide upgrade the chain is undergoing.

The newly-available site is perfect for Arnold Clark, not only because of its size and location, but because it is a matter of yards away from the previous location of the Arnold Clark Service Centre on Girdleness Road, which was forced to close after a huge fire two years ago.

New Volvo outlet will replace supermarket

News from around the UK DASHBOARD.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 15

NEW FOREST: There’s a new addition to the growing MG Motor UK network: Meadens MG, which is in Sway, Hampshire. Jack Sexton, Meadens MG brand manager, said: ‘We were attracted to the MG franchise as we felt it offered something the area currently lacks. MG made the process straightforward and it has been with a real sense of ease that we have started working together.

MG makes stylish cars that are bursting with extras – something that we anticipate will gain a lot of traction in the local area.’

New MG team have high hopes for future

VALE OF GLAMORGAN: Aston Martin has named TRJ Ltd as its construction partner for the second phase of its factory project at St Athan. The contract was advertised on the Welsh government’s Sell2Wales website, receiving lots of interest from firms across the UK. But it was the local Ammanford-based TRJ that was ultimately successful, following its award of the first phase last December. Work is already under way on the former MoD land at St Athan and will focus on turning the three super-hangars there into an Aston Martin manufacturing facility. Aston Martin president and chief executive Andy Palmer said: ‘This is yet another step on our journey in Wales.’

Another step on Aston Martin’s journey

GLOUCESTERSHIRE: A retired coach driver from Tewkesbury has taken delivery of his 14th Mitsubishi – 38 years after buying his first one. Cliff Hodson, 78, collected a 2016 Mirage from CCR Mitsubishi in Cheltenham, having remained loyal to the brand since buying a Colt from Gloucester’s Roger Head Motors in 1979. Over the years, he and his wife Ann have worked their way through a variety of Mitsubishi models, including the Sigma, Galant, Lancer, Spacestar, ASX and Mirage, which span MPVs and saloons to hatchbacks and crossovers.

Loyal Cliff is a Mitsubishi super-fan!

HAMPSHIRE: Snows Motor Group has opened a Suzuki dealership in Basingstoke. The existing premises in Brunel Road, Houndsmills, have undergone an extensive refurbishment, resulting in a state-of-theart 200 square metre showroom with a spacious customer hospitality area boasting free wi-fi and complimentary refreshments. The team, which has dedicated Motability and fleet specialists, is led by dealer principal Adam Lawrence. There are also on-site workshops for maintenance and repairs. Neil McCue, group board director of Snows, said: ‘We look forward to welcoming visitors to the new showroom.’

New Suzuki dealership is up and running

LONDON: Leading luxury dealer group HR Owen brought central London to a standstill by assembling 70 Ferraris in the heart of the city to commemorate the manufacturer’s 70th birthday. In one of the largest Ferrari gatherings ever to grace the capital’s streets, HR Owen Ferrari customer cars descended on Waterloo Place in waves before lining up and wowing enthusiasts.

Everything from the 550 Maranello, F12 Berlinetta and 458 Italia to the new GTC4 Lusso was on display. And taking centre stage on its own podium was a special LaFerrari Aperta, which attracted plenty of attention.

A treat for Ferrari fans in the capital

DASHBOARD.

Speedy pace of expansion puts Endeavour in top 100 Company began life with Hyundai North London and has grown from there

E

ndeavour Automotive is celebrating its fifth year of operation after a rapid succession of dealership acquisitions since the company was founded in 2012.

Established by John Caney, the former managing director of the Wayside Group, Endeavour Automotive now operates 10 Volvo and Hyundai dealerships across London, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex, with its turnover placing it in the top 100 dealer groups in the UK. The company began life with Hyundai North London and has since gone from strength to strength, adding three new Hyundai dealerships – Hyundai Watford plus Haddocks Hyundai’s Frinton and Colchester sites – to its portfolio.

16 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

In 2014, Endeavour made a major investment when it added a new franchise to its name after buying the entire share capital of Regent Automotive, acquiring six Volvo dealerships in and around London.

Caney, above, who is Endeavour’s managing director, said: ‘Within just five years, Endeavour Automotive’s acquisitions have built us into one of the 100 largest motor groups in the UK – a very encouraging position.’

Five years on, the group is relocating

its Hyundai North London site later this year to a new flagship two-storey showroom in New Southgate.

‘Looking ahead to the future, we’ll continue to deliver our strategic plan of growing a regional group with a balance of manufacturer representation. We’ll aim to develop our businesses and the market opportunities they represent by working with our franchise partners – starting with our new Hyundai premises in New Southgate,’ added Caney. ‘I’d like to personally thank all of our customers and colleagues, old and new, who have made it possible for Endeavour Automotive to take on this journey so far.

‘The future is an exciting one for vehicle retailing, and we very much look forward to seeing what the next five years will present.’

AGREEMENT

RAC network in deal with Tootle THE RAC Dealer Network has struck a deal to offer 1,200 of its members the use of car-buying service Tootle at preferential rates.

This agreement should be highly beneficial to RACapproved dealers, allowing them to compete in online bidding to purchase cars from private sellers across the UK. In the last year, Tootle has sold more than £19.5 million of used vehicles, as it offers private owners another option for selling their cars other than part exchanging and traditional sites.

Sean Kent, sales director at the RAC Dealer Network, said: ‘We are continuing to build the range of benefits that are available to dealers who become part of the RAC Dealer Network. Use of Tootle is the latest and one that will prove very popular over time.’

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CarDealerMag.co.uk | 17

DASHBOARD.

Part 5: Sourcing stock So you’ve done your business plan and found a forecourt.

Now it’s time to go shopping. Dan Read looks at your options...

I

t’s a big commitment just buying a car for yourself, let alone forking out for enough motors to fill a forecourt. Even a relatively modest dealership can have an inventory worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, so finding funds is a top priority for a newcomer.

Of course it depends on what sort of cars you’re selling, but as a rookie you’ll probably start at the more affordable end of the market.

For example, in March 2017 the average price of a car sold through Manheim’s auctions was £5,913. Given that, and assuming you’re aiming to stock around 10 to 15 cars to begin with, you’re looking at an initial investment of anywhere between £50,000 and £100,000.

‘With online buying, you’re offered vehicle inspections with lots of real-time information together with a grading of each vehicle.’

DAVID BILSBOROUGH OF CHESHIRE CARS

18 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

How do I find that sort of cash?

Some new dealers have been saving for years; others have had a good feel down the back of the sofa; a few have generous aunts or angel investors. Either way, it’s likely you’ll supplement any cash capital with some sort of loan. For many businesses, this would simply mean a trip to the bank, and although some of the high street names do lend to car dealers, a traditional lump-sum loan can be expensive and inflexible – especially when you’re selling cars quickly, and therefore able to repay the debt in a matter of weeks or months.

‘Another option is an overdraft,’ says David Bilsborough of Cheshire Cars. ‘They’re usually repayable whenever you have the funds, and interest is calculated daily and only when you’re using it. Overdrafts are also good for keeping the buying going while you’re waiting for customers to pay for just-sold stock.’

But while a healthy overdraft might go some way, it’s unlikely to pay for an entire forecourt.

For that, there is another option, as Phil Weaver of Knickerbrook Cars in Chorley explains.

‘We started from a small amount of savings, and as we bought and sold, our investment slowly started to grow,’ he says.

‘Finally, after two years, we applied for a stocking loan of £40,000 from MotoNovo, which really helped to boost our stock.’

What’s a stocking loan?

A stocking loan, or stocking plan, is a bit like a credit card for car dealers. We asked Pam Halliday, sales and marketing director of NextGear

Capital – a major stocking plan provider – to explain more. ‘Our stocking plans provide used vehicle dealers with an overall credit limit, which can be used to fund vehicles for up to 150 days – or less if the car is sold sooner. This enables dealers to stock their forecourt without using their own funds or using an overdraft facility.’

And, unlike a loan, you only use what you need, on a car-by-car basis. ‘With loans, banks charge for the total facility, whereas with a stocking plan you’re charged separately for each of the vehicles you load onto your plan,’ says Halliday.

‘When you pay off a vehicle, you can use your available balance to top up your forecourt again.

We typically see plan utilisation run at around 60 per cent [of the credit limit]. However, this varies by dealer and by the time of year. Some run at up to 90 per cent.’

But remember, this isn’t free money. There are fees and interest payments – these vary depending on your provider, but put simply, the longer you keep a car in stock, the more it costs you. Let’s say the interest on your stocking loan is seven per cent. On a car that cost you £10,000,

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

that’s a charge of £700 per year, or £1.91 per day.

The average used car stays in stock for 55 days, meaning you’ll pay around £105 plus fees, which comes out of your gross profit on that car (for an approximate cost breakdown of each sale, see part one of this series).

The key, then, is quick turnover. If sales are frequent, a stocking plan can work nicely, but consider the quiet months, or the odd car which stubbornly refuses to shift. At least with a ‘regular’ loan – whether from a bank or from an investor – you have a fixed cost no matter how long it takes to move your stock into new hands, but with a stocking loan, the longer you sit on a car the more expensive it gets.

One thing to watch out for: some stocking loan providers require you to buy vehicles from certain sources, such as approved auction houses.

BCA Partner Finance, for example, only funds cars bought at BCA auctions. ‘All stocking loans are different,’ says Pam Halliday.

‘Some act as a captive finance option for a single source of stock. A NextGear plan can be used to fund trade and part-exchange vehicles at 100 per cent of the CAP average valuation, but also at over 60 auction and wholesale sites where we have digital integration, removing the need for a cash transfer at the point of sale.’ In other words, buy from one of their approved sites, and the car is automatically added to your account.

Where should I source stock?

The major auction houses are the most obvious places to start, whether online or in person.

‘BCA and Manheim have both physical and

digital platforms,’ says David Bilsborough. ‘With online buying, you’re offered vehicle inspections with lots of real-time information together with a grading of each vehicle. So you don’t actually have to attend the physical auction.’

We’ll be running a dedicated guide to mastering auctions in the coming months, so keep an eye on these pages.

Trade-to-trade listings are another good source of stock. Sites such as dealerpx.com and Sytner Auction feature cars taken in part-ex by franchise dealers, which are then offered exclusively to other dealers. Both sites are run as auctions, though the former has an eBay-style ‘buy it now’ price.

And don’t forget the good old classifieds.

Back to Phil Weaver: ‘Early on, we had a great 12 months buying from private sellers on AutoTrader. Some are better than others, but there is very good profit to be made sometimes.’

David Bilsborough agrees. ‘Keep an eye out for that private seller listing at, or even below, trade price,’ he says. ‘There are no buyers’ fees, plus you get to ask a lot of questions and even drive the car before parting with your money.’

Another option is something called ‘sale or return’, an arrangement in which you sell someone’s car on their behalf, in return for a fee.

That way you don’t have to invest in stock at all – effectively you’re acting like an estate agent does in selling a house. This can be an interesting option for new dealers, but it’s vital that you draw up a proper contract with the owner – it could be another trader who doesn’t have room to store the car, or a private seller who doesn’t want the hassle of actually selling it. There’s potential for a

decent return, though profit tends to be smaller (you’ll still be responsible for your overheads and advertising costs, and, depending on your arrangement, the warranty too).

OK. I’ve bought some cars. How do I get them to the forecourt?

As we mentioned in part three, it’s vital to get a set of trade plates and a good insurance policy, so you can drive away on the same day. But consider geography when buying: getting 10 great deals is pointless if you have to spend a fortune collecting them all. Many sellers and auctions will deliver the cars for a fee, or it may be more cost-effective to have them delivered via a transporter or transport drivers. ‘Trade platers will usually drive the car for around 50p to £1 per mile plus fuel,’ says Bilsborough. ‘Try to build up a relationship with one or two companies – if they know you, they might be more inclined to move things faster to you or directly to the buyer. Any time saving is money in the bank to you.’

NEXT MONTH

BEST BUYS

Dealers reveal their most profitabl e sales, and the secrets behind them

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 19

DASHBOARD. WHY YOU MUST BE THERE The prestige: The Car Dealer Used Car Awards are sponsored by Black Horse and have become THE awards ceremony for the second-hand car sector. Winning one of our trophies can give your business a terrific boost because customers will know for sure that they’ll be getting a highquality of service from you.

It’s priceless: But it doesn’t cost you a bean to enter the awards.

It’s quick and easy: You can enter online.

The variety: There are over 20 categories in which you can vote, covering the whole industry.

The glamour: The event is held at The Brewery in London – an amazing venue in a great location that’s both small enough to give an intimate feel to the evening and large enough to host a fantastic celebration.

Networking: The awards ceremony gives you the opportunity to rub shoulders with fellow motoring professionals and to make top contacts with people from across the industry.

Entertainment: With food, drink, cocktails and a disco all part of the package, the awards night is also the ideal excuse for a Christmas party to put on expenses!

Winning an award has Get involved with the Used Car Awards – past winners are convinced it is well worth it!

T

here’s no better feeling than walking to the stage to collect a Used Car Award. Don’t just take our word for it, check out the comments of two of our winners from last year!

Ross Quirk is the director of Quirk’s Car Company, which won Best Used Car Customer Care in 2016. He told us: ‘It was a very proud moment. There was a sense of achievement.

‘The recognition for all the hard work and effort that you put in to make people happy and create the best customer care was lovely.’

Have there been any direct benefits to the business? Quirk told us: ‘We get a lot of recognition from customers who are prospecting us as a dealership. It definitely helps with people who are choosing between two or three dealers that have similar cars. Having an award behind us probably encourages them to deal with us by giving them the peace of mind that we’re going to look after them.’

St Albans Car Centre won the Used Car Dealership of the Year award for dealers that stock fewer than 50 cars. Its DP, Andrew Enstone,

said: ‘Winning was completely shocking. We didn’t expect to win it at all. We couldn’t believe it. It was very pleasing and made us feel that the hard work had paid off. We were really happy.

‘It’s definitely been a contributing factor to drawing in new customers. Our website has information about the award on it and the video of the presentation. It’s certainly been a positive.’

So there you have it... and there’s plenty of time for you and your dealership to get involved.

We look forward to seeing you in November!

that provide great cars and great service on a major scale.

value has stood the test of time against all the others.

Newcomer Dealership of the Year This award recognises the best dealership established during 2017.

Used Small Car of the Year

Specialist Used Car Dealership of the Year If you sell specialist used cars, you’ll need something special yourself to take this home.

Used Sports Car of the Year

AWARD CATEGORIES Used Car Dealership of the Year: Up To 50 Cars We’re looking for the best dealership that stocks up to 50 used cars at their premises.

Used Car Dealership of the Year: 51-100 Cars This award is for the best dealer that stocks between 51 and 100 cars on their site.

Used Car Dealership of the Year: 100+ Cars This one is for the larger dealers stocking more than 100 cars.

Used Car Dealership Group of the Year Aimed at those with more than one site, this award marks the best used car groups.

Used Car Supermarket of the Year This award is for supermarkets

20 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Manufacturer Used Car Scheme of the Year Honouring the best official manufacturer-backed Used Car Scheme of the Year.

Used Car of the Year This winner will be selected from the following five category winners, based on the absolute chart-topping vehicle whose

Used Mid-sized Car of the Year Used Executive Car of the Year

Used SUV of the Year The above five category winners will be chosen by taking into account which make and model has the best residual value in its sector after three years or 30,000 miles. These awards are something that no individual dealer can influence – it’s all about the market figures for these vehicles.

Social Media User of the Year This award will mark the

Go to carawards.co.uk to fill

boosted trade!

TV’s Mike Brewer is the legendary host of the Used Car Awards

WHEN IS IT? The awards night takes place on Monday, November 27 and will be hosted by TV’s Mr Wheeler Dealer himself, Mike Brewer.

Simply go to carawards.co.uk to fill in the online nomination form – you can enter as many categories as you like. Make sure that you give plenty of detail, though, to help our judges decide who should go on the shortlists, which will be drawn up by our judging panel, headed by Brewer.

The closing date for nominations is Monday, October 16.

You can also buy tickets for the glitzy event via the site, and we’ve got a great range of packages to suit all budgets. Alternatively, you can book tickets by calling the Car Dealer team on 023 9252 2434.

So, what are you waiting for? Get your entries in and those tickets booked! We look forward to seeing you at The Brewery on Monday, November 27…

achievements of a dealer who has mastered their digital direction in a big way.

Service & repair Outlet of the Year We’ll be looking for the garage that excels in repairing and maintaining used cars.

Dealers’ Dealer of the Year Recognition from your peers is what makes this award extra special for the winner.

Best Dealership Use of Video Spotlighting dealerships that have made the best use of video technology to present their products and services.

Used Car Sales team of the Year Behind every great dealership there’s a great team that’s loyal and hard-working – and that’s who this award is for.

Used Car Dealer Principal of the Year We’re looking for DPs who absolutely excel at running a successful used car dealership.

Dealer Used Car website of the Year Our judges will be looking for the ease of use, design and functionality of the website.

Best Used Car Customer Care Canny dealers know that cultivating a used car customer can create a punter for life – a loyal supporter who’ll return time after time.

Used Car Product of the Year Whether it’s a brilliant online sales portal or a clever warranty scheme, this award will celebrate the very best of suppliers.

Outstanding Achievement of the Year Recognising the dealer or dealership personality who has achieved something truly remarkable.

Lifetime Achievement Award Once again, the judging panel will be looking for a big hitter in the industry who has enjoyed success over many years.

Manufacturer Used Car Website of the Year We’re looking for interactive sites that are easily navigable and present used vehicles in the clearest possible manner.

Future Star Award A new category for 2017. The spotlight here is on a person under 25 years old who is tipped to be one to watch in the used car sector.

in the online nomination form

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 21

DASHBOARD.

Nissan DPs on course for success Pioneering new management programme reflects Nissan’s belief in innovation across the board

N

issan’s UK dealer principals are on course to be the first graduates of a pioneering new management programme. Through a partnership with the Imperial College Business School and global management consulting company Accenture, the inaugural Nissan Dealer Principal Academy — also known as DP2 — has been running since the beginning of the year.

Around 40 dealer principals from the UK are expected to graduate in November, with a further 160 dealer principals graduating from the equivalent academy across Europe.

The aim of the academy is to enhance the capability of DPs to increase value and productivity in their business through superior customer experience, business management and leadership.

At the start of the academy, every dealer principal has had a personalised assessment by a specialist coach, which highlighted

their strengths and the areas in need of improvement.

There are four main modules — business management, speed and digital, leadership, and value and quality. A ‘Nissanness’ workshop, run by Nissan staff, concludes each

module to ensure DPs appreciate Nissan’s ethos of intelligent mobility and customer experience.

One of the students, Andy Woodhall, director at Trenton Nissan in Hull and Grimsby, said: ‘Without wishing to sound corny, it

really opens your mind to a whole new way of thinking and I cannot recommend it enough.

‘There are certain things I’ve learned that I simply would not have considered without being on this course, and we’re already implementing some of it into our business, with good results as well.

It really is brilliant.’

As well as the formal academy sessions at Imperial College Business School, the dealer principals have been coached at their dealerships, doing online learning and getting support via Skype, Linkedin and Nissan Academy Digital.

Leon Brannan, network development and quality director at Nissan Motor (GB), said: ‘Nissan believes in innovation across the board, and DP2 fits that ethos. We look forward to when our dealer principals graduate from this inaugural course, and then see the results of their learning in practice.’

The only viable key management solution for automotive dealerships Traka Automotive creates hundreds of opportunities every day to: • Reduce costs • Be more productive • Sell more cars • Improve customer satisfaction • Know more about how your business is performing

Email automotive@traka.com or call 0845 225 2910 traka-automotive.com 22 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

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15/12/2016 10:04

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 23

DASHBOARD.

Joe Macari makes a successful racing return. bit.ly/macari-114

ON THE UP

Motors.co.uk sees lead assists and online traffic rise MOTORS.CO.UK enjoyed a record year-on-year performance in July after a surge in lead assists along with a rise in online traffic.

The car search website says it is generating more response for car dealers, with a 26 per cent year-on-year rise in lead assists, such as detailed vehicle page views, telephone calls and email inquiries to dealers.

There was also a 20 per cent increase in online sessions and a 21 per cent rise in unique users.

In addition, it reported a 9.7 percentage point increase in visitors using a smartphone in the past year, from 45.6 per cent to 55.3 per cent, following the launch of a redesigned and mobileoptimised version of its site last November. However, visits from desktops and tablets fell by 4.9 percentage points and 4.8 percentage points to 26.8 per cent and 17.9 per cent respectively.

Marketing and business intelligence director Dermot Kelleher said: ‘Our performance over the past 12 months reflects how we have endeavoured to create an even better online advertising and car-buying experience for both dealers and consumers.’

CHANGE OF USE

Ex-offices will be JLR dealership THE former offices of a south coast newspaper are to become a Harwoods Jaguar and Land Rover dealership.

Permission was given

by Brighton and Hove City Council planners for what had been the home of the Argus in Crowhurst Road, Brighton, for 25 years to be replaced by a three-storey showroom.

Harwoods Group’s Land Rover business will be moving from Lewes to join forces in Brighton with its Jaguar concern, which is currently in Hove.

24 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

New finance deals blamed for ‘epidemic’ of clocking Low-cost correction devices and services adding to problem

A

probe by a national newspaper has found that up to 500,000 used cars were clocked last year before being sold. The Times blamed new finance deals for what it called ‘a car clocking epidemic’ and said correction devices available online for as little as £80 plus correction services costing half that weren’t helping.

As the law stands at present, although a vehicle’s mileage can be changed, it is illegal to sell a vehicle whose mileage is wrong.

It cited a case where a MercedesBenz that hadn’t had a full check turned out to have had more than 100,000 miles removed from its milometer. The Times said that nearly nine out of 10 cars bought new are done so via PCPs, whereby just the depreciation cost is paid for over the

by JOHN BOWMAN john@blackballmedia.co.uk

contract term. With mileage limits forming a major part of the deal, if the negotiated limit is exceeded, there can be a huge incentive for the person leasing the car to alter the mileage to avoid being penalised.

The newspaper quoted Christopher Hargreaves, of trade website Licensed Transport Uncovered, as saying: ‘Car clocking has for many years been associated with ‘‘Arthur Daley’’ car dealers, an assumption which is outdated and wrong.’

According to The Times, HPI Check, which checks mileages, said one in 16 cars that it ran checks on in 2016 had a discrepancy in its mileage, an increase from one in 20 two years

earlier. Since there are eight million second-hand cars sold annually, this could mean up to 500,000 had odometers that had been altered.

In 2010, it was estimated by the Office of Fair Trading that clocking was costing the public £580 million annually, said The Times, which added that the figure was now likely to be more than £1 billion.

The investigation came as it was revealed by Cap HPI that car dealers were concerned that mileage discrepancies and the clocking of used cars was becoming more common on forecourts.

Barry Shorto, head of industry relations at the valuation and provenance experts, said: ‘Not only is it costing honest motorists millions but it is tarnishing the good names of established and reputable car dealers.’

‘Two-thirds of badly worn tyres are failing to be replaced’ THE average UK car dealership is failing to replace 66 per cent of severely worn tyres, according to a survey by an electronic vehicle health check provider.

Statistics from AutoVHC showed that in services carried out in July, dealers only sold replacement tyres on 34 per cent of the occasions where tyres were identified as being severely worn or

faulty. Its data came from a survey of more than 400 UK franchised dealers.

More than 28,000 tyres were identified as ‘Red’ during vehicle health checking, meaning there were serious defects, such as an illegal tread depth.

However, just 9,000 replacement tyres were sold by these dealerships, leaving around 19,000 dangerous tyres in July alone that were allowed back

on the road. AutoVHC business unit director Chris Saunders, pictured, said: ‘While it is ultimately the motorist’s choice whether a tyre is changed or not, it is extremely worrying to see Red tyres being replaced on only 34 per cent of occasions.

The fact that 66 per cent of such tyres are being driven away increases the chances that dealerships could find themselves exposed to repercussions, including potential legal action.’

30-Day Contracts The Way Forward for Dealer Technology 6 points to consider when reviewing your software

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To what extent is the technology being used/still relevant?

Is the software outdated?

Technology should be continuously enhanced to remain fresh and relevant

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What is the contract length/notice period?

Benchmark the software to ensure you have the optimal tools available

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How eectively is the vendor developing their software and their support to your business?

What data protection provisions are in place in light of GDPR?

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CarDealerMag.co.uk | 25

Ask Auto Trader

Do you have a question, or a suggestion for next month’s topic?

I’d love to hear from you: marc.thornborough@autotrader.co.uk

Search by monthly price is on its way...

We regularly invite dealers into our Head Office in Manchester, to hear about their challenges and seek feedback on how we might be able to improve our services. During those sessions, many dealers told us they were missing out on finance to specialist providers, banks and price comparison sites, and asked us to help them gain back a share of sales on their own finance deals. We listened to that feedback, and in May we invited dealers to include a finance calculator in their adverts powered by their own lenders and interest rates.

The calculators allow potential buyers to choose their ideal deposit, term of agreement (in months) and mileage, and then send their finance enquiry direct to the dealer. Quick, simple and compliant with Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules. The service is free until next year and over 3,300 dealers are already benefitting, amounting to almost 150,000 cars on Auto Trader.

But, we wanted to do more. It’s easier for potential car buyers to make the decision to purchase if they can quickly and easily see how much the car could cost them each month. That’s why we’ll soon enhance the online experience even further by introducing the ability to search by monthly price. This will help our customers engage with car buyers and promote finance earlier in the car buying process - before buyers search for monthly payments elsewhere.

How does it work?

Once launched, potential buyers will be able to search on Auto Trader by their ideal monthly budget. If you’re authorised by the FCA and have setup the finance calculator in your ads, then your cars will be included in any searches by monthly price.

What if I’m not authorised by the FCA? We wouldn’t want you to miss out on buyers. That’s why we’ve also developed a solution for you. We’re inviting you to include a finance

calculator in your ads, powered by our long term finance partner Zuto, free of charge. As an FCA authorised business, Auto Trader is able to introduce potential buyers with an opportunity to purchase your vehicle on finance from Zuto. They offer over 70 finance products from 17 top lenders, meaning there’s an option for almost anyone. If the potential buyer decides to purchase your car in this way, you’ll be paid the full agreed sale amount direct into your bank. Safe, secure and easy.

and clear format. So what does that mean for you? Well you’ve already done all the hard work in marketing your stock to the highest of standards and given them all the detail that todays’ modern buyer expects. Now, just make sure you’ve got the best sales process in place to serve them.

How will this help my business?

We’re inviting you to test if it works for you, and decide for yourself if it’s worth investing in. How many cars do you currently sell per month with your own finance package? What does this generate in commission for you? If this new offering helps you increase your finance commission, then obviously there’s a value to it. If your vehicles and the finance packages you offer are both competitive, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be selling more cars. “But what if it doesn’t work for my business?” Then no problem, we’ll switch it off for you. No charge, no hassle and no pressure.

Research shows that 71% of buyers want to start their finance process online. If they can’t quickly and easily find that option at the online point of sale, it’s likely they’ll go elsewhere - to price comparison sites and

The service is free until next year and over 3,300 dealers are already benefitting, amounting to almost 150,000 cars on Auto Trader. high street lenders. What’s more, 50% of buyers find finance agreements to be complex and difficult to understand.

That’s why we want to make it easy for buyers to discover your finance offers.

And to give them all the information they need to know about the deal in a simple

So, what’s the cost?

If you’re authorised by the FCA then you’ll be able to benefit from this free of charge until next year.

What do I need to get set up?

If you’re a single site dealer and are FCA authorised you can sign up by going into your ‘Account’ area in Portal. If you’re part of a group, simply contact your Account Director. For those of you who aren’t authorised by the FCA, we’ll let you know more very soon.

For the latest news, views and insight for the automotive retail community, follow @ATInsight on Twitter and LinkedIn 26 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

DASHBOARD.

I’m pinning the blame for my social media paranoia on Pinterest D

o you ever feel like something is following you? Watching your every move and leaving little messages that make you feel slightly uneasy? That’s what seems to be going on in my life at the moment, or for the past few months at least.

What on earth am I talking about? Sponsored posts, that’s what. I would guess that a lot of you reading this probably don’t use social media as much as I do. It’s very unusual for me to watch TV any more, I just listen while I scroll through Instagram and occasionally look up, confused by what’s going on.

The first thing I do in the morning – before I’ve even got out of bed – is check my notifications and scroll through the latest posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Throughout the day I read what’s going on, I’ll have a scroll through Pinterest on my lunch break and while I’m at home in the evening, and when I go to bed and can’t sleep I’ll revisit these apps.

Now, I know that sponsored or promoted posts have been around for years, but recently they’ve got a little bit creepier. I’m well aware this is my own fault, because every moment I spend on the internet Google is gathering more data about me.

However, when I tried to use a particular promotion while shopping on Asos the other day, then changed my mind and went back to Twitter only to find a promoted post about that exact offer, it left me thinking: ‘How did you get that information so quickly and how did you know it was me?’

We’re all accustomed to the cookies trick by now, where you shop for something and then those same items will follow you around from website to website.

These days it’s got even smarter.

Today I got my hair done at a local hairdresser. I’d been looking at hairstyles online and was promoted a salon that does exactly what I wanted, just down the road.

It was out of my price range really, but I followed them anyway, and when I’d seen enough of their great hairdos, I decided I could go without food for a month and have the hairstyle instead.

I’m pretty sure there are people reading this who think it’s child’s play to manipulate me like this, but I think it’s magic. I find myself constantly analysing why these posts are targeting me. Who have I followed on Twitter? What have I Googled? What hashtag have I scrolled through on Instagram? I’m convinced that Pinterest is the source

Rebecca

of all of this, as its algorithms are forever analysing what I’m looking at and offering me more of the same. When it comes to cars. though, for someone who spends the majority of their time online reading about cars, looking at pictures of cars and writing stories about cars, I don’t see a lot of promoted posts.

I clearly look at too much electric car content, though, as I’m often getting Smart EV and Volkswagen E-Golf adverts.

I also get a lot of Mini posts, including the electric version, but I’m guessing that’s because I post a lot of classic Mini pictures on Instagram. Maybe it’s not that clever?

I’m sure this works well by slipping these cars into my consciousness, but I’m going to admit there’s one brand that’s got this right and it’ll probably get me fired.

Yes, it’s Vauxhall, and I’m always impressed with its Pinterest posts. I’ll try to explain this now but it’s probably one of those things you need to see to understand.

Chaplin ‘I find myself constantly THE VIEW FROM BEHIND THE SCENES

analysing why these posts are targeting me’

Sponsored Pinterest posts can be displayed frame by frame as you scroll, almost like a flick book, and you can’t help but look at them.

I found myself scrolling up and down the page trying to work out what was going on, and it was a short clip from the Vauxhall advert with the mums in pyjamas.

I assume they’re targeting me because I’m looking at recipes, home design and clothes. Simple, but clever. Almost like putting a car on display in a Tesco car park. (Funnily enough, Tesco does the same adverts on Pinterest but with food.)

No more do you need to put adverts in front of everyone, hoping the right people will see it.

No longer do you even need to put them in front of similar groups of people who’ve looked at your product before.

You know what your customers are like. You speak with them every day about what they watched on TV last night and where they’re going on holiday this summer. The wonders of the internet are that even if you don’t know what they look like, you can soon work it out from who visits your website and look for hundreds of other customers just like them. Terrifying, really...

Who is Rebecca Chaplin?

Rebecca is head of editorial at Blackball Media and presents news programmes and features on its online video channel Trade Plates TV. CarDealerMag.co.uk | 27

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It’s all about freeing up the cash you need to transform your sales, and maximise your profit.

Fill up your forecourt.

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28 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

DASHBOARD.

Around the world Dealer news from somewhere other than here

SPAIN

THE interior of a car dealership near the town of La Manga in southeastern Spain was destroyed when fire broke out. The alarm was raised just after lunchtime on July 31 and emergency services rushed to the scene. Two employees aged 32 and 45 suffered slight burns and were attended to by paramedics. The dealership is next to a busy motorway and the blaze led to delays for drivers.

AMERICA

DRUG prevention police from the Sheriff’s Office in Portage County, Ohio had a shock when they were called to a local dealership. Hidden in the boot of a Ford Fusion was a stash of marijuana – with another five packages of the drug discovered in similar cars elsewhere in the area. It was discovered that the vehicles had been built in Mexico and during their rail journey north had had their spare wheels replaced with the narcotics.

SOUTH AFRICA

DEALERS are operating in a tough trading environment, Gary McCraw, director of NADA South Africa, said recently.

He urged dealership bosses to make sure all members of their executive teams were equipped with the necessary business skills to ensure their areas of responsibility did not become a drain on the overall well-being of their businesses.

INDIA

CHINA

AN Audi commercial in China has caused a row by comparing women to used cars. It shows a happy couple about to get married only for them to be interrupted by the mother of the groom who dashes up the aisle to inspect her new daughter-in-law.

She pulls back an ear, pinches her nose and looks into her mouth.

After all that, she walks back to her seat but pauses to turn and give the couple the thumbsup. The ad then cuts away to footage of a red Audi as a voiceover declares: ‘An important decision must be made carefully.’ Social media erupted in fury with one Twitter user saying: ‘Shame on you, Audi.’

KIA is hosting a series of roadshows to meet prospective dealer partners during August and September. The manufacturer – repeat winners at the Car Dealer Power awards here in the UK – is looking to start retail sales in the subcontinent in the second half of 2019. Yong S Kim, head of sales and marketing at Kia Motors India, said: ‘We are looking for dealers who want to be leaders.’

www.desperateseller.co.uk | www.facebook.com/desperateseller.co.uk | twitter.com/despseller

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 29

DASHBOARD.

Rogue car dealers have thousands confiscated to be returned to victims bit.ly/confiscated-114

NISSAN

Personal touch for new Micra buyers

NISSAN dealers are reporting higher-than-expected demand for personalisation options on the all-new Nissan Micra. Approximately one in four buyers are choosing to enhance the car’s design with additional exterior and interior parts.

The news comes as Nissan revealed a new video showing the ‘hand-finished’ nature of adding exterior personalisation parts to the B-segment hatchback.

The ‘behind-the-scenes’ footage focuses on the attention to detail which goes into the Micra’s personalisation programme.

Customer research amongst the first buyers of new Micra reveals that 60 per cent are attracted by the dynamic and expressive styling of the car. This is the number one purchase reason for the new Micra.

And when it comes to personalisation, Nissan’s offer to customers certainly seems impressive. More than 100 combinations are available, for both the exterior and interior of the Micra and in a variety of colours.

USED CARS

We’re on course for a record year HIGH demand in the first half of the year has put the used car market on track for a record year, according to automotive data expert Cap HPI. Used car sales set a new record in March with 728,525 changing hands and six per cent up on the same month in 2016. It is only the second time since 2004 that the used market has passed 700,000 vehicles in March.

Total used volumes passed 3.3m between January and the end of June.

30 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

A memorable day out for some very deserving families HR OWEN teamed up with children’s hospice charity Shooting Star Chase to give terminally-ill children and their families the perfect day out and a well-deserved break.

Bentley Surrey deployed eight brand new Bentayga SUVs to the

charity’s two hospices – Shooting Star House in Hampton and Christopher’s in Guildford – before HR Owen chauffeurs whisked families away in luxury for a wonderful day.

After touring the picturesque roads of Surrey, drivers headed to

The Medicine Gardens in Cobham to enjoy afternoon tea.

After hosting an enjoyable day out, HR Owen drivers once again loaded up the cars and took their guests home with souvenirs and lasting memories of the experience.

Boss of used car business is banned from being a director Seventeen of his customers lost out to the tune of nearly £100,000

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he boss of used car dealership Marshalls of Kilmarnock has been disqualified from being a director for seven years after a probe found that he had cost 17 customers nearly £100,000.

Kevin Vincent McMonagle caused the company to trade in a manner which breached consumer protection legislation, causing a loss to customers in the region of £95,000, said the Insolvency Service. Marshalls was placed into compulsory liquidation with liabilities of £544,309 in January 2016 after a winding-up petition was lodged by HM Revenue & Customs.

McMonagle, 48, whose correspondence address is given on the Companies House website as Crosbie Place, Troon, was the sole director of Marshalls of Kilmarnock Limited at that time. After the appointment of the liquidator, the investigation found that from June 4, 2014 onwards, Trading Standards

by JOHN BOWMAN john@blackballmedia.co.uk

received 36 complaints from customers that resulted in losses to 17 customers of about £95,000.

The Insolvency Service said the complaints related to not paying or returning money owed to customers, selling vehicles of unsatisfactory quality, omitting to transfer vehicle registration documents and failing to pay off finance agreements of customers trading in their vehicles.

On December 4, 2014, officers from Trading Standards met McMonagle to discuss their concerns about the level of complaints against the company. Following more complaints Trading Standards applied to the court for an enforcement order after McMonagle stopped co-operating with them during March 2015, said the Insolvency Service, .

Kilmarnock Sheriff Court issued

an interim enforcement order on April 15, 2015 to prevent continued breaches and protect customers, and on April 28, 2015 McMonagle surrendered his licence to sell secondhand cars, meaning the company ceased trading.

McMonagle will not be able to act as a director of a company until June 2024 without the specific permission of a court, nor will he be able to take part directly or indirectly in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership, or be a receiver of a company’s property.

The company is due to be dissolved on September 16. Robert Clarke, head of company investigation at the Insolvency Service, said: ‘When directors of a company do not comply with legislation that is designed to protect customers, and avoidable losses result, the Insolvency Service will fully investigate the circumstances and take action where appropriate.’

AWARD WINNING SHINE EVERY TIME Autoglym Professional has once again been awarded ‘Cleaning Product of the Year’. Discover how our range of superior products and services can put the shine back into your profits.

Autoglym Professional CarDealerMag.co.uk | 31

FINANCE. BACK OF THE NET!

Youth teams’ sponsorship is renewed

We have lift-off for DS 4 Crossback Moondust offer!

DS Automobiles has a range of offers until the end of September.

With the forthcoming 67-plate in mind, the marque’s latest campaign includes the new DS 4 Crossback Moondust, pictured.

The DS 4 Crossback is the brand’s

adventurer model, aiming to strike the perfect balance between performance and elegance, and the Moondust enhances the model’s versatility.

It features a striking matt paint finish to its Platinum Grey bodywork, with DS LED Vision, touchscreen

technology and luxurious Basalt Black grained leather interior trim.

The limited edition model with PureTech 130 petrol engine is available from £395 per month over 36 months and comes with a £2,800 manufacturer’s deposit contribution.

FCA outlines its plans for review of motor financing Investigation will look into ‘potential areas of consumer harm’

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he Financial Conduct Authority has revealed its plans for a review of the world of motor finance.

With the majority of new car finance carried out via PCPs, concern has been raised that these may have been mis-sold and that car buyers weren’t fully aware of the consequences. Although it isn’t a fullblown investigation, it will look into ‘potential areas of consumer harm in the motor finance market’.

The FCA has now established the key areas that it’ll be focusing on. This includes whether firms are taking the right steps to lend responsibly, if there are conflicts of interest from commission arrangements, if CarisDealer Advert Horizontal 2.pdf 2 information provided to customers C

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in a clear and transparent way and whether firms are managing the risk that asset valuations could fall.

The FCA said: ‘We are taking forward a range of work to help us to answer these questions, and to decide what further interventions may be necessary. This includes supervisory work with FCA-authorised lenders, detailed analysis of millions of anonymised credit reference agency records, and careful scrutiny of firms’ sales practices and processes.

‘We are also working closely with the Bank of England and the Prudential Regulation Authority, who are considering the risks raised by the expansion of motor finance that fall within their regulatory remit.’

01/03/2017 The13:37:03 findings are due to be

published early next year. It follows our report last month about the Finance and Leasing Association challenging a four-page Daily Mail investigation attacking the world of PCPs. The newspaper had claimed that youngsters were ‘being tempted into dangerously high levels of debt’ and warned that ‘irresponsible lending is risking another financial crash’. However, the FLA disputed the findings, with head of motor finance Adrian Dally telling Car Dealer: ‘Nobody was actually mis-sold anything. They’re reporting on mystery shoppers talking to sales people but nothing was ever sent through to a finance company for actual creditchecking. Responsible lending is what motor finance is about.’

CLOSE Brothers Motor Finance is to sponsor the South Yorkshire County Schools’ Football Association for the second year running.

The deal will see the Doncaster-headquartered company supporting the U18s and U16s boys’ teams, as well as the girls’ U16s team, helping to ensure they can offer kit, equipment and travel for the 2017/18 season.

Mark Wall, Sheffield branch manager at Close Brothers Motor Finance, said: ‘We are proud to be supporting the local youth teams for a second year in a region that’s at the heart of our business.

‘It’s an exciting time for the teams, and we would like to congratulate the boys’ U18s for winning the Northern Area Cup.’ Association secretary Steve Maddock said: ‘Money in youth football is always hard to come by. Most of the expenses are borne by parents and money raised from events held by the association.

‘This sponsorship by Close Brothers Motor Finance really made a difference last year.

‘We were able to get new kit and relieve some of the burden placed on the players’ families, so we’re delighted to have further support this season.’

He added: ‘It’s wonderful to see a local company helping local youth.’

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Mind your Ps in order to help attract those queues of customers G

ood products sell themselves don’t they?

What a statement that is! As a marketer who has worked in many different markets and professions, I know the above statement is far from the truth. I regularly look at First Response from an outside-in approach to see how we are doing and what we need to work on.

I look primarily at the marketing mix, which is an extremely useful marketing tool. Formulated in 1960 by marketing professor E Jerome McCarthy, it blends various factors so that a brand can be solidified and strengthened in order to assist with selling its service or product.

These elements are otherwise known as the 4 Ps: Product, Price, Promotion and Place. (Incidentally, there’s

‘Your pitch and website need to look and sound just like your adverts’ also the extended marketing mix, which is known as the 7 Ps, adding People, Process and Physical Evidence – these extras are for service companies.)

Within each one of these areas there’s a lot to talk about.

Let’s start with ‘Product’. Whether you’re selling budget used vehicles or top-of-the-range luxury used vehicles, it’s vital that you have a clear focus on what exactly your product range is before you can successfully market it.

Obviously, most of you will have done this when starting up your dealership, but have you relooked at it and are you sticking to it? And if so, is the work you’re doing sticking to your original plans?

If we take a look at ‘Price’, this should all be falling in line with your product range.

For instance, if you are a high-end luxury vehicle sales

Ben

Garside TIME IS MONEY

company but are selling based on ‘Best Price’ then how will you do this? Pricing will affect your profit margins, supply and marketing strategy. This is all about positioning based on price, so don’t forget your competitors when you figure out your pricing strategy.

Now it’s on to Promotion. This is the one key area for me, and is where your sales team and your marketing output need to come together and be consistent.

By this, I mean that you can’t have a brand experience that is luxurious and affluent and a sales experience that is quick and full of cheap offers, or vice versa – it would make no sense.

Some areas to think about, for instance, are branding, customer experience, sales process, aftersales, competitors, demographics, seasonality, reviews, service levels and

Turn over page for more finance stories additional services, etc.

This list can go on and on, but based on your Product and Price you’ll know which ones to focus on when entering Promotion (promoting and selling).

The final P stands for ‘Place’ or ‘placement’. This has to do with how the product will be provided to the customer.

For example, where do your buyers find your product? Do they find it on your website, via other digital areas, or by visiting your pitch?

This is a really important part of the jigsaw puzzle, as this is where everything comes together. Your pitch and website need to look and sound just like your adverts – it all needs to interlink and encompass all of your branding.

A product won’t sell itself. To really sell the product, you need to put the right product in the right place at the right price and at the right time.

Who is Ben Garside?

Ben is marketing manager for First Response. Call him on 07817 518739 or email ben.garside@frfl.co.uk

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 33

DEALFINDER.

FINANCE. YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO . . .

HYBRIDS HYUNDAI IONIQ AVAILABLE as a hybrid, plug-in and all-electric vehicle, the Ioniq is currently unique, but in hybrid guise you get a high-voltage battery paired with a petrol engine, which uses regenerative features to put power back into the system. Hyundai offers the Ioniq with no deposit and on a 37-month contract with 36 monthly payments of £354.59.

At the end of the 37-month term, customers will have paid £12,765.24 and if they choose to hold on to the Ioniq hybrid they will need to pay a final sum of £10,102.50.

This takes the overall cost of the contract to £22,867.74, which is £2,282.74 above the standard purchase price for the SE model.

This is on a 10,000-mile agreement with a representative APR of 4.9 per cent and fixed interest of 2.52 per cent. The offer is available until September 30.

KIA NIRO WITH plenty of space, good running costs and lots of decent tech, the Niro is a good option in the crossover market. Kia is currently offering it on 36-month contracts and can give customers an option to pay no deposit. On a 36-month deal with zero deposit, customers can get the Niro ‘3’ for £421.65 per month, which also can come with a dealer contribution of £1,000.

Customers will have then paid £15,179.40 – with £16,179.40 paid overall. If they choose to keep the Niro, they must pay a final fee of £11,615.63, making an overall total of £26,795.03 for the customer – £1,660.03 above the standard road price. The agreement is for 10,000 miles per annum and has 4.9 per cent APR and a fixed rate of interest of 2.5 per cent. With multiple safety systems, low running costs and excellent practicality, the Niro should be pushed for its environmentally friendly outlook.

Open-all-hours sales channel ‘can help beat margin erosion’ Online showroom is seen as a major way to shift more units

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ealers are turning to online car and

by DAVE BROWN van sales in order to pursue a faster @CarDealerDave turnaround of stock to fight margin erosion, says iVendi. area of innovation is through online sales, which James Tew, chief executive at the e-commerce potentially offer a 24-hour, nationwide sales experts, says that dealers who are seeing their perchannel,’ said Tew, pictured. unit profit come under pressure increasingly view He added that recent research from iVendi online as a means to increase volumes. covering 12,500 transactions showed that 35 per ‘Most franchise and independent dealers will cent of car sales could potentially happen entirely tell you that while the number of both new and online, as they were sold without the need for any used cars being sold remains relatively healthy, dealer contact – requiring no part-exchange, being margins are coming under pressure both from sold at the vehicle’s windscreen price and using rising costs and increasing oversupply. the dealer’s online finance. In fact, around one ‘The main way that dealers can fight this is in 20 (5.6 per cent) purchases in the sample were to simply turn around more units, and there are fundamentally completed entirely online already, limited methods by which to do this.

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as there was no e-mail, phone or physical contact with the dealer until the final step, when the car was collected or delivered.

‘Some people will tell you that there are no genuine online car sales happening in the UK. This is simply not true, as you can see from our sample, which also suggests that many more car sales could happen online if dealers provided the option. Every dealer knows that advertising a car online creates a faster turnaround than putting it on the forecourt and in the local paper. Allowing it to be potentially bought online, including motor finance, creates a further substantial boost.

‘An open-all-hours online showroom that allows the customer to take the sale through to completion is a valuable new channel.’

Car Dealer Advert Column.pdf 3 04/01/2017 10:42:23

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTE IN ONE of the most recognisable body styles currently on sale, the Golf GTE is a plug-in hybrid that brings VW quality and driving excellence to the fore with a more efficient and environmentally friendly output.

With figures including 166mpg and 40g/km CO2 with electric and petrol power combined, the GTE joins the Passat and Passat Estate in the GTE line-up. On a 35-month agreement, VW Centres can offer the Golf GTE at £350 per month, following a £2,957.65 deposit. VW offers a deposit contribution of £1,000.

Customers will have paid £15,207.65 by the end of the 35 months and if they want to keep it they need to pay a final sum of £14,710.60, which includes an activation fee. This takes the overall total to £29,918.25 payable by the customer – £30,918.25 in all – which is £1,783.25 more than the standard road price. This is on a 10,000-mile per annum agreement with 4.9 per cent APR and 4.84 per cent fixed interest.

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ASE

Provider’s commitment to employee happiness sees it join golden elite

Dealers’ average profit for June rises to £46,000

MOTOR finance provider Moneyway has been awarded the Investors in People (IIP) Gold accreditation for its commitment to employee satisfaction.

The internationally recognised credential is used to set the standard for what it means to lead, support and manage people.

While IIP recognises more than 14,000 organisations across the world, only seven per cent hold the prestigious Gold standard.

The company, which is part of the Secure Trust Bank Group, was praised by the IIP assessors for its ‘clear vision of becoming the best bank in Britain, and the high degree of buy-in that employees demonstrate in relation to the company’s strategic direction’.

The group’s open and transparent culture plus strong commitment to equality and diversity were also lauded.

Commercial director Stewart Cox said: ‘It is an honour to be awarded the Gold Investors in People standard. We pride ourselves on high levels of satisfaction across all levels of the business, and this award shows that the efforts we go to really do make a difference.’

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THE average UK motor dealer produced a strong performance for June with a profit of £46,000.

It represents an increase of £3,700 over the June 2016 profit despite the drop in registration levels compared with the previous year. As a result of the very strong first quarter, profits for the current year to date remain ahead of the previous year, even though April and May’s underperformance led to the second quarter being behind last year’s by £10,500.

The figures, released by profitability specialists ASE, reveal that the overall year-to-date return on sales figure remains precariously above one per cent.

ASE chairman Mike Jones said: ‘Profitability was once more driven by dealerships’ vehicle sales departments, albeit with minor improvements in overhead absorption continuing.’

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 35

BIG MIKE.

All Big Mike’s columns are on our website. Enjoy them here bit.ly/bigmike

Why nothing beats the feeling of being a good car dealer I

f you’ve read this twaddle ever since the early days of Car Dealer magazine, you’ve done well – and I’d like to offer you my deepest commiserations.

That’s because you’re currently reading your one hundredth ‘Big Mike’. Yes, I’m on a century not out – or about 80,000 words in, and still going strong. Or something like that.

In monthly publishing terms, 100 columns is eight years and four months. And in that time, quite a bit has changed. According to my stock books I’ve sold 1,214 cars in that period and the way in which I’ve moved them has changed considerably.

It’s fair to say that when it comes to flogging tin, I’m fairly old-school. Yes, I have a website, I use eBay, Gumtree, Schpock and all the rest, but I’m also a firm believer that my little patch of brown belt land on the western outskirts of Birmingham is still a great asset.

I’m about 50 yards away from a major road junction, meaning that when the traffic backs up in the morning rush-hour, drivers with one eye on their temperature gauge can cast their other at my lot. I have bunting. I have a dog (Fluffy the Rottweiler, he was a puppy back in ’09).

I have a static caravan with a sign hanging over the door saying ‘Entry Office’, a relic I rescued from an old auction site over at West Bromwich.

And around 50 per cent of my customers are still ‘walkins’, either people I’ve sold cars to before, people who know people I’ve sold cars to before who have been happy with my service, or people who know I exist as ‘that place with all the bunting outside, near the traffic lights, where he sells cars between £500 and £5,000’.

Those of you with sharp memories will remember my apprentice, Jason, who once polished and detailed the hairdresser next door’s Fiat Punto to within an inch of its life because he mistook it for a sales car.

She was so delighted with the job he did that she took him out for a beer to say thanks, and seven years on, she’s pregnant with his first kid and the Punto is currently a faded shadow of its former self, tucked away in Poo Corner at the back of my lot after they traded it in against a Ford C-Max. Jason, meanwhile, took the gift of the gab that he was born with, and after becoming friendly with the guys down at the auction from where we used to source most of our stock, took up the mantle as an auctioneer. He’s

100th

Big Mike OUR MAN ON THE INSIDE SPILLS THE BEANS ON THE CAR BUSINESS (AND REACHES QUITE A MILESTONE!)

recently started working for one of the big auction houses, wears a suit to work and, unsurprisingly, has immaculate hair. I expect he’ll go a long way.

My current apprentice is a young lad called Sam. Given the car industry’s reputation for being innovative and creative with its humour, he is of course known on-site as Sammy the Chammy, given that he spends half of his working life cleaning cars.

The other half he spends showing me how to operate the internet, and the various electronic systems that have taken over as the modus operandi of the automotive industry. These days, everything is online – V5s, road tax and even the way I buy and sell the bloody things.

To be fair, internet auction sites have bowled me over in their usefulness. As milestones go, the launch of eBay Motors (other auction sites are available) was great news for independent traders like me – but only if you don’t mind mixing it with the great unwashed and (often) cerebrally challenged. We’re talking the type of individual, here, who puts a sideways ‘BecausePeugeot’ sticker in the windscreen of their 1.4-litre 307 on steel wheels, just to give a bit of context.

But, and cruel of me it may be, slow-witted individuals often throw up the best bargains. While it’s a car salesman’s job to talk up the item for sale, the humble man in the street who needs a few quid, having wasted most of his money on Poundland wheeltrims and cannabis leaf-shaped Pongo air fresheners, isn’t really the go-to expert for knowing how to sell a car.

Often, his rubbish photos and lack of effort to at least give the thing a clean mean that the majority of punters aren’t in the slightest bit interested, and it’s only me that can see the potential in the filthy old heap. Much to the annoyance of Sammy the Chammy, I should add, who then has to remove all the self-adhesive tat and valet the things back to a sales standard. But, as I keep telling the boy, retail’s in the detail. He’ll learn a lot from that, the same way that I’ve learned a lot from the phrase ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure’.

Trust me on this – for every £15 bottle of car polish that you buy, you’ll get a £1,000 return on investment if you use it wisely. Sod what that fella says about sunscreen – if I was to give you one piece of advice, it’d be ‘use Autoglym’ (other polishes are available).

I digress. Where I was going with this was that, in my experience, buying cars from internet auction sites has

Who is Big Mike? Well, that would be telling. What we do know is he’s had more 36 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

changed the dynamic of the lower end of the car sales spectrum. These days, the big auction houses are good for more expensive, late model cars, but the older stuff that the likes of me thrive on is much easier to source via auction websites, where there’s no indemnity fee to eat into your margin, and where you can still walk away once the bidding has ended if you feel a car has been misdescribed or is hiding a fault.

Online sales are a bonus for me, too. Although I still get quite a few walk-ins, I do a lot of trade these days via my online ads, and I’m spreading my tentacles further.

Whereas it used to be largely the western suburbs of Birmingham in which you’d see ‘Another bargain from Big Mike’ stickers in the windows of people’s cars, the famous legend now adorns cars as far and wide as Wolverhampton, Stafford and – on one occasion – Norwich, where people have travelled to me to pick up their dream wheels. Sure, you have to work harder and it’s a lot more competitive out there than it ever was before, but there’s also a lot more business to go at.

Perhaps the biggest change since 2008, though, has been the growth of social media. Back then, it did exist – Facebook was 10 years old in 2015, for example – but it has grown in profile these days to the extent that it is some people’s sole means of communication. My son has mates he’s never met, who he knows loads of stuff about, all because they happen to own the same make and model of car and live at opposite ends of the country (he has a Peugeot 205 GTi, for which there are multiple online ‘communities’). Recently, he went to one bloke’s wedding reception, and it was the first time they’d actually met.

Virtual relationships are normal these days, and

‘After almost half a century, this is a career I’m still delighted to have chosen.

One that has helped me meet some terrific people and have some bloody good laughs along the way’

through them comes the opportunity to buy and sell cars. Indeed, the new ‘Marketplace’ feature on Facebook appears to have become the dumping ground of choice for ailing Jaguars, Volvos and Rovers in the Greater Birmingham area, and that, to me, is terrific news, as it has given me a whole new (and rich) vein of stock to tap into. Especially as, these days, it’s the retro stuff on which I seem to make the most money. Maybe that’s just a sign of me getting old, though. I know how cars like that work.

After all, the biggest thing that has changed since 2009 is me. I’m older, just as chubby, allegedly a little wiser, and I’m still running the automotive equivalent of Battersea dogs’ home, taking in waifs and strays and finding new homes for them.

The car trade is continually evolving, and since I started boring you lot senseless every month it has transformed: the way in which finance is sorted; the way in which we transfer ownership; and the fact you can’t smoke around in whatever piece of stock you’ve got that’s still taxed because the tax gets cancelled with the car.

Little things, big things. But the fundamental bits are still the same. For me, that’s the thrill of chasing a bargain, and the thrill of closing a deal.

Nothing, boys and girls, feels greater than knowing you’re a good car dealer. Both in terms of making ends meet, and in terms of looking after your customers. It’s the career I chose when I was 17, and, almost half a century later, is a career I’m still delighted to have chosen. One that has helped me meet some terrific people and have some bloody good laughs along the way. And if I’m still saying the same in 100 columns’ time, remind me of that – not least because I should have retired by then!

than 40 years in the car trade and picked up some incredible tales along the way.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 37

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www.carcareplan.com 38 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

FORECOURT.

BMW 2 Series Convertible Armin Hildisch, project manager for the BMW 1 Series, 2 Series and Z4, spoke to reporter Jack Evans So what are the main features that have been changed on this car?

The key new feature is the main instrument panel inside. It’s completely new, and this is the same for the display behind the steering wheel. It’s a significant update.

Do drivers like a lot of tech in their cars?

It’s got a real value for our clients. It means we now have this new instrument panel combined with improved connectivity features like the ones we’ve seen in cars like the 5 and 7 Series. It’s a big change. We knew that the external changes weren’t all that large, however, and perhaps not as drastic as some people expect. We’ve made the biggest changes to the interior.

What has changed with the exterior?

We’ve revised the lights at the front and back.

The air intakes have been updated in design too, and those lights are now LED as standard.

You can also have optional adaptive lights, and these are recognisable by their hexagonal shape. The bottom of the car is a little wider than it was before.

Do you think people still like the look of the 2 Series? After all, it’s been around a little while now…

We think that the car is fresh enough on the exterior, and we think it will be good enough for the next few years – that’s why we’ve only done a few updates to the outside of it.

Why do convertibles appeal to people?

It’s a personal thing. I know that in Germany, many people say that they like the size of this car in particular and many people say that they only want to drive a car where the roof goes down.

For me, if the temperature is okay I like it – but if it’s too hot then I’ll put the roof up.

Do you think compact cars with smaller dimensions suit the modern driver?

Our aim with the 2 Series was to develop a car with smaller dimensions. The 3 Series has grown up, and we’d consider the 2 Series to be just the right size. Not too big and not too small, with enough room for four people and their luggage.

That’s the feedback we get back, anyway.

THE KNOWLEDGE Model: BMW 2 Series Convertible Price (as tested): £33,640 Engine: 2.0-litre diesel Power (bhp): 188 Torque (Nm): 400 Max speed (mph): 139 0-60mph: 7.5 seconds MPG (combined): 65.7 Emissions (g/km): 113 TARGET BUYERS: Those who want a decent, dependable but cheap-to-run convertible.

THE RIVALS: Range Rover Evoque Convertible, Audi A3 Cabriolet.

Jack puts the new version of the car through its paces What’s new?

The car has been updated with a raft of new interior touches as well as a few exterior upgrades. There are no mechanical changes, just visual and tech-based additions to keep the three-door fresh.

driving more relaxing, allowing for easy overtaking and brisk jolts of acceleration – it’ll hit 60mph in a respectable 7.5 seconds. Despite this performance, it’ll still return 65.7mpg on a combined cycle, as well as emitting just 133g/km CO2.

What’s under the bonnet?

Our test car was a 220d. This dieselpowered model will undoubtedly be one of the more popular options in the range, as it offers a sensible balance of power and economy.

There’s a decent 188bhp to play with, as well as an impressive 400Nm of torque. It’s this lowdown shove which makes daily

What’s it like to drive?

Because the new 2 Series hasn’t been changed in any way mechanically, there’s no difference between it and the previousgeneration car. However, that’s no bad thing as it still drives keenly.

start at £27,540 for the 218i in SE spec. Even these cars get 17-inch alloy wheels, air conditioning and Bluetooth connectivity. Our test car was a 220d in M Sport trim, and this weighs in at a hefty £33,640.

That said, these cars do receive 18-inch alloy wheels, a full M Sport aerodynamic bodystyle package and dual chrome tailpipes. It’s the pick of the bunch if you’re after plenty of standard equipment as well as sportier looks and handling – these cars get lowered M Sport suspension, too.

What’s the spec like?

Prices for the 2 Series Convertible

What do the press think?

Autocar said: ‘The compact BMW 2

KEY SELLING POINTS: 1. Good handling.

2. All-round usability.

3. Efficient engines.

DEAL CLINCHER: The 2 Series Convertible is ideal for those who want to keep costs down but still have fun.

Series drop-top has unquestionably matured. If anything, it may have grown up too quickly.’

What do we think?

The new 2 Series Convertible may have only been lightly refreshed, but the changes add to its already considerable appeal.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 39

FORECOURT.

Range Rover Velar THE KNOWLEDGE

JLR MD Jeremy Hicks gives us the lowdown on the medium SUV it sees as its most refined and capable

Model: Range Rover Velar Base price: £44,830 How important is the Velar in the Range Price (as tested): £83,350 Rover line-up?

Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged It’s no more or less important than any other diesel vehicle in the line-up. We set a target of 70 Power (bhp): 296 per cent conquest for the Velar and we’re now Torque (Nm): 700 sitting with inquiries at 72 per cent conquest, Max speed (mph): 150 and that’s the key thing – we don’t want to eat 0-60mph: 6.1 secs our own lunch. We don’t want to detract from MPG (combined): 44.1 the other cars in our range. There’s a really good Emissions (g/km): 167 price gap from the average price of an Evoque up TARGET BUYERS: Those who want Range Rover badge appeal but with more prowess than an Evoque.

THE RIVALS: Porsche Macan, Mercedes GLC, Audi SQ5.

KEY SELLING POINTS: 1. Lots of badge appeal.

2. Styling stands out from the crowd.

3. Decent range of engines.

DEAL CLINCHER: The Velar will be a hugely successful car for Range Rover, and its interior is a real step up compared with the rest of the range.

to the price of a Range Rover Sport – so there’s a very clear gap there. I’m not a great believer in creating new segments, but I do believe in attracting different customers. I absolutely believe that this is a car that will draw a lot from the estate car market.

What do you think the Velar offers that those cars can’t?

It’s something different. It’s that simple to me. We saw this with XE – it’s a great car sat within a marketplace with lots of other good cars, but when people come to us to buy one they tell us it’s because it’s something completely different. They don’t say it directly but there is a Britishness thing that hangs underneath.

When I speak to customers, they’re never overt about saying that they’re buying a car because it’s British, but actually when they talk about it, they like to support a British business.

Is off-road capability crucial in cars such as the Velar?

The reason why people want off-road capability is because it’s part of the authenticity of an SUV. When we have bad weather our inquiries go through the roof. That’s the time when the

capability that these cars provide is needed.

Also, four-wheel-drive systems add a whole better dimension to handling and on-the-road performance, too. It’s part of our DNA. Have dealers had any specific training?

Yes. We always have an off-road element to every piece of Land Rover training. We run a central training event where we invite all of our heads of business. They need to be trained up on our cars because they’re the ones who set the tone. We then invite others, and it’s an immersive, all-day programme. People have the tendency to think that the Velar is a car that has gone soft, and that’s why we want to demonstrate to everyone that it’s still hugely capable off road. We also do e-learning. We can’t take everyone on the practical training, and if they can’t then we provide detailed e-learning. Those who have been out on the programmes can then come back and impart to others what they’ve learnt.

Finally, we embed product knowledge into all of our sales training.

How do you explain the wide range of technology to the average customer?

It’s a challenge, because we shouldn’t just have to rely on sales people to demonstrate it. We’re already doing a series of ‘how to’ films. We’re gradually introducing these to customers to better explain the features and benefits of their cars – and they’re on YouTube. AdBlue is a crucial one of these, as many people don’t know how it works. I have a real sympathy for customers because there is simply so much to learn. It’s down to us to think about how we can communicate effectively with them.

Jack Evans finds that big is beautiful when he gets behind the wheel of the most What’s new?

The Velar is a mid-sized SUV for those who want a little more space and a little more luxury.

Featuring an all-new Touch Pro Duo infotainment system that consists of two highdefinition 10.2-inch touchscreens and fitted with Range Rover’s latest tech, it’s the most cuttingedge car the brand has ever put to market.

What’s under the bonnet?

The base diesel pushes out 183bhp and 460Nm of torque and can achieve 52.5mpg. Above this is a more powerful 236bhp diesel, which still returns 40 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

48.7mpg. The lower-powered petrol version puts out 246bhp yet can hit 60mph in 6.4 seconds and return 37.2mpg, while the 296bhp unit still manages the same economy as the lowerpowered version.

For those wanting a little more power, there’s a turbocharged V6 diesel that produces 296bhp and an incredible 700Nm of torque yet can still return 44.1mpg.

There’s also a powerful supercharged V6 petrol with 374bhp on offer.

What’s the spec like?

Prices for the Velar start at £44,830.

For that, you get a base-spec vehicle with the four-cylinder Ingenium diesel engine. As standard, all cars get Terrain Response, 18-inch alloy wheels and heated front seats.

Cruise control, autonomous braking and keyless entry are also included, as is the infotainment system. This base trim is available with the four-cylinder only.

Mid-range SE cars benefit from larger 20-inch alloy wheels, a 360-degree parking camera and a

Roof

The ‘floating roof’ design is a key feature on all Range Rovers.

Looks

The sleek front end of the Velar looks straight out of the sketchbook.

Wheels

Large alloy wheels give the Velar a huge amount of presence.

cutting-edge Range Rover to enter the market full 12.3-inch screen replacing the car’s traditional dials. You also get leather seats, of which the front two are powered and heated. However, these cars cost from £56,060.

Prices can go as high as £85,450 for top-spec First Edition cars, while the middle-range cars offer excellent value for money as they come with a good amount of standard equipment and enough luxuries to keep even the most avid button-pusher happy.

What’s it like to drive?

The first thing that strikes you when you get

behind the wheel is just how vast the Velar feels. It’s near impossible to see the very front of the car, and this can be a little disconcerting to begin with.

It pulls away cleanly, though, and responds with more than enough urgency for a car of this size. The eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox shifts without any fuss, too.

The steering feels somewhat distant to begin with but you soon become used to it, and the Velar is also nothing short of exceptional when it comes to tackling tricky conditions.

What do the press think?

Autocar said: ‘The Velar looks like the very personification of a concept car.’

Auto Express said: ‘This is one of the most desirable SUVs you can buy.’

What do we think?

Those who want to stand out from the crowd will love its look, while those who want a safety net for when conditions get tough will be impressed by the way it can handle almost any situation. Add a cutting-edge interior and you have an SUV that’s hard to beat.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 41

FORECOURT.

Hyundai i30 Tourer Aidan Rennie-Jones chatted to Tony Whitehorn, President & CEO of Hyundai Motor UK Is there any concern about Hyundai sales being down compared to figures for 2016?

I think anyone in the industry would agree April, May and June were tough. The total car market in those months was down 10 per cent; we were down 0.8 per cent. But in June, we were down 3.9 per cent in a market that was down five. It was disappointing, but we still had an improvement in our market share.

marketplace and it wasn’t since May 2009 that the market had been 20 per cent down. These are unprecedented times. I can’t see the market increasing in the second half of the year. At the beginning of the year, we thought the market would be down about three per cent. I expect it to be down anywhere between three and five per cent. We are going to have challenging times moving forward in the next six months.

What do you think is going to happen in the second half of the year?

Who knows? The first three months, the market was up six per cent. In April it was down 20, in May it was down 14, in June it was down five. The thing with the UK market is that it is a very stable

As Kia has recently introduced the Stinger, will there be something to rival that from Hyundai, in terms of an N car?

At the moment, there is no plan for that. We have taken a different direction from Kia, we have gone with N and put that in interesting models. N is a

brand and not a product, whereas the Stinger is a product. That is a different proposition for us.

To Chris Lee, marketing co-ordinating director.

How do you see the i30 Tourer fitting in?

The i30 Tourer will make up around 30 per cent of sales of the i30 range. This equates to 6,000 sales every year. The problem we have is that people only think of the i10 when they think of Hyundai in the UK and we wanted to change that.

That’s where the i30 range comes in. And we wanted the design of the Tourer to be different enough so that you knew it was a Tourer but not so different that you wouldn’t instantly recognise it as part of the i30 range.

THE KNOWLEDGE C M Model: i30 Tourer Premium Price (as tested): £22,885 Y Engine: 1.6-litre CDRi CM Power (bhp): 109bhp Torque (Nm): 280 MY Max speed (mph): 117 CY 0-60mph: 11.1 seconds CMY MPG (combined): 60 Emissions (g/km): 99 K

TARGET BUYERS: Young families, dog owners, taxi drivers.

THE RIVALS: Kia Cee’d Sportswagon, Skoda Octavia Estate and Peugeot 308 SW. KEY SELLING POINTS:

Aidan tests the i30 Tourer on a route through Belgium and France What is it?

The i30 Tourer is a more practical estate version of the i30 hatchback.

On the outside it looks similar to the hatch at the front with sleek lines and plenty of chrome, especially in Premium or Premium SE spec. The rear is where the i30 Tourer starts to become interesting because you get hatch looks and estate practicality.

Thanks to a tapered window line that is almost coupe-like, the car is rather stylish and a breath of fresh air over the old model.

What’s under the bonnet?

There are several engines to choose 42 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

from, including a 1.6-litre diesel with 109bhp, which is the one we drove. There is also a more powerful 134bhp diesel and two petrols – a 1.0-litre with 118bhp and a 1.4-litre with 138bhp. Both petrol engines are also turbocharged.

What’s the spec like?

There are several different specs to choose from. Our car was from the middle-of-the-range, finished in Premium trim and costing from £22,885. It comes with sat nav, an electric driver’s seat, sporty alloy wheels, LED headlamps, DAB radio and 17-inch alloy wheels to name

but a few features. For leather upholstery and a panoramic roof, you have to upgrade to Premium SE, which costs from £24,155. That’s the trim level we’d go for.

What’s it like to drive?

We began in Ashford, Kent and drove to France via Belgium.

Throughout the entire journey, the car didn’t fail to impress with its refinement and comfort. The steering isn’t direct or dynamic, but it is light and mildly responsive at times. But one thing it lacks is any excitement – it doesn’t make the driver enthusiastic to drive the car.

1. Practicality – lots of cubbyholes.

2. Comfy seats.

3. Very refined.

DEAL CLINCHERS: Well priced, much more practical than the hatchback.

What do the press think?

Top Gear said the i30 Tourer was ‘sensible and worthy, desirable too’.

What do we think?

This is a car that may not be inspiring to drive – but it isn’t aimed at car enthusiasts, it’s aimed at families and for that, it is perfect.

Not only does it have a huge boot to store lots of luggage, it also has a plethora of cubbyholes throughout.

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CarDealerMag.co.uk | 43

FEATURE.

T

he sale of new diesel and petrol cars and vans is to be banned in the UK from 2040 under new government plans to tackle air pollution.

The news was revealed recently by environment secretary Michael Gove, who also promised to work with local authorities to develop diesel scrappage schemes that were ‘value for money and appropriately targeted’.

Unsurprisingly, these statements have been chewed up and spat out by the media and the vague nature of the new policy has left us wondering where on earth we stand.

Since Gove’s announcement, we’ve heard that the UK can’t cope with that many electric cars charging every day and that these cars are 45 per cent more expensive to charge – so you’d be excused for thinking no-one will want to buy one.

The ban was officially announced as part of the government’s clean air strategy.

A draft proposal earlier this year had failed to commit to a diesel scrappage scheme, which ministers said would be ‘infeasible’ given the cost and number of cars involved.

Reports said the sale of new diesel and petrol cars would be banned from 2040, and the official wording would seem to back that up.

In the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs document, the only reference to halting sales is in section 1.7. It reads: ‘Central to the UK government’s objective of tackling NO2 and carbon emissions is its ambition for Britain to lead the world in electric vehicle technology and use. The government will end the sale of all new conventional petrol and diesel cars by 2040.’

Gove told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We can’t carry on with diesel and petrol cars, not just because of the health problems that they cause, but also because the emissions that they cause would mean that we would accelerate climate change, do damage to our planet and to the next generation.’

Let us try to explain what we know so far and what this actually means for car sales.

WILL WE BE READY FOR 2040?

The clock is ticking towards the time when your customers won’t be able to buy new cars powered by petrol or diesel. But has the government thought it all through? Rebecca Chaplin reports.

‘We can’t carry on with diesel and petrol cars, not just because of the health problems that they cause, but also because the emissions that they cause would mean that we would accelerate climate change, do damage to our planet and to the next generation.’

Environment secretary Michael Gove

ON OTHER PAGES : WE TAKE A TESLA ON A SUMMER HOLIDAY – PAGE 46 44 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

THE UK’S FIRST MULTI-BRAND

Currently, demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles is growing but is still at a very low level as consumers have concerns over affordability, range and charging points.’

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? Despite many early reports suggesting that it would only be possible to buy pure electric models on the new car market from 2040, the reality is that the only vehicles to be banned will be those that don’t have an electric motor of some kind – meaning hybrids can still be sold.

However, despite impressive growth over the past year, alternatively fuelled vehicles currently hold a tiny market share.

Mike Hawes, the chief executive of motor industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said there needed to be ‘incentives to purchase’ electrified cars, adding: ‘Currently, demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles is growing but is still at a very low level as consumers have concerns over affordability, range and charging points.’

HOW WILL THE 2040 BAN WORK? The government hasn’t explained how it is going to implement the ban, saying that it will continue to consult on the matter.

However, Gerry Keaney, chief executive of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association, has called for a clear and considered lead-up to the ban, saying: ‘It will have almost no impact on NOx emissions here and now. It is what the government does in the short term to kick-start the transition and maintain its momentum that really matters.’

It is also unlikely that a nationwide diesel scrappage scheme will be introduced to help people make the transition to cleaner cars. In the initial draft air quality proposal, such a scheme was called ‘infeasible’ because of the costs involved, although smaller localised schemes could receive funding for high-pollution areas as part of a £255 million fund to support clean air zones.

CAN WE ACTUALLY COPE? There’s plenty of debate about whether the UK’s infrastructure could even stand up to an influx of electrified vehicles.

ELECTRIC VEHICLE CENTRE – PAGE 53

According to Zap Map, which helps EV owners find their nearest charging point, there are currently 4,574 charging locations in the UK, with 13,130 connectors between them. That would have to increase drastically to accommodate the government’s proposal.

And there are fears that the National Grid could be overloaded by high numbers of electric vehicle owners charging their cars at peak times.

UK Power Networks, which supplies energy to London, the east and south-east of England, recently shared its plans to transform its network to be ‘smarter’ in order to cope with the increased demands electric cars will place on the grid.

This includes giving consumers the option to delay charging during peak hours to save money, with communication potentially happening through an app.

The National Grid’s chief executive, John Pettigrew, said that ‘the UK needs to find a way for millions of cars to be recharged quickly and simply as soon as possible’.

Other key issues that Pettigrew wants to see addressed include the ‘standardisation of charging points’ and work carried out to encourage ‘technology, automotive and energy industries to work together as closely as possible to plan for the future’.

DOES IT GO FAR ENOUGH? There are, of course, those who don’t think these steps are enough.

Sue Hayman, Labour’s shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, said: ‘We have had seven years of illegal air pollution under this Conservative government, who have only acted after being dragged through the courts.

‘Despite the scale of the problem of illegal air pollution, we are presented today with further consultations and delays… and no detail about how the government’s 2040 target will be achieved.’

Meanwhile, Ian Walker, professor of statistics and traffic psychology at the University of Bath, said: ‘My first impression is that this looks rather unambitious. If we know something has bad effects for public health, then to postpone a solution for decades is, implicitly, to accept that there will be a lot more of those bad effects for a prolonged period.’

Walker has also called for better education, so that using cars for short journeys becomes ‘difficult, expensive and/or socially unacceptable’.

WE TEST-DRIVE THREE ELECTRIC CARS – PAGE 54 CarDealerMag.co.uk | 45

FEATURE.

RECHARGING THE BATTERIES We know that electric vehicles can make sense around town, with plenty of available charging and only short daily drives, but what if your life is more rural? Rebecca Chaplin put the latest Tesla Model S 100D to the test on a Great British holiday.

46 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

PICTURES: JON REAY

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 47

FEATURE.

N

othing but the sound of the wind rushing around the car can be heard. That plus the surfboard that’s occasionally knocking on the roof bars and a two-year-old chattering in the back.

The joys of a family holiday...

This time the ‘spaceship’ noise, as our younger passenger keeps calling it, is because we’re taking on the 200-mile trip from Southampton to Tregonetha in Cornwall in a Tesla Model S. Attempting a journey like this would have been nearly impossible in an electric car before the latest generation of models became available – those such as the Renault Zoe and Nissan Leaf, which now have more than 200 miles of range – but the Tesla has been there for a while. Now with around 315 miles of range if you’re behind the wheel of a 100D such as this, the idea of range anxiety seems almost ridiculous.

Diehard readers of Car Dealer Magazine will remember that two years ago I drove a Tesla Model S to Norway using only the Supercharger network. The strange thing is, back then you couldn’t have done the trip that I’ve just completed to Cornwall.

That was a very different time for electric cars in the UK. Ecotricity points at service stations were free (although many of them still don’t work, so it’s neither here nor there that you need to pay) and the uptake of people using them was far lower, but if you did buy one you got a fairly reasonable sum from the government.

You’d almost question why anyone would want to buy an electric car these days, as the perks have certainly fallen off a cliff.

With it being so long since I last stepped into a Tesla, but the general look and feel of the car remaining almost the same, I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by the ‘pros’ versus ‘cons’.

I had to go to Tesla’s West Drayton store to collect the car, and after a short interview with Channel 5 on the topic (#humblebrag) that never aired (#notsuchahumblebragnow) I was in our car with 80 miles back to the office.

The M25 wasn’t moving – a huge surprise on a Friday afternoon – so I decided to go the long way via the M4. Then, of course, the M3 was also at a standstill, so I went the even longer way to get around it. With a fully charged battery this trip took close to three hours but the Tesla was unfazed, even with music blaring from its speakers and the air conditioning on.

There’s no Supercharger in Gosport or near it. Even with the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth nearby, the closest point is on the A34, and the only others on the south coast are 48 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Exeter and near Dover. Of course, Superchargers aren’t for daily use, and any electric car owner with half a brain will have a home charging point.

It did become clear, though, that this is only an option for people who can park their cars on a driveway or in a garage.

If I wanted to charge a Tesla at my terraced house, I’d have to trail the cable out of my front window and across the pavement.

My friends who were accompanying us would have the same problem, and anyone living in a flat would have no chance.

This sounds like I’m really not keen on electric cars, but that would be extremely wide of the mark. I love electric cars. However, when it comes to infrastructure, there are some serious issues that still need addressing if they’re going to become an option for a large proportion of our nation by 2040.

That was what drew me to our stay for the trip – the Old Barn, Tregonetha. A promoted post on Twitter from the holiday home boasted that it was the first self-catering cottage in the UK to have a Tesla charging point. Whether it is or not is up for debate, but it’s at least an early adopter.

Out in the far reaches of Cornwall, owner Stephen Chigwell had installed the ‘destination charging point’ after a customer who had a Model S had to charge it with an extension lead through the window.

With our destination set, the Tesla was telling me that I didn’t have enough charge to get there.

One of the nifty features is that when you plan your route you’ll be told how much charge will remain when you arrive and whether you can do a round trip. It also plans in charging stops so you can make it, and you find yourself using the sat nav even when you know where you’re going.

Fortunately for this trip we’d be able to take advantage of the Supercharger station in Exeter.

There were five of us on board: my partner and I, our two friends and their two-year-old. We were only going away for two nights but the car was packed to the brim.

The next plus point for the Model S is the excess of storage space. The 100D is all-wheel drive, so there are twin electric motors but still no engine or transmission to worry about.

However, having four and a half people on board and every bit of storage space filled does affect performance. The accurate range from my journey the day before wasn’t what I was experiencing now. When I’d parked at home I’d checked how our journey would pan out and when we left it agreed, but a few miles down the road the picture wasn’t looking so rosy. Closing in

‘It turns out petrol stations are just as hard to find in Cornwall as charging points.’

THE KNOWLEDGE Model: Price: Engine: Power: Max speed (limited): 0-60mph: Range: Emissions (g/km):

To Tregonetha in a Tesla

Tesla Model S 100D £90,000 Electric motors 371bhp 155mph 4.2 seconds 393 miles 0

The Tesla certainly got some looks in sleepy Cornwall. Or was it our choice of parking space...?

on Exeter service station, I was definitely not the most agreeable person with just 30 miles of range remaining.

An even more worrying factor was that we weren’t going to Exeter services. The directions were taking me somewhere else and I began to panic that there would be no Tesla Superchargers at all. We arrived at a farm shop called Dart Farm, and after some slight confusion and hopefully disguised panic as I drove around the car park, the three spaces for Teslas appeared – one already taken with a Model X. We plugged in, and although I’d been shown the key commands to open the various compartments, all I could manage was to pop the bonnet every time, so used the screen each time to reveal the port.

The Model S had told me I only needed to charge for 20 minutes to make it to my destination, but with the charging time having raced to 300 miles of range for every hour plugged in, an hour’s stop doesn’t seem that long at all – particularly once CarDealerMag.co.uk | 49

FEATURE.

you’ve grabbed a coffee and stretched your legs.

Back in the car and now fully charged, there was no need to worry about running out of battery for the last 80 miles of our journey. However, even the Tesla isn’t smart enough to avoid traffic (something you’d think would be vital in an electric car) and we soon got trapped in some roadworks traffic.

When you first begin driving the Model S the regenerative braking feels a bit unnatural. Every time you pull back on the accelerator the car brakes for you, so you soon find yourself using only one pedal most of the time and touching the brake only when you really need to.

In traffic like this, though, it’s a dream. You’ll soon gain back a couple of miles of charge too in stop-start traffic.

After what seemed like forever on the road we arrived in Tregonetha, which is located between Bodmin and Newquay, where there is little more than a collection of a few houses that make up the village.

One of our first questions when we were greeted by owner Chigwell was about the nearest shop, and he replied: ‘Well, there’s a Co-op about four miles that way or another shop about four miles the other way.’

If you’re looking for peace and tranquillity, it doesn’t get much better than this, with views of the sea from the bottom of the garden and not a peep to be heard from the road. The Old Barn is a fitting location for the Tesla, not only because of its charging points but also because it’s an ‘eco cottage’.

It’s been carefully designed to use as little energy as possible without losing any of the character. Solar panels for electricity

A handy way to keep an eye on the charge

50 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

and storing hot water are on the roof, the whole house is kept warm with underfloor heating and LED lights are used throughout. The biggest draw on power in this house will be when you charge your electric car overnight.

As I’m sure you know, once you’re in Cornwall everything is very nearby, so worrying about running out of battery shouldn’t really be a concern – in fact, we see a few other Teslas on holiday in the area. That said, after yesterday’s low battery, I’ve become a little bit more anxious about getting stuck. Luckily, there are helpful phone apps such as Zap Map, where you can find charging points. Once you open this you’ll see you’ll be well served, with places to charge all the way to Land’s End, if you wanted to travel that far.

Today we’ll just be driving around the bay – on the lookout for some surf – but also to get some photos of the Tesla in this location. We stop at Polzeath, where you’re allowed to park on the beach, before heading for some higher points along the coast.

Photographer Jon Reay is enjoying the stark contrast of a Land Rover Discovery with a diesel engine. While we’re driving, he calls to ask if we can stop for fuel.

It turns out petrol stations are just as hard to find in Cornwall as charging points. The devil in me was almost hoping that we wouldn’t find one, as if he did run out of fuel it would make a fantastic angle for my story, but fortunately – or should that be unfortunately? – with a few miles left in the tank we did.

On our return journey we stop again at Exeter, purely for my own peace of mind, but the Tesla could have easily got us home.

The fact of the matter was it was me who needed the break, not the car.

Filled with confidence about the capabilities of the 100D, I decided to take it to London the next day for a meeting. It would mean leaving early in the morning to beat the traffic, but at least I wouldn’t have to sit on a train, and I would only have to pay for parking. With under 100 miles of range now, the onboard computer predicted that I would have just six per cent battery left when I arrived. I’d found a car park with charging points, though, so I wasn’t worried.

I’d learnt my lesson and I didn’t need to panic. Six per cent was 14 miles and more than enough wiggle room.

I got on the road, but by the time I was on the A3 it had begun to warn me that I needed to drive at under 60 miles an hour to get there.

Don’t be stupid, I thought, and it replied with

Powering up at the cottage’s charge points ‘please drive under 55mph’. I complied, and with cruise control on it wasn’t really an issue, as we were soon in the usual slow drive into London.

My own stupidity meant that I’d arrived in a car park where I’d assumed they’d offer the perk of free charging. No such luck, and I needed a Chargemaster card to pay for it, which I didn’t have. I wasn’t too worried, though, as I knew that I could get to Westfield where there’s a Tesla Store, charging points and – best of all – coffee.

My meetings were over by about 2pm and I got on the road. Leaving the car park, though, 14 miles of range suddenly became nine. Why, I’ve no idea, and the air con and radio were suddenly and rapidly automatically disabled.

Nine miles of range to go two miles down the road is no reason to panic, I told myself, but when things start switching off it does make you a little nervous – especially as I was now trapped in slow-moving London traffic going past Hyde Park

‘I’m sure if things had got really dire the Model S would have asked me to park up somewhere safe.’

Smiles all round as we reached the sandy shores of Polzeath

Old meets new: Despite appearances, our accommodation was full of eco-friendly features

and the last thing I wanted was to be the Tesla rescued from the side of the road. I was willing that huge screen to switch off and stop wasting power… As you can probably imagine, it took around half an hour to drive those two miles but it made it. I’m sure if things had got really dire, though, the Model S would have asked me to park up somewhere safe.

Once in Westfield I sat down to do some work in the car for 45 minutes and was on my way again. The thing is, the car was more than capable of completing these journeys. However, working within the parameters of infrastructure is what held things up.

There are 23 years until 2040 and it’s just taken four years to complete a smart motorway on the M3. Can we even come up with a workable alternative solution in that time?

Well, probably, but it’s certainly going to cost a lot.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 51

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A better way of doing business 52 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

FEATURE.

Exciting new venture brings EVs to a wider audience

B

earing in mind recent announcements, Chargemaster, with the help of Milton Keynes Council, couldn’t have picked a better moment to open the Electric Vehicle Experience Centre (EVEC) – the UK’s first multi-brand electric vehicle showroom.

The EVEC is housed in a 4,000 sq ft showroom at the Centre:MK shopping centre.

It aims to educate car buyers about the benefits of EV ownership based on their needs and budgets, without pushing them to choose one manufacturer over another. The EVEC will showcase vehicles from BMW, Mitsubishi, Kia, Nissan, Renault and Volkswagen, and visitors will be able to try them out on local roads.

Chargemaster, a provider of EV charging points across the UK, is managing the showroom, while Milton Keynes’ Go Ultra Low city scheme provides the funding.

It is hoped the EVEC will contribute to the city’s goal of 23 per cent of all new cars registered locally being electric by 2021.

David Martell, chief executive of Chargemaster, said: ‘The opening of the EV Experience Centre is a landmark moment for electric vehicles in the UK. The next five years will see the uptake of EVs ramp up, as a wider choice of models comes to market, with improved range and greater desirability. The EV Experience Centre will provide a great opportunity for those interested in electric vehicles to find out more and test-drive one, which we are confident will encourage even more consumers to buy electric cars.’

Brian Matthews, head of transport innovation

at Milton Keynes Council, added: ‘We are very proud to be one of the UK’s Go Ultra Low cities, and we are putting the UK’s first EV Experience Centre at the very heart of our programme.

‘We want to encourage and support as many drivers as possible to go electric, and the information, advice and test drives offered through the centre will help to show consumers how easily an EV could fit into their lifestyle.’

Claire Noble, Volkswagen strategy development manager, said: ‘Volkswagen is excited to be a part of the new Electric Vehicle Experience Centre in Milton Keynes. This new venture represents a great way for people to learn more about electric and hybrid cars in a friendly, easily accessible environment.

‘Whether they would like to know more about the hybrid technology in the Golf GTE and Passat GTE, or are keen to discover how easy it is to drive the all-electric new e-Golf or e-up!, they will have their questions answered by professionally trained experts. The new store’s location in Milton Keynes is an obvious bonus for us, too, because Volkswagen UK has been based in the town since the 1970s. Milton Keynes is investing in electric car infrastructure and the

EV Experience Centre underlines the town’s commitment to this technology.’

The AA Trust – another founding partner – will also be running its Drive Electric lessons from the EVEC, with the aim of teaching drivers how to get the most out of EVs while out on the road.

Edmund King, AA Trust chairman, said: ‘We are approaching a tipping point as more and better electric cars come on stream.

‘We want to help drivers understand this exciting new technology at the EV Experience Centre, but we also want to help them get the most out of their electric cars.

‘Drive Electric sessions, conducted by AA instructors, can either be carried out in the driver’s own electric car or in one of the EV Experience Centre’s test-drive fleet.

‘The EV Experience and Drive Electric experiences will really put Milton Keynes on the map as the most go-to EV place in the world.’

Research by the AA Trust found that 32 per cent of 16,239 motorists quizzed would be interested in taking lessons in EV driving.

The motoring organisation hopes to prove that EV uptake can be improved when advice and demonstrations are readily available.

‘We want to help drivers understand this exciting new technology, but we also want to help them get the most out of their electric cars.’

Edmund King, AA Trust chairman CarDealerMag.co.uk | 53

FEATURE.

EVs on test: Nissan Leaf v Hyundai Electric vehicles are, arguably, the future of personal transport – and they'll have to be from 2040! With that in

T

hese days, it seems that every second news story from the world of motoring is in some way related to electric vehicles. As we report in this issue, the government has announced that it intends to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2040, and Volvo has pledged that every car it produces will feature some form of electrification by 2019.

With electric vehicles becoming more and more prominent – as well as popular – we thought we’d put three relatively affordable examples together to do battle. There’s the pretty little Renault Zoe, the dependable Hyundai Ioniq and the rather unfortunate-looking Nissan Leaf. Which will come out on top? Read on to find out...

range of 174 miles. Inside, you get a wellappointed and tightly-screwed-together interior, with plenty of toys to help justify the £26,860 price tag that our test car came with.

Next is the Renault Zoe, which – to our eyes at least – is easily the prettiest of the bunch.

In addition to its eye-catching looks, it also features the best claimed range of the three EVs, with 250 miles on the NEDC cycle, thanks to its new ZE 40 battery.

Finally, we come to the Nissan Leaf, arguably the most old-fashioned of the lot. It’s also the least attractive, looking rather bulbous and ungainly in its proportions. It also has the lowest theoretical range, with just 155 miles.

What’s new?

Looks and image

Of the three cars we’ve assembled here, the Hyundai Ioniq is by far the newest. The Nissan and Renault have both been around for some years now, and the Leaf is actually due to be replaced by a new model next year.

The Ioniq is the South Korean manufacturer’s first go at an all-electric car. It makes use of a 118bhp electric motor, which boasts a claimed

When it comes to talking about how a car looks, the old cliché ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ instantly springs to mind.

The conclusions one draws about an object’s aesthetics are always going to be subjective and based on personal taste. However, you’d have to be blind if you were to argue that the Nissan Leaf was anything other than an unattractive car.

Model: Nissan Leaf Tekna Price (as tested): £27,790 Engine: 80kW electric motor Power: 108bhp Torque: 254Nm Max speed: 89mph 0-60mph: 11.3 seconds Range: 155 miles 54 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

It’s swollen and generally unpleasant to look at, as well as being further let down by a dull interior. Well built, but dry as dust.

The Hyundai, on the other hand, is a far more handsome thing to behold. Of the three cars here, it’s certainly the most grown-up, and while it may not be quite as pretty as the Renault Zoe, it still looks good. The Ioniq also has the best cabin of the three, with our Premium SE specification car featuring full leather upholstery and plenty of equipment as standard – such as heated seats and satellite navigation.

While the Renault might be the nicest to look at from the outside, it is, unfortunately, let down by a bargain-basement interior. There’s a great deal of cheap-looking materials throughout, and next to the likes of the Ioniq it feels a bit spartan.

Space and practicality As far as space and practicality are concerned, the Renault, Hyundai and Nissan are all relatively on a par. The Hyundai certainly feels the most spacious inside, if only by a touch, with a decent amount of room in the back for passengers.

There’s also a 350-litre boot, which can be

Ioniq Electric v Renault Zoe mind, Simon Davis put three mainstream models to the test to see which was best. extended to 1,410 litres with the rear seats folded down. While the Zoe can’t quite match the Hyundai in terms of interior room, it isn’t too far behind. It also has a fairly comparable boot, with 338 litres of storage capacity on offer. As with the Hyundai, the rear seats can be folded down to free up a total of 1,225 litres.

Of the three EVs gathered here, the Nissan Leaf boasts the largest boot – but only by a fraction.

The Japanese car offers buyers 370 litres of space, or 720 litres with the seats folded, although because of the batteries they can't go flat down.

Behind the wheel If we were to be brutally honest, while all of these cars are certainly capable out on the road, none is particularly exciting to drive. Our outright favourite would be the Hyundai Ioniq, largely owing to the fact that it’s the most composed when pushing on, and it also benefits from more power than the others. The sprint from 0-60mph is dispatched in 9.7 seconds, while the Nissan and Renault can only manage respective figures of 11.3 and 13.3 seconds.

Although the Ioniq would be our choice of

Model: H yundai Ioniq Premium SE Price (as tested): £26,860 Engine: 32kW electric motor Power: 118bhp Torque: 295Nm Max speed: 103mph 0-60mph: 9.7 seconds Range: 174 miles

car for a longer journey, the reality is that these cars are best suited to inner-city driving. As all are roughly the same size, all of them can navigate with ease those tighter spaces that are often encountered in busy city centres, and none proved to be problematic when it came to parking. Thanks to the instant torque provided by their electric motors, you won’t hold anyone up when pulling away from a standstill, either.

Value for money As far as affordability is concerned, the Renault Zoe is the most obtainable by quite a large margin. With the government’s EV grant included, the price of the iDynamique Nav R90 ZE40 we tested was £23,770. This sum included a decent amount of standard equipment, including satellite navigation, Bluetooth connectivity, rear parking sensors and 16-inch alloys.

Both the Hyundai and the Nissan were considerably more expensive. With the government EV grant taken into account and optional extras fitted, the Ioniq Premium SE we drove cost £26,860. While this figure is a lot higher, the car’s interior is a far nicer place to be.

There’s full leather upholstery, heated front seats, satellite navigation and a rear parking camera, to name but a few of the standard features.

The Nissan Leaf was the most expensive of the three. Prices for the Tekna specification model we tested start at £27,790, and if we’re honest it’s hard to see what this money is getting you.

It has the lowest range of the three, is the least attractive, is slower than the Hyundai and also doesn’t have as nice an interior as its South Korean counterpart. That said, there’s a load of standard equipment, with leather upholstery, heated front and rear seats, satellite navigation and Bluetooth connectivity all thrown in.

Verdict At the end of the day, all three of the electric vehicles we’ve assembled here are truly competent vehicles. However, if we were to pick one outright winner it would have to be the Hyundai Ioniq.

It may not be the cheapest model, or the one with the greatest range, but it drives the best, has a solidly put together interior and looks good, too. The Leaf would be the most difficult to recommend, with the Zoe in second place. [CD]

Model: R enault Zoe iDynamique Nav Price (as tested): £23,770 Engine: R90 electric motor Power: 91bhp Torque: 220Nm Max speed: 84mph 0-60mph: 13.3 seconds Range: 250 miles CarDealerMag.co.uk | 55

FOCUS ON.

Dealer Auction

Speeding up the process of DEALER AUCTION

I

t’s said that two heads are better than one, so when not two but four industry-leading companies put their heads together, it can only work to the benefit of UK dealers.

Dealer Auction, Motors.co.uk, Movex and NextGear Capital, all of which are part of Cox Automotive, have formed an alliance to rapidly speed up and simplify the process of buying, transporting, funding and advertising stock.

We got in touch with each of these companies to find out what this industry-leading arrangement is all about and how dealers will benefit from it.

Explaining the idea, Kieran TeeBoon, operations director at Dealer Auction, said: ‘We are on target to sell over 80,000 trade cars for our 1,500 franchised dealers to our 4,500 trade buyers in 2017. We saw a need to help our buyers fund, transport and market these vehicles quickly.

‘Fortunately, we already have great partners in Motors, Movex and NextGear to make this happen. Once a dealer has won a car on Dealer Auction, they’re able, with just one click of a button, to get Movex to organise collection of that vehicle from the selling centre back to their premises in double-quick time.

‘Then, if the vendor and the purchaser are both NextGear-funded, the buyer can choose to fund the vehicle in a totally paperless transaction.

‘There’s no need to pay for the car on a debit card when they get there; no need to organise costly BACS transfers; no need to log on to the NextGear computer system and type all the details in again; and no need to arrange funding and then wait 72 hours for the money to come back into their bank account. It’s all done in a seamless online transaction within the Dealer Auction platform.

‘Next, if you are a Motors.co.uk customer – or have a Flex dealer website powered by them – you can transfer the vehicle and all of its details to its AutoEdit stock management tool and publish the vehicle for sale within minutes of the auction finishing.’

Moving on to the specifics of what dealers will

56 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

E: kieran.teeboon@dealer-auction.com get out of the new arrangement, TeeBoon said: ‘So many businesses focus on squeezing as much money out of their clients as possible.

‘We are focused on making our award-winning online auction a great place to buy, move, fund and advertise cars. We have grown by giving our clients exactly what they want, when they want it. The quicker we can help our buyers to market their stock, the quicker they can sell it and the whole cycle begins again.

‘We’re always looking for ways to save our clients time and because so many of our clients use these other award-winning companies that are part of the Cox family, we can make it seamless and quicker with one sign-on to access these different services that Cox Automotive provides. By making it as simple as we have, dealers can focus on their primary business – the purchasing and selling of cars.

‘Dealer Auction has at least one auction a minute finishing from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 2pm on a Saturday and 3pm to 5pm on a Sunday. With 4,500 buyers registered to use the site, a great number of whom are registered to use these other sites, it makes absolute sense for us to link these great businesses in the background so that dealers can interact with these different companies and get the great services that they provide. We want to be the onestop shop that both franchised and independent dealers go to to both buy and sell trade stock.’

Dermot Kelleher, director of marketing and business intelligence at Motors.co.uk, said: ‘Cox Automotive brands are always looking to work together to make life easier for car dealers.

‘As a combined business we have solutions for dealers at every stage of the vehicle lifecycle, helping them find, fund, move, manage and market their vehicles.

‘‘

We want to be the one-stop shop that both franchised and independent dealers go to to both buy and sell trade stock.

Kieran TeeBoon, operations director at Dealer Auction

‘At Motors.co.uk, we help dealers in this final phase, with managing and marketing their vehicles online. We provide them with an online stock management platform – AutoEdit – that allows them to advertise their stock online. We also operate a network of highquality sites that include Parkers, Honest John and RAC Cars, which enable dealers to reach over five million car buyers each month.

‘One of the ways we identified to save our

buying and listing stock W: dealer-auction.com

”

Cox Automotive brands are always looking to work together to make life easier for car dealers.

Dermot Kelleher, director of marketing and business intelligence at Motors.co.uk

customers time was to help them advertise newly acquired vehicles online quicker and more easily.

‘As a result, Motors.co.uk and Dealer Auction have integrated their services to give UK car dealers the ability to list their newly-purchased

stock from Dealer Auction on Motors.co.uk and their Flex dealer websites with just one click.

‘Dealers will benefit from being able to list their new Dealer Auction purchases faster than ever before. This arrangement cuts the number of days from buying a vehicle to listing it down from seven to zero.

‘We are excited because we are once again

offering dealers terrific value through their investment in us and helping them sell their new stock faster. The sooner a car is listed on the internet, the quicker it will generate interest that will lead to a sale.

‘This integration means dealers can immediately put their cars in front of 5.1 million used car buyers through the Motors.co.uk network and onto their own Flex website.

‘On average, this integration will save dealers seven days between purchase and listing. This will undoubtedly help dealers save time and generate more sales. This is how Cox Automotive brands are working more closely together to support our customers.’

Daren Jones, CEO of Movex, said: ‘When the dealer sees the vehicle, they can see a price of how much it’s going to cost there and then to get it transported.

‘They just select the option they want, that pushes the movement request through to Movex, and the car is then collected and transported.

We’re making it as simple as possible.

‘We allocate the car to one of our top-rated transport companies and we provide a full logistics service for the customer where, if there are any issues, they contact us and we deal with the transport company directly.

‘We’re like a liaison with the dealer and the transport company.

‘Everything’s done in real time. We’ve got an app with proof of collections, appraisals, tracking and proof of delivery.’

NextGear told us: ‘NextGear Capital has many unique selling propositions for independent and franchised dealers, which gives us an edge over our competitors in the market place.

‘Our integration with Dealer Auction gives some fantastic benefits to our clients, with nearly half of Dealer Auction’s vendors accepting payment via NextGear Capital.

‘As a result, it’s a one-click solution. Once you have won a car, all you need to do is click to add the vehicle to your stocking plan – it’s totally paperless and couldn’t be easier!’

So there we have it – a way for dealers to slash the time between buying and listing stock from days to minutes. In one place – Dealer Auction – you can buy it, move it, fund it and advertise it while simultaneously saving both effort and money. It’s an absolute win-win situation!

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 57

FOCUS ON.

Dealer management systems

Enjoy the many benefits of integration with Dragon2000 DRAGON 2000

W: dragon2000.co.uk T: 01327 222 333

D

ealers are increasingly being approached by online and local companies offering systems to take care of small, specific parts of their business. Often these can be generic solutions rather than ones designed for the motor trade, or fledgling ideas with little support or forward motion – and, crucially, offering no integration with existing systems.

With some dealers logging into more than 10 systems a day, invariably staff end up with little time to do the jobs they were actually employed to do. Instead, they become bogged down with maintaining many separate systems and rekeying information – with the risk of lost and inaccurate information also becoming greater with every duplicate entry.

Without proper integration between these systems, nothing is shared, and it can become a mammoth task to maintain them and could result in errors and lost opportunities.

With the new data protection regulations (GDPR) being forced upon businesses next year, having customer data spread across multiple systems will cause another headache for dealers in ensuring that they are following the rules within multiple systems. Dealers would find life far easier if they could manage all their data and compliance in one place, from one supplier, who understands the motor trade inside out and can take care of their requirements as they grow their businesses in the digital age.

Our multiple award-winning dealer management system, DragonDMS, is cloud hosted on secure encrypted servers with automatic data back-ups giving dealers allimportant peace of mind. It has robust CRM with vehicle matching to prospects’ requirements, the ability to record marketing preferences, carry out email and text marketing campaigns, and set CRM cycles for specific customer contact plans.

The benefits of a single point of data entry with one supplier will be vast – not least in the time and cost savings. DragonDMS has integrations with Cap HPI and Experian data, and accounting can be taken care of with a

58 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

APPraise is supplied at no extra charge comprehensive Sage50 Accounting integration.

At-a-glance SIV and profit figures, coupled with sales and management reporting, give dealers the right information, displayed simply and quickly, all in one place.

As well as automatically submitting dealers’ stock to online advertisers, we also offer individually designed professional websites which fully integrate with the DragonDMS, along with the ability to post stock to Twitter and have an integrated Facebook page stock tab. Website enquiries appear instantly within the CRM and changes to stock record descriptions, additional

photos or prices within DragonDMS are updated live on the dealer’s website.

We also include our innovative mobile app, APPraise, at no extra charge, with sales features such as personalised presentation videos to send directly to customers, and the ability to do a digital appraisal of part-exchanges.

For garages and workshops, must-have features include workshop loading, templated services, job stages for emerging work – particularly useful for restorers and those with long-term jobs – and on-screen job profit analysis.

Dealers with a Dragon2000-built website can also take online service bookings which appear directly in the DragonDMS. On the service CRM side, text booking reminders, and service or MOT due email, text and letter reminders are easy to produce, whilst the APPraise app also includes a Vehicle Health Check tool with photographs and video, fully integrated with the DragonDMS, where dealers can also build their own VHC checklists to upsell work and create trust with their customers.

Dealers should definitely consider switching to a fully integrated DMS, website and video app solution as the time and cost savings can be huge.

Software from Dragon2000 is packed with must-have features

sales@dragon2000.co.uk

dragon2000.co.uk

01327 222 333

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 59

FOCUS ON.

Video providers

If a picture can paint 1,000 words just imagine what video can do...

It’s a medium more and more customers are expecting so get involved or you could miss out !

J

ust when you thought you’d caught up with the latest trend to emerge in the world of selling cars, another one comes along to grab your attention.

Or, more precisely perhaps, the attention of your customers, who are always expecting you to keep up-to-date with latest innovations when it comes to sales and marketing techniques.

In case you hadn’t worked it out yet, we’re talking about video – and its increasing importance to dealerships of all shapes and sizes.

It really is becoming a must-have tool in your armoury if you’re to steal a march on your competitors and continue to survive and thrive – particularly if the economic storm clouds are

by DAVE BROWN @CarDealerDave

starting to gather, as they would appear to be, perhaps.

Over the next few pages, we look at two exciting video services suppliers who can really help you get to grips with film-making and use it to sell more cars and boost your bottom line.

First up, and on the page opposite, we have Motorclean Vehicle Media, who are fast and flexible, and offer versatile and reliable technology to help you market your cars as effectively as possible.

One of the dealers the company works with

is Brindley Garages Group whose operations director, Chris Adams, tells us: ‘We turn a car around for sale in three days. Knowing that our outsourced provider guarantees a maximum 24hour capture-to-upload period is a massive relief.’

Next up we have Radar Video, a company that can justifiably claim to have seen the future, has found out how to get there and can take you along for a successful and profitable journey.

There’s a fascinating story behind Radar’s progress, incidentally. The business really started to do well when it began producing content for Suzuki. Now, it offers unique and very advanced technology to let customers ‘walk around’ a showroom without even having to leave the comfort of home!

FEATURED SUPPLIERS

Motorclean Vehicle Media

Radar Video

Outsourcing can deliver great results and help you avoid the management headaches you’d have with an in-house operation.

We look at a company that’s extremely innovative in what it does and has many dealer-specific products in the pipeline.

P61

P62

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Videoing: Outsource or in-house?

MOTORCLEAN VEHICLE MEDIA

W

e all know that the sooner a vehicle gets in front of buyers, the sooner it will be sold. Nowadays, that increasingly means getting video online fast.

But like most things in life, the theory is way ahead of practice. Many dealerships have either found it problematic to get the capture and upload process right or are wondering how to get the process up and running for the first time.

It is not just a question of kit but also technique and personnel. The good news is, it can be done with the right approach and for many dealerships that means outsourcing the process.

This outsourcing approach is not unprecedented: Dealerships have been here before with the imaging of stock and even the valeting process and facilities management.

These are all presentation-related activities, whether of stock or of the premises, that are necessary if you want to project the right image.

But they can each bring management headaches when handled in-house.

One dealership group that has benefited from handing the task of videoing and photography of its vehicles to professional partners is Brindley Garages Group in the West Midlands.

In its case it chose Motorclean Vehicle Media (MVM), which is responsible for imaging and videoing thousands of vehicles for dealerships

W: motorclean.net T: 01268 540 200

across the UK every year. Chris Adams, operations director at Brindley Garages Group, says: ‘Video has been a priority to get right for us because buyers now expect to see it for each of the 600 used cars we have in stock. This includes buyers many miles away who would not otherwise be able to experience our vehicles.

‘The most effective solution across our 12 sites was outsourcing which meant we could produce consistently high-quality media from the off.

‘The flexibility of our partner MVM also allows us to cope with fluctuations in stock levels, whilst still getting videos online quickly.

‘That flexibility will also allow us to handle ad hoc personal video requests promptly when we launch the service soon, whilst MVM’s technology will mean buyers can receive the video in the most relevant format for them.’

Jon Watts, group project manager at Motorclean Vehicle Media, says: ‘Video and imaging is both an art and a science. You want to be presenting the vehicles to their best effect and also to be uploading them fast – both to your own website and other top platforms – because every second counts. Using reliable and versatile technology is a key part of this.

‘Unfortunately not everything on the market can deliver. That’s why we have developed our own tailored software, called Video+, which

speeds up upload but also makes it easy to send video and imagery over social media and gives dealerships instant insight into viewing statistics. These are the constantly evolving features informed by our experience as the media provider to scores of dealerships.’

Thinking about where video is heading, by the time all dealer and OEM sites support it, there may be a whole new set of buyer expectations.

MVM’s Jon Watts believes that these will include: ‘Longer video and 360-degree interior shots which become more and more interactive for the customer.’

The choice to DIY or outsource will remain, with Watts arguing: ‘Outsourced providers have the incentive and experience to stay on top of video trends, not to mention providing the perennial benefits of slashing management complications, so we believe this will be the standard approach.’

Right now, however, the straightforward challenge is to overcome any lag between stock arriving and it going on virtual show.

Chris Adams at Brindley Garages Group says: ‘We turn a car around for sale in three days.

Knowing that our outsourced provider guarantees a maximum 24-hour capture-to-upload period within that is a massive relief.’

For once, this could be an example of practice keeping pace with theory.

Vehicle video, like photography is an art and a science

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 61

FOCUS ON.

Video providers

Radar Video – helping dealers RADAR VIDEO

D

W: radarvideo.co.uk T: 0800 998 9848

ealers spend huge amounts of money on traditional advertising – money that could be saved if they open themselves up to new suggestions. That’s according to Derek Blair, founder of Radar Video.

Radar is a unique business that creates marketing solutions for car dealers via highquality video, social media and other advanced technologies. It can produce online ads to promote headline campaigns and launches, visit dealers to film highly personalised videos, and make on-brand content for a variety of social media platforms and other websites.

The success story of the business started when it began making content for Suzuki.

‘Last year, we were approached by Suzuki to film ‘‘Why Buy From Me?’’ videos for their dealer network,’ said Blair. ‘The idea was to create a story

62 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

for each dealership based on their qualities, such as the longevity of staff and the improvements in the showroom that they’ve made.

‘We went out and filmed over 130 of their sites.

Then, Suzuki said that there was a demand for each dealer to be allowed to create videos based on each quarter’s marketing campaign. Essentially, we’ve created a platform that allows each Suzuki dealer to log in and choose whichever cash, finance, Motability, Affinity programme or many other ads they want to create. These have all been designed primarily for use on Facebook, so each dealer logs in to https://Suzuki.video and brands each video for themselves.

‘They type in their name, phone number, location, etc, and it renders the video within seconds and ties all that in. Suzuki loves this and

it’s a world first. It’s bang on time because of the importance manufacturers are putting on video and social media marketing.’

Trailblazing ideas such as this are Radar’s speciality, and the company finds that it has very little competition to deal with.

‘We are very innovative with what we do, and have many new dealer-specific products in the pipeline. Our background is car sales. There are four of us in the company, and we’ve each worked in showrooms in both sales and sales management capacities for more than 20 years each, so we know the way the industry works. We have empathy for the industry, so we know the ultimate goal is to sell more cars, and that’s why we produce the products that we do and provide the services that we do.

‘Because of this, we’ve partnered with Autos On Show, another real innovator in the automotive space, and all of our products and services are available from the team there. Autos On Show are a fantastic partner to us, introducing us to some of the biggest players in the industry, including Robins & Day, the PSA Group-owned dealer group. We see this partnership as a great synergy due to the way our services complement each other and offer retailers and manufacturers a raft of new ways to engage with the car-buying public.'

Blair made it clear that social media was a very powerful tool.

‘Social media is quite a daunting prospect for a lot of dealers, and these guys are busy running their businesses,’ said Blair. ‘What we try to do is simplify the proposition that social media offers. We offer training to get them educated, to get them understanding it and to get them using it.

‘However, understanding new ideas isn’t a one-way street, and dealers need to be putting in the effort from their end to get their heads around different concepts. This is why we’ve also developed www.

DealerVideo.club – a community for marketing managers and sales managers to gain the most out of social media marketing, with tutorials,

start the customer journey webinars, podcasts and a regular newsletter with updates on changes in Facebook’s powerful ads platform, plus many other social media marketing opportunities.

‘For a fraction of the money dealers currently spend on traditional methods, we can get them a great representation on social media and in the local community, with a clear focus on driving traffic to their websites.

‘With targeting, it’s not just a case of scattergunning their stock. We can help them target likely buyers of their cars.

'For example, on the Suzuki platform, the Affinity programme means there are discounts

for emergency services personnel. These videos are targeted at them because people list their occupation on Facebook, so we can then go and present these ads to them very affordably and very effectively, and it gets the message across because of the targeting aspect of what you can do with Facebook.’

Something else truly unique to Radar Video’s arsenal is a piece of advanced technology from Silicon Valley that lets prospective customers walk around their local showroom via a full 3D rendering without having to leave their house.

With the cutting-edge technology at its disposal, its position in the market, its approach

‘‘

We are very innovative with what we do, and have many new dealer-specific products in the pipeline.

Derek Blair, founder of Radar Video to advertising and the experience of its staff, Radar Video has seen the future, knows how to get there and can take dealers on that profitable journey. [CD]

Tel. 0800 998 9848 www.RadarVideo.co.uk “... Radar Video are clearly at the forefront of innovation in the automotive industry, with their Virtual Reality showrooms and Instant Video Ad Creator.

I was amazed at the quality of the VR Showroom Radar did for our Glasgow dealerships, and I can really see how website features like this can assist the online shopper in their purchase decision.”

Harry Pennington, Digital Marketing Manager

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 63

‘‘Our customers are reassured that we’re backed by the RAC.” MARK WRIGHT RAC Approved Dealer, Norfolk

Becoming an RAC Approved Dealer can do big things for your business. In the last 12 months, three in four people buying a vehicle from our dealer network did so on the strength of our name. As one of the UK’s most respected motoring brands with over eight million members, we’ve got the customers and credibility to make you even more successful.

Call us today and harness the power of RAC Approved status.

0330 100 3807

Call: Email: dealernetwork@rac.co.uk Visit: rac.co.uk/getapproved

64 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

FOCUS ON.

Car Dealer Power winners

Trophies and tributes on a magical night It may be over for another year but Car Dealer Power winners are still savouring their success

T

ake a look at the impressive trophy on the left. It’s one of the most coveted gongs in the automotive industry – and was among those handed out at this year’s Car Dealer Power Awards ceremony in Portsmouth on July 6.

The culmination of our annual survey to find out which are the best and most highly regarded suppliers to car dealers across the UK, it was a glittering occasion that was once again a resounding success and led to celebrations long into the night for those who were named as winners.

We never get tired of saying it, but Car Dealer Power is truly unique – it gives our readers the chance to have their say on the suppliers and manufacturers with whom they do business – and it’s all completely anonymous so those who take part can be as honest as they like!

We included 23 pages of coverage from the event in last month’s mag – so

by DAVE BROWN @CarDealerDave

we hope you enjoyed reading that – and this month, three of our winners are sharing with us the secrets of their success and shouting about their triumphs from the rooftops.

And why not? Winning a Car Dealer Power Award is a seriously big deal.

Not only is one of our hand-made trophies a cool addition to any office or workshop, a triumph at Car Dealer Power can help boost a company’s business. If your customers are singing your praises, you must be doing something right !

So check out what Spidersnet, WMS Group and Unicom have to say about their successes and why they were so delighted to gain recognition and be part of our prestigious awards night.

Remember – next year, it could be you!

Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower is the venue for our Car Dealer Power awards night each year

FEATURED SUPPLIERS

Spidersnet

WMS Group

Unicom

An incredible fourth triumph felt as special as ever for a firm that’s ahead of the curve.

Warranty experts have built success on great levels of service and market-leading products.

P66

P68

Constantly looking to improve, this hard-working team truly listens to its customers.

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FOCUS ON.

Car Dealer Power winners

Fourth great win cements Spidersnet’s reputation SPIDERSNET

W: spidersnet.co.uk T: 01273 837560

S

pidersnet was voted the best Website Provider for Independent Dealers at this year’s Car Dealer Power Awards – and although this was the fourth time that the company had won the award, it still felt as special as ever.

‘Winning the award was amazing,’ said Paul Scrivens, director of web services at Spidersnet.

‘It’s nice to win anything, but it’s great to be there and to be surrounded by brands like Kia for Manufacturer of the Year, Seat for Car of the Year and other media providers like Auto Trader for Online Advertiser of Used Cars.

‘To be recognised alongside brands like that at an industry event is an incredibly proud feeling, and it gives you a huge amount of reassurance and faith in what you’re doing.

‘On a personal level, it was a great experience to be part of it. From a company point of view, I think it’s something that we feel increasingly proud of. When we got back to the office, we got everybody gathered round, explained exactly what the award was, the fact that we’ve won it for the last three years, we’re delighted to have won it again for the fourth year, and that it meant that we should all be looking to the fifth year.

‘We’re proud of what we’ve done, but we have aspiration to continue that success, carry it further and hopefully win some more awards.’

When it comes to the provision of web services, it is an incredibly competitive industry, so companies really have to work hard to stand out. Scrivens explained what he thought made Spidersnet so effective at this.

‘I think primarily it’s service,’ he said. ‘I think it’s the way we go about doing what we do. There are lots of very clever people out there, there are lots of good companies and some of our competitors deliver really good products.

‘I’d like to think the reason we do well in this award is because of the way we go about doing it, right through from the point of sale, to the guys who work with dealers, to the guys who actually build and deliver the sites, the guys who deliver training on how to use them, the account managing service they’ll get afterwards and the

66 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Paul Scrivens, left, is presented with Spidersnet’s award by Baize Group CEO James Baggott

customer service people who will support them.

‘Despite becoming quite a big company, we’ve always prided ourselves on being founded as a family business. Every customer is important to us and that mentality is shared by every single person who works for us.’

Scrivens also talked us through how Spidersnet will continue to adapt and improve as time goes on. ‘We’re investing significantly at the moment in our development, resources, research and infrastructure,’ he said.

‘We’ve brought a lot of new people into the business over the last six months because we recognise that digital media has always been fast-paced.

‘It’s becoming even more so, and the surety for our customers that we’ll not only provide a good service today but also stay ahead of the curve tomorrow is going to become increasingly important in how we differentiate ourselves from other companies.

‘We’ve invested quite a lot in that over the last six months and I think the next 12 months are going to be really exciting to see what the end result is, having made that investment.’

Scrivens thinks that winning a Car Dealer Power Award in the past has helped Spidersnet

bring in new customers and that this fourth win will do the same again.

‘Car Dealer Magazine is a well-established brand,’ he said. ‘I think the pedigree of the magazine and the Power awards ceremony that’s associated with it is certainly one that seems to hold sway within the industry.

‘From a commercial gains perspective, when we win the award, we make sure that we shout about it, and I’m certain that’s helped us garner greater confidence when we’re bringing new customers on board. I’m certain that will continue to be the case for the next 12 months.’

If you want to win a brand new website, created by none other than this award-winning website provider, you can enter its exclusive competition to win your website free for life!

‘‘

We’re investing significantly at the moment in our development, resources, research and infrastructure.

Paul Scrivens, director of web services

NOW IT’S YOUR CHANCE

TO WIN A WEBSITE FREE FOR LIFE! *

WIN

AN ADVANCED WEBSITE WORTH UP TO £2,600!*

To celebrate our 4th consecutive award win, we are giving one lucky dealer the chance to win one of our award winning websites FREE for life, allowing you the opportunity to see first hand why dealers vote for us, year after year.

To be in with a chance of winning simply leave your details at spidersnet.co.uk/win

T&C’s - Competition open to new customers only. The competition prize is an Advanced website, free for the lifetime of the business. Prize includes monthly site subscription and initial build cost only. Extra features may be subject to a fee. To win, the entry form must be completed in full and a winner will be chosen at random. Competition closes at midnight on November 1st, 2017.

Entries after this time will be discounted. The winner will be contacted by telephone before November 3rd, 2017. Not to be used in conjunction with any other offer. No purchase necessary.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 67

FOCUS ON.

Car Dealer Power winners

We’re so delighted by our triple triumph!

WMS GROUP

W: safeandsound.co.uk T: 01844 293 810

W

arranty Provider of the Year is one of the most keenly-contested categories in Car Dealer Power. To win once would be a great achievement and to win two years in succession would really be something special. Imagine, then, how the team from the WMS Group felt when the company’s name was read out for the THIRD year in a row at our awards ceremony in Portsmouth on July 6.

‘We were delighted,’ said marketing manager Steph Colinswood. ‘The fact that we have won for three consecutive years is testament to our products and service. It’s fantastic that our dealers believe the same – they wouldn’t vote for us if they didn’t think we had what it takes!’

Asked what it was that made the WMS Group – and flagship used car scheme Safe and Sound – so popular, Colinswood told us: ‘We have such great support from our dealers because we go out of our way for them.

‘That’s a major difference when you compare us to our competitors. We think and operate differently in almost every aspect, and customer care is at the very heart of our business.’

If there’s one key word to underpin the firm’s way of working, it’s ‘relationships’. Colinswood told us: ‘Our account managers who are on the road are in contact with their dealers all the time – the relationships are unprecedented.

‘One of the biggest complaints we hear from dealers in general is that they have no proper account management from their warranty provider and are often left out on a limb. Our people go above and beyond – and on the rare occasion that there’s a problem, we try our best to ensure that it’s resolved in the dealer’s and customer’s best interests. We’re on their sides and obviously as a heavily regulated business, we operate in accordance with the Treating Customers Fairly ethos at all times.

‘It boils down to service and market-leading products. As an example, our Safe and Sound programme extends the most comprehensive

68 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Dave Rogers of The WMS Group collects the company’s trophy from James Baggott

warranty cover available for used vehicles, consumer marketing campaign investment, including wear and tear, diagnosis and even which has already proven to generate RECORD battery cover for starters. Other products out vehicle sales, penetrations and profitability for there just cannot compete.’ the Safe and Sound network. It extends a series Safe and Sound also incorporates a six-month of high-impact campaigns including an exclusive UK breakdown package, safety inspection, full advertising arrangement with Auto Trader, plus a provenance check and mileage verification, plus number of dealer-specific and national Facebook exclusive dealer buy-back promise. ads – all designed to drive thousands of in-market This means that approved dealers agree to buyers to the network. buy the vehicle back from the customer as a Both schemes also include access to the part-exchange, therefore demonstrating group’s pioneering My Motor Manager confidence in their stock and CRM smartphone app – an invaluable guaranteeing repeat business. tool for retaining customers for service The firm is always keen to stay one and repair work – and various upsell step ahead of the competition and incentives including up to 50 per has recently launched an uninsured cent cover FOC when the customer version of Safe and Sound to cater for purchases a longer-term plan to rising demand as the market changes. maximise dealer profits.

Steph Colinswood added: ‘FCA regulations ‘We lead the market through Colinswood are becoming tighter and tighter and innovation and provide every tool many dealers are actually migrating away from necessary for dealers to optimise their customer insured products for this reason. acquisition and retention. But we only want to ‘The Safe and Sound Vehicle Repair Agreement work with the best retailers who truly value their (safeandsoundvra.co.uk) allows us to extend all customers and share the same ethos. We invite of the benefits of the original programme but those dealers to contact us for a complimentary, without the regulatory issues. Dealers absolutely no-obligation review of their current warranty love the concept and it’s a very exciting time for products and processes,’ Colinswood concluded. us, with huge growth on the horizon.’

It all sounds like a winning formula – In addition to this, fully supporting dealers and the WMS Group now has three Car will benefit from the firm’s multi-million-pound Dealer Power trophies to prove that it is!

Reach 16 million in-market car buyers FREE OF CHARGE! Join the UK’s leading used car scheme and benefit from the largest customer acquisition campaign of its kind in the warranty sector!

Becoming Safe and Sound approved not only provides your customers with the most comprehensive protection on the market today, but also enables you to reach millions of buyers with our exclusive Autotrader and Facebook marketing campaigns.

“

We have seen a huge increase in enquiries from the marketing activity and are delighted to report record sales across our used car division as a result.

“

Clive Henderson, Dealer Principal of Drivers (Peugeot) Prestatyn

As recommended by former Stig, Ben Collins

Safe and Sound includes: 60 point safety inspection Six month Ultimate warranty Six month UK breakdown cover Full provenance check Mileage verification Buy-back promise For the Ultimate used car scheme, there can only be one choice.

Visit SafeandSound.co.uk or call 01844 293810 to find out more.

Request your free, no-obligation dealer pack today at www.WMSGroupUK.com or call 01844 293 817.

From the WMS Group

*You will receive your jacket after your first five x 6 month warranty and recovery packages have been issued with no further obligation.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 69

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Car Dealer Power winners

We’re driven to be the best at what we do UNICOM

W: unicominsurance.com T: 0208 805 7799

T

he Car Dealer Power Awards are a prestigious form of recognition for the best businesses in the motor industry.

At the 2017 ceremony, Unicom won the award for Trade Insurance Provider of the Year.

Thanks to its highly knowledgeable staff, commitment to the consumer and how it always keeps its clients up to date with all matters relating to motor trade insurance, Unicom’s customers voted the company as the best trade insurance provider out there.

We caught up with Lee Middleton, sales director at Unicom, to find out what winning the award means to the company and how the business will continue to stand out as an industry leader. ‘We’re a big company with a small company mentality,’ he said.

‘It’s refreshing to see that all the hard work, training, preparation and customer service skills that we put in are valued by our customers, and it was a very nice surprise to win.

‘We’re constantly looking to improve. We never rest on our laurels. We’ve been going now for 25 years, so we’re really well established in the marketplace as one of the larger road risk brokers in the UK. Our company ethos is to be the best at what we do for the people we do it for. We try and roll that out to the whole of Unicom.

‘We value what customers say, and try to make it as easy as possible to deal with us. We make sure everything’s as smooth as it can be, and we try to be polite and listen to the customers. We’re driven to be the best.’

Middleton made it clear that these core principles are at the heart of Unicom and the company will continue to operate by those values in order to keep improving and staying at the top.

‘Obviously, it’s nice to have the award, but that’s not what drives us on,’ he said.

Our customer retention is extremely high and our new business-to-quote ratio is very high, because the products and services that we offer

70 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

‘‘

We value what customers say, and try to make it as easy as possible to deal with us.

Lee Middleton, sales director at Unicom are what they want, because we’ve listened to them over many years and tried to implement as many of their wants as possible.

‘We keep the staff fresh, and we keep up to date with market trends, changes in procedures and compliance issues as well, because that’s constantly changing.

‘Even with the new data protection laws coming out next year, we’re implementing them already, so we’re already there and it’s second nature to us.’

Middleton feels that a company-wide focus on staff and customers is the best way to handle any potential challenges in the insurance industry, such as changes to tax and personal injury claim calculations.

‘We keep the staff driven, keep them fresh and try different training techniques and

Lee Middleton is presented with Unicom’s award by Blackball Media head of editorial Rebecca Chaplin different types of training,’ he said. ‘We listen to the staff as well, because they’re front-end. We try and resolve issues with what the customers want, or any other issues that seem to be repetitive.’

Middleton was also keen to show his gratitude for the Power Award on behalf of Unicom and talk about how he thinks that it will help the business as a whole.

‘I want to say thank you to the customers who voted for us,’ he said. ‘We’ll be looking to improve next year. Any customers that are looking to come to us can recognise what we had to do to achieve winning that award.

‘Obviously, we didn’t go out of our way to win the award, if that makes sense, because we just continued what we were doing and asked our customers if they would possibly look to vote for us or mark us down, so we’re really pleased they marked us up, and anyone looking to come to us will enjoy exactly the same service that we provide to our existing clientele.

‘And obviously we’re going to use the award to stand out – it would be silly not to. Customers can see that Car Dealer Magazine is a respected publication in the industry, and for Unicom to have won that award in our area has given them the confidence to get in touch with us.’ [CD]

PROVIDER OF THE YEAR

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CarDealerMag.co.uk | 71

DATA FILE. FEATURE.

Ask Lawgistics .com

Car Dealer Club lawyers at Lawgistics answer dealers’ legal questions. Join for £39.99 a year to get advice like this when you need it

Data changes: Ensure you’re ready to comply Q

I’ve heard there are some new data protection laws being introduced soon. Do I need to do anything about these?

Yes, you will almost certainly need to make some changes to ensure you are complying with the new legislation.

The new legal framework is called the General Data Protection Regulation and comes into force in May 2018. This is an EU piece of legislation, and even though Brexit is going ahead it will still apply to your business, so you should start thinking now about changes you may need to make.

You will already have data protection responsibilities from the Data Protection Act (1998) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). However, the new

A

JOIN CAR DEALER CLUB AND GET ALL THESE BENEFITS WORTH £1,000s FOR JUST £39.99 72 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

regulations introduce new obligations and include more types of personal information than previously included. For example, IP addresses are now treated as personal information, so you may need to think about the way you record these. You will only have one month to comply with subject access requests.

There is also an obligation to ensure you have a privacy notice on your website. This should tell website visitors who you are, what

A free telephone consultation and other great benefits, too n A free telephone consultation worth £100. n Lawgistics’ Basic package worth £95. n Twenty-five per cent off the ‘pay-on-use’ legal helpline and casework service. n Up to 25 per cent off any stationery or warranty products. n Upgrade the Basic package and receive £100 off the Small Business package or £250 off the Professional package.

information you collect from their visit and how you use it.

Without this, you will be in breach of the regulations.

You may not be aware of many of the ways you use information but, for example, you should be aware of what you need to do if information you hold becomes incorrect over time; when and how you can share personal information; what period of time you are able to hold information for; how you obtain consent to hold information;

Buy and sell trade stock quickly and profitably Cartotrade.com is the new online trade-to-trade platform set up by the ex-management team of Autotrade-mail. Cartotrade’s focus is on the integrity, security and accessibility of stock complemented by a simple yet innovative platform that allows its members to buy and sell trade stock quickly and profitably. To see the benefits, Car Dealer Club members can have an extended, no-obligation, four-week free trial*. If, after the free trial, a Car Dealer Club member wishes to subscribe, they then get their next month completely free, without contracts and never a price increase. * Subject to vetting

whether you need a data protection officer; what to do in the event of a data protection breach; and what to do if someone asks you to delete their personal information.

These, among many other responsibilities, are incredibly important to be aware of.

The penalties for not complying with the current legislation and the new regulations are quite stringent, so it really is important to ensure your business is complying and it’s never too late to make changes.

If you don’t have data protection policies in place currently, then this is a really good opportunity to introduce some.

The Information Commissioner’s website has got plenty of details about how to do this and what to include, so make yourself aware of your obligations.

Exclusive five per cent discount on your tailormade trade insurance At Unicom, we’ve been safeguarding our clients with the best protection policies for more than 20 years – so, no matter what role your business plays in the motor trade, we can have you covered for every possible risk. From road risks to legal cover, your motor trade insurance can be tailored to suit your individual needs. It’s our job to make sure that you get the best price for the cover that you want.

Is retiree due holiday pay?

Q

An employee of ours has been off sick for more than three years and is now retiring. He has written to us to say that he has taken legal advice and is entitled to holiday pay for a minimum of two years. Is this correct?

Could you please advise on our position?

An employee off sick can carry over annual leave accrued in the year but must take it (or payment in lieu) within 18 months of the end of the leave year. Your employee is therefore entitled to payment for the leave from 18 months before the end of your last leave year and the leave accrued until his retirement date for this year, so yes, roughly two years.

This follows the case of Plumb v Duncan Print Group Ltd and is based on four weeks of annual leave entitlement under the European Working Time Directive and not the more generous 28 days’ annual leave entitlement provided by the UK Working Time Regulations or any contractual leave you may give.

WANT TO UPGRADE?

WHY I LOVE LAWGISTICS

Expert help with warranty issues – plus useful advice and great customer care HAVEN Motor Company in Horsham, West Sussex, has had a great fiveyear relationship with Lawgistics – one that managing director Stephen Surrey has really appreciated.

‘The advice we get from Lawgistics has always been fair and objective,’ said Surrey. ‘It’s taken away the angst of dealing with warranty companies that will find a reason not to support customers who have purchased warranties.

That’s the major advantage I feel we’ve got as a business.

‘We’ve got customers who have purchased warranties and end up disappointed at the product they’ve bought. There can always be a resolution as to a form of negotiation with the customer – we work to achieve the best outcome for the business and the customer.

‘Lawgistics can negotiate on our behalf so we can come to a resolution and retain the customer.’

Surrey also explained how Lawgistics was helpful for communicating with clients. ‘The benefit of working with Lawgistics is clarity for ourselves and the customer, as well as having an open link directly with the customer so that we can resolve the issues that may occur with cars ranging from

10,000 miles up to 100,000 miles.

‘When customers buy a car that’s covered 100,000 miles it feels new to them, so they can forget that it’s about 10 years old and covered that distance. Lawgistics is very good at explaining the longevity and the wear-and-tear aspects of each particular case.’

Surrey said that he was ‘100 per cent’ satisfied with the help he’s received from Lawgistics.

He’s particularly impressed with the care the company shows for its customers and ‘absolutely’ encourages other dealers to sign up.

‘They ring up quarterly to see if the account is running smoothly and to see if there’s any help or additional information we need,’ said Surrey. ‘They send out regular bulletins and always give guided information. I think that for the level of expertise and the value for money, they’re very professional.’

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LAWGISTICS’ Basic membership – which you receive as a member of Car Dealer Club – is a cracking deal, but what if you need something that has extra clout? Larger dealer groups or a dealer embroiled in a big legal battle may require some more firepower, and the good news is that club members get discounts on Lawgistics’ other packages. You’ll receive a £100 discount off the Small Business package (normally £695) – perfect for sole traders, a partnership or a small dealer group – and £250 off the Professional package (normally £1,295). This is ideal for franchises, a dealer group or a car supermarket and covers all relevant legal areas and documentation.

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EASY STEPS TO JOIN 1. GO TO CARDEALERCLUB.COM 2. HIT SUBSCRIBE 3. FILL OUT YOUR PAYMENT DETAILS ON PAYPAL AND HIT SUBMIT 4. WAIT FOR YOUR CAR DEALER CLUB PACK TO ARRIVE IN THE POST 5. OR PHONE 023 9252 2434 AND SPEAK TO ONE OF THE CAR DEALER TEAM

* Terms, conditions and eligibility rules apply. Visit cardealerclub.com/#benefits for more details.

Dragon2000 CarDealerMag.co.uk | 73

DATA FILE.

Thestatistics

n

SMMT Sales Data

n

Taking Stock

Now it’s four falls in a row as the market continues to decline Not much to be positive about – and could we be heading for recession?

T

he UK new car market fell by 9.3 per cent in July, according to figures published by the SMMT – the fourth consecutive monthly fall. A total of 161,997 new cars were registered in the month as the market continued to decline amid growing uncertainty over Brexit and in line with forecasts.

Demand was down across business, fleet and private buyers – with corresponding falls of 23.8 per cent, 10.1 per cent and 6.8 per cent.

Elsewhere, more buyers opted for dual-purpose and specialist sports cars, which were the only two vehicle segments to enjoy growth: 7.3 per cent and 10.3 per cent respectively.

The demand for alternatively-fuelled vehicles (AFVs) soared by 64.9 per cent as consumers continued to invest in the latest low-emission fuel technology.

AFVs took a new record 5.5 per cent market share in July, as 8,871 new units were driven off forecourts. Nearly 70,000 new AFVs have joined UK roads this year. Registrations for new petrol and diesel cars declined by three per cent and 20.1 per cent respectively.

Months of speculation about government policies on diesels have inevitably led to a softening of demand and slowed the market shift to the latest cleaner Euro 6 diesels, which are valued by consumers for their fuel efficiency and lower CO2 emissions.

So far, the year-to-date overall performance remains at a high level thanks to a strong first quarter, with more than 1.5 million new cars registered on UK roads since January.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: ‘The fall in consumer and business confidence is having a knockon effect on demand in the new car market and the government must act quickly to provide concrete plans regarding Brexit. While it’s encouraging to see record achievements for

alternatively-fuelled vehicles, consumers considering other fuel types will have undoubtedly been affected by the uncertainty surrounding the government’s clean air plans.

‘It is important to remember that there are no plans to charge drivers using the latest Euro 6 models and no proposed bans for conventional petrol and diesel vehicles for some 23 years.

‘The lower demand in recent months will inevitably mean competition from manufacturers will intensify, and it will be a good opportunity for consumers to get a great deal on their next car, with many exciting new models launched in the coming months.’

Alex Buttle, director of car-buying comparison website Motorway.co.uk, said: ‘Apart from a significant rise in alternatively-fuelled vehicle sales, there’s not much to be positive about in these figures.

‘2017 is starting to feel like the auto industry’s annus horribilis.

‘This could be the beginning of a deep recession for the new car industry, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the credit crunch.’

Fiesta slips again but new model is on the way THE Ford Focus shifted 5,251 units last month making it July’s best-selling new car, the SMMT said.

Narrowly behind it in second place was the Volkswagen Golf, with 5,236 cars sold. Third was the Nissan Qashqai at 4,640. The Ford Fiesta ranked fourth with 3,372, with the Volkswagen Polo snapping at its heels in fifth place at 3,227. The remaining top 10 were the 74 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

Kia Sportage (3,155), the MercedesBenz C-Class (2,828), Vauxhall Corsa (2,819), Mercedes-Benz A-Class (2,809) and Audi A3 (2,607).

The Focus’s Fiesta sibling really seems to be suffering. Having been the number one monthly best seller for many years, it lost its crown to the Golf in June, when it sold 8,601 units against the Golf’s 8,808, indicating that

Volkswagen really was managing to put the Dieselgate emissions scandal behind it and move on.

Now the Fiesta’s monthly sales figure has tumbled by more than 60 per cent, seeing it drop two more places. However, this is likely due to the fact that buyers have been waiting for the new model to arrive in Ford showrooms across the UK.

SMMT sales data July/year to date

5

Top

Most-improved manufacturers in July

Lotus +2,700% Aston Martin +86% Porsche +64% Abarth +52% Seat +32%

5

Bottom

Worst-performing manufacturers in July Jeep -63% DS -56% Fiat -44% Vauxhall -41% SsangYong -40%

PEUGEOT -29%

TOYOTA +20%

Marque Abarth Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Audi Bentley BMW Chevrolet Citroen Dacia DS Fiat Ford Honda Hyundai Infiniti Jaguar Jeep Kia Land Rover Lexus Lotus Maserati Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz MG Mini Mitsubishi Nissan Peugeot Porsche Renault Seat Skoda smart SsangYong Subaru Suzuki Toyota Vauxhall Volkswagen Volvo Other British Other Imports Total

July 2017

2017

275 324 84 12,896 121 9,083 7 3,206 1,460 523 1,935 16,934 3,840 6,187 340 2,200 434 7,155 5,265 843 28 106 2,477 57 11,617 305 3,007 1,035 9,786 4,861 1,048 3,592 4,171 7,031 769 175 152 2,791 6,410 11,528 14,094 3,404 91 350 161,997

% market share 0.17 0.20 0.05 7.96 0.07 5.61 0.00 1.98 0.90 0.32 1.19 10.45 2.37 3.82 0.21 1.36 0.27 4.42 3.25 0.52 0.02 0.07 1.53 0.04 7.17 0.19 1.86 0.64 6.04 3.00 0.65 2.22 2.57 4.34 0.47 0.11 0.09 1.72 3.96 7.12 8.70 2.10 0.06 0.22

July 2016

2016

180 433 45 11,582 188 9,699 0 4,311 1,386 1,211 3,506 22,247 3,886 6,093 399 2,639 1,182 7,417 4,882 774 1 131 2,692 0 11,650 305 3,026 1,186 9,944 6,916 636 3,782 3,154 5,825 873 293 148 2,885 5,333 19,733 14,038 3,629 56 227 178,523

% market share 0.10 0.24 0.03 6.49 0.11 5.43 0.00 2.41 0.78 0.68 1.96 12.46 2.18 3.41 0.22 1.48 0.66 4.15 2.73 0.43 0.00 0.07 1.51 0.00 6.53 0.17 1.70 0.66 5.57 3.87 0.36 2.12 1.77 3.26 0.49 0.16 0.08 1.62 2.99 11.05 7.86 2.03 0.03 0.13

% change 52.78 -25.17 86.67 11.35 -35.64 -6.35 0.00 -25.63 5.34 -56.81 -44.81 -23.88 -1.18 1.54 -14.79 -16.64 -63.28 -3.53 7.85 8.91 2,700.00 -19.08 -7.99 0.00 -0.28 0.00 -0.63 -12.73 -1.59 -29.71 64.78 -5.02 32.24 20.70 -11.91 -40.27 2.70 -3.26 20.20 -41.58 0.40 -6.20 62.50 54.19 -9.26

2017 2,568 3,025 1,066 102,615 1,089 101,721 49 33,055 15,847 5,669 30,630 185,250 33,067 56,287 2,472 22,590 4,226 57,805 50,940 7,285 193 1,069 25,038 321 110,174 2,298 37,995 9,951 94,871 52,407 8,605 44,416 33,662 49,589 6,756 2,451 1,564 24,608 62,838 124,015 122,121 27,923 452 3,235 1,563,808

Year-to-date (YTD) % market share 0.16 0.19 0.07 6.56 0.07 6.50 0.00 2.11 1.01 0.36 1.96 11.85 2.11 3.60 0.16 1.44 0.27 3.70 3.26 0.47 0.01 0.07 1.60 0.02 7.05 0.15 2.43 0.64 6.07 3.35 0.55 2.84 2.15 3.17 0.43 0.16 0.10 1.57 4.02 7.93 7.81 1.79 0.03 0.21

2016

2,185 3,138 512 101,103 1,149 101,309 3 42,092 14,831 10,647 36,830 193,439 36,335 54,170 1,964 19,236 8,782 53,760 47,441 8,190 141 843 29,073 0 100,253 2,201 36,989 11,730 88,526 61,692 7,348 48,352 27,788 48,058 6,616 2,635 1,976 22,829 59,837 152,680 123,604 26,258 479 2,135 1,599,159

% market share 0.14 0.20 0.03 6.32 0.07 6.34 0.00 2.63 0.93 0.67 2.30 12.10 2.27 3.39 0.12 1.20 0.55 3.36 2.97 0.51 0.01 0.05 1.82 0.00 6.27 0.14 2.31 0.73 5.54 3.86 0.46 3.02 1.74 3.01 0.41 0.16 0.12 1.43 3.74 9.55 7.73 1.64 0.03 0.13

% change 17.53 -3.60 108.20 1.50 -5.22 0.41 1,533.33 -21.47 6.85 -46.75 -16.83 -4.23 -8.99 3.91 25.87 17.44 -51.88 7.52 7.38 -11.05 36.88 26.81 -13.88 0.00 9.90 4.41 2.72 -15.17 7.17 -15.05 17.11 -8.14 21.14 3.19 2.12 -6.98 -20.85 7.79 5.02 -18.77 -1.20 6.34 -5.64 51.52 -2.21

Figures supplied by SMMT

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 75

AUCTIONS.

Used car prices remain strong in July bit.ly/strong-114

Henstock AUCTION STATIONS

Accurate appraisal and quick churn are crucial

Exceptional results for BCA’s Perry Barr hub Additional capacity delivered to nationwide network

H

igh demand from professional buyers drove strong results for BCA Perry Barr in July, with competitive bidding in-lane and via BCA Live Online.

Invitation sales for Volkswagen Financial Services on July 7 and BMW on July 14 saw nearly 1,100 vehicles sold, with high conversion rates and a strong performance against guide prices for both events.

Dominic Burr, general manager of BCA Perry Barr, said: ‘Perry Barr continues to achieve exceptional results, despite the marketplace entering the traditional seasonal lull in used car demand over the summer holiday period. Buying power has been first-class throughout July and this,

combined with an exceptional choice of well-presented stock from our vendors, has generated excellent results during the month. As BCA is handling growing volumes of stock and attracting a wider buyer base, BCA Perry Barr is established as a vital hub in the Midlands, delivering additional capacity to BCA’s comprehensive nationwide network.’

Perry Barr holds sales over three auction lanes four days a week for passenger cars from manufacturers, main dealers and fleets. Remarketing facilities include three auction lanes plus a state-of-the-art digital auction suite. There is undercover viewing for 450 vehicles, customer parking for more than 400 vehicles, plus business suites.

Hatfields Group signs up with Aston Barclay ONE OF the oldest Jaguar dealerships in the world has chosen the Aston Barclay Group to shape its new remarketing strategy.

The Hatfields Group, which owns five Jaguar dealerships plus four Land Roverdealer and onenew Volvostrip in the north of Car ad 3/16

England, will sell 3,000 part-exchanges annually through Aston Barclay Prees Heath in Whitchurch, Shropshire.

Hatfields has been trading partexchanges since 1922 but switched to physical auction based on the growth of its new14:32 and usedPage car sales.

26/9/16 1

THE FLEET AUCTION GROUP - THE UK’S

N1 O

TRADE ONLY AUCTION

T

his year has been typified by increasing volumes of used cars reaching the wholesale market, with the period following the March plate change being particularly busy.

As sourcing good-quality stock becomes ever more competitive for dealers, identifying and retaining those retail-quality part-exchange cars is essential.

And with the September plate change now a matter of days away, dealers will expect to see increasing numbers of PX vehicles over the coming weeks. It is clear that September and October 2017 will be busy months for the used car industry and careful planning will help maximise every opportunity. Sorting the wheat from the chaff is critical to trading profitably, but help is at hand from BCA. Choosing the right technology will help to drive efficiency and manage high volumes in the busiest periods.

BCA Dealer Pro, the cloud-based part-exchange tool, helps dealers to quickly and easily manage the part-exchange process while letting other members of the retail group see details of every incoming vehicle in real-time.

BCA Dealer Pro allows dealers to appraise, value and remarket PX vehicles and maintain inventory at the touch of a screen, with the freedom to see what is available across the entire dealer group where applicable. This easy-to-use cloud-based car appraisal tool allows for the part-exchange process to be managed quickly and easily.

And now the PX itself can be funded, following the launch of a new service from BCA Partner Finance.

Operating within the Dealer Pro platform, it allows dealers to appraise the vehicle and then apply for funding based on the BCA MarketPrice valuation.

Together, Dealer Pro and Partner Finance create a stock management solution that is flexible and scaleable, allowing dealers to react quickly to market conditions and make the most of any profit opportunities that arise.

Who is Simon Henstock? ‚

He is BCA UK s chief operating officer for remarketing. Visit bca.co.uk or call 0845 600 6644.

Purpose built 12 acre auction complex Central UK location Fixed cost buyers premium Fleet Car Sales every Monday & Thursday at 10am Collection of vehicles 24 hours a day, 7 days a week Excellent variety of weekly stock from premium sources Regular Top Car Sales. Vans, Truck & Plant every week Enclosed and heated auction halls and viewing area All new website & stock locator. On-line bidding The UK’s finest auction restaurant Call for account application

The Fleet Auction Group Ltd., Stephenson Industrial Estate, Coalville, Leicestershire LE67 3HG Telephone: 01530 833535 Email: info@fleetauctiongroup.com www.fleetauctiongroup.com 76 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

TAKING STOCK. Remarketing specialist BCA analyses its latest Pulse report to give its thoughts on matters that dealers need to consider in the months ahead

Buyers compete strongly for good-quality stock Stuart Pearson, BCA’s managing director for UK remarketing, says dealers need to ensure there is ‘discipline and consistency’ around their part-exchange processes

A

verage values rose by 1.8 per cent across the board at BCA during July, as professional buyers continued to bid strongly throughout the month and the market reflected a good balance between supply and demand. Despite the summer holiday period being in full swing, the headline average value of a used car rose by £167 to £8,962 – a very similar rise to that seen in July 2016.

Year-on-year, the headline figure was up by £621, equivalent to a 7.24 per cent increase in average values – a result reflecting both the steady demand and the richer mix of stock available at BCA over the past 12 months. Notably, the average age and mileage profile continued to fall – average mileage declined by around 2,200 miles, while age fell by two months compared with a year ago.

Values rose to record levels in the fleet and lease sector and nearly-new values also improved during the month. Average values declined marginally for dealer part-exchange cars in July.

Stuart Pearson, BCA managing director for UK remarketing, commented: ‘Supply and demand

has been relatively well balanced over the summer period, and average values rose in July, as buyers competed strongly for good-quality stock.

‘However, professional buyers remain selective, often buying to order and focusing their attention very firmly on the ready-to-retail vehicles that can be churned quickly.

‘The best-presented and specified cars are selling quickly, while the budget end of the market is relatively strong, providing the condition is good and vehicles are sensibly appraised and valued.’

Pearson added: ‘As the market approaches the platechange period, we anticipate a period of intense activity in the wholesale sector. Typically, we would expect to see the usual impact of a brief period of oversupply in October and November when volume reaches a peak, followed by a strengthening of prices and conversions as people start to plan for the new year.

‘Dealers should ensure that there is discipline

Headline average value of a used car:

£8,962

and consistency around the part-ex process so part-exchange vehicles are valued realistically in line with market expectations.’

Average values in the fleet and lease sector improved sharply, rising by £387 (3.8 per cent) compared with June, reversing last month’s fall and climbing to the highest point on record.

Retained value against original MRP (manufacturer’s retail price) improved slightly to 42.29 per cent, while year-on-year values were up by a significant £821 (8.4 per cent), as both average age and mileage continued to reduce.

Values fell slightly in the dealer partexchange sector, down just £30 (0.6 per cent) compared with June to £4,627. Longer-term dealer part-exchange values have been relatively stable over the past 12 months, with year-onyear values ahead by £132 (2.9 per cent), while average age and mileage are little changed over the period.

Values for nearly-new vehicles improved by £548 in July, equivalent to a 3.0 per cent increase compared with June.

Model mix had a significant effect here.

Dealer partexchange values:

£4,627

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 77

REAL DEALS.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Fun-sized performance in a chic French package ADAM WELLER checks out a car that offers sheer driving pleasure – and recaptures the genuine spirit of the iconic hot hatches of yesteryear

I

n this day and age, the hot hatch scene has got a little out of hand. Having

upwards of 350bhp and all-wheel drive obviously has numerous merits, but the argument can be made that it goes against what made iconic hot hatches of the past so much fun.

As such, for a real hot hatch experience, we now have to look further down the food chain.

The Renualt Twingo Renaultsport 133 is a wonderful example of the small, fun breed of hot supermini. Made famous by Top Gear’s ‘sensible’ road test of the car, in which it was launched off a ferry ramp and into the Irish Sea, the Twingo is certainly very recognisable.

It has the standard Renaultsport chassis, which is marginally more comfortable than the track-focused ‘Cup’ variant featured by the BBC. Don’t fear a lack of sporting credentials with this slightly more forgiving set-up, however, as it is brilliant fun on a track, an inviting stretch of Welsh B-Road, or even a trip to the shops.

As it is such a compact package, the Renaultsport is a brilliant city car, and thanks to the extra power – 133 excitable French ponies – it can hold its own almost anywhere else too.

The Twingo is a sweet-looking thing, which might be a turn-off for someone looking for cheap performance. However, with 17-inch alloys and some more aggressive bumpers and body parts, the 133 weighs in with a more purposeful look,

This Twingo is for sale at Elite Auto Solutions, Hampshire

inspired by the racing version of its bigger brother, the Clio.

On the used car market, the Twingo’s two main rivals are the Fiat 500 Abarth and the Suzuki Swift Sport.

The 500 Abarth is equally powerful, though we’d argue the 133 chassis is better when you start to test the limits of grip and handling. But if handling doesn’t matter to you, perhaps price does. At the low end of the Abarth scale, you’d still be looking at upwards of £7,000.

Our little Twingo? A mere £3,850, and with only 45,000 miles on the clock, compared to the 66,000 miles on the cheapest Abarth we could find.

The Swift Sport can be found for less than £2,000 if you are willing to risk purchasing a highmiler, but for something close to 45,000 miles, you’re approaching £3,000.

So why purchase the Twingo over the Swift?

More power and much better performance handling, for one, and more boot space for the practically minded. Yes, you can find a sub-50k miler for just under £3,000, but it is simply not as fun, and not as sporty, as the Twingo.

Also in favour of the French terrier is its rarity.

Sweet looks and hugely enjoyable to drive...

The Twingo is a substantially less common sight on the roads than the other two, and a little bit of diversity is never a bad thing is it?

This particular Twingo is for sale at Elite Auto Solutions in Bursledon just outside Southampton.

The car is in immaculate condition, as you would expect from a 2010 car that has only 45,000 miles on the clock, and one owner from new. The car has recently had a full service, and will be supplied with a new MOT upon purchase.

While there are plenty of positives to consider when looking at a Twingo Renaultsport, there are a few drawbacks.

Firstly, there is the interior. Overall it isn’t a bad place to be, but the steering wheel simply screams 1997 Renault Laguna minicab.

The dashboard plastic is somewhat cheap in look and feel, and is something of a mismatch to the car’s cheeky exterior. Meanwhile, the CD player looks more like something you’d find in a storage cupboard in your dad’s box of things from ‘the regrettable years’, and the red seat belts are a level of garish last seen in an 80s glam metal music video. This could be right up your alley, but it’s a bad mark in civilised society.

However, the sheer driving pleasure of the Twingo outweighs any downsides.

Our Adam’s not a fan of the steering wheel 78 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

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CarDealerMag.co.uk | 79

© Copyright Aston Scott Ltd 2017. Aston Scott Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN No. 308048). Registered office: Malling House, West Malling, Kent ME19 6QL. Registered in England and Wales No 01341849.

A GLOBAL VIEW.

..in association with

More collaboration can deliver a bright future In a series of regular updates, David Green of CDK Global will share the company’s unique worldwide perspective on automotive retail, discussing trends and emerging technologies from around the world that could shape future car buying.

M

any dealerships might know CDK Global better as Kerridge (or ADP Dealer Services), which opened its doors in 1972 with a vision to bring dealers and their customers together for life.

More than 45 years later, CDK Global continues this vision, investing heavily in research and development centres across the world.

The common goal in each market is to identify the challenges faced by automotive retailers and develop new products and services that will enhance their businesses through efficiency, intelligence and innovation.

As a technology partner for vehicle manufacturers and dealer networks, CDK Global helps transform retailers by enabling total integration of dealer management systems (DMS) with dealership operations.

The interfaces within the DMS platform allow dealerships to join up multiple systems and workflows to share network-wide information, improving operational efficiency and enhancing the customer experience.

We are embarking on a new era of technical innovation that will enable automotive retailers to manage the customer journey from online to offline more efficiently.

The platform has the flexibility to adapt to the wide variety of technical and cultural differences

‘Integration’ and ‘data’ are becoming buzzwords for automotive retailers

in markets across Europe, China, Africa and the Middle East – however, many pain points for retailers are universal.

In many global markets, solutions that enable retailers to keep pace with changing consumer preferences are best provided through ‘Software as a Service’ products, that benefit from continual functionality and security upgrades.

This allows more agile development, focusing on mobile solutions and cloud-based systems, that will support the evolving needs of the local market and are adaptable for all sizes of retailer.

This is already happening around the world. In Denmark, for example, there has been a notable rise in the use of mobile-based digital payment apps, including Swipp and MobilePay services, to pay for goods and services. Mobile payments are already the most popular form of payment in Denmark, with 72 million transactions a year so CDK Global’s Danish R&D team identified a need for an interface to facilitate digital payment transactions with dealerships.

The resulting SmartPay software offers Danish dealers a flexible payment system that links to existing payment services. The application provides invoices direct to customers on mobile devices, secures immediate customer payments and reduces administration for dealerships, automating many finance team functions.

As the customer experience moves increasingly into virtual spaces, ‘integration’ and ‘data’ are becoming buzzwords for automotive retailers leading the charge into new channels of customer communications. Moving forward, there is an opportunity for technology providers to digitalise and automate data exchanges by enabling greater collaboration between car manufacturers and retailer networks. It’s a massive challenge but greater industry collaboration can deliver an exciting future for automotive retail that will benefit manufacturers, dealerships and, ultimately, consumers.

Who is David Green? David joined CDK Global in September 2013 as Vice President of Sales for Automotive Retail International (ARI). He is responsible for sales strategy and execution and works closely with general managers and sales directors around the world to help direct and focus CDK Global’s sales efforts.

80 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

MARKET INSIGHT.

..in association with ASE-global.com

UK motor retail share prices still struggling Consumer confidence is still positive but is showing signs of tailing off, says Adam Cottam

W

ith the exception of Marshall, Caffyns and Inchcape, share prices fell backwards in a month that was relatively quiet.

There were more signs that UK economic growth was slowing and that inflation caused by the exchange rate falls late last year was beginning to take effect, which were worrying signs for the sector.

Concerns over the new car market softening were seen in Vertu’s AGM trading update.

Inchcape’s UK H1 results traded broadly flat at profit level, yet demonstrated solid growth in 2016. South African-based Super Group continued its rapid expansion in the UK market, purchasing Slough Motor Company.

Share price performance Motor retail share prices continued to struggle in July, although Inchcape and Marshall saw gains on last month, probably because of strong results released to the market.

The FTSE 100 improved slightly, and while UK economic growth continues, this is beginning to slow as the effect of inflation begins to have an impact on consumer households. Consumer confidence is still positive but is showing signs

Share price movement from January 3 to July 31, 2017

Share price movement from January 3 to June 30, 2017

Pendragon

96.0%

99.2%

Vertu

100.6%

111.5%

Lookers

93.8%

97.9%

Inchcape

114.4%

107.5%

Cambria

106.3%

113.3%

Caffyns

95.2%

93.3%

Marshall

104.0%

98.2%

of tailing off, which must be a concern to vehicle retailers. Many commentators also suggest that the effects of inflation have not yet been fully felt, casting further doubt over the UK’s economic outlook and for the sector specifically.

Financial performance Vertu posted an AGM trading update that was generally very robust, although it did report that new volumes and used margins were softening.

Stricter pricing discipline and solid cost control

helped offset the effects of this softening at profit level. Vertu continues to hold a strong balance sheet and is well placed for strategic growth through acquisitions.

We also saw the H1 results for Inchcape, which were very strong across its worldwide operations, with operating profit up 23 per cent.

The UK and Europe segment revenue was up 5.2 per cent, although the majority of this was non-UK as the UK traded broadly flat at profit level. The group has a very optimistic outlook for the rest of the year.

Transaction activity While none of the listed groups was involved in any activity in the month, there was some significant activity across the sector.

South African-based Super Group continued to expand its presence in the UK by buying Slough Motor Company, following its purchase of Essex Auto Group in March. The deal adds nine sites to its portfolio and continues the trend of overseas investment in UK operations.

It is expected that more merger and acquisition activity will be seen in the coming months as consolidation continues and foreign investors look to deploy their cash in UK businesses.

Who is Adam Cottam?

Adam is corporate finance executive at dealer profitability specialist ASE plc. You can read his column here every month.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 81

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RECRUITMENT. TRUSTFORD

New managing director appointed at Cap HPI Organisation is leading an ‘unprecedented period of change’

A

Keeping up the momentum FORD of Britain’s wholly-owned dealer group TrustFord has appointed Stuart Foulds as chairman and CEO. Foulds is the former managing director of Evans Halshaw Ford Group.

The longest-standing member of the Ford Dealer Council, Foulds replaces former chairman and CEO Steve Hood who has been appointed vice president of marketing, sales and service, Changan Ford, China.

In his new role Foulds will be responsible for leading the TrustFord business, which covers 60 dealer sites across the UK and Channel Islands, and includes TrustFirst Parts. He said: ‘TrustFord is a fantastic dealer group with a clear track record of delivering exceptional results.

‘I look forward to continuing the momentum set

by Steve and the team.’

utomotive data expert Cap HPI has promoted Chris Wright to the role of managing director over its global operations. Wright will report to parent company Solera as he leads the continued expansion of the business in the UK and globally.

He joined the business in 2015 as sales director.

Wright said: ‘Cap HPI is leading an unprecedented period of change in the automotive sector. Technology is changing the vehicles we drive, how and when we drive them and how we own them. Data underpins a lot of the change and will be the new oil that drives the sector. We are investing in our people, technology and data to ensure we can deliver valuable insight and new tools across the industry.’

The company has created a global hub in Leeds for all data activities, from collection and processing, through to delivery and the development of new applications.

It will ensure its systems, coding, data collection processes, and valuation methodologies

are consistent, scalable and repeatable for every country that Cap HPI enters.

Cap HPI’s plans are underpinned by a globalised approach to automotive data that will have far-reaching implications for the motor industry. Wright said: ‘We believe a single global code will help the industry drive innovation and growth throughout the vehicle lifecycle. Data-led businesses will be able to scale internationally in a fraction of the time and with much less cost.’

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DATA FILE.

James Litton

TRADER TALES

We should be proud in this era of uncertainty

R

adu Mitu is someone you may have seen in action but whose name you may not be familiar with. Mitu scored one of the most famous own goals in football history. Playing for his club side, he threw the ball into his own net from the touchline whilst attempting to reach a teammate.

Mitu springs to mind whenever I think of where the economy was 18 months ago, and where it could potentially be 18 months from now. No industry seems more at peril than the retail motor trade following a string of spectacular own goals from the government and manufacturers alike.

The ‘dieselgate’ scandal continues to linger like a toxic carbon monoxide cloud over consumer decisions. Whilst the used car diesel market appears to have found a price level, and there are still model segments and certain buying groups buying new diesel cars, there are thousands of unsold diesel cars in showrooms and manufacturer compounds.

At this point of the article, it is important to stress the importance of the motor industry to the UK economy. In 2016, the turnover of the manufacturing sector alone reached £77.5 billion and a total of 814,000 people are employed in car manufacturing in the UK. The decision, therefore, to leave the EU also seems like an extraordinary shot to the foot.

Whilst a weaker pound means manufacturers who export cars from the UK are enjoying a boom, they will be under considerable pressure to second-guess the outcome of the Article 50 negotiations when faced with longterm investment decisions.

In an ironic twist of fate for the industry, the government recently announced its clean air plan in order to meet a European Union deadline. The headline policy was the banning of new petrol and diesel cars by 2040 which has created yet more uncertainty amongst buyers.

Many car buyers of today will have long stopped driving, yet uncertainty is the worst emotional state for purchase decisions of the magnitude of automobiles.

Not satisfied with our own attempts to derail our industry, the media now seem to have a bee in their bonnet about the motor retail loan market. It seems for the moment that car buyers can see through the fog of negative press to continue to purchase using PCP and PCH mechanisms, but the clickbaiting journalists have done enough for the FCA to open investigations into the financial state of the players involved.

Within this context, I think many retailers and manufacturers can be proud of what they have achieved. Are we reaching the heady heights of 2015 or 2016 ? No, but the fact that there is still business to be written is encouraging.

‘Dieselgate continues to linger like a toxic carbon monoxide cloud.’

Who is James Litton?

James is general manager – director of Volvo Cars Poole. He always has something to say about the industry he loves.

84 | CarDealerMag.co.uk

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Test drive nearly led to ride(s) of my life

I

’d often heard whispers in the trade of ‘alternative payment’ offered by females, but with the salacious incidents always seeming to relate to somebody who knew somebody who had a pal that had an uncle who knew somebody that had heard of someone (etc) that it had happened to, I’d long since regarded them as the stuff of fevered wishful thinking.

That was until the day, a long time ago and early in my career, when a rather vivacious young woman turned up where I was working. Quite simply, she was drop-dead gorgeous. It wasn’t just me who thought that either – she turned the heads of all the blokes in the showroom.

Now, our policy was never to hassle customers but let them make the first approach, and you could tell that each of them was thinking ‘Me, me, me! PLEASE!!’

Well, they all lucked out as it was me she wiggled her way across to. Trying to keep calm and unsweaty, I politely asked: ‘How can I help you, madam?’ Without batting an eyelid, she murmured huskily: ‘Oh, I can think of a few things,’ while giving me one of the sauciest winks I’ve ever known. I gulped and laughed nervously. ‘Was there anything in particular you were interested in?’ I gabbled – suddenly realising as I finished the sentence that I was only fuelling an intense doubleentendre-laden situation.

She giggled and nodded towards a tasty convertible.

‘How about that? For starters...’ I gulped again, gave her the lowdown on it, then we took it for a test drive.

By her accent and the way she dressed, she didn’t exactly strike me as someone who was short of cash, but about halfway through the drive she suddenly blurted out, bold as brass: ‘I’ve been doing my sums and I can’t afford the monthly instalments. But I fancied you as soon as I saw you, so how about me paying three-quarters, you paying the rest, and the two of us getting up close and personal once a week? Know what I mean?’

Talk about being stunned! I most certainly did know, and tempting though it was, being single, I knew it’d only lead to huge problems. ‘Wow! I’m really flattered!’ I answered. ‘But I’m happily married with a kid,’ I lied, ‘so I’m going to have to say no thanks.’ ‘Shame,’ she smiled.

And that was that! Nothing else was said and – surprise, surprise – no sale was made. Never saw her again either. I often wonder, though, if she struck lucky elsewhere...

‘She turned the heads of all the blokes in the showroom.’

Tell us your story

Have you something to confess? Email our head of editorial (you can find her details on page three) or post them on our forum – simply type cardealermagazine. co.uk/forum into a web browser and get confessing!

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 85

KEY NOTES.

..in association with Traka

A crucial data date We need to make some major operational changes by May 25, 2018, says Paul Smith

T

he EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into law on May 25, 2018 so you need to be compliant within the next 10 months or risk a fine amounting to four per cent of your company’s turnover from the previous year.

It’s nearly 20 years since the UK’s Data Protection Act 1998 came into force but the world has become much more data-centric in the meantime. So, what are these new requirements?

They roughly fit into five key areas: l Data security; l Data subject consent; l Data anonymisation; l Breach notification; l Trans-border data transfers.

Taken together, the above requires companies handling EU citizens’ data to make major operational changes. So, let’s look at a few of these one by one. l Data security: essentially the new law demands that reasonable and proportionate cyber security measures are taken to protect personal data.

These may include: - ‘Pseudonymisation’ and encryption of personal data; - Providing for ongoing confidentiality, integrity, availability and resilience of processing systems and services; - Ability to restore the availability and access to personal data in a timely manner in the event of a physical or technical incident; - Having a process for regularly testing, assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of technical and organisational measures for ensuring the security of the processing.

However, if the worst happens, you also need to report a data security breach within 72 hours of it happening to the Information Commissioner’s

Office. You need to have appointed a dedicated ‘data controller’ and ‘mapped your data’ so you know where your customer’s data goes, plus why and how it is secured at any third-party location during that specific process (to secure credit, for marketing purposes etc).

Another key requirement of GDPR is data subject consent. For this purpose, data privacy notices (DPNs) must be shown to and agreed by all people whose data you hold. Your DPNs need to explain who is controlling and processing the customers’ personal data and how they can contact you to ask any questions about the data you hold on them. They also need to explain: l What type of data is being processed; l For what purpose it is being processed (it needs to be legitimate); l How long this data will be retained; l Who data will be transferred to and, if not in the EU, the legal mechanism for retaining control of the data.

A single contract needs to be completed to cover all the above. This needs to show unambiguous and explicit consent by the customer. And apparently, the customer must be able to withdraw consent as easily as they give it.

Customers have strengthened data rights which are much more prescriptive than the DPA.

The most eye-catching of these is the new ‘right to be forgotten’ which demands that the data controller and/or processor erase that customer’s details completely on request.

The ‘right to access’ all personal data you hold on them has been strengthened further as has the ‘right to rectification’ when you’ve collected incorrect data for your customers.

There are also more spurious data rights like the ‘right to data portability’ enabling customers to demand an electronic copy of all the data you hold on them or even demand transmission of that data from your systems to another data controller’s – if they want to get their car serviced by another provider for example.

The biggest change in this area is that if a dealer is going to a third party to obtain details about the customer, it must tell the customer this is happening and secure their consent.

A log of any personal data transfers either from or to a third party should also be taken. That’s potentially a lot of voice calls being recorded and emails being archived. FCA policy guidelines indicate calls relating to the sale of regulated financial products (like GAP insurance and PCPs) need to be stored for three years!

It’s fair to say that confirmed guidance for dealers on how best to ensure GDPR compliance is not buttoned down. The National Franchised Dealers’ Association (NFDA) is working on formalising this guidance and spearheading training packages so look out for these.

Dealers should start now by assessing how personal data is obtained, used and shared across and beyond their organisation. It makes sense to pick up the phone to your DMS and/ or CMS provider to check whether their systems are GDPR-ready. Then you need to work through GDPR requirements to ensure readiness.

Who is Paul Smith?

Paul Smith heads Traka Automotive, part of the ASSA Abloy Group brand Traka. ASSA Abloy bought the electronic key management software provider eTag Solutions, which was founded by him. Traka is a leader in intelligent access control, key management control solutions and keyless electronic lockers.

Keys can make you money…

Find out how at www.traka-automotive.com The only viable key management solution for automotive Email automotive@traka.com or call 0845 225 2910 86 | CarDealerMag.co.uk traka-auto 1-6pg.indd 1

15/12/2016 09:56

LONG-TERMERS. LATEST FROM THE FLEET...

Caterham Seven 310S SV Jack disregards the drawbacks and is already totally smitten. All he needs now is a name for the car!

by JACK EVANS @jackrober

P

icking up a new car is fun, isn’t it? Well, recently I went to pick up ‘my’ new longtermer – one that I’d been waiting quite a while to collect. Fun? Too right.

I’d been badgering the guys at Caterham to give us a long-termer Seven for some time. Eventually, after several phone calls and several hundred emails, they gave in – which is why recently I arrived at their Crawley headquarters to collect a ‘Lava Orange’ 310S. So, what have we got? Well, as mentioned, this Seven is a 310S, meaning it’s powered by a Fordsourced 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine, driving the rear wheels via a five-speed manual transmission.

It produces 152bhp and, in a car that weighs just 540kg, that means it’ll reach 60mph in 4.9 seconds. Brisk enough, then.

Many people (my girlfriend included) can’t abide the idea of a Caterham. ‘It’s too noisy,’ they shriek. ‘Why is everything rattling?’ they ask.

‘Where are the heated seats?’ about three of them want to know – and so it continues. I disagree with all of them.

Why? Because they’re all wrong, obviously. Yes, I understand that driving a Caterham requires a lot of compromise. They’re relatively tiresome to drive, completely exposed to the elements and can leave you feeling a little vulnerable, especially on the motorway.

However, throw these ‘problems’ aside and you’re left with a car that provides an experience no other vehicle can match.

The gear change, for instance, has all the precision you could want, while the steering gives instant feedback of the road surface. It’s a refreshing change to the more ‘standard’ cars on sale today, and one that leaves you remembering just why you liked cars in the first place.

It’s a magnificent Seven – and Jack’s looking forward to the next six months with the car

THE KNOWLEDGE Model: Price: Engine: Power: Torque: Max speed: 0-60mph: MPG: Emissions: Mileage (to date):

Caterham Seven 310S SV £32,995 1.6-litre petrol 152bhp 168Nm 127mph 4.9 seconds Data not available Data not available 6,651

THIS MONTH’S HIGHLIGHT Enjoying a motoring experience that no other vehicle can match.

Our car, I’ll admit, comes in at a rather hefty £32,995. What exactly does that get you?

It includes a £2,500 charge to have the car assembled at the factory (you can do this at home providing you have the space, time and patience), as well as a further £2,500 for the wide-body SV chassis. The S pack costs £2,995, and this includes 15-inch alloy wheels, a fully carpeted

interior as well as black leather seats – there’s even a 12-volt socket to charge your phone with.

The S pack is the more road-suited of the Caterham additions (the R pack is also available, and this brings with it gripper track-suited tyres, as well as a limited-slip differential).

First impressions? Well, our car has done around 6,600 miles and feels as right as rain.

It has new tyres, and although these will need a touch of running in before they’re at maximum grip, they feel more than adequate at keeping the 310S planted.

The engine is a delight to control, rev-happy and eager to get going – much like any Caterham, in fact. It’s a unit that responds to being worked hard, which is made easier thanks to the gearbox’s wonderful action.

As you can see, I’m already pretty smitten with our new 310S. I think that it deserves a name – I’ll have worked one out by the time a followup report is written – as cars with this much character need to be called something, right?

I think that there are going to be a fair few eventful trips in this little car – hopefully a few of them around a circuit – and I’m wholeheartedly looking forward to undertaking them.

There are drawbacks to Caterham ownership – and I’m sure there are a few that I haven’t yet discovered – but none of them will spoil my enjoyment of the car.

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 87

LONG-TERMERS. LATEST FROM THE FLEET...

Skoda Octavia VRS Estate With a paint job that puts Mal in mind of Kermit and Grotbags, nothing about this car is subtle!

by MALCOLM HAY @MalcolmHay

S

ay hello to a new addition to our longterm fleet – the stupendously SHOUTY Skoda Octavia VRS. Everything about this car is loud and absolutely nothing is subtle.

With a two-litre turbo diesel engine pumping out a lively 181bhp, this is a car that’s all about performance and it wants everyone to know it.

From the colour – Rallye Green metallic (imagine the lovechild of Kermit the Frog and Grotbags) – to the 18-inch rims and the throaty high-decibel growl when you push the accelerator, the whole world can see and hear this car coming. But, when all’s said and done, it’s both a Skoda and an estate, so it’s going to have to work doubly hard to win over this sceptical driver.

I’ll lay my cards on the table up front and declare that the Octavia VRS is one I’d normally avoid like the plague.

Yet my first impressions, looking beyond the colour, were overwhelmingly positive.

Replace the hideous green with virtually any other colour and the Octavia estate is a goodlooking car. Skoda’s designers have done a great job of giving the VRS a sporty edge without resorting to the addition of giant spoilers and unsightly steroid-induced bulges.

The large wheels with low-profile tyres, the dual chrome exhausts and black exterior details all combine to give what would otherwise be an average-looking estate a real presence.

THE KNOWLEDGE Model: Skoda Octavia VRS Estate Price: £36,005 Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel Power: 181bhp Torque: 380Nm Max speed: 139mph 0-60mph: 7.5 seconds MPG (combined): 55 Emissions: 134g/km Mileage (to date): 1,300 THIS MONTH’S HIGHLIGHT Having to buy a new pair of sunglasses when allocated my latest long-termer!

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Perhaps the colour isn’t to everyone’s taste, but this car is certainly great value for money

Inside, the VRS-badged sports seats and ‘Supersports’ steering wheel add to the performance feel, but the cabin’s all-black finish feels a little dull and uninspiring at first, although things do come alive once the model’s large and excellent Amundsen touchscreen infotainment screen powers up.

A quick play with the controls and a glance down the spec sheet of our model underlines one great selling point – value for money.

Our Octavia VRS is packed with tech, safety features and little luxuries such as headlamp washers but still retails at £36,005 OTR. For that price, there are few models that can touch the Octavia VRS in terms of bang per buck.

Some of the switchgear feels a little lightweight but this can be forgiven as it’s clearly intended to shave off pounds to boost performance. And let’s face it, that’s the main reason for choosing the VRS over a standard Octavia estate.

For me, though, the performance seems somewhat lacking and a little underwhelming.

The engine does make a lovely noise when revved, but the model doesn’t quite pull away with the face-melting ferocity one might expect.

At higher speeds it can feel as though the VRS doesn’t have that much more to give.

At times, the six-speed DSG gearbox also feels less sharp and responsive than it should.

Despite that, though, I’m looking forward to spending the next few months with the Skoda.

It’s already done enough to show how potentially enjoyable it can be to drive, and I’m sure that more time spent fine-tuning the driving settings will deliver some added ‘oomph’.

REST OF THE FLEET

Seat Ateca Mileage: 9,514 The Ateca may not be the most inspiring car to drive, nor the fastest, but it holds the road well and coped admirably in the New Forest while we were exploring the area during a recent downpour.

Land Rover Discovery Sport With a few reservations (is it really that sporty?), JLR’s compact SUV seems to have won Becca over.

by REBECCA CHAPLIN @believebecca

I

’ve gone from one SUV to another in the past few days, but this one has a few more bells and whistles than the one it replaces, that’s for sure. (You might remember I was in my much-loved Lexus NX 300h, a hybrid 4x4, until fairly recently.)

Well, now I’m in the latest Land Rover Discovery Sport, which is proportionally larger but still overshadowed by the new Discovery.

The Discovery Sport is already winning my heart, though. With seven seats, it’s really practical, and it’s got a few tricks up its sleeve that are definitely making my life easier.

I travelled to Guy Salmon Land Rover in Portsmouth to pick up my new car and was given a full run-down.

It’s kitted out with a rear-mounted bike rack that will accommodate two bicycles, and I think it’ll have to stay on the car now that I’ve learnt how to fit it! It might be light but I’m still weak.

Handy for weaklings like me, though, there’s a sensor below the valance so you can open the boot by waving your foot under it. About 70 per cent of the time I can get this to work.

There’s also keyless entry on all of the doors.

Opening works 100 per cent of the time, but closing them, it doesn’t work about 80 per cent of the time. Annoying? Very.

The boot itself is great for lifting things in and

out of, because there’s no lip. Converting the boot into two seats is really easy, and if you want to use the whole rear space, flattening the second row is just as straightforward.

Inside, the car is exceptionally light and airy, thanks to its huge panoramic sunroof. Everyone will be kept entertained as there are USB points throughout the car – so no complaining. There’s even air conditioning for every passenger, including those in the third row!

As should be the case, the driver gets all of the toys. There’s a head-up display showing your

Mazda MX-5 RF

Suzuki Swift

Mileage: 8,766

Mileage: 981

Darren hasn’t been getting on with our RF. While most in the office love it, he thinks it’s too slow and there’s too much buffeting, even with the roof up. Added to which, he’s too tall for it.

This car had only just arrived when Car Dealer went to print. Early impressions are good, though.

The car has a peppy little engine and lots of toys, and we’ll be doing a full introduction next month.

Guy Salmon sales executive Graham Rodgers introduces Becca to her new long-termer

THE KNOWLEDGE Model: Price: Engine: Power: Torque: Max speed: 0-60mph: MPG (combined): Emissions: Mileage (to date):

Discovery Sport £56,765 2.0-litre TD4 Diesel 177bhp 430Nm 117mph 8.4 seconds 53.3 139g/km 830

THIS MONTH’S HIGHLIGHT Getting on board with a key player in the SUV segment. speed, giving you less reason to take your eyes off the road. Controls on the steering wheel for volume, music track, cruise control and voice control are all really easy to find and use.

The Discovery Sport is equipped with the latest TouchPro sat nav – not the much-hyped new infotainment system that the Discovery has been given. When it comes to personalisation and ease of use, there are still some great features.

Something that even Google can’t seem to get quite right, however, is being able to plan routes at home and transfer them to your car. But with the InControl apps, you can do just that.

With your own internet signal in the car too, it makes it a lot simpler to search for locations, call where you’re going and let your favourite contacts know if you’re going to be late.

There are only two things that are annoying me so far: the engine and gearbox.

For something with the word Sport in the name, this car is definitely not sporty. Gear changes always seem to wait until the most embarrassing moment, and trying to pull away is always a trial as the Disco switches into life.

There will be plenty to test over the next six months; let’s hope it all lives up to expectations.

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BAGGOTT.

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The toilet sign that said common sense had gone down the pan I

t was a simple sign. One that had good meaning, one that meant well. However, it was also one that had obviously been born out of necessity, probably after many months of deeply disturbing scenes.

Scenes that I’m sure don’t bear thinking about too much.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what I did.

Before I go into detail, I must firstly apologise in advance, because I’ve over-thought this far too much – but there’s a reason for telling you the tale which, like all average-to-good columnists should, will be saved for later.

I’ve been out and about visiting lots of car dealers recently chatting about many different things – from our grand plans for CDX in Manchester and how dealers can get involved, to the fast-approaching Used Car Awards and the impending deadline for entries. Nothing unusual about all of that, I’m sure you’ll agree.

I saw some interesting things driving around these dealerships – and some strange things too. While some just made me wonder how any boss in their right mind could think to themselves: ‘Yes, what we’ve done there is a good idea.’ Let me present to you exhibit A of such a phenomenon.

It had been a long drive to this dealership and one that had been lubricated by plenty of Starbucks coffee. Unfortunately, comfort-break locations had been hard to find. It was one of those journeys punctuated with A roads with varying degrees of dual carriageway, the sort that only has greasy burger vans and overflowing bins frequenting lay-bys, not proper services or convenient WCs. So, by the time I got there, I was bursting.

When I arrived at the never-to-be-named dealership I hunted down the ‘facilities’ like a North Korean intercontinental missile and breathed a huge sigh of relief when, there in the corner of the showroom, surrounded by sales desks and cars, was a multi-sex convenience.

On the wall inside was the sign that led to more questions than it did answers.

‘Please do not put any nappies or sanitary products down this toilet,’ it shouted in capped-up Comic Sans (naturally), white text on a yellow background.

Not an unusual request (unlike the font and colour combination), but one that did make me think. Quite what sort of parent thinks a nappy will fit around the U-bend of a toilet? Apparently, there must have been some out there that have tried to punch a Pampers down the pan for this to have been typed up and stuck to the wall in shouty white text.

But the sign went on: ‘Our toilet system is very sensitive.’

Ah bless the poor toilet system, it must be fed up of

Who is James Baggott?

everyone taking the mickey out of it for not being able to cope with those handfuls of Huggies. Quite how the dealership staff spotted its sensitivity is unknown. Perhaps it was the gently sobbing cistern? Who knows.

But it was the last sentence of the yellowing sign that really raised my eyebrows.

‘If you do, it WILL set off an alarm.’

An alarm. An actual shrieking alarm. A This Toilet Is Blocked alarm. A The Person In The Toilet Currently Has Blocked It Right Up alarm.

Can you imagine the actual horror of that going off?

The look of devastation that would befall your face as the realisation that the noise you’re currently hearing is not a Tuesday morning fire drill in the dealership but is in fact the ‘you’ve gone and bunged it right up’ toilet alert.

The questions kept on coming. Who would come to

James Baggott ‘Never, ever, ever AGAINST OUR BETTER JUDGMENT, WE GIVE OUR CEO THE LAST WORD EACH MONTH

use Comic Sans for anything. Ever’

investigate? What if the customer hadn’t pushed a nappy down the loo and had in fact had other issues? How does the alarm work? Is there really an alarm? Who fits these alarms?

Just how bad must the problem have been in this dealership for the boss to think ‘you know what we need to fix this? An alarm!’ At what point in that manager’s thoughtprocess did a toilet bunged up alarm become a good idea? I mean just how hard did the proverbial hit the fan for this to move up the to do list to budget sign off and installation?

You’re probably wondering why I’m telling you this story, and so I’ll get to the point. Often things in business get our backs up to the point where we think something really must be done. For business owners they become an obsession, a thing we think is a necessity, but because we’re blinded by the problem we fail to see the repercussions.

The sign meant well, but that’s all that was really needed – a sign – not an alarm with the potential to humiliate Mrs Miggins who’d popped in to buy a Vauxhall Corsa and gone home with a phobia of shared customer facilities. Yes, you might get the odd Pampers plugging your pan, but surely that’s better than the potential fall-out of Mrs Miggins’ horror story at Bridge Club? Oh, and one more thing while I’m at it: Never, ever, ever use Comic Sans for anything. Ever. Normal service will be resumed next month. Probably.

He’s the founder of Car Dealer Magazine and chief executive officer of parent company @BaizeGroup, an automotive services provider. He now spends most of his time on Twitter @CarDealerEd and annoying the rest of us.

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0115 946 6370 enquiries@frfl.co.uk www.firstesponsefinance.co.uk

CarDealerMag.co.uk | 91

transported checked sold valeted repaired stored photographed resold

My life.

BCA were there, the whole way.

A vehicle’s life can be a long one, and it’s reassuring to know that BCA are by your side all the way. Our vehicles do far more than just appear at auctions. We’re there at every stage of the journey. Providing logistical, in-ownership services as well as a host of pre-remarketing support.

Everything is provided with one clear objective, to keep you and your business moving forward.

Find out more about the journey at bca.co.uk