Automotive Management (AM) explores how to overcome the workshop inefficiencies that are losing car dealerships thousands, perhaps millions, of pounds every year.

In the latest of AM's '10 minutes with...' supplier insight interviews, drivvn chief executive Peter Brown discusses online car sales, the ominchannel customer journey and the influence of the agency retail model.

As Q1 draws to a close with what is likely to be a quieter than normal March plate change month, AM took a look at the new car finance offers being served up by some of the sector’s leading brands.

As manufacturer strategies focus increasingly on electric vehicles (EV), crossovers and SUVs, is customer choice set to become a thing of the past?

The future of franchised retailers’ motor finance FCA ruling on discretionary commissions has lead to greater transparency, but few dealers are reporting any noticeable variation to income as a result.

Independent used car dealerships and supermarkets have been best positioned to adapt to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rule banning discretionary commission models that was brought into force last January.

With December’s publication of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) second consultation on its new all-encompassing Consumer Duty protocols and the automotive retail sector now subject to commission disclosure regulations, motor finance has once again been reassessing how it operates.

As car retail sector experts predict that subscriptions could take over from PCPs as the most popular way to fund a private vehicle, AM compared Q4's offers to see how they compare.

Automotive Management (AM) Live served up a packed agenda of seminars and presentations in three theatres focussing on key aspects of the car retail business.

Honda UK managing director Jean-Marc Streng says the brand is exploring the possibilities of the agency franchised retail model as it draws to the end of “phase one” of its retail network restructure.

Online car retail, stock acquisition, reputation management and consumer finance were among the themes explored by speakers at AM Live 2021.

The electric vehicles (EV) revolution and new agency retail models are said to be placing up to 70% of existing dealership profit at risk in the next decade.

Dealer attitudes suggest a level of uncertainty about a 2022 car retail market increasingly defined by vehicle availability, the transition to electric vehicles (EV) and moves from manufacturers towards an agency franchise model.

A rapid rate of stock turn has traditionally been a sure-fire way for car dealerships to maximise their used car profits and forecourt space.

Used car prices remain at all-time highs and retailers have been told they will have to "buy smarter" to remain competitive as the trend continues into 2022.

Discounts on new car retail offers have dropped slightly by 1.9% quarter-on-quarter to £1,672 on average in Q4, according to the latest AM data.

Marshall Motor Holdings chief executive Daksh Gupta has called for OEMs to accelerate cuts to their franchised networks as part of efforts to solve the retail sector’s staffing crisis.

When Michael Bell took the chief executive’s chair of the family business, Available Car, in 2019, he could never have anticipated quite the baptism of fire that was coming.

As the new car market declines and EV ownership becomes more widespread, dealer groups are increasingly turning their attention to older vehicles to keep workshops full.

Even the traditionally slender margins that car dealerships make on new and used car sales once all the overheads have been factored in, aftersales is key to profitability.

Aftersales departments have been kept busy for the best part of a decade by a buoyant new car market with each dealerships’ own customer base keeping workshops full.

The coronavirus pandemic accelerated the pace of change in the UK’s motor retail industry and some observers now question whether many of the new habits will stick with consumers when everyday freedoms return.

Demand for used hybrid cars has risen in the last quarter, pushing wholesale prices up by 18.7% to an average of £17,591.

Motor finance companies and car dealers have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, but how well have they overcome the challenge of motorists' 1.8 million requests for finance forbearance.

Six months on from the introduction of new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulations, automotive retailers should be starting to see an impact on average commission levels as they adapt to a new way of working.