Lawgistics founder dies. Supplier News: p18
‘No one is calling out for this car – it just happens to be quite an interesting prospect.’
Forecourt– Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet: p22
LONDON
Cazoo snaps up Imperial Cars
ONLINE-ONLY dealer Cazoo has bought Imperial Car Supermarkets for an undisclosed sum. Cazoo says the 18-location dealer group offers it a national network of storage, distribution, aftersales and collection hubs. Sources told Car Dealer that staff at Imperial Cars had been spotted showing Cazoo founder Alex Chesterman around dealerships in recent weeks, with a team of people seen ‘measuring up’.
NEWCASTLE
Vertu Motors cutting Dealer issues Bounce 345 jobs in online push Back scam warning
VERTU Motors is to make six per cent of its staff redundant. The news came on the back of an announcement that it made £9m profit in June. Investment in online software has improved efficiencies in sales administration and will result in the job losses. CEO Robert Forrester said: ‘The Covid crisis has driven an acceleration of technology uptake and we are embracing this trend to futureproof the business.’
BRITAIN
Motorpoint profits drop by 15 per cent
MOTORPOINT suffered a pre-tax profit fall of 15.3 per cent to £18.8m in the year to March 31. In its final results for the year, released via the London Stock Exchange, the independent, nonfranchised car supermarket blamed temporary site closures during the lockdown, which started in March – usually its busiest trading month. Revenue, meanwhile, was down by 3.8 per cent to just over a billion pounds – £1,018m.
AIRDRIE
A CAR DEALER has issued a scam warning after he narrowly avoided losing a £40,000 Porsche in an attempted Bounce Back Loan fraud. Stephen Bogan, who runs prestige dealership James Glen Car Sales in Airdrie, has posted a Facebook warning video explaining how a customer tried to buy a Porsche Cayman GTS using a Bounce Back Loan fraudulently. It had been applied for in the car dealer’s name.
GERMANY
If coronavirus does come back with a vengeance – and there would be few who would bet against it – we’ll be far better prepared to deal with it. James Baggott p39
Dealer ‘giving away’ free Renault Zoes
THANKS to generous electric car subsidies from the German government, Autohaus Koenig – a dealer group with more than 50 sites – is being allowed to advertise a lease for the Zoe EV that’s covered completely by state subsidies, effectively making them free. Since the firm made the advert live online, around 3,000 people have inquired about it and about 300 have signed contracts, according to BloombergNEF.
BITE-SIZE
Purchases, redundancies launches – and more Aylesbury: Marshall has completed its purchase of Jardine’s Volkswagen business in Aylesbury – making it the UK’s biggest VW retailer. The deal now means Marshall has 15 VW car retailers and six commercial vehicle dealers.
Leicester: TMS Motor Group has bought the Sandicliffe Leicester Kia dealership and kept all the staff on. The deal – for an undisclosed sum – means that along with its Hinckley Kia dealership, TMS now has two sites selling the brand.
Milton Keynes: Jardine Motor Group is believed to be making 521 redundancies as it moves to close its head offices in Milton Keynes and Colchester. Consultation with the affected staff has begun at the £2bn-turnover dealer group.
UK: Used car prices are still well above official estimates and some dealers are reporting bidding against 500 others in online auctions. Car Dealer Forum users have said they have seen some ‘extraordinary’ sold prices.
Farnborough: BMW Group UK has launched a digital car locator that gives customers real-time access to new stock across its entire dealer network. It comes as the group says online car reservations soared by 130 per cent in May. CarDealerMag.co.uk | 17