Latest / Motor Trade Radio / 🎧 August trade values. ZEV Mandate's impact on EV residuals. Ian Godbold's latest Top Tip. (E53, S12)

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🎧 August trade values. ZEV Mandate's impact on EV residuals. Ian Godbold's latest Top Tip. (E53, S12) · Motor Trade Radio

• 0:05
  Speaker: Hello and welcome to the Motor Trade Radio podcast powered by
• 0:10
  Speaker: Cazoo with Philip Northward and Curtis Hutchinson bringing you
• 0:15
  Speaker: all the chatter that matters across the car retailing sector
• 0:19
  Speaker: from factory to forecourt.
• 0:24
  Speaker: Well, we'll have no weather
• 0:26
  Speaker: predictions this weekend because
• 0:27
  Speaker: we are on a bank holiday
• 0:29
  Speaker: weekend.
• 0:30
  Speaker: And at the point of recording
• 0:32
  Speaker: the forecast don't look too
• 0:34
  Speaker: great.
• 0:35
  Speaker: So we'll, uh, we might be better off staying away from that one,
• 0:38
  Speaker: do you think this week Curtis.
• 0:39
  Speaker: Yeah, I definitely definitely.
• 0:41
  Speaker: As you say, we've got the bank holiday Monday followed by the
• 0:46
  Speaker: plate change on Tuesday.
• 0:48
  Speaker: So yeah seventy six plate change.
• 0:51
  Speaker: Um yeah.
• 0:52
  Speaker: It's gonna be an interesting one this year isn't it?
• 0:54
  Speaker: And, uh, I'm really keen to see the figures at the end of the
• 0:59
  Speaker: month to see what sort of bump, what sort of boost the new car
• 1:03
  Speaker: market gets in September.
• 1:05
  Speaker: Yeah, it could be it could be a
• 1:06
  Speaker: good time actually, for the
• 1:07
  Speaker: weather not to be too great for
• 1:09
  Speaker: this bank holiday weekend, just
• 1:10
  Speaker: to get those last minute deals
• 1:12
  Speaker: in for the September month that
• 1:14
  Speaker: are close to the August month
• 1:16
  Speaker: down.
• 1:17
  Speaker: So we we will see.
• 1:18
  Speaker: But yeah, as you say, we'll, uh, we have got a reasonably packed
• 1:23
  Speaker: show today, headlines a little bit tighter this week, but, but
• 1:26
  Speaker: obviously we have got a couple of snippets this week as well.
• 1:29
  Speaker: So this week we did manage to catch up with Brygos, uh, Rupert
• 1:34
  Speaker: Ponting on our monthly round up of the exclusive sneak preview
• 1:39
  Speaker: of, uh, the trade values for what happened in August.
• 1:42
  Speaker: And we had a good conversation,
• 1:45
  Speaker: probably thirty minutes worth of
• 1:46
  Speaker: conversation there with Rupert,
• 1:48
  Speaker: didn't we, over what's been
• 1:49
  Speaker: happening in August around the
• 1:51
  Speaker: Chinese manufacturer marketplace
• 1:54
  Speaker: volume, retail volume and trade
• 1:56
  Speaker: values?
• 1:57
  Speaker: Yeah, we covered a lot of ground.
• 1:59
  Speaker: It's definitely worth checking out.
• 2:01
  Speaker: And that is in your podcast feed now.
• 2:03
  Speaker: So as you say, Phil, we'll have an extract from that shortly.
• 2:09
  Speaker: Also on today's pod, we have
• 2:11
  Speaker: this month's top tip from our
• 2:13
  Speaker: very own industry guru, Ian
• 2:15
  Speaker: Godbold.
• 2:16
  Speaker: Now, this month, Ian shares his view on how to make marketable
• 2:21
  Speaker: stock the new automotive KPI.
• 2:25
  Speaker: He'll also have something to say about maximising on September
• 2:28
  Speaker: plate change opportunities.
• 2:30
  Speaker: So do listen out for that.
• 2:32
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 2:33
  Speaker: And something we've kind of
• 2:34
  Speaker: hinted at, but we managed to
• 2:36
  Speaker: secure it.
• 2:37
  Speaker: So look out next week for the
• 2:39
  Speaker: the latest supplier special in
• 2:41
  Speaker: the series of those special
• 2:43
  Speaker: interviews that we have with
• 2:44
  Speaker: Auto Tech Group, which which
• 2:47
  Speaker: lands on Wednesday in your
• 2:49
  Speaker: podcast feed.
• 2:50
  Speaker: Now, I mean, that was a great, great conversation.
• 2:52
  Speaker: This is auto tech group is a
• 2:54
  Speaker: well regarded and well long
• 2:57
  Speaker: established automotive industry
• 2:59
  Speaker: specialist, helping businesses
• 3:01
  Speaker: address workforce challenges,
• 3:04
  Speaker: develop skills and improve
• 3:07
  Speaker: workshop productivity.
• 3:09
  Speaker: And we caught up with CEO Simon King, who shared his views on
• 3:14
  Speaker: some of the the challenges facing the aftermarket sector
• 3:18
  Speaker: and why there might be too much industry focus on the the
• 3:22
  Speaker: technician shortage, and really not enough on how how we make
• 3:27
  Speaker: the best use of skilled people already within the industry.
• 3:31
  Speaker: And that will be in your podcast feed on, on Wednesday morning.
• 3:35
  Speaker: That was a great conversation that wants it with with Simon.
• 3:38
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 3:39
  Speaker: Um, in terms of, you know, the state of play of the aftermarket
• 3:43
  Speaker: sector at the moment, it was absolutely spot on.
• 3:45
  Speaker: And Simon had a lot to say, as
• 3:48
  Speaker: you say, about the technician
• 3:50
  Speaker: shortage, but also about
• 3:52
  Speaker: productivity, ways of, uh,
• 3:54
  Speaker: improving productivity.
• 3:56
  Speaker: And, um, what I found
• 3:58
  Speaker: particularly interesting was the
• 3:59
  Speaker: role of AI in the workshop,
• 4:02
  Speaker: because you don't necessarily
• 4:04
  Speaker: imagine, you know, AI playing a
• 4:07
  Speaker: big role in, you know, amongst
• 4:09
  Speaker: technicians.
• 4:10
  Speaker: But he made it quite clear that
• 4:12
  Speaker: there is a key role to play
• 4:13
  Speaker: there.
• 4:17
  Speaker: If you're a supplier and would
• 4:19
  Speaker: like us to profile your business
• 4:21
  Speaker: and reach our audience of dealer
• 4:23
  Speaker: group bosses, managers and
• 4:25
  Speaker: decision makers on one of our
• 4:27
  Speaker: motor trade radio supplier
• 4:29
  Speaker: special episodes.
• 4:30
  Speaker: Then get in touch at Motortrade radio at yahoo dot com.
• 4:40
  Speaker: And some of the companies already featured in our supply
• 4:43
  Speaker: specials include Autoglym, live, Shine, Impel, Prospecting
• 4:47
  Speaker: Dynamics, and Generational.
• 4:49
  Speaker: And as we say, Auto Tech Group will be in your podcast feed
• 4:53
  Speaker: from next week.
• 4:55
  Speaker: And if you'd like us to profile
• 4:57
  Speaker: your business, then just message
• 4:59
  Speaker: us at Motortrade radio at yahoo
• 5:02
  Speaker: dot com.
• 5:06
  Speaker: You're listening to the Motor
• 5:07
  Speaker: Trade Radio podcast powered by
• 5:10
  Speaker: Cazoo.
• 5:14
  Speaker: Headlines this week come from AM
• 5:16
  Speaker: and car dealers, starting with
• 5:20
  Speaker: Smmt.
• 5:21
  Speaker: Chief Mike Hawes warns the Zev
• 5:23
  Speaker: mandate could destroy used EV
• 5:26
  Speaker: residual values.
• 5:28
  Speaker: Warranty giant car care plan is
• 5:30
  Speaker: being acquired by US insurance
• 5:32
  Speaker: business.
• 5:33
  Speaker: Brindley Group opens the first
• 5:35
  Speaker: lipase dealership in the UK, and
• 5:39
  Speaker: BMW insists that German agency
• 5:42
  Speaker: DeLay will not derail wider
• 5:44
  Speaker: rollout as UK switch remains on
• 5:48
  Speaker: track.
• 5:48
  Speaker: But first up is Rupert Pontin, with Brygos overview of how
• 5:53
  Speaker: August's trade values performed.
• 5:59
  Speaker: You're listening to the Motor
• 6:00
  Speaker: Trade Radio podcast powered by
• 6:03
  Speaker: Cazoo.
• 6:06
  Speaker: So, Rupert, can we sum up some of the August key trade value,
• 6:11
  Speaker: um, trends that we covered in this month's episode because we
• 6:14
  Speaker: covered quite a bit around, obviously, you know, some of
• 6:17
  Speaker: the, uh, the market dynamics in sort of August.
• 6:21
  Speaker: Yeah, sure.
• 6:22
  Speaker: Philip.
• 6:22
  Speaker: I think the first thing to say
• 6:24
  Speaker: is that we actually saw an
• 6:26
  Speaker: overall movement upwards of zero
• 6:28
  Speaker: point four percent for trade
• 6:29
  Speaker: values.
• 6:30
  Speaker: And funnily enough, that
• 6:31
  Speaker: actually matched exactly the
• 6:33
  Speaker: increase that we saw in sales as
• 6:35
  Speaker: well.
• 6:35
  Speaker: But the devil, as always, is in the detail.
• 6:37
  Speaker: And once you start looking at
• 6:39
  Speaker: what's moved and at which
• 6:41
  Speaker: particular point, you really get
• 6:42
  Speaker: a feeling for the complexity of
• 6:44
  Speaker: the marketplace.
• 6:45
  Speaker: And there were some interesting
• 6:46
  Speaker: moves around two year old
• 6:48
  Speaker: vehicles, which saw quite an
• 6:50
  Speaker: increase.
• 6:51
  Speaker: And quite a lot of the ages
• 6:53
  Speaker: through the years have seen a
• 6:55
  Speaker: decrease, particularly nine year
• 6:57
  Speaker: old vehicles, but very
• 6:58
  Speaker: interesting data.
• 7:00
  Speaker: I mean, we talked on a couple of
• 7:01
  Speaker: other points around, obviously,
• 7:03
  Speaker: you know, the one of them was
• 7:04
  Speaker: that point in terms of that age
• 7:06
  Speaker: profile and where that demand is
• 7:08
  Speaker: now down by age as we sort of
• 7:10
  Speaker: see the results and the
• 7:12
  Speaker: consequence of the pandemic
• 7:14
  Speaker: shortage.
• 7:15
  Speaker: But actually, we've seen some of the results of some of that
• 7:18
  Speaker: model profile, particularly in the SUV sector, aren't we?
• 7:21
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 7:22
  Speaker: We have and the values by market sector were interesting.
• 7:26
  Speaker: And if you look at the largest
• 7:27
  Speaker: sector that was SUV medium, they
• 7:29
  Speaker: were fairly stable over zero
• 7:31
  Speaker: point six percent increase in
• 7:32
  Speaker: price.
• 7:33
  Speaker: But when you start looking at some of the prestige vehicles,
• 7:36
  Speaker: the biggest mover we saw was in the prestige medium sector,
• 7:39
  Speaker: where there was an increase in price of one point five percent.
• 7:42
  Speaker: Actually, that was the largest increase.
• 7:44
  Speaker: But the market sector can play a really important part.
• 7:49
  Speaker: I mean, the other the other
• 7:50
  Speaker: discussion point that we had was
• 7:52
  Speaker: obviously, you know, around the,
• 7:54
  Speaker: the Chinese OEMs, um, that I
• 7:57
  Speaker: know that's an area that you're
• 7:58
  Speaker: monitoring fairly closely and
• 7:59
  Speaker: obviously talk to us a little
• 8:01
  Speaker: bit around their, their latest
• 8:03
  Speaker: Smmt registration figures, but
• 8:05
  Speaker: thinking more about what's
• 8:06
  Speaker: happening in that used car
• 8:07
  Speaker: market around those, those
• 8:09
  Speaker: Chinese OEMs and what that looks
• 8:11
  Speaker: like.
• 8:12
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 8:13
  Speaker: So the Chinese area is very important to, to watch because
• 8:16
  Speaker: it's going to really explode over the coming sort of twelve
• 8:19
  Speaker: months or so.
• 8:20
  Speaker: We've seen a change in the in the volume of total market sales
• 8:23
  Speaker: for Chinese cars shift from zero point two five percent in
• 8:26
  Speaker: October last, sorry, in August twenty twenty five through to
• 8:30
  Speaker: zero point nine percent in August twenty twenty six.
• 8:33
  Speaker: And that's only going to accelerate.
• 8:34
  Speaker: We did talk about, you know, the
• 8:37
  Speaker: volume of vehicles that are
• 8:38
  Speaker: going to start to come back in,
• 8:39
  Speaker: some of them off rental and some
• 8:41
  Speaker: of them just because of the huge
• 8:43
  Speaker: push that particularly Chery and
• 8:45
  Speaker: BYD have made into the
• 8:46
  Speaker: marketplace.
• 8:47
  Speaker: And it's clearly something we've got to be absolutely on top of
• 8:50
  Speaker: as we go forward.
• 8:51
  Speaker: Yeah, definitely.
• 8:52
  Speaker: Definitely.
• 8:53
  Speaker: So I think, as I say, you know, anybody that isn't listening to
• 8:56
  Speaker: the full episode of us having that conversation, then there's
• 8:59
  Speaker: plenty for them to to tune in and have a listen to.
• 9:02
  Speaker: Isn't that Rupert?
• 9:03
  Speaker: Yeah, absolutely.
• 9:03
  Speaker: I think it's absolutely critical that people really get a handle
• 9:06
  Speaker: on what's going to happen over the next six to twelve months.
• 9:09
  Speaker: I mean, there that's just a
• 9:10
  Speaker: slight extract of that full
• 9:13
  Speaker: interview with with Rupert sort
• 9:15
  Speaker: of covering some of those key
• 9:16
  Speaker: talking points.
• 9:17
  Speaker: And as we said earlier, we covered a lot of ground in that
• 9:19
  Speaker: that sort of thirty minutes with Rupert, didn't we?
• 9:22
  Speaker: Yeah, we did, and some really
• 9:24
  Speaker: interesting trends that, uh, you
• 9:28
  Speaker: know, Rupert has identified over
• 9:30
  Speaker: the course of August, um,
• 9:31
  Speaker: including I know you touched on
• 9:34
  Speaker: it there, but the impact of some
• 9:36
  Speaker: of the Chinese brands in the
• 9:37
  Speaker: used car market, I mean, I won't
• 9:39
  Speaker: give away too much because you
• 9:41
  Speaker: need to check out the full
• 9:42
  Speaker: episode, but, uh, a fascinating
• 9:44
  Speaker: to hear some of the fastest
• 9:46
  Speaker: sellers and the impact some of
• 9:47
  Speaker: the used Chinese brands or used
• 9:50
  Speaker: cars from the Chinese brands are
• 9:52
  Speaker: making in terms of those fastest
• 9:54
  Speaker: sellers.
• 9:55
  Speaker: So as I say, the full interview there with Rupert would be in
• 9:58
  Speaker: your podcast feed from Wednesday of this week.
• 10:02
  Speaker: So if you've not managed to
• 10:03
  Speaker: catch that, then, then you know,
• 10:04
  Speaker: you've got the bank holiday
• 10:05
  Speaker: weekend.
• 10:06
  Speaker: Um, as you sat indoors looking
• 10:08
  Speaker: at the rain coming down outside,
• 10:10
  Speaker: then maybe just grab yourself
• 10:11
  Speaker: thirty minutes cup of coffee and
• 10:13
  Speaker: have a listen, because it'll
• 10:14
  Speaker: give you a little bit of insight
• 10:15
  Speaker: as to what to expect over the
• 10:17
  Speaker: coming months.
• 10:18
  Speaker: But we'll get back to the headlines now.
• 10:21
  Speaker: And as Curtis said, the first
• 10:22
  Speaker: story is in Car Dealer, and this
• 10:24
  Speaker: is that.
• 10:25
  Speaker: The Smmt chief warns Zev mandate
• 10:28
  Speaker: could damage used EV residual
• 10:31
  Speaker: values.
• 10:31
  Speaker: And this is that the Smmt chief
• 10:33
  Speaker: says forced EV discounting could
• 10:37
  Speaker: destroy residual values as more
• 10:40
  Speaker: cars filter into the second hand
• 10:42
  Speaker: marketplace, saying that new EV
• 10:44
  Speaker: mandate supply is running well
• 10:47
  Speaker: ahead of underlying consumer
• 10:49
  Speaker: demand, says the Smmt, and that
• 10:52
  Speaker: used EV transactions rose to
• 10:55
  Speaker: more than one in eighteen sales
• 10:57
  Speaker: in Q2, but petrol and diesel
• 11:01
  Speaker: still accounted for almost nine
• 11:04
  Speaker: in ten.
• 11:05
  Speaker: So quite damning and direct words there from from Mike.
• 11:09
  Speaker: And that sits on the back of obviously, the conversation we
• 11:11
  Speaker: had with Robert Forrester a week on on that special interview
• 11:15
  Speaker: that we did.
• 11:16
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 11:17
  Speaker: Which is definitely worth checking out, which I know a lot
• 11:20
  Speaker: of listeners have done because we can see by the number of hits
• 11:24
  Speaker: our interview with Robert had, but Robert came on specifically
• 11:29
  Speaker: to talk about the Zev mandate, the consultation process, which
• 11:33
  Speaker: is now underway.
• 11:34
  Speaker: The clock's ticking, the deadlines.
• 11:36
  Speaker: Twenty third of October.
• 11:38
  Speaker: But, um, I what interested me in
• 11:40
  Speaker: this story was that the Smmt and
• 11:43
  Speaker: certainly Mike Hawes chief exec,
• 11:46
  Speaker: are keeping the topic on
• 11:49
  Speaker: everyone's radar.
• 11:50
  Speaker: You know, just because the
• 11:51
  Speaker: consultation is happening,
• 11:53
  Speaker: there's still a lot to be said
• 11:56
  Speaker: about the Zev mandate and the
• 11:57
  Speaker: impact it's having on the
• 11:59
  Speaker: industry.
• 12:00
  Speaker: And of specific interest in this story is, is the impact that
• 12:05
  Speaker: it's having on the used car sector, which is something you
• 12:08
  Speaker: and I have talked about for, um, probably I was going to say many
• 12:12
  Speaker: months, but probably many years now, a long time.
• 12:15
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 12:15
  Speaker: But, but, um, you know, might,
• 12:17
  Speaker: might, cause there's some hard
• 12:18
  Speaker: hitting comments in this because
• 12:21
  Speaker: what he's saying is that, and a
• 12:23
  Speaker: direct quote from him is that
• 12:24
  Speaker: pushing new EV supply further
• 12:27
  Speaker: and further ahead of underlying
• 12:29
  Speaker: demand risks, creating a used EV
• 12:33
  Speaker: pipeline.
• 12:34
  Speaker: And he goes on to say that that
• 12:35
  Speaker: will destroy residual values and
• 12:38
  Speaker: causes instability and
• 12:40
  Speaker: undermines confidence.
• 12:42
  Speaker: And, um, you know, he's not he's not holding back on this, is he?
• 12:47
  Speaker: Because as you pointed out, almost nine in ten used cars,
• 12:51
  Speaker: um, in over the last quarter were petrol models, but the
• 12:55
  Speaker: balance was very much made up um by, uh, used EV models.
• 13:01
  Speaker: And he goes on to argue that the mandate could encourage
• 13:05
  Speaker: manufacturers to use discounts to hit their targets, rather
• 13:09
  Speaker: than waiting for genuine consumer demand to grow.
• 13:13
  Speaker: Again, something we've talked about a lot on the pod, but his
• 13:17
  Speaker: direct quote is quite telling because he says the mandate
• 13:20
  Speaker: drives market share, not volume, and it is volumes and margin.
• 13:25
  Speaker: The industry needs to be
• 13:27
  Speaker: profitable to underpin future
• 13:29
  Speaker: investment model innovation and
• 13:32
  Speaker: rollout.
• 13:33
  Speaker: So this this discounting that's been going on for some time now
• 13:38
  Speaker: is impacting residual values.
• 13:40
  Speaker: And I think the Smmt has just taken this opportunity to to
• 13:44
  Speaker: raise general awareness of that.
• 13:47
  Speaker: No you're right.
• 13:48
  Speaker: And I mean obviously, I mean Mike and the Smmt team are doing
• 13:52
  Speaker: have been doing a fantastic job As Robert clearly pointed out
• 13:55
  Speaker: along other spokespeople.
• 13:56
  Speaker: And it's been focused very heavily on on that new vehicle
• 14:00
  Speaker: market, both for cars and LCV.
• 14:02
  Speaker: And, you know, we have in other
• 14:05
  Speaker: areas been talking about used
• 14:06
  Speaker: and the impact on used values
• 14:09
  Speaker: and that residual value market,
• 14:10
  Speaker: because really those are where
• 14:12
  Speaker: it hits the asset holder of
• 14:13
  Speaker: those vehicles very heavily when
• 14:14
  Speaker: you get this volatility of
• 14:17
  Speaker: residual values.
• 14:17
  Speaker: But it's great.
• 14:18
  Speaker: Now that, you know Mike and the
• 14:21
  Speaker: team there are now moving into
• 14:23
  Speaker: highlighting the the financial
• 14:25
  Speaker: impact on the used EV
• 14:27
  Speaker: marketplace and the impact that
• 14:30
  Speaker: the Zev mandate is having on
• 14:32
  Speaker: that.
• 14:32
  Speaker: So I think that is really now because it does it plays into,
• 14:35
  Speaker: you know, cost of ownership, you know, if residual values are low
• 14:39
  Speaker: or, you know, under risk, then it hits on, on, on everything.
• 14:42
  Speaker: So, you know, it's great to see that that Mike Hawes and the
• 14:46
  Speaker: team at Smmt are using their, their voice now and their power
• 14:50
  Speaker: at number ten to, to cite the the impact on used EVs, but
• 14:56
  Speaker: we'll stick with the car dealer.
• 14:58
  Speaker: And this is on the car care
• 15:02
  Speaker: plan, which many listeners will
• 15:04
  Speaker: be very aware of, is set to be
• 15:07
  Speaker: sold to US investors after
• 15:09
  Speaker: reaching a definitive agreement
• 15:12
  Speaker: saying that US insurance um
• 15:14
  Speaker: intermediately A and V Group has
• 15:18
  Speaker: agreed a deal to acquire car
• 15:20
  Speaker: care plan.
• 15:21
  Speaker: Um CCP serves more than two and
• 15:24
  Speaker: a half thousand dealers and
• 15:27
  Speaker: thirty manufacturers across the
• 15:29
  Speaker: UK and overseas, and that the
• 15:32
  Speaker: transaction is expected to
• 15:34
  Speaker: complete by the end of
• 15:36
  Speaker: September.
• 15:36
  Speaker: So this is moving pretty quickly.
• 15:39
  Speaker: Yes.
• 15:39
  Speaker: I mean, the story broke during
• 15:42
  Speaker: the week and it kind of came
• 15:44
  Speaker: from nowhere.
• 15:44
  Speaker: But, you know, the fact that
• 15:46
  Speaker: it's due to be complete by
• 15:48
  Speaker: September just shows how
• 15:49
  Speaker: advanced these conversations
• 15:52
  Speaker: are.
• 15:52
  Speaker: so, um, as you say, the American Insurance intermediary A and V
• 15:57
  Speaker: Group has entered a definitive agreement to acquire car care
• 16:02
  Speaker: plan, which has been part of our sector for fifty years.
• 16:06
  Speaker: It actually celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year.
• 16:10
  Speaker: So founded in nineteen seventy six.
• 16:13
  Speaker: And, uh, as you mentioned, it's
• 16:15
  Speaker: used by over two and a half
• 16:17
  Speaker: thousand dealers.
• 16:18
  Speaker: So, you know, a very prominent warranty supplier within the
• 16:23
  Speaker: sector, um, a m V group.
• 16:25
  Speaker: So New York based outfit, uh,
• 16:28
  Speaker: expects to have the deal wrapped
• 16:29
  Speaker: up by the end of September,
• 16:31
  Speaker: subject to closing conditions
• 16:33
  Speaker: being met.
• 16:35
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 16:36
  Speaker: And I think, you know, the good
• 16:37
  Speaker: news on this, as you say, I
• 16:38
  Speaker: mean, being around since, what,
• 16:40
  Speaker: nineteen seventy seventy six,
• 16:42
  Speaker: they're as you say that fifty
• 16:44
  Speaker: years.
• 16:44
  Speaker: But they do say that the, uh,
• 16:46
  Speaker: the executives say that the
• 16:48
  Speaker: acquisition will help establish
• 16:50
  Speaker: car care plan as a scaled player
• 16:53
  Speaker: in the global Vehicle Warranty
• 16:56
  Speaker: market, whilst continuing to
• 16:58
  Speaker: operate under its existing name,
• 17:01
  Speaker: and that the firm's management,
• 17:02
  Speaker: including CEO Ben Russell, will
• 17:05
  Speaker: be retained once the deal is
• 17:08
  Speaker: completed.
• 17:09
  Speaker: Along with its customer
• 17:11
  Speaker: contacts, products and
• 17:13
  Speaker: underwriting approach.
• 17:14
  Speaker: So I think this is a clear intention that, you know,
• 17:17
  Speaker: maintaining that that strength of the car care planning in the
• 17:21
  Speaker: UK and the current market it operates within, but now giving
• 17:24
  Speaker: it this bigger scale for overseas growth and keeping
• 17:27
  Speaker: that, that executive team in place that's, you know, managed
• 17:31
  Speaker: this, this significant business for for many years.
• 17:34
  Speaker: Yeah, it, you know, from, from what we're reading of, of the
• 17:38
  Speaker: deal, it does look like a good deal for car care plan, as you
• 17:43
  Speaker: say, the business, the, the name will be retained, but it's now
• 17:47
  Speaker: got this, this opportunity to expand into other markets.
• 17:51
  Speaker: And, you know, the fact that it's being bought by a US
• 17:55
  Speaker: company suggests that there is an opportunity there to, to grow
• 17:59
  Speaker: in the US.
• 18:00
  Speaker: So one to watch.
• 18:01
  Speaker: Definitely.
• 18:02
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 18:03
  Speaker: And just signing off there with Ben Russell himself saying that,
• 18:06
  Speaker: uh, this marks an exciting new chapter for coca plant.
• 18:10
  Speaker: So clearly that, but we're going
• 18:12
  Speaker: to go to the break now and we've
• 18:14
  Speaker: got the, uh, the, the usual top
• 18:17
  Speaker: tip from, uh, industry guru Ian
• 18:20
  Speaker: Godbolt.
• 18:22
  Speaker: You're listening to all the
• 18:23
  Speaker: chatter that matters on
• 18:25
  Speaker: Motortrade radio, powered by
• 18:28
  Speaker: Cazoo.
• 18:29
  Speaker: Next up is car retailing industry guru Ian Godbold,
• 18:34
  Speaker: sharing his top tips on how to steer your business to success.
• 18:42
  Speaker: Hello everyone, and welcome to this month's Top Tip.
• 18:46
  Speaker: Well, here we go then.
• 18:47
  Speaker: Bank holiday weekend is here.
• 18:49
  Speaker: And for dealers, there are two things to focus on.
• 18:52
  Speaker: Firstly, it's really a great opportunity to finish August
• 18:55
  Speaker: strongly, but at the same time, we're only days away from the
• 18:58
  Speaker: September plate change.
• 19:00
  Speaker: I've spoken before about making
• 19:01
  Speaker: the most of plate change so I
• 19:02
  Speaker: won't go over old ground, but
• 19:04
  Speaker: it's still a real opportunity to
• 19:06
  Speaker: create some excitement around
• 19:07
  Speaker: it.
• 19:08
  Speaker: If you're running a plate change event, make sure you've got
• 19:10
  Speaker: those prospective scheduled in and give the consumer a
• 19:13
  Speaker: compelling reason for them to come into the dealership.
• 19:16
  Speaker: And then when the event is in
• 19:18
  Speaker: full swing, capture the activity
• 19:20
  Speaker: that's happening.
• 19:21
  Speaker: Hand over pictures of such a
• 19:23
  Speaker: simple thing, but a great
• 19:24
  Speaker: content.
• 19:25
  Speaker: You've got happy customers collecting their cars, new
• 19:28
  Speaker: plates going out, and hopefully a busy showroom.
• 19:31
  Speaker: Use that across your social channels.
• 19:33
  Speaker: It creates a bit of momentum and gives other customers a sense
• 19:37
  Speaker: that something is happening.
• 19:39
  Speaker: And alongside all of that new car activity, one of the things
• 19:42
  Speaker: I've been talking about recently is whether we're actually
• 19:44
  Speaker: looking at the right stock KPI.
• 19:48
  Speaker: We all know how much stock we've got, but how much of that stock
• 19:51
  Speaker: is generally marketable?
• 19:53
  Speaker: Because having five hundred cars in stock doesn't necessarily
• 19:55
  Speaker: mean you've got five hundred cars out there working for you.
• 19:59
  Speaker: How many of them are fully prepped?
• 20:00
  Speaker: How many have proper imagery?
• 20:02
  Speaker: How much alive across all of
• 20:03
  Speaker: your marketing channels, and how
• 20:05
  Speaker: many are actually in a position
• 20:06
  Speaker: to generate you an inquiry
• 20:08
  Speaker: today?
• 20:09
  Speaker: The guys over at Velocity Plus
• 20:11
  Speaker: have recently introduced
• 20:12
  Speaker: marketable stock as a KPI, and I
• 20:15
  Speaker: think the principle behind it is
• 20:16
  Speaker: really useful.
• 20:17
  Speaker: It brings together vehicle readiness and marketing
• 20:20
  Speaker: performance to give you such a clear picture of the stock that
• 20:23
  Speaker: is generally available to sell.
• 20:26
  Speaker: The other useful insight of marketable stock is it starts
• 20:29
  Speaker: exposing the bottlenecks.
• 20:31
  Speaker: If you have five hundred cars in stock, but only four hundred are
• 20:34
  Speaker: properly marketable, what's happening to the other hundred?
• 20:37
  Speaker: Are they awaiting prep, photography pricing?
• 20:41
  Speaker: Is there something else stopping
• 20:43
  Speaker: them getting to market because
• 20:45
  Speaker: of those effectively a dead
• 20:46
  Speaker: stock until you resolve that
• 20:48
  Speaker: problem.
• 20:49
  Speaker: And there's another really simple calculation that I think
• 20:52
  Speaker: is worth looking at.
• 20:53
  Speaker: Take your marketable stock figure and divide it by twelve.
• 20:57
  Speaker: And if you're operating a twelve times stock turn, that gives you
• 21:00
  Speaker: a good indication of the daily sales run rate that you're
• 21:03
  Speaker: capable of achieving.
• 21:04
  Speaker: So let's say you've got four
• 21:05
  Speaker: hundred and fifty generally
• 21:06
  Speaker: marketable cars.
• 21:07
  Speaker: That's around fifteen hours a day.
• 21:10
  Speaker: But if you're consistently
• 21:11
  Speaker: selling ten, there's a gap
• 21:13
  Speaker: somewhere.
• 21:14
  Speaker: That then gives you the
• 21:14
  Speaker: opportunity to ask, why is it
• 21:16
  Speaker: the stock?
• 21:17
  Speaker: Is it the pricing?
• 21:18
  Speaker: Is it the marketing channels?
• 21:20
  Speaker: Are we just not generating
• 21:21
  Speaker: enough inquiries or are we not
• 21:23
  Speaker: converting them?
• 21:24
  Speaker: And that's why I like the KPI.
• 21:26
  Speaker: It moves the conversation away
• 21:28
  Speaker: from simply saying, how much
• 21:29
  Speaker: stock do we have to how much of
• 21:31
  Speaker: our stock is actually capable of
• 21:33
  Speaker: generating a sale and going into
• 21:35
  Speaker: a bank holiday and September
• 21:37
  Speaker: plate change?
• 21:38
  Speaker: I think that's a really important distinction.
• 21:40
  Speaker: There's obviously going to be a
• 21:41
  Speaker: huge amount of focus on new cars
• 21:43
  Speaker: and getting those September
• 21:45
  Speaker: registrations away, but I'd be
• 21:47
  Speaker: looking at just as closely as
• 21:48
  Speaker: you use stock, make sure that
• 21:50
  Speaker: cars are ready, make sure
• 21:52
  Speaker: they're visible, make sure
• 21:53
  Speaker: they're marketed properly, and
• 21:55
  Speaker: then look at whether the sales
• 21:57
  Speaker: run rate reflects the amount of
• 21:58
  Speaker: generally marketable stock you
• 22:00
  Speaker: have.
• 22:01
  Speaker: So going into September, don't
• 22:03
  Speaker: just ask how much stock you've
• 22:04
  Speaker: got.
• 22:05
  Speaker: Ask how much of it is generally ready to sell, because that's
• 22:08
  Speaker: the number that really matters.
• 22:10
  Speaker: If you want to understand how
• 22:12
  Speaker: much of your stock is generally
• 22:13
  Speaker: marketable and whether it's
• 22:14
  Speaker: delivering the sales it should
• 22:16
  Speaker: be.
• 22:16
  Speaker: Then get in touch with me through LinkedIn or email me at
• 22:20
  Speaker: Ian Godbold at I g c digital dot co dot UK.
• 22:24
  Speaker: Have a super bank holiday weekend and get off to a really
• 22:28
  Speaker: strong start in September.
• 22:30
  Speaker: See you all again very soon!
• 22:32
  Speaker: Well, another great and topical, highly topical top tip there
• 22:36
  Speaker: from Ian Godbold.
• 22:38
  Speaker: And if you do want to get in touch with Ian, then check him
• 22:43
  Speaker: out on LinkedIn or email him at Ian Godbold at IGC digital dot
• 22:50
  Speaker: co dot UK.
• 22:51
  Speaker: And many thanks to Ian for his monthly top tips.
• 22:55
  Speaker: We both enjoy them, don't we, Phil?
• 22:57
  Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
• 22:58
  Speaker: He's very upbeat, very to the
• 23:01
  Speaker: point and very topical as you
• 23:03
  Speaker: say there.
• 23:04
  Speaker: So especially now with the, uh,
• 23:06
  Speaker: the new plates on Tuesday
• 23:08
  Speaker: morning of, of the, of next
• 23:10
  Speaker: week.
• 23:11
  Speaker: So we'll head back to the, the headlines now.
• 23:13
  Speaker: And a company that we don't tend
• 23:15
  Speaker: to talk about too often is in am
• 23:18
  Speaker: online.
• 23:19
  Speaker: And this is Brindley group opens first lipase dealership here in
• 23:24
  Speaker: the the UK.
• 23:25
  Speaker: So lipase has opened its first
• 23:29
  Speaker: UK dealership as it prepares for
• 23:31
  Speaker: a rapid rollout of its retail
• 23:34
  Speaker: network ahead of its brands
• 23:36
  Speaker: official launch.
• 23:38
  Speaker: And this is that the group has begun trading from the the new
• 23:43
  Speaker: six car lipase showroom in West Street in Wolverhampton.
• 23:48
  Speaker: So yeah, this is a we talked about this brand coming.
• 23:52
  Speaker: We talked about you know, what that means for the sector.
• 23:54
  Speaker: But really it's very moving very quickly.
• 23:56
  Speaker: Curtis.
• 23:57
  Speaker: It is.
• 23:58
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 23:58
  Speaker: And the fact that the dealership
• 24:01
  Speaker: you know it's opening and it was
• 24:04
  Speaker: actually completed in eight
• 24:05
  Speaker: weeks.
• 24:06
  Speaker: And we'll have forecourt space
• 24:08
  Speaker: for for fifteen vehicles with
• 24:11
  Speaker: dedicated dedicated service bays
• 24:14
  Speaker: and obviously manufacturer
• 24:16
  Speaker: trained technicians.
• 24:17
  Speaker: But um, it's very much a logical move for Brindley Group.
• 24:23
  Speaker: And I can understand why lipase were probably quite keen for
• 24:28
  Speaker: Brindley to become the first, their first UK partner.
• 24:32
  Speaker: The first of many I suspect.
• 24:34
  Speaker: Um, because Brindley okay, it's a long established West Midlands
• 24:38
  Speaker: based family owned group.
• 24:40
  Speaker: It actually goes back to the nineteen thirties um
• 24:43
  Speaker: multi-franchise representing Honda, Mazda, Hyundai and Keir,
• 24:48
  Speaker: but it's also got very strong ties with some of the new
• 24:52
  Speaker: entrant Chinese brands because it also represents Chang'an,
• 24:56
  Speaker: Cherry Moda JQ and Xpeng.
• 25:00
  Speaker: So it's um, you know, it's launched new brands in the UK
• 25:05
  Speaker: over the last two, two and a half, three years.
• 25:08
  Speaker: So is a natural partner for lipase.
• 25:12
  Speaker: I was going to say, I mean it fits perfectly with the group.
• 25:15
  Speaker: I mean there'll be aware of
• 25:16
  Speaker: obviously the way these these
• 25:17
  Speaker: brands do do operate and other
• 25:20
  Speaker: things.
• 25:20
  Speaker: So I think this is, as you say,
• 25:22
  Speaker: they're a great, great fit
• 25:23
  Speaker: there.
• 25:24
  Speaker: And there is a comment in the the piece from Ray Wang, who's
• 25:28
  Speaker: the, uh, the managing director of lipase UK, saying that the
• 25:32
  Speaker: opening of lipase in Wolverhampton represents a major
• 25:36
  Speaker: milestone for their brands journey into the country.
• 25:40
  Speaker: Huge congratulations to the team who did an incredible job
• 25:45
  Speaker: getting everything up and running in just eight weeks.
• 25:49
  Speaker: Um, so yeah, I think this is, as
• 25:51
  Speaker: you say, they're just getting
• 25:53
  Speaker: that, that, uh, you know, coming
• 25:54
  Speaker: into it and, um, now operating
• 25:56
  Speaker: as a, as a retail outlet, a six
• 25:58
  Speaker: car showroom in just in just
• 26:00
  Speaker: eight weeks.
• 26:01
  Speaker: And, and obviously sounds be ready for the, the September
• 26:04
  Speaker: market as well.
• 26:05
  Speaker: Well, yeah, that, that must have
• 26:06
  Speaker: been the deadline they were
• 26:08
  Speaker: aiming for.
• 26:08
  Speaker: And, you know, they've, they've
• 26:10
  Speaker: delivered before, you know,
• 26:12
  Speaker: they've opened ahead of the um
• 26:14
  Speaker: September plate change and they
• 26:16
  Speaker: already have orders for new
• 26:18
  Speaker: cars.
• 26:18
  Speaker: So, uh, you know, great timing
• 26:20
  Speaker: and, uh, you know, an impressive
• 26:22
  Speaker: achievement turning her around
• 26:24
  Speaker: so quickly.
• 26:25
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 26:25
  Speaker: I suspect we are going to be talking a little bit about
• 26:27
  Speaker: lipase and other dealerships that will be starting to take
• 26:31
  Speaker: that brand on in, in due course.
• 26:34
  Speaker: And just our final story of this week and heading back to car
• 26:38
  Speaker: dealer and this is BMW insist German agency delay will not
• 26:43
  Speaker: derail wider rollout as UK Case which remains on track.
• 26:48
  Speaker: And this is the BMW tells car dealer its agency roll out will
• 26:52
  Speaker: still begin across Europe from mid twenty twenty seven.
• 26:57
  Speaker: Confirmation comes despite reports of the German dealers
• 27:02
  Speaker: will not make the switch until twenty twenty eight, but the UK
• 27:06
  Speaker: launch date has yet to be confirmed after mini moved to
• 27:11
  Speaker: agency last year.
• 27:13
  Speaker: So why don't you make of this one?
• 27:15
  Speaker: Because agency was a very much a
• 27:17
  Speaker: weekly discussion on the
• 27:19
  Speaker: podcast.
• 27:19
  Speaker: Once at one point kind of went
• 27:21
  Speaker: back, you know, a little bit
• 27:22
  Speaker: back a little bit, put on the
• 27:24
  Speaker: the back burner, but it looks
• 27:25
  Speaker: like it's back on with, with,
• 27:28
  Speaker: with BMW.
• 27:29
  Speaker: Yeah, I was going to say exactly the same.
• 27:31
  Speaker: It's been a while since we've had an agency story, because
• 27:35
  Speaker: those brands who were going to agency have done so.
• 27:40
  Speaker: Those who have said that they wouldn't haven't.
• 27:43
  Speaker: And BMW is still in the balance.
• 27:46
  Speaker: So this is do check out the full story from Car Dealer because
• 27:51
  Speaker: they had the exclusive on this.
• 27:53
  Speaker: And, uh, you know, they did talk to BMW about this, but, uh, it
• 27:58
  Speaker: actually comes from, um, there was a report in one of the
• 28:01
  Speaker: German publications that BMW had pushed back the introduction of
• 28:06
  Speaker: agency in its home market.
• 28:09
  Speaker: And not for the first time, with dealers not expected to make the
• 28:13
  Speaker: switch before July next year.
• 28:16
  Speaker: So German BMW dealers were
• 28:18
  Speaker: reportedly informed of the
• 28:20
  Speaker: revised table at the beginning
• 28:22
  Speaker: of August, although the
• 28:24
  Speaker: manufacturer is not officially
• 28:25
  Speaker: confirmed.
• 28:26
  Speaker: The new date.
• 28:27
  Speaker: However, car dealer spoke to BMW Group UK um and was told that
• 28:34
  Speaker: the wider rollout remained scheduled to begin next year,
• 28:38
  Speaker: although it has yet to reveal exactly when British BMW dealers
• 28:43
  Speaker: will make the switch.
• 28:44
  Speaker: So it's still on, and it sounds as though it's still on schedule
• 28:49
  Speaker: of sorts, with a spokesman spokesperson saying we strongly
• 28:54
  Speaker: believe that transitioning to the agency model is the right
• 28:58
  Speaker: move for the BMW Group, which is something they've been
• 29:02
  Speaker: consistent on throughout the whole talk about agency.
• 29:07
  Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
• 29:08
  Speaker: So I suspect we're going to be returning to this story um,
• 29:12
  Speaker: imminently aren't we.
• 29:13
  Speaker: With as it gets closer to that,
• 29:15
  Speaker: that point and we hear a little
• 29:16
  Speaker: bit more of how the dealers may
• 29:19
  Speaker: be reacting to this transition
• 29:20
  Speaker: to agency model within the BMW
• 29:22
  Speaker: network.
• 29:23
  Speaker: Um, those that maybe are already experiencing it within mini or
• 29:27
  Speaker: those that don't have many.
• 29:28
  Speaker: So I'm sure we'll return to that one.
• 29:30
  Speaker: So say we kept the headlines tight.
• 29:32
  Speaker: We'll give you as much time as
• 29:33
  Speaker: your bank holiday weekend as you
• 29:35
  Speaker: possibly can.
• 29:36
  Speaker: And, you know, wish everybody
• 29:37
  Speaker: all the best for Tuesday for the
• 29:39
  Speaker: first month of, uh, of
• 29:41
  Speaker: September.
• 29:43
  Speaker: And as I said at the start, you know, please do tune in to the
• 29:46
  Speaker: full interview there with Rupert Ponting from who's talking
• 29:49
  Speaker: about, obviously, the trade values and a little bit of
• 29:52
  Speaker: insight from retail within the the month of August and what's
• 29:56
  Speaker: been happening there as well.
• 29:59
  Speaker: And we mustn't forget to the the supplier special Curtis on on
• 30:04
  Speaker: Wednesday of this week.
• 30:05
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 30:06
  Speaker: So do check out auto tech group that drops on Wednesday.
• 30:10
  Speaker: But that's all for this week.
• 30:12
  Speaker: So many thanks to you for
• 30:13
  Speaker: listening to this Motor Trade
• 30:15
  Speaker: Radio podcast.
• 30:16
  Speaker: Good luck with all your
• 30:18
  Speaker: September plate change
• 30:19
  Speaker: preparations.
• 30:21
  Speaker: And until next time it's goodbye
• 30:23
  Speaker: from me and it's goodbye from
• 30:25
  Speaker: him.
• 30:28
  Speaker: Thank you for listening to the Motor Trade Radio podcast
• 30:31
  Speaker: powered by Cazoo.