Philip Nothard

A topic that is potentially on everyone’s minds at the minute with the impending FCA regulations and the Consumer Bill of Rights in the House of Lords for a second reading this month – Motor Finance: Where is it going and what are the challenges or opportunities ahead in our sectors? With the recent ‘explosion’ of PCP on new cars, and slowly finding its way on to used – what will be the long term impact in the new and used market. Dealers are already reporting that they are soliciting buyers within the first 12=months of a 24/36-month contract to renew? In addition to this, we are in the mist of investigations from the FCA on when dealers can offer add-on products, such as GAP – whether it can be presented and sold at time of sale or delivery and what cooling off period they recommend. Is ‘big data’ changing the landscape, or the changes in regulation require changes in how we do business – what is the role of the Business Manager and are improvements in technology making it easier or more difficult? And what about SUB_PRIME?

Additional FAQ files.

Just attached some FAQ's supplied direct from the DVLA that may answer some of the questions; however, I know that the transition period in two days will certainly raise some questions. I would be interested to see and understand how this impacts on the business and if it causes any customer satisfaction concerns, expenditure etc.

Hi Jamslug Not sure if this communication direct from the DVLA assists? If a vehicle was sold to the motor trade before 1 October with months left on the tax disc and then the vehicle is sold on by the trader after 1 October, any full months left on the tax would be refunded to the previous keeper (ie the person who sold it into trade) and the buyer would need to tax it. Whilst the vehicle is shown as ‘in trade’ and there is still remaining tax left then this will continue until DVLA is notified of the new registered keeper. During this time the trader cannot use the vehicle on the road as there is no registered keeper on DVLA records. This has always been the case and is not changing as a result of abolition of the tax disc. If the trader needs to use the vehicle in this scenario then they must use trade plates and ensure that these are used within the rules and guidance for using trade plates. If a trader taxes a vehicle when it is in his possession and becomes the registered keeper of the vehicle they may use it on the road and will therefore qualify for a automatic refund if the vehicle is then sold on with the new buyer needing to tax in the normal way I also have a selection of PDF's detailing Q & A's from the DVLA on a variety of subject - let me know if they would be useful? Cheers Philip

Gov.uk have circulated that they will be holding a webchat on the 3rd of September 10am - 12noon This should be interesting, who's joining? https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-tax-changes-webchat

I would be interested to see the site and what's driving the selection process for what they offer and to who?

The question reading this and my apologies if this has been answered previously....... If a dealer sells a demonstrator or a tactical registration previously, you would in most cases sell it will the remainder of the R.F.L, mainly to save losing a full month and it's built in to the costs of the sale. This one gives good customer service, two save paperwork and administration and thirdly allows the buyer to drive away 24/7 - at the time of purchase? Therefore, isn't this introducing unnecessary costs to bit the consumer and seller, and most of introducing additional administration and time to a sale?

Interesting, as I have been asked this question today.......dealers still in the dark: Have you got clarity from the DVLA on what is to happen on October 1st re Road Fund Licences? We have spoken or tried to get clarity from one of their people today to see what is to happen and we have been told that as of October 1st, any tax that is on a vehicle at Dealerships / Showrooms etc - if that vehicle is NOT registered to the Dealer - it becomes void - so the car will have to be taxed again if sold - the customer service spokesperson we spoke to said it has been factored in to their costs that is anticipated to provide tens of millions of pounds into the coffers as the new system is not being rolled out until September 30th / October 1st and it becomes statue then - so no overlap, and any car not registered or SORN by the dealer the fine is to be increased to £1600 per vehicle. The spokesperson said all cars at Dealerships will either have to be sorn by the dealer or registered to the dealer thus adding owners to the V5 and have factored in a two to three week time delay with the amount of log books being sent it for changes, BUT a car cannot be taxed on line without a log book - thus preventing the sales of any of those cars if the Dealers have gone for the register option.

Obviously can't answer that one without too many assumptions but they have attracted 254K adverts from both the trade and consumers? It's just intriguing that there's been a 46K drop in less than a months; whereas other sites have remained within a +/-6% deviation?

Has anyone seen or heard anything relating to the volumes of vehicles on the sites.

Have we currently got the infrastructure for it? Will the legislation actually happen in the timescale they say? Will it actually impact on the used car market – aftermarket converters already available? By Robert Forrester, Vertu Motors chief executive Would you buy a second-hand car with an integral radio which didn’t work? A new poll from ICM for Vertu Motors concluded that 78% would not. The Government needs to consider the full implications of that answer on the future value of second-hand vehicles if it carries out its long-stated policy of switching off FM & AM transmissions in favour of digital only radio. The policy is to switch off AM/FM transmissions in favour of digital only when more than 50% of all listening uses the new system. However, the Government’s own preliminary analysis paper published six months ago (Digital Radio Switchover, Preliminary Analysis, Department for Culture Media and Sport in Dec 2013) reveals that at present only 10% of cars have digital radio. It is unlikely that the majority of cars will have integral digital systems anytime soon, despite the growing number of manufacturers that now include them, The radio industry is pushing for digital switchover with every opportunity it gets. Digital is seen by the media as good; analogue bad. There was even a report in the Daily Telegraph last month headlined “Radio 5 Live could send robins on the wrong flightpath†based on research about the AM signal that the popular station uses. The Government analysis assesses the costs and benefits of switching to digital radio; however the costs only relate to the price of installing digital devices. The Government admits in its report that, “there are significant evidence gaps on the costs of listening digitally in vehicles.†One massive gap is the drop in the residual value of any FM only vehicle once digital switchover happens. If digital radio comes about they could stick around on forecourts and have a lower trade-in value as a result. This amounts to a legalised confiscation of part of the value of somebody’s asset. Reduced residual values don't just impact car dealers, most people own their car and therefore it could devalue the vast majority of cars in the UK; the public will want to ask why. What is needed is urgent motor industry research into the future differential value of a second hand vehicle with no integral digital radio compared to one with digital fitted. This research needs to be submitted to the Government to fill the gap that it has in its analysis. Our own ICM research indicates that customers take a simple view of matters – if the radio doesn’t work the car is less appealing. It is possible for cheap devices to be retro-fitted which use internal FM signal to re-transmit digital radio, but this is less than ideal as the clean lines of carefully designed dashboards will be disrupted by aftermarket instrumentation. The average UK car is seven years old. It will be a long-time before the used UK’s used vehicle fleet has anywhere near 50% access to digital radio. Many new vehicles today do not have the devices fitted – if the Government wants digital radio only it should legislate to force manufacturers to fit the devices and then switch off the transmitters seven years from that date, so that a car of average age is likely to have access to digital radio programmes. At present, data suggests the 65% of radio listening is at home with only 20% in the car. The 50% listening rule would be easy to achieve as domestic digital sets take over; this is because the percentage referred to is the percentage of the number of hours consumed and not the number of people involved. Under the Government’s rule, someone listening to the radio on a digital set while they were decorating their house would lose their service if they popped out to the shops to buy some more paint using a vehicle with an analogue radio. It cannot be right to ignore the future value of cars before taking such a big decision. The decision is being taken by a Government department which seems to serve the media industry, based on patchy advice from the Department of Transport. But where is the Department for Business or Treasury in all this? They need to speak up for the value of peoples assets and, after their house, a motor vehicle is often the second highest value asset many people own.

Thanks Umesh, I'll keep this for reference - as I'm not oin Facebook yet but feel I should be on there...........share my likes :-)

Is this along anybodies line of thought? I've certainly noticed over the years that there is a direct link between holiday periods and web traffic - showroom footfall is a bit harder to measure.... When the world is on holiday web traffic reduces (not just to car dealer sites - ever wondered why so many stores have Easter sales?). More stock due to less punters certainly seems to make sense. Have you noticed any reduction in showroom footfall or enquiry levels generally and more importantly, do the Easter sales drive traffic or is it case that those same consumers would be put buying in any case?

Has the Easter weekend been kind to you? With feedback comments such as, plenty of stock - fill your boots, does this mean that the shortage is over, or is it simply the consequence of the March market? If you have been monitoring the volumes of on-line trade stock, you may have noticed that the level has remained above the 30k since the start of April, with a total of 32,207 as of the 16th April. This coincides with the volumes marketed through the Autotrader and various other re-marketing consumer sites - with AT only achieving the 400K this month, since the first two weeks of January. With regards demand, reported footfall year-on-year looked to have slowed, with a recent report on Thursday displaying a +3%; whereas, for most of the year, this figure has been in the low teens. The question is, is the influx of stock and slow in demand connected, are you feeling the same - dealers I've spoken to are having yet another good month, with everyone chasing that unique, well spec'd, ready to drive away quality used car and are willing to pay the price for it. What is for sure, higher volumes certainly put pressure on values, as buyers have choice and can afford to wait for the next car through the hall, or at the end of the phone? What's your experience, are these you or is this very sporadic across the network?

Footfall is reported to be up c.15% at the same point last year and one dealer group is up 20% on New and 14% on used year-to-date. Could this 'noise' be on the back of dealers bringing in the last minute funnel part-exchanges from the last days deliveries and the first few days of the month, is about taking stock of where you are and what you have?

Is supply is up or down the re-market sources, auctions, etc. and that demand maybe slowing and therefore, prices through these sources are struggling to be achieved? How are you finding the market, is it a blip’ after the month-end, as many draw breath or has demand from the consumers weakened and therefore, the need for stock has softened? I’ll be interested to hear what you guys at the ‘front line’ are feeling.

It;s certainly been an interesting 12-months for recalls, especially for Toyota. With the latest announcement that Porsche have agreed to replace the engines in the GT3's due to the fire risk. It would certainly be interesting to know what this replacement would cost 'the man in the street' in terms of the engine, parts and labour hours and therefore a better understanding of what this equates to for Porsche themselves. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-18/porsche-to-replace-911-gt3-engines-following-motor-fires.html

Sorry, try this? :-) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26442617

Just waiting for yours Umesh, what's the title going to be?

Is the month, the one you expected or needed? In the words of someone else 'is the Status Quo maintained', as the Wholesale volumes increase and the Retail volume decline slightly over recent weeks - or is this just the early impact of a new registration month. As we know, there's been some great 'good news' stories out in the media from a few of the large groups followed by some uncertainties from select few manufacturers concerned about the world market? http://t.co/IBlGg6Shuk Are these you - is stock becoming easier to locate, are the prices' easing and is the consumer demand continuing to drive volumes?

This isn't a way of reinventing what's is actually developing out in the automotive industry through social media; more a case of understand where the industry body view the variety of platforms and where they are in order of importance. Twitter (for professional networking & offer promotion) Facebook (offer promotion) LinkedIn (professional networking) Forums (AM, Car Dealer – neither very well attended, but there may be more out there) professional networking & discussions Twitter Car Dealers – emergent

Is that a way in which the automotive industry interacts? How would you place your Top 10 and categorise/define them?

In your opinions, how would you view (Automotive usage) and position importance of the following and WHICH have I missed? Social Sites: TWITTER FACEBOOK LINKEDIN GOOGLE+ PINTEREST INSTAGRAM Blogs/Forums: Car Dealer Forum Twitter for Dealers Speedmonkey AM How would categorise them and what have I missed? Check out the attached Infographic

With footfall reported to be 11% up at the same point 2013, and the diverse weather showing no signs of easing quickly – how is the month developing? Excluding the inevitable slowing of the 4X4’s and the slow rise in the Convertibles/Coupe Cabs – is the stock becoming increasing tougher to find or is the issue more relative to quality? With the trade values in mind, how is this relative to the potential margins the retail opportunities are offering, as quality 3-year-old vehicles compete on price against ‘aged’ pre-registered vehicles that need to be cleared before the conversation commences in March?

I'm sure that this will certainly be a copy that everyone will want to read. I hope it went well and there's more to come. :-)