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Motorpoint has been cutting jobs, reducing stock purchase costs and halting its expansion plans because it fights to stem financial losses which the national automotive supermarket chain blames on difficult macroeconomic conditions. Within the spring its underlying pre-tax losses mounted to £3.1 million, but its “swift and decisive motion” meant it had reduced this to a £600,000 pre-tax loss by the top of the summer. It’ll announce Motorpoint’s half-year financial results next month but in a trading statement it said it has incurred a one-off charge of around £1 million referring to redundancy costs, and excluding a £5.3m interest expense it recorded an…
The recent success of Korean automobile makers amongst British consumers demonstrates how receptive the UK market might be to Asian brands. As legacy European brands struggle to transition their model ranges from internal combustion engines (ICE) to electric powertrains, brands from overseas have a chance to swoop in and make their mark. China has grow to be the world’s largest producer of electrical vehicles (EVs) in a brief space of time and, while its footprint in Europe is simply small for the time being, its vast pace of growth and skill to scale up quickly means Chinese EVs will grow to…
America’s Lilthia Motors has increased its acquisition offer for Pendragon by 42%, one other £117 million, taking the quantity being offered for all its Stratstone, Evans Halshaw, Carstore and PVM motor businesses as much as £397 million.Its revised bid comes after its original takeover offer attracted the eye of Sytner’s parent Penske Automotive Group and Hedin Mobility Group together, plus Auto Nation within the USA, who’ve each submitted their very own propsals.Lithia was already the bidder favoured by Pendragon’s board. It will entail the Pinewood software division remaining as a listed company, with a £30m investment from Lithia, while all Pendragon’s motor…
Online marketplace carwow is trying to reap the reward of serious investment in not only its comparison platform but in addition in its consumer-facing Sell My Automobile brand and in its media services to support manufacturers. The incontrovertible fact that 2022 was a yr of turbulence for the entire automotive industry on account of well-documented global aspects, is reflected in its latest results, with carwow demonstrating that it definitely was anything but immune from those headwinds, ending the yr because it did with a pretax lack of £29 million. Even so, carwow is reporting a dramatic year-to-date upturn in revenues and profitability.…
UK motor retail executives have shared their tributes following the sad deaths of two automotive sector experts this month. Brian Hawkins, who had an extended profession in senior UK roles in dealer network development with Fiat, Chevrolet, Caterham, MG Motor and most recently, with Suzuki GB until retirement in 2020, has died. The funeral of Hawkins (pictured above while at Chevrolet UK in 2012), a fellow of the Institute of the Motor Industry, shall be held on October 4 at St Peter ‘s & St Paul’s Church in Stokenchurch. Amongst many tributes, Steve Prew, Suzuki’s network development manager, posted on LinkedIn:…
Hendy Group is pursuing its vision of 100% positive customer experience with the launch of a brand new customer app. The app has been developed to make sure customers all the time have easy accessibility to Hendy and has been launched at a time of expansion for the group. Mark Busby, director of business operations, said the launch of the app coincides with the launch of its recent Hendy Care subscription product, offering service plans, prolonged warranty and roadside assistance in a single easy monthly payment – all of which may now be activated throughout the app. “The client journey…
A second pitch from Anders Hedin and Roger Penske’s dealer groups to amass Pendragon in its entirety has upped their offer from 28p per share to 32p per share. Pendragon has revealed it has just had one other unsolicited proposal from Hedin Mobility Group and Penske Automotive Group, after their first approach earlier this week was thrown out by Pendragon’s board. Now the board says it can consider the revised proposal and can seek the advice of with shareholders before providing an update in the end. A shareholder meeting on October 6 is already scheduled to vote on the unique…
Consumer incentives should be put in place by the UK Government as a matter of urgency within the wake of its decision to delay the ban on the sale of latest petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035. Sue Robinson, chief executive of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), which represents automotive and industrial retailers across the UK, said that while the UK continues to carry among the most ambitious climate commitment targets, it still lacked any credible up-front price incentives to support the transition to electric for less-affluent motorists. “With the removal of the Plug-In Automobile Grant (PICG)…
By the tip of the yr, BYD expects to have a UK network of 27 franchised dealerships, rising to a final figure of around 100 by the tip of 2024. Current partners include national groups corresponding to Arnold Clark, LSH Auto UK and Pendragon, but BYD can also be in search of regional representation with smaller operators, based on Simon Bisp, BYD UK head of sales. Some, corresponding to City West Country, are also signed up. It is usually planning on a ratio of two aftersales point for each sales outlet, which implies a network of 200 repairers by the tip…
Dealerships will not be entirely ready for the quantity and the complexity posed by the various Chinese electric vehicle (EV) brands hitting the UK market. Speaking on the China-Britain Business Council roundtable event on the Institute of the Motor Industry on 14 September, Jason Cranswick, chief operating officer at Marubeni Auto Investment, welcomed the prospect of more diversity but warned that it got here with challenges. “We do see that Chinese brands are going to bring some great opportunities to us so we’re keen to collaborate. Likewise, we’re very mindful that we will not be ready yet for the…
