Dealers must relinquish control of the sales process to their customers and accept a new role if they are to survive in the digital age, automotive industry experts have warned.
Oodle Car Finance has announced the appointment of former HSBC and Santader director Rodger Lovering as chairman.
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.”
Kia is preparing for a Six Nations take-over of London's Waterloo Station and a continued push on sports sponsorship as it looks to make its mark in “one of the most competitive environments in the world” with its Stinger performance car.
One of the “leading data protection practitioners in Europe” Ardi Kolah will take to the stage as a keynote speaker at AM’s GDPR conference.
Tech-savvy car dealers have been urged to recognise the potential sales boost that can be delivered by embracing smartphone technology in their business.
Talks from Geldards solicitors' Sophie Thring and Rachel Mills at the AM GDPR Conference will reveal that "GDPR is not all about marketing".
MotoNovo Finance’s new online used car classified platform findandfundmycar.com has generated more than a million searches in its first two weeks of trading.
Big Cars used car supermarket founder Adam Stott has blamed major changes to the business’ stock and finance provision for creating the “unsustainable trading conditions” that forced its closure.
The Government’s Open Banking initiative could see the banking industry as we know it turned on its head.
Motors.co.uk has appointed the former general manager of Inchcape Retail as its new sales director.
Gumtree and eBay will operate as one business after merging to offer car retailers exposure across two platforms when listing vehicles for sale.
Boards believe their IT departments have cyber security covered but often glaring gaps are revealed, according to Optimising IT’s head of cyber Todd Gifford.
High-profile marketing speaker Geoff Ramm got the team at Luscombe Motors to take part in a 120-second exercise to spark inspiration about how they could get inventive with their service to car buying customers.
Peugeot Citroen Retail UK has been fined £5,000 after Robins and Day’s Gateshead Peugeot failed to declare a used car was previously a Europcar rental vehicle.
Fix Auto UK has appointed a dedicated GDPR support team to help franchisees prepare for the implementation of new legislation.
Cap HPI has revealed the scale of the used car it processes is set to reach record levels in 2018, with 68,000 unique model derivatives now on the market.
Customers want made-to-order and live videos - but dealerships appear to be failing to keep pace with demand, research shows.
Up to half of UK car dealerships will close within by 2025 according to respondents to KPMG’s Global Automotive Executive Survey 2018.
The AM GDPR conference will educate delegates on EU privacy regulations which have the potential to prevent dealers from calling customers.
Tootle has announced a seven-figure investment from Channel 4’s Commercial Growth Fund, enabling the online car selling platform to launch a TV advertising campaign.
Car retailers' online sales leads rose by 34% during December as the sector experienced an 8.5% rise in used cars during the final month of 2017, according to enquiryMAX.
BCA will harness the “digitally-driven international business” experience of new chief marketing and data officer Dene Jones to help meet customers’ changing needs, the remarketing specialist has said.
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.
Soft check and soft search options on online motor finance could make it more accessible and attractive to used car buyers, iVendi has revealed.
