Motor Trade Radio

This week Philip is joined by David Kendrick, Partner with UHY Hacker Young Manchester LLP to discuss the headlines from MotorTrader.com. Philip and David also discuss the weeks events affecting the motor industry including the Chancellor's Budget.

11 Mar 201747min

On this Saturday’s episode of Motor Trade Radio, Philip Nothard and Derek Blair discuss the latest headlines from Motor Trader. This week, a big story for the industry broke, when individuals responsible for car clocking offences amounting to more than seven million miles have been successfully prosecuted. In dealer news, Inchcape turned in a strong performance in the UK and Europe in 2016 with trading profit up 9.2% to £97.1m on turnover up 14.9% to £4.06bn. And Derbyshire-based Pentagon Group turned in flat pre-tax profits of £4m (£4.2m in 2015) in 2016 on turnover of £472m (£484m). And Vertu has issued a robust full year trading update driven by strong performances in used cars and aftersales. Whilst Ford of Britain chairman and managing director Andy Barratt is forecasting a ‘bumper’ new car sales performance for the plate-change in March. In other news, Land Rover dealers will be selling an all-new SUV later this year when the Velar model arrives in showrooms. Finally, Derek and Philip discuss research from cap hpi, as dealer margins came under pressure in February while finance sales boomed.

4 Mar 201732min

On this Saturday’s episode of MotortradeRadio.com, Philip Nothard and Derek Blair discuss the latest headlines from Motortrader.com. This week a new survey from cap hpi showed dealers believe car buyers are unaware of the implications of the changes being introduced to the way Vehicle Excise Duty. Also, Motor1.com is to launch into the UK online car classified market over the next few weeks. In manufacturer news, Volkswagen has appointed Matt Benns as head of customer quality and network development and SsangYong has added three new dealers to its dealer network. And the booming car finance market helped Black Horse turn in a strong performance in 2016 with turnover up 20% to £10.9bn. In other news, Arnold Clark continues to expand its Motorstore used car offer with the opening of a new site York. Finally, Derek and Philip discuss Volkswagen's programme to fix diesel cars impacted by the emissions crisis, and the growth in demand for electric cars.

25 Feb 201747min

On this Saturday’s episode of MotortradeRadio.com, Philip Nothard and Derek Blair discuss the week’s headlines from Motortrader.com, including this week’s lead headline, that PSA has confirmed it is in talks to buy General Motors’ European Opel and Vauxhall operations. Jaguar Land Rover has announced plans to boost its London sales operations by opening two new sites, including a flagship facility operated by Sytner, as well as significantly upgrading its existing showrooms in the capital. They also look at reports that New car prices have risen by an average of 5.2% in the past seven months following the Brexit vote to leave the EU. In another news, Britain’s used car market surged to record levels in 2016 with 8.2 million vehicles finding new owners, up 7.3% on the previous year. Pendragon saw underlying pre-tax profits rise 7.6% to £75.4m on turnover up 1.9% to £4.4bn for the year ending 31 December. And the group plans to open five used sales outlets in the first half of 2017 and is actively pursuing five additional sites for the second half. And finally, Derek and Philip discuss the 2017 Motor Trader Top 60 Movers & Shakers, sponsored by Motors, reveals the key personalities in UK car retailing, those individuals who have influenced the motor retail sector over the past year and are set to make their presence felt over the course of 2017.

18 Feb 201736min

On this Saturday’s episode of MotortradeRadio.com, Philip Nothard and Derek Blair discuss the week’s headlines from Motortrader.com, Thursday's Driving Digital conference and the AM Awards at the ICC in Birmingham. The headlines include how augmented reality, the blending of virtual reality with real life, will become a vital tool in new vehicle sales processes over the next five years. They also look at reports that dealer profitability fell 11% to £178,000 in 2016 as dealers pumped more new cars through the system for less margin. Plus, Oodle Finance is targeting dealers and the used car finance market with £60m of funds from investment firm KKR. In another news, Motor Trader announces the launch of the Motor Trader Industry Awards 2017, with over 20 categories celebrating best practice in the car retailing business and finally, Philip and Derek discuss and share the winners of the AM Awards 2017. And finally, Derek holds the first face-to-face interview with Neil Addley, Managing Director Trusted Dealers, who shares the activates and presenter’s insights, from the NFDA Driving Digital Conference.

11 Feb 201733min

This Saturday on MotortradeRadio.com, Philip Nothard is joined by Curtis Hutchinson to discuss the week’s headlines from Motortrader.com. This week, West Country Ford dealer Foray Motor Group is taking delivery of 350 extra Fiesta and Ka+ models worth £4m to pre-empt the new VED changes that take effect in 1 April, and Volkswagen is facing another group action in the UK over the emissions' issue. Dealer group bosses are lobbying MPs next week to highlight the importance of the car retailing sector to the economy following the vote to leave the EU. In another news, January saw a dip in the number of dealers reporting a monthly footfall increase in comparison to twelve months ago in the latest cap hpi report, and Hyundai has announced details of the first two customers to buy cars on its new 'Click to Buy' online platform. Porsche has launched the first pop-up Porsche Life store in the Victoria Gate shopping centre in Leeds, which is open until 16 March. Finally, Curtis Hutchinson, Editor at MotorTrader.com shares his observations from the recent NADA convention in New Orleans.

4 Feb 201741min

#NADA100 special episode. @PhilipN_cap_hpi is joined directly from @nadaconvention by @Curtis_Hutch of @MotorTraderMag

28 Jan 201719min

On this week’s MotortradeRadio.com Philip Nothard and Jim Reid from JimReidVehiclesales discuss the week’s headlines from Motortrader.com. As College Harwoods Group plans to buy land from Chichester College for a new Jaguar Land Rover business in Pulborough, Philip and Jim look at the novel ways dealer groups are locating land for new showrooms. They also discuss new research by Marketing Delivery that claims dealers are missing key data out on a third of their customer aftersales records. And new research into 1,000 motorists by the NFDA that shows buyers are increasingly prepared to buy cars online when they are backed up by the reassurance of a franchised dealer. In another news, Volvo Car UK will launch an online car sales channel in Q2 as part of a strategic move to significantly grow UK sales to become the biggest market in Europe, and Swansway Motor Group is dropping its Swansway Select non franchise used car branding and replacing it with Swansway Motor Match. Plus, the NFDA has welcomed the Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech outlining the government’s negotiating objectives for exiting the EU. Finally, legal firm Lawgistics says it has seen a number of dealers on the wrong side of the law when facing test drive speeding tickets.

21 Jan 201748min