Trade Centre Wales will develop Europe’s largest used car showroom in Coventry as part of growth plans outside its home territory of Wales.
Diesel vehicles accounted for 53% of online used car searches via Auto Trader but the fuel type failed to keep pace with petrol powered alternatives 10% year-on-year price rise in February.
Cap HPI has struck-up a new partnership with online classifieds specialist Shpock after the business established its own online automotive marketplace.
Thurlby Motors in Lincolnshire has ditched both its Nissan and Vauxhall franchises after it “suffered heavily” in 2016 and 2017 from demands to pre-register to hit increasing targets.
The average price of a used car reached its second-highest level on record for remarketing specialist BCA as demand remained high across its 24 auctions centres and online platform during February.
Aston Barclay has unveiled plans to expand its Westbury auction facility with the creation of a second hall after Wessex Garages and MotoNovo became new vendor customers at the site.
The AA has bought the used car classifieds website VCARS, four years since they formed a partnership which led to the AA Cars brand.
Marshall Motor Holdings has reported a 19.5% increase in turnover and a 14.4% rise in underlying profit before tax in a set of annual financial results hailed as “excellent” by chief executive Daksh Gupta.
Cap HPI has responded to dealer demand for accurate specification data for part exchange processes with its Spec Check product.
A CarShop survey aiming to deliver insight into the attitudes of women to the car buying process has found that many are at ease with entering a showroom, but do not like to engage in negotiations.
The 2016 Ford Ka was, on average, the fastest selling used car in February.
Lamborghini is preparing to roll out its first approved used programme as parts of plans to prepare its UK car dealers for a doubling of sales volumes following the launch of its forthcoming Urus SUV.
Heavy snowfall caused by the ‘beast from the east’ sparked a sharp increase in the number of online searches for 4x4s, according to Motors.co.uk.
Used car sales grew 5.2% in February, says enquiryMAX Car dealers increased their used car sales by 5.4% during February as new sales faltered, enquiryMAX has found. Analysis of data from over 700 dealers showed new sales dropped by 14.5% during the month, despite a 30% jump in the number of sales leads delivered via manufacturers and a nominal 1% increase in enquiries via the web. The number of leads generated from the service department dropped by 1%, meanwhile. David Boyce, managing director of enquiryMAX, said: “Our latest analysis shows that 2018 is set to be the year of the used car. “Dealers with strong used car operations are maintaining sales momentum in a traditionally profitable area of business. “Cross-selling from the service department to sales is a low cost and efficient route to generating business, and this should be a focus for every dealer.” PCP penetration continued to grow with an increase from 65.8% in February 2017 to 69.5% in February 2018, according to enquiryMAX’s data. The number of sales completed on the first day showed a marginal decline of 1% and the average price of a part exchange increased from £7,727 to £8,659.
Cox Automotive has said that sales of used diesel vehicles have continued to contrast those of new diesel cars, despite a year-on-year price rise less than a third of those attracted by petrol counterparts.
Cap HPI has appointed Jeremy Yea as the new Black Book editor, following recent restructure announcement.
Aston Barclay has confirmed a £1 million investment into its Chelmsford auction site to increase its capacity and to install a twin turntable inspection bay.
Dealers may have a sales struggle in March, as February figures show a decline in sales and enquiries for both used and new cars.
Robins & Day has launched a new service allowing customers to reserve a used car online.
Whilst the car-buying public may not be turning their thoughts to spring and summer quite yet, dealers should be.
Development of battery and hybrid technology is moving swiftly as is the public’s perception and reviewing market data on a monthly basis will ensure a clear and accurate understanding of what is a difficult sector starved of data due to low registration volumes.
Auto Trader has insisted that the car “finance bubble” is not about to burst, claiming that the affordability it delivers is key to social mobility and cleaner motoring in the UK.
A landmark ruling that could see cities across Germany ban older diesel-fuelled vehicles from their streets could be set to impact manufacturing and used car residual values in the country.
NextGear Capital has launched the ‘first mobile wholesale funding platform’ enabling dealers to manage stock on-the-go.
Used values rose by a further 1% in February as demand for new cars softens, according to Cap HPI.
