A new survey has revealed that a third of car buyers exceeded their budget in order to include add-ons and optional extras.
Car dealers do not yet offer the slick efficiency of Amazon and Apple.
Hybrid vehicles could be the right choice for the majority of UK motorists, according to data from What Car’s What Fuel tool.
The Finance and Leasing Association’s head of motor finance Adrian Dally has said that lenders expect a “stable” 2018 after full-year results from 2017 revealed new business had grown 2% by value and 7% by volume.
Auto Trader sees used diesel car prices rise by 3% Used diesel car prices rose by 3% as the average price of a used car rose 6% industry-wide, according to Auto Trader’s Retail Price Index. Despite a fall in the share of searches by fuel-type targeting a diesel vehicle, 71% In November 2016, to an annual low of 53% in January, diesel car sales via the online marketplace generated an average value of £14,405 in last month, compared to the £12,775 realised by the average used car sale. The Auto Trader Retail Price Index analyses data from over 500,000 trade used car listings every day, as well as additional dealer forecourt and website data to deliver its monthly statistics. It said that the £777 increase in the value of a diesel car sold via its platform represented “a promising start for used diesel prices” However, petrol saw a more impressive leap in used prices in January, recording an average price of £10,713, which is a £1,733 jump on January 2017 – representing a 10% increase on a like-for-like basis. Online searches for petrol cars, meanwhile, have steadily risen and accounted for 43% in January 2018, compared to just 26% in November 2016. In January 2018 4% of all fuel-related searches were attributed to alternatively fuelled vehicles, which was no movement from December and a 1% increase year-on-on. Comparing the total volume of AFV searches across the year, the number of searches for AFVs on Auto Trader increased 65% between 2016 and 2017, with electric alone recording a huge jump of 84% in searches. Karolina Edwards-Smajda, Auto Trader’s retailer and consumer product director, said: “With new diesel registrations continuing to tumble, it’s very reassuring to see used diesel prices not only retaining their value, but actually increasing in January. “It’s clear, however, just how harmful the government’s strong anti-diesel stance has been on the automotive industry. “We can see that the misstep in not clarifying the difference between new Euro6 and older vehicles has seriously dampened consumer buying confidence, reflected in both the ongoing fall in new diesel registrations, as well as the searches on our market place.”
Every sector of retail is feeling the pressure as technology transforms how we buy and car dealerships find themselves in the thick of this period of change.
Gumtree and eBay will operate as one business after merging to offer car retailers exposure across two platforms when listing vehicles for sale.
Up to half of UK car dealerships will close within by 2025 according to respondents to KPMG’s Global Automotive Executive Survey 2018.
Household expenditure on vehicle ownership defied the negative narrative surrounding PCP car finance products with an increase of 47.7% in spending on “hire loan purchase agreements” during 2017.
Moto Novo finance has launched its findandfundmycar.com classified advertising service built on a set of co-operative principals which aim to cut costs for car dealers.
Cars will be sold alongside clothing and homeware at Next stores after omni-channel vehicle retail specialist Rockar announced its first collaboration with the high street name at the Manchester Arndale shopping centre.
Finance mis-selling will create ‘perfect storm’ in 2018 according to the boss of fleet management business who has claimed that car dealership sales staff “don’t know how PCP and PCH deals work”.
Traditional selling techniques have increasingly come under pressure to perform with the continued sophistication of digital offerings.
Rockar will use valuation and provenance data from Cap HPI to underpin its online retail platform as it plots growth with franchised retailers in 2018.
The former managing director of Motoring Services at the RAC has added financial backing to help fund the growth of used vehicle database Cazana.
Inflation rose to a six-year high of 3.1% in November as retailers struggled against a squeeze on shoppers finances in the run-up to Christmas.
Rockar founder Simon Dixon is expecting to “realise the potential” of his innovative automotive retail model in 2018 as the business celebrates its three-year anniversary.
Mitsubishi has delivered the first car bought using its Buy Online service, three weeks after the order was placed.
Live chat can extend a car dealer’s ‘opening hours’, better qualify prospects and increase customer satisfaction, but it takes hard work
Bristol Street Motors claims to be leading online innovation in the motor retail sector with what it has billed as “the UK’s first purely web-based used car sales platform”.
Manufacturers are struggling with the direct new car sales web sites they have established over the last year, says iVendi.
Stoneacre Financial Services (SFS) is preparing to buck the interest rate trend to make car finance more attainable for non-prime customers.
The dark days of November were boosted by a 46% spike in web visitors thanks to the Black Friday sales push, according to carwow.
Automotive finance companies may be hit harder than car dealers by rising inflation & interest rates and falling consumer confidence
Mitsubishi will make its new Eclipse Cross available to PCP customers from £199 per month at it starts 2018 with a brace of SUV launches.
