Latest / Motor Trade Radio / 🎙️Between a rock and a hard place: UK walks EU tightrope on Chinese car tariffs. Cazoo's stand against clocking. Lithia and Vertu results (E64, S12)

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🎙️Between a rock and a hard place: UK walks EU tightrope on Chinese car tariffs. Cazoo's stand against clocking. Lithia and Vertu results (E64, S12) · Motor Trade Radio

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the Motor
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Trade Radio podcast powered by
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Cazoo.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: With Philip Northward and Curtis Hutchinson bringing you all the
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: chatter that matters across the car retailing sector from
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: factory to forecourt.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Well welcome back Curtis.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Um well earned week off in the the sun.
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Thank you very much.
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: And I must say I am missing the sunshine, the sunshine, the
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: warmth, the sea, the occasional, uh, cold drink.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: I bet you are.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: But the sun's out.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: It's not as not as warm as you might have experienced recently
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: in Crete, but.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: No, I'm fleeced up.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: I'm feeling the chill even though the sun is shining.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: That's the.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: That's the key, isn't it?
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: So, no, really, you know, a
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: fantastic time, but, uh, glad
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: you're back.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: But we did have the pleasure of David Bilsborough sitting in.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I must say many thanks to
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: David for filling in for me last
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: week.
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: And you two had a good old chat,
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: didn't you, about the used car
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: market?
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: Yes, we do like to chat.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Um, as you as you perfectly well know, but no, a huge thank you
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: because I know you know, David's a fantastic supporter and he
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: does, you know, he always sort of sits in for you when you you
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: have your well-earned rest.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: But we just managed to dive a little bit more of a broader
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: chat about what's happening in the market and what he's seeing
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: and hearing from some of his customer conversations at the
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: minute as well.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, it's always good
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: to hear it from the, the
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: coalface.
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: So, uh, you know, many thanks once again to David for that.
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: Now, on this week's pod, we've got, uh, Steve Whitton, his, uh,
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: monthly men able moment.
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: And this month he's talking about checking in on work
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: colleagues who are feeling the pressure, and he's got a
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: specific action point for leaders to do by next Friday.
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: So very specific.
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: He set some homework.
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: So you're going to have to pay attention to that.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Yes, definitely.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: Definitely.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: And the only other shout out is
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: probably from my organization,
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: Cox Automotive, that you noticed
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: that we've opened up a, a new
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: technology hub over in
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Manchester there, which is near
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: Victoria Station.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: So kind of a bit of a big step there for, for the organization,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: sort of investing in a new hub, um, for the, the IT and
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: technology team as, as we sort of face the new world of
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: technology and automotive.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Curtis.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah. And it did pick up a fair bit of coverage.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: What we'll do is we'll put a link to the story that was in
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: Motor Trader about it.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: So I mean, it looks fascinating
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: what what's being done there
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: because, um, the, the team, so I
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: think you're talking about one
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: hundred strong team there will
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: focus on solutions that improve
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: the way vehicles are bought,
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: sold, financed, managed and
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: remarketed across the European
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: automotive sector.
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: So and it's in Manchester, which is very on trend at the moment.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: It certainly is.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: It's playing into the politics
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: that is going on at the minute
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure how planned that was.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: Um but I think, you know that that technology centre brings
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: something out of London a little bit further north is, does work
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: quite, quite well.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: But as Curtis said, we'll put a link to the, uh, the press
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: release in Monday's, uh, newsletter as well.
• 3:38
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  Speaker 1: You're listening to the Motor
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Trade Radio podcast powered by
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Cazoo.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: Headlines this week come from a m car dealer, Auto Sunday and
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: The Guardian, starting with the UK resisting EU pressure to hit
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: China with car tariffs.
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: The Motor Finance Redress Challenge is set for February
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: twenty twenty seven.
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: Cazoo calls for tougher
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: legislation as six in ten
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: dealers believe clocking has
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: increased.
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: Then, after the break, we have the latest financials from
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: lithium UK and Virtu Motors, with profits up for both groups.
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: And we'll finish with News of
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: Motorpoint closing its Ipswich
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: used car supermarket after just
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: three and a half years of
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: trading.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: You're listening to the Motor
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Trade Radio podcast powered by
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: Cazoo.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: Well, as Curtis said, they're very much the topic of
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: conversation over the the last week and it continues to evolve.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: And we're heading over to the Guardian initially and this is
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: UK was this EU pressure to hit China with tariffs.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: And this is the business
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Secretary says he will not
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: change trade rules due to EU
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  Speaker 2: pressure and denies UK will
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: become a back door for cheap
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: imports.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: And this is kind of rumbling on in the background.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: And you know, lots of questions of what this will do to the, uh,
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: the automotive sector here in the UK if this does happen.
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you're absolutely right.
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: This, this particular story has
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: been rumbling on for a couple of
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: weeks.
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: But the latest update as we record this is that Jonathan
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: Reynolds warned that the government would not bow to
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  Speaker 3: calls from other countries for the UK to hit Chinese vehicles
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  Speaker 3: with import taxes, despite political pressure to align more
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: closely with the EU in exchange for deeper future economic ties.
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: And this actually follows the EU imposing tariffs on Chinese
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: electric vehicles in twenty twenty four and only last
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: Friday, agreeing to a quota of three hundred and fifty thousand
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: Chinese hybrid cars a year amid fears that cheaper alternatives
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: are causing deindustrialization and job losses.
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: So there's plenty to unpick in this story, isn't there?
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: Because we've already talked about how some of the Chinese
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: brands ostensibly everyone thought, oh yeah, they're
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: bringing in loads of EVs.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: But over more recent times they've been upping their sales
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: of hybrid cars.
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: So that's really been brought to
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: the attention of the EU along
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: with EVs.
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: But it also ties in with Made in Europe rules.
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: And this is really where the pressure is coming on for the UK
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: government, isn't it?
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: It is.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And like you say, there's there's plenty to, to play about
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: with here because you know, you're thinking about vehicles
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: that are manufactured here in the UK that, you know,
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: predominantly you, you is a huge export of those vehicles going
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: from the UK into Europe.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: And, you know, even just on the latest September figures, you
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: know, we the market is heavily reliant on, on the Chinese
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: vehicles coming into the UK.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: And, you know, we talk about the
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: number of dealers that are now
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: represent these brands and
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: others, the dealer backlash on
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: this because they obviously are
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: doing very well out of these new
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: new entrants.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: And they certainly don't want to
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: see, you know, vehicle prices or
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: margin pressures from tariffs
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: being set on these vehicles
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  Speaker 2: either.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: And I suppose the big question
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: is, is this to support the UK
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  Speaker 2: industrial strategy, or is this
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: to support the European
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: Industrial strategy?
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: And I worry that it's the latter of the two there.
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I rather suspect that the
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: UK or specifically the UK
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: government is between a rock and
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: a hard place on this one,
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: because it needs those Chinese
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: EVs to fulfill its Zev mandates
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: promises, but it also needs to
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: be able to export British made
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: cars into Europe without being
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: penalized.
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: So, uh, there's a there's a lot
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: of hard talking that's going to
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: go on, um, before anything is
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: resolved on this one and it will
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: rumble on.
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: But I think this is a bit of politicizing.
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: Jonathan Reynolds just putting
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: it out there that, um, he's not
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: necessarily just going to follow
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: what the EU says about Chinese
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: tariffs.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: So hopefully it works out to support the UK and definitely
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: the UK automotive sector, not as a political game between the UK
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: and Europe to try and get a closer working relationship
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: between the two.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: But we'll we'll keep away from
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: politics and we'll head over to
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: something more back to
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: automotive.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: And this is, uh, this is not going away because this is it.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: AM online motor finance redress challenge set for February
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty seven.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: So this is the legal challenge
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: to the, the Financial Conduct
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: Authority Motor Finance
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Compensation Scheme will be held
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: heard by the upper tribunal
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: between February twenty sixteen
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: and February, sorry to the
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: twenty sixth of February next
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: year.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: So this is big, big news isn't it?
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: But is this now, you know
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: something that we get a sight of
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: what the end looks like to this
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: or not.
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: And I guess it also means that everything is now on hold, isn't
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: it, until late February.
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: And, you know, once we know how it's been resolved.
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: But, um, as am says, you know, the confirmed timetable means
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: lenders, car dealers and consumers will have to wait
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: until next year For greater clarity over the future of what
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: is a nine billion pounds redress scheme, and the judgment itself
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: is expected in the months following the hearing.
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: So again, another time delay,
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: potentially potentially
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: extending uncertainty
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: surrounding compensation
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: payments well into twenty twenty
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: seven.
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: So any consumers out there thinking that they would be
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: compensated in the short term is going to be disappointed.
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: And as we've reported before, the scheme itself has been
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: challenged by the likes of VW Financial Services, Mercedes
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: Benz Financial Services and Credit Agricole Auto Finance.
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: So there's there's a lot of cogs still in motion on this one.
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: Those those Caribbean cruises might have to wait a little bit
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: longer for the consumers there.
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: And next headline is from Car dealer and it is.
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: Kazoo calls for tougher
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: legislation as six in ten
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: dealers believe clocking has
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: increased.
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: So this is calling on the
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: government to make deliberate
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: vehicle mileage alterations or
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: clocking, as we used to refer to
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: it in the in the bad old days,
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: um, as a specific criminal
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: offence, because it's not an
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: offence as it stands at the
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: moment.
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: Um, although obviously, you
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: know, anyone doing it can be
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: prosecuted and this is on the
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: back of new research which finds
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: that six in ten used car dealers
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: believe clocking has increased
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: in the UK over the past five
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: years.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: Now the study um took polled the
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: views of just over three hundred
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: used car dealers and found
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: eighty one percent consider
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: clocking a serious issue for the
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: industry, with dealers
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: estimating that on average,
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: fourteen percent of second hand
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: cars they encounter may have had
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: their mileage deliberately
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: altered.
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: So that's quite a high percentage, isn't it?
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: It is. Yeah. And I mean, this is always this has been rumbling on
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: in the sector for some for, for a very long time.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Those that were listening to the, to the podcast today.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: And as you said, it's not, it's
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: not an offence to, to adjust the
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: mileage.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: What it is is an offence.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: It's an offence to sell the vehicle, knowing that that that
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: mileage has been adjusted and not declaring it.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: But as we know that these these days it's it's quite easy for
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: somebody to plug a laptop in or there's the, the mileage
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: blockers that people can buy off certain websites to, to do this.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: But it's, it's interesting
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: because it's, we're in this
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: position now.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: We've got cost of living
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: pressures in the consumer
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: market.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: You know, the people that might be, you know, trying to make
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: sure that these vehicles are sold with lower mileage on,
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: etc., or they are reducing the mileage down as to what they've
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: done so they don't have to pay any sort of mileage, penalties
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: and things like this.
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: So you wonder if it's the current marketplace that we find
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: ourselves in that's actually caused this increase.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: But those are some big numbers
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: from the dealer sector citing
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: that that level of concern and
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: wanting the government to do
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: more.
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah. And I think you make a good point there, Phil, because
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: the the tech that can be used to do this is easily accessible.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: And it's not like the old days where you had the analog, um,
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: odometers that could be, uh, moved with screwdrivers.
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: Um, you know, this is plug in and change.
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: It is an issue and it's really good that it's being highlighted
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: and kazoo is actually inviting dealers, motorists and the wider
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: automotive industry to support a petition that it's set up
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: calling for these deliberate mileage alterations to become a
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: specific criminal offense.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: So what we'll do in the the
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: newsletter that goes out Monday
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: is we'll put a link to that
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: petition.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: Definitely.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: Because it's something that, you
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: know, we know people like HP
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: have been looking at it for a
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: long time.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: Plus the Nfta having and other organizations to try and put a
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: stop to this and to try and change the legislation that
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: makes it illegal to actually do the the change of mileage to use
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: these devices or, or to plug that laptop in, and not
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: necessarily in terms of the declaration, which is which is
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: the problem, because it's damaging to the sector as, as we
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: all well know.
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: But we'll be back with the rest
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: of the week's headlines after
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: this.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: You're listening to all the chatter that matters on motor
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: trade radio powered by kazoo.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Next up is our latest man able
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: moment looking at mental health
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: and wellbeing best practices in
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: the automotive sector with me,
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: Stephen Whitton.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Hi everyone.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: It's Matt able moments time.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Hope you're well.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: Well September is behind us.
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: And for those of you that were
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: involved, the new plate rush,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: the targets, the deliveries, the
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: long delays and even across the
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: whole industry that month
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: represents a really, really busy
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: time.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: So we're now heading into the final quarter of the year.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: And for many businesses in our industry, the pressure doesn't
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: ease up, does it?
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: If anything, it increases costs, margins, performance
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: expectations and the uncertainty around what comes next.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: But here's something I've learnt
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: over the years that I've been
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: involved in this industry, and
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: that is just because someone's
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: coping with all of that pressure
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: doesn't actually mean they're
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: okay.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: And in an industry like ours,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: where we've traditionally
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: celebrated resilience,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: toughness, and just getting on
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: with it, I think that's worth
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: thinking about because pressure
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: doesn't always look like someone
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: struggling.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: Sometimes it looks like the person who never complains.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: The one who always stays late.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: The manager who takes everything on their shoulders.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: Or the colleague who's still hitting their targets but has
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: gone unusually quiet.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: And as we head towards the winter with shorter days and the
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: inevitable end of year push, I think we need to pay particular
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: attention to that.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: So here's this month's men able moment with a little bit of a
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: challenge for you.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: Don't just check performance check capacity.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: And I've got three simple
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: questions that I'd encourage
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: every leader to ask their people
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: this week.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: Firstly, how does your workload feel?
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Feel at the moment?
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: How's your workload feeling at the moment?
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: Not are you busy?
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: We know they're busy, but how is that workload actually feeling?
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: Secondly, what's taking more out of you than it should?
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Because sometimes it's not the
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: volume of work that exhausts
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: people.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: It's the unnecessary friction, the interruptions, the things
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: that make a job even harder.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: And third, what's one thing I
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: could do to make the next few
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: weeks easier?
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: And here's the important bit.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: When someone tells you, don't
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: immediately explain why things
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: can't change.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: Listen.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Be curious and where you can act.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Because great leadership isn't
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: about absorbing all the pressure
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: yourself or passing it down the
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: line.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: It's about creating Stability when things get difficult.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: So here's your little challenge from this week's Man Able
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: Moments Before Friday.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: During the course of next week,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: have one conversation with
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: someone who appears to be coping
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: just fine, not because you think
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: there's something wrong, but
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: because you care enough to find
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: out.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: And remember, people don't have
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: to be struggling to deserve your
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: attention.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: So until next time, take care of yourselves and each other.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: And if you want any help, you know how to get hold of me.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Steven dot witten at minable dot org.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, as you say there, Curtis.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: I think the, um, very poignant,
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: you know, on the back of
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: September now.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: And we're heading into that fourth in this fourth quarter.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: And the the weather's changing.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: Christmas is on the horizon and
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: things are looking a little bit
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: different.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: But it doesn't seem to be changing, does it?
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: As, uh, as we, as we move forward in towards Christmas.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: Us.
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: I can't believe I'm just back from my summer holidays.
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: And you're talking about Christmas already?
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: But there you go.
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: Um. Now, Steve, if you want to
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: get in touch with Steve Whitton,
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: then, uh, you can find him
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: online at mendable dot org or
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: email him at Steven dot whitton
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: at dot org or, um, find him on
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: LinkedIn.
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: Uh, you know, he does post a lot and it is all good, relevant
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: stuff for the automotive sector.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: Is definitely so, so as Curtis said at the start, there's a
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: couple of financial updates.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: So we're heading over to auto
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: Sunday and the release there
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: that Tristan jumps on these very
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: early on to Curtis in terms of
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: these, uh, financial
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: announcements.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: And this is the Lithia UK results reveal significant
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: profit hikes in that Lithia which owns the Stratstone brand.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: The Evans Halshaw and the Jardine Group has seen like for
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: like pre profit tax increase of thirty three percent from twenty
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: eight point one million in twenty twenty four to thirty
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: seven point four million in the year ending thirty first of
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: December twenty twenty five.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: So this is for their twenty twenty five trading period,
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: saying that the the final pre-tax profit hit sixty
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: million, up from twenty one point seven million.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: Thanks to acquisition during the the year, including the.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: The JLR retailer Hatfield.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: So some big numbers in this update.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: Curtis.
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I've got a bigger number for you now.
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: So turnover, which was actually
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: down fractionally to five point
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: three six billion pounds for the
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: year.
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: But um, over the course of the year, the company paid a
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: dividend of sixty million pounds to its US parents.
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: So, uh, the parent company, they're really starting to see
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: some of the value and a return on its investment in the group,
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: which, you know, is, um, it's taken a while to bed in, but now
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: seeing some returns.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: No, as you say, it's a, it's a great move there.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: I mean, they've spent a lot of time in terms of that growth and
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: acquisition here in the the UK.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: But as you say, they're now
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: starting to see the the
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: dividends.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: And as the market turns a little
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: bit more healthier for them and
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: the payoff from those
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: acquisitions.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: So a great result there.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: So we'll see what twenty twenty five twenty twenty six looks
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: like for them when we get the results next year.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: But friend of the podcast has
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: also updated their, their
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: interim half year trading update
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: this morning.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: And it's covered in AM online.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: And this is that Virtu Motors
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: Group profits rise nineteen
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: percent with Chinese brand
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: expansion planned.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: And this is Virtu Motors first half adjusted pre-tax profit
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: rose Nineteen percent to twenty three point eight million.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: With the growth across new
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: vehicles, used vehicles and
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: after sales.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: So I think Robert will be pretty pleased with this one, won't it?
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: I think he'll be delighted.
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: Um yes.
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: Because um you know this is very much on the back of stronger
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: than expected September trading.
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: And these half year results are particularly interesting because
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: it's the current year.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: This goes up to the six months to the end of August.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: So as, as part of this story,
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: uh, pre-tax profits increased by
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: twenty four percent to twenty
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: four point two million pounds,
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: while revenue was up to a record
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: two point six billion pounds
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: from two point five billion
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: pounds, uh in the previous year,
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: which meant like for like gross
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: profit increased by ten point
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: nine million with growth across
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: new vehicles, use vehicles and
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: after sales.
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: And, you know, from our
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: conversations with Robert, we'll
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: know that he'll be particularly
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: pleased.
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: That's across all three
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: divisions, all three divisions
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: with after sales playing a key
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: role there.
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: Um, certainly referenced that, um, a lot of service plans were
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: sold in that period.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah. As you say there, I mean,
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: he's quoted saying that gross
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: profit growth was delivered
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: across every channel whilst
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: maintaining firm control of cost
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: despite ongoing inflation
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: pressures, saying that the group
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: has now delivered three upgrades
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: to current year profits since
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: the start of the the financial
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: year.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: So I think clearly citing there that, you know, there is there
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: is ongoing pressures, obviously on the balance sheet around
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: costs and inflation.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: And, you know, he's been obviously very vocal about that
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: over the recent years of everything going on.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: But I think, you know, continue to deliver this growth and get
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: control of those costs to ensure that that growth continues.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: So as you say there, I mean, him and the leadership team there,
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: Robert, and the leadership team there virtually must be
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: extremely pleased with that, that result and to to update the
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: market three times.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: Um, since the, uh, the financial year end, um, on, on continued
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: growth for the year is, is a fantastic opportunity for them.
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: And final story for this week is from car dealer and the headline
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: is motor point to close Ipswich used car supermarket after just
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: three and a half years.
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: So this is a story that car
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: dealer picked up from the
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: Ipswich Star.
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: So local newspaper um reporting that Motor Point is set to close
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: its Ipswich used car supermarket later this month.
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: Uh, with Motorpoint confirming its West End road branch will
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: cease trading over the coming weeks, although an exact date is
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: yet to be confirmed.
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: So this is a bit of a surprise, isn't it?
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: Because we reported fairly recently actually on some solid
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: performance from Motorpoint.
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: And it's just curious that, you
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: know, after three and a half
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: years there, they they're
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: pulling the plug on this
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: particular site.
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, as you say, I
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: mean, we've seen obviously some
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: challenging times for Motorpoint
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: over the years and some changes
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: where they've restructured the
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: business and let's say, get back
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: down to some some basics, which
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: is an overused term in
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: automotive.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: But I think, you know, it may be
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: that actually this is part of
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: that restructuring, that
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: operation.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: It's either got, you know, some financial costs coming in.
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: It might be, you know, the overheads, cost of that, that
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: site and that location or that it just isn't performing.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: And maybe this is part of their
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: their restructuring, that they
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: can focus on operations and
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: locations that are performing a
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: little bit better in new and
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: expanding opportunities.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: So I think it's probably part of that long term restructuring for
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: the business, isn't it?
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I suspect so.
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: It's it's still running the rule over its operations.
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: And that's probably what um, why
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: this particular site was
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: highlighted.
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: But, uh, you know, based on their most recent announcements
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: about their financials, that they, they seem to be fairly
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: bullish about, uh, the way the market will perform for them in
• 27:04
  Speaker 3: the current year of trading.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think didn't the site
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: that they've got all the
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: acquisitions on the horizon
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: growth opportunities.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: So maybe it is that this is part of that.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: And there's there's other things in the, uh, in the, in the
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: future there that they've got cited for, for further openings
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: and growth that this is just part of that, that helps
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: financially support that.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: Um, so that's it for this week.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: So I think as we said right at
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: the start, huge thank you to
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: David for, for, for supporting
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: last week.
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: It's always having a. It's always great having a good chat
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: with with David.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: He comes with a different lens
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: on what's happening in the in
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: the market.
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: Got Curtis back now after his well-earned break, he's probably
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: wants to get back to the.
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: The beach and the warmer weather and a a Crete ale in his hand.
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: Curtis yeah, I'm off for a swim now.
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: I bet you do wish that don't you?
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: Um, but all the headlines then, as always, it will be in your
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: newsletter on on Monday morning.
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: But that's all for now.
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: Many thanks for listening to
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: this episode of the Motor Trade
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: Radio Podcast.
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: Until next time.
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: It's goodbye from me.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: And it's goodbye from him.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to the Motor Trade Radio podcast
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: powered by Cazoo.