Motor Trade Radio

On this Saturday’s episode of MotortradeRadio.com, the first for 2017, Philip Nothard and Derek Blair return to discuss the week’s headlines from Motortrader.com. This week, Vauxhall is the latest high-profile name to join the line-up of the 2017 London Motor Show. Following the successful relaunch of the event in 2016, the show returns to Battersea Park with Motor Trader as the B2B media partner. New car registrations hit a new record with 2.69 million vehicles sold in 2016, with many commentators predicting a slowdown in 2017. Lloyd Motor Group, the family-owned Carlise-based retailer, has acquired Clelands Jaguar for an undisclosed sum, and Lookers has bolstered its management team with the promotion of MD Nigel McMinn to the role of chief operating officer. McMinn joined Lookers in 2013 from Benfield. In another news, Smart has started to sell cars online with deliveries direct to a customer’s home or local dealer within 12 days of credit acceptance, and thousands of UK motorists are to launch a lawsuit against Volkswagen over #dieselgate. The class action is led by UK law firm Harcus Sinclair UK which specialises in large group litigation. cap hpi has confirmed the last printed edition of the iconic Black Book used car value guide will appear in February. At the same time, it will also phase out its Red and Green books, for commercial vehicles and motor cycles, in a move that will see the group complete its transition to a fully digital service. Finally, Philip and Derek discuss the big story of the week, with the Sytner Group acquiring the CarShop supermarket chain for an undisclosed sum.

14 Jan 201720min

Some Christmas Eve fun on this today’s #MotorTradeRadio with Andy Lycett & Jim Reid doing a hilarious #spoof of Derek Blair & Philip Nothard. Subscribe today at www.MotorTradeRadio.com which is supported by cap hpi, Carsnip.com,InAutomotive UK and www.MotorTrader.com On this Saturday’s episode of MotortradeRadio.com, the last for 2016, Philip Nothard and Derek Blair are joined by Curtis Hutchinson, to discuss the headlines from Motortrader.com. This week, an exclusive for MotorTrader.com, as Vauxhall is investigating new ways of showing its cars to potential buyers, and Inchcape UK appoints former Stratstone managing director James Brearley as its new CEO. Demand for automotive property remains high as dealers look to 2017, and Suzuki has named its dealers of the year. In another news, Used diesel car values have remained strong over the past year despite environmental and health concerns. Both cap hpi and auction house BCA say negative publicity surrounding diesel has not dented values. Finally, Philip, Derek and Curtis discuss the MotorTrader TOP200Franchised Dealer Survey, as Sytner narrows gap with Pendragon.   Headlines of the week Vauxhall investigates pop-up stores in metropolitan centres   http://www.motortrader.com/motor-trader-news/automotive-news/vauxhall-investigates-pop-stores-metropolitan-centres-20-12-2016 EXCLUSIVE for MT: Volume car boss looks at new forms of retailing   Former Stratstone MD appointed to as new Inchcape CEO   http://www.motortrader.com/motor-trader-news/automotive-news/former-stratstone-md-appointed-new-inchcape-ceo-21-12-2016 Great move for Inchcape in landing James Brearley   Demand for dealer property to stay strong in 2017   http://www.motortrader.com/motor-trader-news/automotive-news/demand-dealer-property-continue-strong-2017-21-12-2016   Demand for automotive property remains high with property specialist Knight Frank saying most prime dealer property stayed in the sector in 2016 and achieved high prices   Suzuki names top performing UK dealers   http://www.motortrader.com/motor-trader-news/automotive-news/suzuki-names-top-performing-uk-dealers-20-12-2016 Off to Tenerife for a few days of intensive activity…   Diesel used car values remain strong despite health concerns   http://www.motortrader.com/motor-trader-news/automotive-news/diesel-used-car-values-remain-strong-despite-health-concerns-19-12-2016 Consumers not concerned about green but question is whether the Gov will change the goalpost Exclusive Sytner narrows gap with Pendragon in Motor Trader Top 200   http://www.motortrader.com/surveys/motor-trader-top-reports/sytner-narrows-gap-pendragon-mt-top-200-16-12-2016 Will there be an upset in the MT Top 200 next time with a new number one?

24 Des 201635min

On this Saturday’s episode of MotortradeRadio.com, Philip Nothard and Derek Blair, discuss the week’s headlines from Motortrader.com. This week we hear that two more high profile dealers, Sytner and Clive Sutton join London Motor Show line-up, and the RAC launches a used car code accredited by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. RA Creamer & Son is closing its Jaguar business in Kensington after 90-years with the brand. It is handing back Royal Warrants after 40 years and closing the business by year-end. And dealer leads from online enquiries grew by 62% in Q3, according to new customer research by Dealerweb. In another news, Motability Operations is holding a series of briefings to provide advice and support for dealers. Motor Trader and Northridge Finance launch a third annual search for the next generation of industry leaders 2017 Motor Trader Rising Stars. Finally, Philip and Derek discuss Ben’s flagship event of the year – The Ben Ball – raises over £203,000, as Daksh Gupta, CEO of Marshall Motor Holdings Plc hands the baton for Ben’s 2017 Industry Leader (ILC) Challenge to Jeremy Hicks, MD of Jaguar Land Rover UK. Jeremy, who has been a Trustee of the automotive industry charity, Ben for 2 years.

17 Des 201624min

On this Saturday’s 45-minute episode of MotortradeRadio.com, Philip Nothard and Derek Blair, discuss the week’s headlines from Motortrader.com. Auto Trader is offering dealers the opportunity to advertise their finance deals on used and new cars for free until early 2018. It will also launch a facility to search by monthly payments in the first half of 2017, profitability at the average dealer plummeted to just £187 in October compared to £7,400 a year ago, according to dealer profitability specialist ASE. Also in this week’s headlines, New car registrations in November rose 2.9%to 184,101 units and year to date registrations are ahead 2.5% to a record 2,514,764 units, driven by Fleet and the UK’s new light commercial vehicle (LCV) market soared in November with a record 29,784 units sold. DS has opened a DS Urban Store at the Westfield Shopping Centre in London. The brand joins Tesla and Infiniti in having retail stores in the shopping centre as the three brands target shoppers. In other news, The Trade Centre Wales is to open its second new superstore within nine months with the group moving out of Wales for the first time with the opening of a 12-acre, 1,200-car site in the West Midlands in early 2017. The number of vehicle sales completed on Friday 25 November – ‘Black Friday’ – was 23% higher than on Friday 18 November and 17% higher than on 11 November, according to analysis of sales data carried out by Dealerweb, the showroom management system provider. Also, we have two exclusive interviews; as Philip and Derek speak to Alan Harding from JA Autos, plus, Derek speaks to Will Blackshaw, MD of Blackshaws, a North East dealer group who are approaching their century in business in 2019.  Will talks about MOT Juice who are an agile developer of high yield MOT websites and training & management software for MOT testing stations in the UK.

10 Des 201645min

On this Saturday’s episode of MotortradeRadio.com, Philip Nothard and Derek Blair, discuss the week’s headlines from Motortrader.com. VT Holdings subsidiary CCR Motor is consolidating its eight Mitsubishi operations by concentrating sales through three main sites at Bristol, Cheltenham and Swindon, whilst Hyundai Motor UK is to launch Click To Buy in January, a website that enables customers to buy new cars online. Also in this week’s headlines, Swansway has acquired the family-run Thompson Motor Company, which operates three Audi sites in the north west of England, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition sees the Cheshire-based Swansway double its Audi representation in the region to six sites. As a result of the purchase Swansway, founded in 2003, will have over 1,100 employees and a turnover in excess of £700m. In another news,Zeus Capital analyst Mike Allen warns new-car sales will be the “key weakness” for dealers for the next two years. Dealers report that consumer demand in November witnessed the biggest decline so far in 2016. Over half (56%) of dealers indicated demand had worsened, according to a cap hpi survey of dealers.

3 Des 201637min

On this Saturday’s episode of MotortradeRadio.com, Philip Nothard and Derek Blair discuss the week’s headlines from Motortrader.com and we announce our new partnership with InAutomotive.com SsangYong targets 20 open points as volumes grow, and exclusive Motor Trader story with Steve Gray interviewed. Korean brand is making progress from low base and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has teamed up with Amazon in Italy to sell cars online for the first time. The Amazon deal will initially only be available on Fiat 500, 500L and the best-selling Panda models in Italy, targeting younger consumers, according to a Reuters report of an online FCA conference. Also in this week’s headlines, Cambria Automobiles turned in a strong performance in the year to 31 August with underlying pre-tax profits up 37.7% to £10.6m on turnover up 17.3% to £614.2m. Cap hpi has launched a new app for Apple devices which provides access to vehicle valuation data in under 15 seconds. In other news, Pendragon and Lookers are the latest dealer groups to confirm they will be exhibiting at the 2017 London Motor Show. Pendragon’s Stratstone division will represent Aston Martin at the show, while Lookers will represent Skoda. That’s a key finding of new research from Dealerweb, the showroom management system provider, which polled 1,000 motorists across the UK on their expectations of the vehicle buying process when initiated online. Finally, Derek interviews Thomas Lowcock, Account Manager at InAutomotive, discussing; what is InAutomotive, struggles of the sector and how InAutomotive have helped.

26 Nov 201641min

On this Saturday’s episode of MotortradeRadio.com, Philip Nothard and Phil Hayes discuss some of this week’s industry headlines from Motortrader.com. From Vauxhall launching a scrappage scheme offering customers up to £2,000 towards a new model when they trade-in their car for scrappage to Pendragon announcing plans to recruit 300 technicians before the end of this year. Identifying the increasing demand for skilled roles, the additional 300 vehicle technician jobs, including a number of apprenticeships, will add to the 9,000 strong staff already employed by the company across the UK. Also in this week’s headlines, Fiat has launched an end of year new-car sales campaign whereby customers will be offered additional cash values on part-exchanges or a £2,500 discount for customers without a trade-in, and the new car market is set to close the year 1.7% ahead of 2015 with 2.678 million units registered, according to the latest quarterly forecast from the SMMT. Last year saw a new record of 2.634m new cars registered, the first time the new car market had surpassed the 2.6 million registrations mark. In other news, the latest Motor Trader Top 50 Independent Dealers survey tracks strong growth in the sales and profit performance of the UK’s top non-franchised car retailers and Dealers, carmakers and suppliers are signing up for the annual ASE trip to the Nada Convention and Expo in the US. The 2017 event will be held in New Orleans with the ASE visit running from 25-29 January and Motor Trader once again acting as the media partner. Finally, Phil Hayes, Founder of BuyersCompared.com, introduces a new way to buy stock from the public; BuyersCompared.com is a new website that lets you control the buying process - a Classified Car Website with a Twist.

19 Nov 201633min

�On this Saturday’s episode of MotortradeRadio.com, Philip Nothard welcomes the return of Derek Blair, show host, as he runs through what’s been keeping him so busy with RadarVideo.co.uk over recent weeks. Together they discuss some of this week’s industry headlines from Motortrader.com; Dealer group Lookers.co.ukwas positive on the outlook for the remainder of the year saying the EU referendum had not dented consumer demand for cars, and GForces has partnered with HPI to help provide vehicle history checks on dealer websites. Furthermore, in this week’s headlines, The Irish Independent reports that 7,090 imported used cars were registered for the first time in October, a 75pc increase on October 2015 and Motors.co.uk has built a new website to give consumers a simpler and faster experience to find their next car. Peoples Ford, the largest privately-owned solus Blue Oval group in Europe, has announced record breaking turnover and profit for the year-ended 31 July 2016. Pre-tax profits for the year increased 27.9% to £7.05m on turnover that grew 10.1% to £260.6m. Motortrader announces dealers have started signing up for the 2017 London Motor Show with Motor Trader once again serving as B2B media partner and Philip shares the results of the cap hpi market survey, revealing its business as usual for dealers after strong September. Finally, Derek and Philip share some of this week’s social media news from Vertu and Marshall, plus all the fantastic charity work taking place across the network for @BenSupport4Auto and it’s not too late to donate to #hatsOn4MentalHealth

12 Nov 201636min