Latest / Motor Trade Radio / 🎙️ Pinewood shareholder objects to £545m takeover bid. ZEV Mandate: MP vs Vertu boss. How Luscombe is rewarding its staff (E46, S12)

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🎙️ Pinewood shareholder objects to £545m takeover bid. ZEV Mandate: MP vs Vertu boss. How Luscombe is rewarding its staff (E46, S12) · Motor Trade Radio

• 0:04
  Speaker: Hello and welcome to the Motor Trade Radio podcast powered by
• 0:09
  Speaker: Cazoo, with Philip Northcott and Curtis Hutchinson bringing you
• 0:13
  Speaker: all the chatter that matters across the car retailing sector,
• 0:18
  Speaker: from factory to forecourt.
• 0:25
  Speaker: Well, if you're listening over the weekend, it's.
• 0:27
  Speaker: It's now August.
• 0:28
  Speaker: So welcome to August.
• 0:30
  Speaker: And this is episode forty six of the year.
• 0:33
  Speaker: Phil, it's been a busy year.
• 0:36
  Speaker: It's been a busy year, haven't we?
• 0:38
  Speaker: It has.
• 0:38
  Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
• 0:39
  Speaker: Let's, uh, hopefully, uh, summer
• 0:41
  Speaker: doesn't go as fast as the, the
• 0:43
  Speaker: first half of the year as, uh,
• 0:45
  Speaker: has gone.
• 0:45
  Speaker: And, uh, but yeah, we're, we're busy, so we've got a couple of
• 0:49
  Speaker: shout outs before we get into this week's, um, headlines, but
• 0:53
  Speaker: the first one is obviously from a, you know, if you haven't
• 0:56
  Speaker: caught up with our, um, trade value and retail value.
• 1:01
  Speaker: Catch up with Rupert Pontin from Lego.
• 1:04
  Speaker: That was last week.
• 1:06
  Speaker: That should be on your podcast feed.
• 1:08
  Speaker: And I mean it was a great little chat with with Rupert Wanted
• 1:12
  Speaker: chatting about obviously the around EVs, the Chinese
• 1:15
  Speaker: manufacturers and particularly around, you know, those fastest
• 1:18
  Speaker: sellers in the market as well.
• 1:20
  Speaker: Yeah, definitely worth checking
• 1:23
  Speaker: out because it's very much his
• 1:25
  Speaker: overview of how those trade
• 1:27
  Speaker: values performed over the course
• 1:29
  Speaker: of July.
• 1:30
  Speaker: And, uh, you know, looking at some of the market sectors, the
• 1:34
  Speaker: fuel types and as you say, the new entrant brands.
• 1:38
  Speaker: Speaking of which, we also
• 1:40
  Speaker: caught up recently with Steve
• 1:41
  Speaker: Young from Icdp and the MD of
• 1:46
  Speaker: Auto West London, the JQ and
• 1:49
  Speaker: Motor business.
• 1:50
  Speaker: And if you haven't listened to that episode, definitely worth a
• 1:54
  Speaker: listen because it was a great overview from Steve about what's
• 1:58
  Speaker: happening generally in the industry at the moment, and also
• 2:02
  Speaker: his take as a dealer group boss and, you know, looking after two
• 2:08
  Speaker: brands that are really going somewhere at the moment, uh,
• 2:12
  Speaker: Jayco and Modus.
• 2:13
  Speaker: So, uh, standalone episode, do check that one out.
• 2:16
  Speaker: Never, never want to miss it.
• 2:18
  Speaker: Steve.
• 2:18
  Speaker: And as Curtis said there, she has a lot of insight around, you
• 2:22
  Speaker: know, market activity and particularly now at the front
• 2:26
  Speaker: end of the market.
• 2:27
  Speaker: But we've got hopefully, um,
• 2:29
  Speaker: next week, you need to listen
• 2:31
  Speaker: out for when we manage to get
• 2:33
  Speaker: the, uh, the recording and share
• 2:35
  Speaker: it through the, uh, the social
• 2:37
  Speaker: channels and through your
• 2:38
  Speaker: podcast feed.
• 2:39
  Speaker: But hopefully look out for the
• 2:41
  Speaker: chat with respected industry
• 2:43
  Speaker: consultant Felipe Munoz, who,
• 2:46
  Speaker: uh, during the week who, um,
• 2:47
  Speaker: you'll remember we had him on
• 2:49
  Speaker: previously when he represented
• 2:51
  Speaker: Jato.
• 2:52
  Speaker: He's now on his own.
• 2:54
  Speaker: Uh, but he continues to share
• 2:56
  Speaker: fascinating insight,
• 2:58
  Speaker: particularly on the the UK,
• 3:01
  Speaker: Europe and global manufacturer
• 3:04
  Speaker: marketplaces.
• 3:05
  Speaker: But obviously, he spends a lot of time in looking at that, you
• 3:08
  Speaker: know, the the manufacturer representation, particularly
• 3:11
  Speaker: those Chinese manufacturers.
• 3:13
  Speaker: So hopefully we'll will get a good chat with Philippe next
• 3:18
  Speaker: week and we'll share that through your, your podcast feed.
• 3:21
  Speaker: I know you and I are certainly
• 3:22
  Speaker: looking forward to that one,
• 3:23
  Speaker: aren't we?
• 3:24
  Speaker: Oh, definitely.
• 3:25
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 3:25
  Speaker: Really looking forward to it.
• 3:27
  Speaker: And, you know, we have been
• 3:28
  Speaker: chatting to Philippe and he's
• 3:30
  Speaker: going to be looking at um the
• 3:32
  Speaker: impact in Europe and globally
• 3:35
  Speaker: made by established new and also
• 3:39
  Speaker: soon to be launched Chinese
• 3:40
  Speaker: brands.
• 3:41
  Speaker: So a lot of content there to catch up with.
• 3:44
  Speaker: So do look out for that one next week.
• 3:48
  Speaker: If you're a supplier and would
• 3:49
  Speaker: like us to profile your business
• 3:52
  Speaker: and reach our audience of dealer
• 3:53
  Speaker: group bosses, managers and
• 3:56
  Speaker: decision makers on one of our
• 3:58
  Speaker: motor trade radio supplier
• 3:59
  Speaker: special episodes.
• 4:01
  Speaker: Then get in touch at Motor Trade Radio at yahoo dot com.
• 4:10
  Speaker: And some of the companies already featured in our supply
• 4:14
  Speaker: specials include impel, prospecting dynamics, ET and
• 4:18
  Speaker: generational, and you can find them all in your podcast feed,
• 4:22
  Speaker: along with some of our recent OEM specials with new EV brands
• 4:27
  Speaker: Verizon, Ion and Changan.
• 4:30
  Speaker: And we also caught up recently with Suzuki.
• 4:33
  Speaker: And if you'd like us to profile
• 4:35
  Speaker: your business, then just message
• 4:37
  Speaker: us at Motor trade radio at yahoo
• 4:41
  Speaker: dot com.
• 4:44
  Speaker: You're listening to the Motor
• 4:46
  Speaker: Trade Radio podcast powered by
• 4:49
  Speaker: Cazoo.
• 4:52
  Speaker: Well, lots going on this week with headlines from a m car
• 4:57
  Speaker: dealer, motor trade news motor trader and the Times.
• 5:01
  Speaker: Starting with top shareholder has opposed a US private equity
• 5:06
  Speaker: firms five hundred and forty five million pounds takeover bid
• 5:10
  Speaker: for Pinewood Technologies.
• 5:13
  Speaker: One third of dealers see a
• 5:15
  Speaker: growing market for one hundred
• 5:17
  Speaker: zero zero zero mile used cars,
• 5:20
  Speaker: although, as we'll see, customer
• 5:23
  Speaker: expectations of used cars are
• 5:25
  Speaker: already out of step with the
• 5:27
  Speaker: market.
• 5:29
  Speaker: We have two updates from Big
• 5:30
  Speaker: Motoring world, its first half
• 5:32
  Speaker: trading and a move to scale
• 5:35
  Speaker: back.
• 5:35
  Speaker: Its big once your car operation.
• 5:39
  Speaker: In the second half we have an
• 5:40
  Speaker: industry spat between Robert
• 5:42
  Speaker: Forster from Virtue Motors and
• 5:45
  Speaker: Labour MP Perry Moon over the
• 5:48
  Speaker: Zev mandate.
• 5:49
  Speaker: They're both friends of the pod, so that's going to be quite an
• 5:52
  Speaker: interesting one to to look at.
• 5:55
  Speaker: In other news, JCB acquires a Volkswagen site in Kent.
• 5:59
  Speaker: And finally, this week, we'll
• 6:01
  Speaker: look at how Leeds based Luskin
• 6:03
  Speaker: Motors is rewarding its hard
• 6:05
  Speaker: working employees.
• 6:09
  Speaker: You're listening to the Motor
• 6:10
  Speaker: Trade Radio podcast powered by
• 6:14
  Speaker: Cazoo.
• 6:17
  Speaker: So as Curtis mentioned there, we're going to go over to the
• 6:19
  Speaker: times initially and we covered this story recently, but it has
• 6:23
  Speaker: moved on a little bit.
• 6:24
  Speaker: And this is the top shareholder opposes US firm's five hundred
• 6:28
  Speaker: and forty five million takeover of Pinewood AI.
• 6:33
  Speaker: And this is the Harwood says
• 6:35
  Speaker: preferential liquidation rights
• 6:38
  Speaker: in sale of car dealership
• 6:40
  Speaker: software group would create a
• 6:43
  Speaker: damaging new precedent for
• 6:46
  Speaker: investors.
• 6:47
  Speaker: I mean that kind of says it all
• 6:49
  Speaker: right there Curtis that, uh,
• 6:51
  Speaker: with what what they're trying to
• 6:52
  Speaker: do.
• 6:53
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 6:54
  Speaker: And, uh, I think we can guarantee we'll be revisiting
• 6:57
  Speaker: this story once the dust settles a bit, but, um.
• 7:00
  Speaker: Yeah, this is, um, so one of Pinewood Technology's largest
• 7:04
  Speaker: shareholders, Howard Capital, is refusing to support a proposed
• 7:10
  Speaker: five hundred and forty five million pound sale to an
• 7:13
  Speaker: American private equity house called Ridgeview Partners
• 7:18
  Speaker: because of an unprecedented clause in its takeover offer.
• 7:23
  Speaker: Now, Harwood owns five point seven percent of Pinewood.
• 7:27
  Speaker: And, um.
• 7:28
  Speaker: The times report says that it's
• 7:30
  Speaker: taken umbrage, which is always a
• 7:31
  Speaker: nice word to drop into a
• 7:33
  Speaker: sentence with the preferential
• 7:36
  Speaker: liquidation rights set out by
• 7:38
  Speaker: Ridgeview Partners.
• 7:40
  Speaker: So last week this was reported over the weekend.
• 7:44
  Speaker: It was first appeared in the
• 7:45
  Speaker: Sunday Times, and it's been
• 7:47
  Speaker: picked up by some of the trade
• 7:48
  Speaker: titles since.
• 7:49
  Speaker: But.
• 7:49
  Speaker: So last Friday, Ridgeview tabled a four hundred and forty eight
• 7:53
  Speaker: pence per share bid for Pinewood, and under the terms of
• 7:58
  Speaker: the proposal, Pinewood shareholders would have the
• 8:01
  Speaker: option of selling their shares for cash or rolling them over
• 8:06
  Speaker: into the new company.
• 8:07
  Speaker: So that's all fine.
• 8:08
  Speaker: But in the offer documents,
• 8:10
  Speaker: Ridgeview said that in the event
• 8:12
  Speaker: of any future sale or
• 8:14
  Speaker: liquidation, it would be made
• 8:17
  Speaker: whole first.
• 8:18
  Speaker: While any Pinewood shareholders who rolled over their stakes
• 8:22
  Speaker: would have to wait their turn.
• 8:24
  Speaker: And this is really where it all
• 8:26
  Speaker: started to kick off with
• 8:27
  Speaker: Harwood's.
• 8:28
  Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
• 8:29
  Speaker: I mean, you know, they do say that obviously it is that risk
• 8:33
  Speaker: of setting that precedent that, uh, you know, any kind of
• 8:37
  Speaker: significant takeovers on these, this kind of sale, having that
• 8:42
  Speaker: as a, as an opt out for future would be in.
• 8:46
  Speaker: I mean, it seems that it would be extremely risky, wouldn't it,
• 8:49
  Speaker: to be able to, um, Demand that you be the first one there.
• 8:53
  Speaker: Just to give you a little bit of context with this.
• 8:56
  Speaker: Let's say, you know, we've got
• 8:57
  Speaker: that that currently, you know,
• 9:00
  Speaker: they're talking about that the
• 9:02
  Speaker: possible offer value pinewoods
• 9:05
  Speaker: AI entire issued and to be
• 9:08
  Speaker: issued share capital of
• 9:11
  Speaker: approximately five hundred forty
• 9:12
  Speaker: five million.
• 9:12
  Speaker: As we've said that it represents
• 9:14
  Speaker: a forty three percent premium to
• 9:16
  Speaker: the company's closing share
• 9:18
  Speaker: price of three fourteen per
• 9:21
  Speaker: share on the twenty third of
• 9:23
  Speaker: July.
• 9:24
  Speaker: So, you know, the price is also
• 9:26
  Speaker: a fifty three percent above
• 9:28
  Speaker: pinewoods, one month volume
• 9:31
  Speaker: weighted average share and sixty
• 9:35
  Speaker: four percent above its three
• 9:37
  Speaker: month average.
• 9:37
  Speaker: So I think that gives you a little bit of context of, you
• 9:40
  Speaker: know, it is a good value that's on the table for this
• 9:44
  Speaker: acquisition of Pinewood AI.
• 9:46
  Speaker: But it is this, obviously this, this, um, one line of, of, uh,
• 9:51
  Speaker: in it that is, is spooking Howard's from, from not
• 9:55
  Speaker: accepting, isn't it?
• 9:56
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 9:57
  Speaker: And, uh, the times, um, points out that among those actually
• 10:01
  Speaker: backing the deal is Lithia.
• 10:04
  Speaker: So America's largest car dealer
• 10:07
  Speaker: group that bought the old
• 10:09
  Speaker: Pendragon business back in
• 10:11
  Speaker: twenty twenty four for three
• 10:13
  Speaker: hundred and ninety seven million
• 10:15
  Speaker: pounds.
• 10:16
  Speaker: Um, and Lithia owns a thirty two percent stake in Pinewood.
• 10:21
  Speaker: So obviously a lot greater than the Harwood Capital stake.
• 10:25
  Speaker: So as I say, um, we will be
• 10:28
  Speaker: revisiting this fairly soon, I
• 10:30
  Speaker: suspect.
• 10:30
  Speaker: Phil, I can imagine that, uh,
• 10:33
  Speaker: lithium might be looking at that
• 10:34
  Speaker: and thinking, uh, sixty four
• 10:36
  Speaker: percent increase on a thirty
• 10:39
  Speaker: eight, thirty two percent
• 10:40
  Speaker: shareholding might be a nice
• 10:41
  Speaker: little, uh, win for them to
• 10:44
  Speaker: capitalize on.
• 10:45
  Speaker: I would, I would suggest so I am online now.
• 10:49
  Speaker: And as Curtis said at the start, a third of dealers see growing
• 10:52
  Speaker: market for one hundred zero zero zero mile used cars and.
• 10:56
  Speaker: And this is more than a third of dealers believe that there is a
• 10:59
  Speaker: growing market for used cars with over one hundred thousand
• 11:02
  Speaker: miles on the clock.
• 11:03
  Speaker: And this is according to new research.
• 11:06
  Speaker: And this has come from the start line used car tracker.
• 11:09
  Speaker: Um, as I say there, it found that thirty five percent of
• 11:12
  Speaker: dealers surveyed see an expanding market for higher
• 11:17
  Speaker: mileage used cars.
• 11:18
  Speaker: Now, I suspect this does come with some concerns of obviously
• 11:23
  Speaker: some areas of, uh, customers, customer expectations and repair
• 11:28
  Speaker: costs, etc.. Curtis.
• 11:29
  Speaker: Yeah, which funnily enough, because of the way we've put
• 11:32
  Speaker: together this week's show, we'll cover in the next story, but,
• 11:36
  Speaker: uh, staying with this one.
• 11:38
  Speaker: Um, so the research, which the
• 11:40
  Speaker: sample was sixty dealers, three
• 11:42
  Speaker: hundred consumers found that
• 11:44
  Speaker: four in ten dealers said the
• 11:46
  Speaker: quality of modern vehicles means
• 11:48
  Speaker: they can still have considerable
• 11:50
  Speaker: life remaining after passing one
• 11:53
  Speaker: hundred thousand miles, and
• 11:55
  Speaker: almost a third described
• 11:56
  Speaker: customer purchasing higher
• 11:59
  Speaker: mileage vehicles as pragmatic
• 12:02
  Speaker: buyers, while fifteen percent
• 12:03
  Speaker: said cars with more than one
• 12:05
  Speaker: hundred thousand miles typically
• 12:07
  Speaker: sell well.
• 12:08
  Speaker: And Paul Burgess, chief exec of Startline Motor Finance, said
• 12:13
  Speaker: what we've found is that a significant minority of dealers
• 12:18
  Speaker: seem to feel positive about one hundred thousand mile cars,
• 12:22
  Speaker: saying they often carry their weight well, have plenty of life
• 12:27
  Speaker: left and that there is a definite group of pragmatic
• 12:31
  Speaker: buyers for these vehicles.
• 12:33
  Speaker: So this is all around affordability, isn't it?
• 12:36
  Speaker: Because those one hundred zero
• 12:37
  Speaker: zero zero mile cars, they're
• 12:40
  Speaker: older cars.
• 12:41
  Speaker: There will be cheaper than sort
• 12:44
  Speaker: of newer ones, lower mileage
• 12:46
  Speaker: ones.
• 12:46
  Speaker: so pragmatic.
• 12:48
  Speaker: Buyers are really looking for this affordability.
• 12:51
  Speaker: It is, I suppose.
• 12:52
  Speaker: You know, I suppose today a hundred zero zero zero mile
• 12:54
  Speaker: vehicle is probably an entirely different vehicle than it used
• 12:58
  Speaker: to be a few decades ago in terms of, you know, that that quality
• 13:02
  Speaker: and everything on it.
• 13:03
  Speaker: But again, I mean, they do they do expand on, on the results.
• 13:07
  Speaker: They're saying that despite the growing dealer confidence,
• 13:10
  Speaker: there's still thirty eight percent said that motorists
• 13:13
  Speaker: often regard cars with more than one hundred thousand miles and
• 13:17
  Speaker: of too much of a risk.
• 13:19
  Speaker: But they do obviously, then go on to say that the research also
• 13:23
  Speaker: found that sixty eight percent of dealers would be willing to
• 13:26
  Speaker: retail cars with more than one hundred thousand miles on.
• 13:30
  Speaker: But beyond that, that, you know, once it gets above that one
• 13:33
  Speaker: hundred and thirty thousand, it starts to fall off in the twenty
• 13:36
  Speaker: three percent for vehicles with more than one hundred and fifty
• 13:40
  Speaker: thousand miles on, and just eight percent for those with
• 13:44
  Speaker: covered two hundred thousand miles, which you can can really
• 13:49
  Speaker: understand that one, can't you?
• 13:50
  Speaker: When it starts to go up on that kind of.
• 13:53
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 13:54
  Speaker: And looking at the next story,
• 13:56
  Speaker: because it is very closely
• 13:58
  Speaker: linked from motor trade news and
• 14:00
  Speaker: the headline there is customer
• 14:01
  Speaker: expectations of used cars out of
• 14:05
  Speaker: step with market warns warranty
• 14:08
  Speaker: solutions groups.
• 14:09
  Speaker: So this is some research that
• 14:12
  Speaker: warranty solutions group WSG has
• 14:14
  Speaker: done.
• 14:15
  Speaker: And it found that eighty five
• 14:16
  Speaker: percent of dealers surveyed said
• 14:18
  Speaker: that buyers increasingly expect
• 14:21
  Speaker: the same standard from used cars
• 14:23
  Speaker: as new cars, and the research
• 14:26
  Speaker: also identified that over half
• 14:28
  Speaker: fifty five percent of dealers
• 14:30
  Speaker: said that customers occasionally
• 14:32
  Speaker: or frequently attempt to reject
• 14:35
  Speaker: a vehicle after reporting a
• 14:37
  Speaker: fault, instead of allowing the
• 14:39
  Speaker: dealer to diagnose and repair
• 14:42
  Speaker: the car.
• 14:42
  Speaker: And it goes on to say that of
• 14:44
  Speaker: the one hundred UK dealers
• 14:46
  Speaker: surveyed.
• 14:47
  Speaker: As part of this research, ninety
• 14:49
  Speaker: percent said that customers do
• 14:51
  Speaker: not fully understand their
• 14:53
  Speaker: responsibilities regarding wear
• 14:55
  Speaker: and tear, a vehicle's age and
• 14:59
  Speaker: its mileage.
• 15:00
  Speaker: So this is really looking at the impact of the Consumer Rights
• 15:06
  Speaker: Act, because it goes on to say that almost three quarters of
• 15:10
  Speaker: dealers said they had experienced between one and five
• 15:14
  Speaker: Consumer Rights Act used car rejections within the past year.
• 15:20
  Speaker: I mean, this is it, isn't it?
• 15:21
  Speaker: And, you know, within within the story, Professor Jim, say that
• 15:25
  Speaker: many of the listeners will know who's president of the the IMI,
• 15:29
  Speaker: the Institute of Motor Industry said that the Consumer Rights
• 15:32
  Speaker: Act was introduced at a time when vehicle technology was very
• 15:36
  Speaker: different to what it is today.
• 15:38
  Speaker: Modern vehicles are increasingly software driven, highly
• 15:42
  Speaker: connected, and significantly more complex to diagnose than
• 15:46
  Speaker: the their predecessors.
• 15:48
  Speaker: That inevitably changes how false.
• 15:51
  Speaker: Present themselves and how
• 15:53
  Speaker: quickly they can be identified
• 15:55
  Speaker: and resolved, and saying at the
• 15:57
  Speaker: same time, consumers quite
• 15:58
  Speaker: rightly expect high standards
• 16:00
  Speaker: when purchasing a used vehicle,
• 16:03
  Speaker: saying that the challenge to the
• 16:05
  Speaker: industry is ensuring that those
• 16:07
  Speaker: expectations are aligned with
• 16:09
  Speaker: realities of buying increasingly
• 16:12
  Speaker: sophisticated vehicles that also
• 16:14
  Speaker: age and that also have age,
• 16:17
  Speaker: mileage and normal wear and tear
• 16:20
  Speaker: characteristics.
• 16:21
  Speaker: So it's very clear there that, you know, we're in a changing
• 16:25
  Speaker: market and consumers expectations and complexity.
• 16:29
  Speaker: Vehicles is getting tougher at a time where, you know, the, you
• 16:34
  Speaker: know, looking at those older vehicles where, you know, the
• 16:37
  Speaker: customers still want as if it is a brand new car, even though it
• 16:41
  Speaker: may be, you know, ten years old with one hundred thousand miles,
• 16:45
  Speaker: you know, you still get that Consumer Rights Act, don't you?
• 16:47
  Speaker: That plays into it.
• 16:49
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 16:49
  Speaker: Yeah, definitely.
• 16:50
  Speaker: And you know, while approved
• 16:52
  Speaker: used car schemes operated by the
• 16:54
  Speaker: franchise dealers and warranties
• 16:57
  Speaker: given by or added by independent
• 17:00
  Speaker: dealers and car supermarkets
• 17:02
  Speaker: will give greater protection to
• 17:05
  Speaker: customers.
• 17:07
  Speaker: There is still that that sort of uncertainty and and also that
• 17:11
  Speaker: raised expectation of, you know, the how these cars will perform
• 17:16
  Speaker: and their longevity.
• 17:18
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 17:18
  Speaker: So again, we'll see this one develop as we go through this.
• 17:22
  Speaker: We've got a couple of quick
• 17:24
  Speaker: stories and updates on Big
• 17:25
  Speaker: Martin.
• 17:26
  Speaker: Well, before we head to the, the midway break.
• 17:29
  Speaker: And the first one is that in am online that big motoring world
• 17:32
  Speaker: sales rise twenty one percent as used car records tumble.
• 17:38
  Speaker: Um and that the big motoring
• 17:40
  Speaker: world was reported as reported,
• 17:42
  Speaker: a twenty one percent year on
• 17:43
  Speaker: year increase in used car sales
• 17:45
  Speaker: during the first half of twenty
• 17:47
  Speaker: twenty six, after setting a
• 17:50
  Speaker: succession of monthly and
• 17:52
  Speaker: quarterly records.
• 17:53
  Speaker: Saying that the independent car supermarket group said improved
• 17:57
  Speaker: pricing, a stock mix more closely aligned with consumer
• 18:01
  Speaker: demand and investment in customer care and aftersales has
• 18:06
  Speaker: helped drive growth.
• 18:08
  Speaker: I mean, this is a great turnaround for big.
• 18:11
  Speaker: Yeah, definitely.
• 18:12
  Speaker: And some of the figures we're worth looking at.
• 18:15
  Speaker: So um big motoring world sold more than eighteen thousand
• 18:19
  Speaker: three hundred used cars during the first three months of the
• 18:23
  Speaker: year, setting a new quarterly record for the business.
• 18:28
  Speaker: It also achieved successive monthly sales records in
• 18:31
  Speaker: January, February, March and April, while two of its
• 18:35
  Speaker: dealerships each exceeded one thousand sales in a single month
• 18:41
  Speaker: for the first time.
• 18:42
  Speaker: So big a really, um, you know,
• 18:45
  Speaker: upping their game and certainly
• 18:48
  Speaker: selling a lot more vehicles as
• 18:50
  Speaker: they expand.
• 18:51
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 18:52
  Speaker: As you say, they're, I mean,
• 18:53
  Speaker: they became a IRS approved
• 18:55
  Speaker: dealer in May, giving consumers
• 18:57
  Speaker: the access to the RAC approved
• 19:00
  Speaker: garage and repair network and
• 19:02
  Speaker: additional independent
• 19:04
  Speaker: reassurance of their their
• 19:06
  Speaker: vehicle standards.
• 19:08
  Speaker: And that's just one of the areas
• 19:09
  Speaker: that they've, they've looked to
• 19:11
  Speaker: improve.
• 19:12
  Speaker: But there is a bit of a change happening there.
• 19:14
  Speaker: Because if you head over to
• 19:15
  Speaker: Motor Trade News and this is
• 19:17
  Speaker: that big motoring world consults
• 19:19
  Speaker: on scaling back consumer car by
• 19:23
  Speaker: sourcing division.
• 19:25
  Speaker: Now, I know this is something that they went quite heavy in,
• 19:27
  Speaker: but there's changes there.
• 19:30
  Speaker: Yeah, it's a very brief story.
• 19:32
  Speaker: And it's based on an announcement that was put out by
• 19:36
  Speaker: big, um, saying that, uh, big motoring world has started an
• 19:41
  Speaker: employee consultation on a scale down of big wants Your car,
• 19:45
  Speaker: which was really big alternative to we buy any car.
• 19:50
  Speaker: Um, and this division sources use cars from consumers and the
• 19:56
  Speaker: scale down would potentially result in redundancies.
• 20:00
  Speaker: And this particular report goes on to say that big said it's
• 20:03
  Speaker: working with those potentially impacted to explore all
• 20:08
  Speaker: available options and evaluate redeployment where practicable.
• 20:12
  Speaker: But, uh, a bit of a surprise, I
• 20:15
  Speaker: think, because that seemed like
• 20:17
  Speaker: a really good opportunity for
• 20:20
  Speaker: big to go into to, to as a ready
• 20:23
  Speaker: source of used vehicles rather
• 20:26
  Speaker: than depending on auctions and
• 20:29
  Speaker: part exchanges.
• 20:30
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 20:30
  Speaker: I mean, obviously not fully
• 20:31
  Speaker: clear of what the strategic view
• 20:34
  Speaker: is around why they've made this
• 20:36
  Speaker: decision.
• 20:37
  Speaker: I mean, it's a competitive market, as we well know.
• 20:40
  Speaker: Um, it's a, it's a changing market because of obviously the
• 20:43
  Speaker: volatility of used car values and other things.
• 20:47
  Speaker: And maybe it is a case of resource.
• 20:49
  Speaker: It's, it's focusing on, you
• 20:51
  Speaker: know, what they um, are
• 20:53
  Speaker: specialists at which is selling
• 20:55
  Speaker: used cars.
• 20:56
  Speaker: Obviously, you know, a big part of selling is buying.
• 20:58
  Speaker: Um, and we shouldn't dismiss that.
• 21:00
  Speaker: So yeah, not quite sure what,
• 21:02
  Speaker: uh, what the rationale is behind
• 21:04
  Speaker: this.
• 21:04
  Speaker: Um, but as you say there, the
• 21:06
  Speaker: story does indicate that the
• 21:08
  Speaker: consultation period began on the
• 21:10
  Speaker: twenty eighth of July and scale
• 21:14
  Speaker: back this, uh, division within
• 21:15
  Speaker: big.
• 21:16
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 21:16
  Speaker: And it does make it clear that, um, big wants your car will
• 21:21
  Speaker: remain as a source of stock for the group, although the, the
• 21:24
  Speaker: number of cars sourced through the channel will be reduced.
• 21:28
  Speaker: But we'll be back after this break with more headlines.
• 21:32
  Speaker: You're listening to all the chatter that matters on the
• 21:35
  Speaker: Motor Trade Radio podcast powered by Cazoo.
• 21:41
  Speaker: Well, before we head into the the next story, which is that
• 21:46
  Speaker: Virtu chief clashes with Labour MP over Zev mandate review will
• 21:52
  Speaker: play you a public recording that was shared by Pone Moon through
• 21:57
  Speaker: his LinkedIn of him sharing his statement to the MPs in the
• 22:04
  Speaker: Commons this week.
• 22:07
  Speaker: Mr. speaker, whenever she
• 22:08
  Speaker: reviews the Zev mandate, can the
• 22:10
  Speaker: Secretary of State confirm that
• 22:11
  Speaker: she will consider the entire EV
• 22:13
  Speaker: supply chain, including the
• 22:15
  Speaker: billions invested in domestic
• 22:17
  Speaker: lithium mining, battery
• 22:18
  Speaker: production and ChargePoint
• 22:19
  Speaker: operators, not just the views of
• 22:22
  Speaker: ice based legacy car
• 22:23
  Speaker: manufacturers?
• 22:24
  Speaker: Well, Philip couldn't help but to pick up on that phrase ice
• 22:29
  Speaker: based legacy car manufacturers.
• 22:31
  Speaker: I've never heard them called that.
• 22:34
  Speaker: That was quite clear, wasn't it?
• 22:35
  Speaker: A vision of his view towards them?
• 22:37
  Speaker: Yeah yeah yeah yeah.
• 22:38
  Speaker: Definitely.
• 22:39
  Speaker: Definitely.
• 22:40
  Speaker: So, yeah, I'm very much a spat here.
• 22:42
  Speaker: And, uh, you know, just as a bit
• 22:44
  Speaker: of background for anyone who
• 22:46
  Speaker: doesn't know Perrin Moon, he's
• 22:47
  Speaker: the Labour MP for Redruth down
• 22:50
  Speaker: in Cornwall.
• 22:50
  Speaker: But um, he was a, he was in the automotive sector prior to going
• 22:56
  Speaker: into um into politics.
• 22:58
  Speaker: So he was marketing director at Manheim and B2B marketing
• 23:03
  Speaker: director at AutoTrader.
• 23:05
  Speaker: So, you know, he does know the
• 23:07
  Speaker: industry very well, but, uh,
• 23:10
  Speaker: what's emerged is that, um, he
• 23:13
  Speaker: seems to be taking a different
• 23:15
  Speaker: path on the Zev mandate to a lot
• 23:18
  Speaker: of people who are still in the
• 23:20
  Speaker: industry, notably Robert
• 23:21
  Speaker: Forrester.
• 23:23
  Speaker: Now Robert Forrester, chief
• 23:25
  Speaker: executive of Virtue Motors, has
• 23:28
  Speaker: made it clear pretty much from
• 23:29
  Speaker: the outset, his views on the Zev
• 23:33
  Speaker: mandate and the prescriptive
• 23:36
  Speaker: nature of the Zev mandate and
• 23:38
  Speaker: the disconnect between the
• 23:40
  Speaker: mandate and consumer demand,
• 23:43
  Speaker: which is really what he's
• 23:45
  Speaker: pulling Paramount up on, isn't
• 23:46
  Speaker: he?
• 23:47
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 23:47
  Speaker: And it's a it's a great it's a great story.
• 23:51
  Speaker: And it'd be we should try and
• 23:53
  Speaker: catch them both on the, the
• 23:55
  Speaker: podcast together.
• 23:56
  Speaker: That'd be.
• 23:57
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 23:58
  Speaker: You know, if Robert's listening this morning and maybe we can
• 24:01
  Speaker: try and set that up.
• 24:02
  Speaker: But you know, it does highlight in the story saying that moon
• 24:06
  Speaker: said, right, let's cut the crap about the Zev mandate review.
• 24:11
  Speaker: One eighty percent of vehicles manufactured assembled in the UK
• 24:14
  Speaker: are exported and therefore not subject to UK Zev mandate.
• 24:20
  Speaker: Two it's not the job of the government to underwrite
• 24:25
  Speaker: manufacturers commercial decisions to focus on internal
• 24:29
  Speaker: combustion engines rather than EVs, and three.
• 24:34
  Speaker: We are not going to break our manifesto commitment to ban the
• 24:38
  Speaker: sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by twenty thirty.
• 24:44
  Speaker: So fairly clear um laid out of their stance on this one.
• 24:48
  Speaker: Curtis.
• 24:49
  Speaker: Yeah, that was a fairly robust LinkedIn post.
• 24:53
  Speaker: And Robert Forrester responded
• 24:56
  Speaker: by saying that the mandate was
• 24:58
  Speaker: creating an imbalance between EV
• 25:02
  Speaker: supply and customer demand,
• 25:05
  Speaker: forcing manufacturers to
• 25:06
  Speaker: discount cars to stimulate
• 25:08
  Speaker: registrations, which Robert's
• 25:10
  Speaker: been very consistent on all the
• 25:13
  Speaker: way through.
• 25:14
  Speaker: And, um, a direct quote from him was, uh, I'm afraid this post,
• 25:20
  Speaker: as in Aaron's post, misses the point that this state
• 25:25
  Speaker: intervention of aggressive targets and threats of fines
• 25:29
  Speaker: impacts market balance, The EV targets are higher than the
• 25:34
  Speaker: natural demand of consumers and businesses for the product.
• 25:39
  Speaker: And he goes on to say, as a result, supply exceeds demand.
• 25:43
  Speaker: Prices, therefore have to be reduced to levels below cost on
• 25:47
  Speaker: EVs to stimulate demand.
• 25:50
  Speaker: This impacts all OEMs who have all invested in EVs.
• 25:54
  Speaker: Profits and returns disappear, as noted by the Smmt.
• 25:59
  Speaker: With discounts of five billion pounds a year.
• 26:04
  Speaker: So a clear counterargument there.
• 26:07
  Speaker: Yes, for definite.
• 26:08
  Speaker: So we will.
• 26:09
  Speaker: Again, another one that we'll watch play out.
• 26:12
  Speaker: But the offer's there.
• 26:13
  Speaker: Robert and Perrin.
• 26:14
  Speaker: Um, we can have a balanced
• 26:16
  Speaker: discussion on the podcast if you
• 26:18
  Speaker: so wish.
• 26:19
  Speaker: Um, moving on to the final two stories.
• 26:21
  Speaker: And this is that, uh, on motor trader dot com, JCB group
• 26:25
  Speaker: acquires Canterbury VW in Kent.
• 26:29
  Speaker: This is a great little group
• 26:31
  Speaker: JCB, and they just continue
• 26:32
  Speaker: there in the background, aren't
• 26:34
  Speaker: they?
• 26:34
  Speaker: Operating positive, you know, great, great business.
• 26:36
  Speaker: Continue to sort of acquire the
• 26:38
  Speaker: dealership here, there and
• 26:40
  Speaker: everywhere.
• 26:40
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 26:41
  Speaker: So this is JCB Group has
• 26:43
  Speaker: acquired the assets of Euro
• 26:45
  Speaker: Canterbury Volkswagen's car
• 26:48
  Speaker: business.
• 26:49
  Speaker: It's TPS parts centre and
• 26:53
  Speaker: Canterbury Volkswagen commercial
• 26:55
  Speaker: vehicle authorised repairer as
• 26:57
  Speaker: well as a Suzuki Aftersales
• 26:59
  Speaker: specialist operation.
• 27:01
  Speaker: And the car business is located
• 27:04
  Speaker: in Canterbury, will now operate
• 27:07
  Speaker: as JCB Volkswagen Canterbury,
• 27:09
  Speaker: while the Commercial vehicle
• 27:11
  Speaker: authorised repair repair will be
• 27:13
  Speaker: known as JCB Van Centre,
• 27:16
  Speaker: Canterbury and it's a good move
• 27:19
  Speaker: by JCB.
• 27:20
  Speaker: We don't hear a huge amount
• 27:22
  Speaker: about JCB, but when we do it's
• 27:25
  Speaker: always a sort of a good
• 27:27
  Speaker: strategic move.
• 27:29
  Speaker: And within this story.
• 27:30
  Speaker: Jonathan Bischoff, owner and MD of JCB, said we're delighted to
• 27:35
  Speaker: welcome the Canterbury teams into the JCB Group family.
• 27:40
  Speaker: This acquisition represents
• 27:41
  Speaker: another important step in our
• 27:43
  Speaker: long term vision of providing
• 27:46
  Speaker: county wide representation and
• 27:49
  Speaker: outstanding customer service
• 27:51
  Speaker: across Kent.
• 27:52
  Speaker: Exactly.
• 27:53
  Speaker: Great.
• 27:53
  Speaker: Great operation.
• 27:55
  Speaker: And we're just going to, um, go
• 27:56
  Speaker: a little bit more local to me
• 27:58
  Speaker: now.
• 27:59
  Speaker: Um, and a friend of the podcast and, and this was shared on
• 28:03
  Speaker: their website and this is at Luskin Motors rewards every
• 28:08
  Speaker: employee following a record breaking year as company targets
• 28:14
  Speaker: further growth and Robin, uh, passing over the mantle a little
• 28:19
  Speaker: bit to Sam and Robin, now the chairman, I mean, this is a
• 28:23
  Speaker: fantastic little business.
• 28:24
  Speaker: And I mean, these are great guys.
• 28:26
  Speaker: I've spent quite a bit of time with Robin over the years.
• 28:29
  Speaker: and and with Sam.
• 28:31
  Speaker: But this is a great little a little bonus for the employees
• 28:34
  Speaker: into this one.
• 28:35
  Speaker: Yeah, this is a great move.
• 28:37
  Speaker: And Robin did share this on LinkedIn.
• 28:40
  Speaker: And it, it got a lot of likes.
• 28:43
  Speaker: And so what they're doing is, is Luscomb Motors has very much
• 28:48
  Speaker: underlined its commitment to its staff by paying one hundred and
• 28:52
  Speaker: seventy thousand pounds in profit share bonuses to its
• 28:56
  Speaker: employees following the company's record breaking
• 28:59
  Speaker: financial year ending thirty first May twenty twenty six.
• 29:04
  Speaker: And the piece on the Luscomb
• 29:07
  Speaker: website says, in keeping with
• 29:09
  Speaker: the company's long standing
• 29:11
  Speaker: belief that every member of
• 29:12
  Speaker: staff contributes to its
• 29:14
  Speaker: success, the bonus has been
• 29:16
  Speaker: shared equally across the
• 29:18
  Speaker: workforce, regardless of role or
• 29:21
  Speaker: seniority.
• 29:22
  Speaker: So that's really the key to this.
• 29:24
  Speaker: And this is this is typical of Robin, isn't it?
• 29:28
  Speaker: You know, he acknowledges the
• 29:30
  Speaker: support that the business gets
• 29:32
  Speaker: from each and every member of
• 29:34
  Speaker: the team and is rewarding them
• 29:36
  Speaker: equally.
• 29:37
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 29:38
  Speaker: I mean, it's as I say, I mean,
• 29:40
  Speaker: I've always respected Robin and
• 29:43
  Speaker: now with with Sam there as as
• 29:45
  Speaker: well.
• 29:45
  Speaker: I mean, they've got a fantastic
• 29:47
  Speaker: little business there and
• 29:48
  Speaker: continue to, to grow and expand
• 29:51
  Speaker: with, with their brand
• 29:52
  Speaker: representation and more recently
• 29:53
  Speaker: with that sort of motor and GQ
• 29:56
  Speaker: business that they've taken on
• 29:58
  Speaker: up there.
• 29:59
  Speaker: Um, I mean, it's a fascinating business.
• 30:02
  Speaker: And they say they just, they just continue going from
• 30:04
  Speaker: strength to strength.
• 30:05
  Speaker: And, you know, Sam was leading that, you know, when they took
• 30:09
  Speaker: on IMG and really grew that EV, um, within the, the brand.
• 30:14
  Speaker: And we caught up with Robin and
• 30:16
  Speaker: Sam, didn't we, on the podcast a
• 30:18
  Speaker: while ago.
• 30:19
  Speaker: Um, but yeah, again, great, great standard of, of customer,
• 30:23
  Speaker: you know, employee care and Robin over the years has always
• 30:27
  Speaker: believed in in that in terms of, you know, that um, employee, um,
• 30:32
  Speaker: and high standards that they then give to the customers.
• 30:35
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 30:36
  Speaker: I mean, they've always been a
• 30:37
  Speaker: business that has punched above
• 30:39
  Speaker: its weight and, um, it's been
• 30:41
  Speaker: fascinating to see it grow over
• 30:43
  Speaker: the years because initially it
• 30:45
  Speaker: was, uh, well for many years it
• 30:47
  Speaker: was a soulless Suzuki business,
• 30:49
  Speaker: but as you say, successfully
• 30:51
  Speaker: took on M, G and more recently a
• 30:55
  Speaker: motor Jayco.
• 30:56
  Speaker: And, uh, you know, the business has um, you know, aspirations to
• 31:01
  Speaker: grow and you know, what a solid base on which to grow it with,
• 31:06
  Speaker: uh, you know, the staff there now even more fully committed
• 31:11
  Speaker: than they were before.
• 31:12
  Speaker: Absolutely.
• 31:12
  Speaker: I mean, what a period of forty
• 31:14
  Speaker: nine years for Robin from his
• 31:16
  Speaker: days as a parts apprentice for
• 31:18
  Speaker: just, uh, say, just forty nine
• 31:20
  Speaker: years ago.
• 31:21
  Speaker: Um, but, uh, respect that, Robin, if you are listening.
• 31:25
  Speaker: Um, But yeah, forty nine years ago, coming into the industry as
• 31:28
  Speaker: a as a part apprentice there and kind of anybody that's thinking
• 31:32
  Speaker: about apprenticeships within the automotive industry and where
• 31:36
  Speaker: you operate within the sector today, this demonstrates what
• 31:39
  Speaker: you could achieve.
• 31:41
  Speaker: You know, and what Robin has
• 31:42
  Speaker: done over that period and is
• 31:45
  Speaker: building a legacy for his family
• 31:46
  Speaker: as well along the way and the
• 31:49
  Speaker: employees within that
• 31:50
  Speaker: organization.
• 31:51
  Speaker: So a big shout out to the Luscomb family and their, their
• 31:55
  Speaker: employees and colleagues over there in, in Leeds.
• 31:58
  Speaker: But that's it for this week.
• 31:59
  Speaker: So hopefully we've covered, uh, the majority of the, the big
• 32:03
  Speaker: stories I'm Curtis said throughout, I'm sure we'll, uh,
• 32:06
  Speaker: we'll be revisiting some of these stories, uh, continuously
• 32:10
  Speaker: as things, uh, develop.
• 32:12
  Speaker: Um, and they say, you know,
• 32:13
  Speaker: don't, don't miss the, uh, the
• 32:15
  Speaker: two pre-records that we've had
• 32:17
  Speaker: with, uh, with Rupert Pontin
• 32:19
  Speaker: from Bracco and with Steve Young
• 32:21
  Speaker: from Icdp and Otto West in
• 32:23
  Speaker: London.
• 32:24
  Speaker: And as we said, right at the offset there.
• 32:26
  Speaker: Keep an eye out for your podcast
• 32:28
  Speaker: feed after the weekend for
• 32:31
  Speaker: hopefully a fascinating and
• 32:33
  Speaker: eagerly awaited interview with
• 32:35
  Speaker: Felipe Munoz, who will share his
• 32:37
  Speaker: views on the Chinese and OEM
• 32:40
  Speaker: manufacturers.
• 32:42
  Speaker: Maybe even some ice based legacy
• 32:44
  Speaker: car manufacturers will get on
• 32:46
  Speaker: them.
• 32:47
  Speaker: Yes, but that is all for now.
• 32:51
  Speaker: So many thanks to you for
• 32:52
  Speaker: listening to this Motor Trade
• 32:54
  Speaker: Radio podcast.
• 32:55
  Speaker: Until next time.
• 32:56
  Speaker: It's goodbye from me and it's goodbye from him.
• 33:02
  Speaker: Thank you for listening to the Motor Trade Radio podcast
• 33:05
  Speaker: powered by Cazoo.