Author: Tom Seymour

Used hybrid prices rose by £321 in the primary half of 2025 to a median of £21,707, despite increased supply, making them the strongest-performing fuel type on Autorola’s MarketPlace platform. In contrast, prices for petrol, diesel and EVs softened. Hybrids accounted for 17% of MarketPlace sales between January and June, overtaking diesel (16%) and EVs (4.5%) but still trailing petrol, which dominated with 62.5%. George Fitzpatrick, sales director at Autorola UK, said: “While everyone has been locked into analysing EV data, hybrids have quietly been growing in popularity with prices remaining consistent even when supplies have risen. “Dealers we seek…

Former Inchcape UK chief executive George Ashford has joined the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) as a non-executive director because the organisation rounds out its “dream team”. Six recent non-executive directors (NEDs) have joined the IMI’s board, including Adrian Dally, director of motor finance and strategy on the Finance & Leasing Association. The brand new NEDs are confirmed as: Andy Hamilton, president and executive managing director of LKQ Europe Jeremy Hicks, market performance director at Jaguar Land Rover and non-executive director at motor industry charity, Ben George Ashford, former CEO of Inchcape UK Adrian Dally, director of motor finance…

Enterprise Rent-A-Automotive has announced the winners of its 2025 Repair Partner Awards at a national event held at St George’s Park, Burton-on-Trent. Greater than 400 repairers and industry partners from across the UK attended the conference and awards dinner, which celebrates excellence in customer support. Dealer groups like Hedin Automotive’s Stephen James and Vertu Motors’ Huddersfield location were highlighted amongst this 12 months’s winners. Winners included repairers supporting Enterprise’s rental fleet in addition to those working directly with customers during vehicle repairs. Andrew Mackenzie, UK & Ireland network manager at Enterprise, hosted the awards and praised the recipients for his or…

Cox Automotive is predicting a used automobile market of seven.64 million units within the UK this 12 months in consequence of continued stability and the information feeding in from latest automobile market forecasting. While this represents a flat year-on-year performance, it stays 3.6% above the long-term average from 2001 to 2019, reinforcing the used market’s role as a stabilising force amid wider industry volatility. Despite ongoing supply challenges, particularly for vehicles aged three to 5 years, the market is showing signs of resilience. Supply constraints expected to ease in H2 Supply constraints, largely a legacy of pandemic-era production slowdowns, are…

National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) has said industry and Government collaboration around electric vehicle infrastructure might be key following the choice to scrap the £950 million Rapid Charging Fund. The Labour government inherited the Convservatives’ £950m RCF plan, but has said it can get replaced with a retargeted £400m investment because of “lack of interest” from motorway service operators. The fund, originally announced in 2021, aimed to put in over 6,000 rapid and ultra-rapid charge points on England’s motorways by 2035 but was deemed commercially unviable by operators. NFDA believes that the supply of reliable and accessible charging infrastructure is…

Swansway Motor Group has expanded with BYD so as to add a 3rd location and can be growing its Motor Match used automotive brand with a brand new location in Fenton. The brand new BYD Stoke dealership has officially opens its doors today (May 19) and is positioned on Victoria Road, Fenton. The location had previously been vacant for over 12 months. 5 Alongside the brand new BYD showroom, Swansway can be launching its latest used automotive operation, Motor Match Stoke, at the identical location – expanding its independent used automotive retail brand’s footprint to 6 sites. David Smyth, director…

Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS) has confirmed it’s winding down its Heycar marketplace division. VWFS, which is Heycar’s majority shareholder, said that the technology and expertise developed by Heycar will likely be rolled right into a recent subsidiary in a “strategic move that underscores VWFS UK’s commitment to innovation and enhancing our technological capabilities”. A spokesperson for VWFS said: “Heycar has been a pioneer in the net used automotive marketplace and, despite the choice to wind down their operations, the worthwhile insights and digital solutions developed to this point will play a vital role in the longer term of VWFS UK, as…

Tesla sales dropped by 30% across Europe to 27,828 units in March, however the decline is beginning to slow, in keeping with latest data from JATO Dynamics. This was the most important decline among the many 30 most registered brands, surpassed only by Mitsubishi in thirty third position (down by 43%), Lancia in forty first position (down 73%), Jaguar ( down 82%), Smart (down 65%), Maserati (down 39%) and  Abarth ( down 75%).  Despite the negative trend, the 30% drop experienced in  March was less severe than those recorded in January ( a drop of 47%) and February (down 44%). Felipe Munoz, global analyst at JATO Dynamics, said: “As…

The increased supply of used electric and hybrid cars in Q1 has resulted in a ten% price drop year-on-year for the period, in response to AA Cars. The newest AA Cars Used Automotive Index shows the common cost of the highest 20 most looked for EVs and hybrids on AA Cars dropped from £20,956 to £18,973 over the past yr, with prices falling 6% because the final quarter of 2024. The Toyota Yaris (hybrid) – essentially the most looked for EV or hybrid – dropped in price by 14% over the past 12 months, while the Toyota Prius has seen…

Automotive executive search specialist Ennis & Co Group has launched an expanded interim talent service to fulfill a surge in demand by automotive and mobility brands for short-term placements at senior leadership level. The growing need for interim senior hires is being attributed to the rapid transformation going down across the industry, with businesses requiring experienced executives who can step in at short notice to guide restructuring efforts, oversee mergers and acquisitions, establish latest entrants out there and navigate periods of transition. Such is the pace of transformation, many businesses are choosing contract hires over everlasting appointments to avoid lengthy recruitment processes…