market watch - am-onlinestatic.am-online.com/files/amimarketwatchquarter1-2013.pdf50,000 cars were...

iMarket WatchWelcome to the first issue of AMi Market Watch, a quarterlyupdate of the major events in the car retail market, providinginsight and analysis, together with a look at the performanceof dealers and manufacturers.

The primary source of data is AM’s information portalwww.am-online.com/ami together with insight from theSMMT and AM’s research and insight business Sewells.

AMi Market Watch contents• Q1 new car registration performance

• Retail network changes: total and significant growthor contraction by manufacturer

• Sales per franchised outlet data and brandcomparison for 2013 and historic

• Dealer group financial status report on 2011 andlatest from 2012

• New car pricing and finance offer trends

• Consumer confidence survey

• New car launch activity in Q1 and Q2

• News summary

Price £250

i Market Watch

www.am-online.com/ami 2

Brands: winners and losersFord took the lion’s share of the Marchmarket with a 14.44% share, anincrease of 1.62% to 54,702 units.

Mercedes-Benzhas a strong monthwith a 15.53% increase to 18,870 unitsboosted by the new A-Class and orderbooks were also open for the new CLA.March was the most successful for thebrand in the UK, with a 15.4% increasein registrations over March 2012.

Honda also posted a positive increaseof 23.06% in March to 12,471 units withthe help of low rate finance offers onthe Civic.

Mitsubishi recovered in March postinga 54.20% increase to 2,185 units.

Jaguar enjoyed a record March with17,784 registrations, up 14% onprevious best set in March 2012.Overall sales up 21% year-on-yearbased on a 25% increase in XF sales.

Land Roverdelivered 14,268 models, anew record month, up 12%, withFreelander up 45%, Range Rover up43% and Evoque 9%. The UK was thetop global market for both JLR brands.

Kiaset a new record for sales in Marchwith 12,608 vehicles delivered tocustomers, providing the brand its bestperformance since the 2010 scrappagescheme. With 19,204 vehiclesregistered in Q1 Kia had a 3.17%market share, up almost 12% on 2012.Its best-selling car was the Sportage.

AudiQ1 registrations were up 9.7% to39,242 units and March were up 8% onMarch 2012.

HyundaiQ1 registrations were 19,986,an increase of 12.53% over 2012 with amarket share of 3.3%.

Nissan’s March market share was5.4% representing a 6.4% year-on-yearincrease.

Suzukisaw a 29.1% climb inregistrations year-on-year and thehighest quarterly volume since Q12006.

Skoda’sMarch registrations exceeded9,000 units for the first time. The totalwas 9,711, up 14.2% on 2012. Q1 was arecord for the brand with 15,504deliveries, up 11.7% on Q1 2012.

Renaultand Mazdaare still strugglingin the middle market with 11.83% and11.31% drops in registrations forMarch.

Dacia, Renault’s budget brand, gaineda 0.42% March market share in its firstmonth of reported sales in the UK. Thisis greater than a number ofestablished brands, such as AlfaRomeo (0.25%), Chrysler (0.12%),Lexus (0.39%), Smart (0.25%) andSsangYong (0.02%).

Mazdahopes new products combinedwith more flexibility around dealerbonus structures will help it to recoverground in 2013 and beyond.

Alfa Romeo is also still struggling witha small product line up, resulting in a37.4% drop in March registrations to964 units.

Q1 new carregistrations

Top 10 selling modelsTheFord Fiesta was the best-selling modelin both March and Q1.

Q1 top sellers

Q1 registrations increased by 41,642 units, totalling 605,198 cars, a 7.4%year-on-year increase. This is 12.1% below the 2007 pre-recessionmarket total, but is the best performance since 2010, when more than50,000 cars were registered through the Scrappage Incentive Scheme(see graph below).

The Q1 total is 2.7% above the SMMT’s forecast, which led it to reforecastits full year total from 2.057 million to 2.106m.

The market’s growth over the past 13 months has been supported byincreases in private registrations, although all sales types reportedgrowth in March and Q1 2013. Private registrations increased by 11.2%over Q1 2012.

March new car registrations increased 5.9% to 394,806 units said theSMMT. CAP argued the increase was more accurately 9.6%, adjusted fortotal selling days in the month.

UK new car registrations in March 2004 to 2013 – with scrappage (SIS)scheme highlighted.

Fuel typesRegistrations of petrol-fuelled cars rose by12.1% in Q1, outselling diesels. This is downto the growth in the small car and privatesector markets. Registrations ofalternatively-fuelled cars dipped in themonth, but rose by 2.9% in Q1.

Source: SMMT

1 Ford Fiesta2 Ford Focus3 Vauxhall Corsa4 Vauxhall Astra5 Volkswagen Golf6 Nissan Qashqai7 Volkswagen Polo8 Peugeot 2089 Mercedes-Benz C-Class10 Nissan Juke

Segments The mini segment again showed thestrongest growth in March, up 56.5%, due tothe success of new models.

Double digit gains were also reported in theMPV and dual purpose segments. Allsegments, except upper medium and luxurysaloon, grew in March.

i Market Watch


MARQUE 2013 % Market share 2012 % Market share 2013 % Market share 2012 % Market shareAbarth 266 0.07 282 0.08 -5.67 378 0.06 362 0.06 4.42Alfa Romeo 964 0.24 1,540 0.41 -37.40 1,486 0.25 2,309 0.41 -35.64Aston Martin 141 0.04 207 0.06 -31.88 259 0.04 303 0.05 -14.52Audi 25,452 6.45 23,416 6.28 8.69 38,262 6.32 35,962 6.38 6.40Bentley 148 0.04 198 0.05 -25.25 262 0.04 329 0.06 -20.36BMW 21,767 5.51 20,566 5.52 5.84 31,322 5.18 30,063 5.33 4.19Chevrolet 2,080 0.53 2,743 0.74 -24.17 3,027 0.50 5,282 0.94 -42.69Chrysler 513 0.13 634 0.17 -19.09 725 0.12 782 0.14 -7.29Citroen 14,606 3.70 12,995 3.49 12.40 22,187 3.67 19,585 3.48 13.29Dacia 1,651 0.42 0 0.00 0.00 1,978 0.33 0 0.00 0.00Fiat 10,020 2.54 8,730 2.34 14.78 14,877 2.46 13,059 2.32 13.92Ford 54,702 13.86 53,830 14.44 1.62 84,347 13.94 82,848 14.70 1.81Honda 12,471 3.16 10,134 2.72 23.06 18,144 3.00 14,747 2.62 23.04Hyundai 12,157 3.08 11,715 3.14 3.77 19,986 3.30 17,761 3.15 12.53Infiniti 104 0.03 102 0.03 1.96 120 0.02 144 0.03 -16.67Jaguar 3,505 0.89 2,907 0.78 20.57 4,978 0.82 4,020 0.71 23.83Jeep 312 0.08 444 0.12 -29.73 506 0.08 682 0.12 -25.81Kia 12,608 3.19 11,178 3.00 12.79 19,204 3.17 17,211 3.05 11.58Land Rover 12,994 3.29 11,490 3.08 13.09 18,765 3.10 15,810 2.81 18.69Lexus 1,550 0.39 1,744 0.47 -11.12 2,261 0.37 2,692 0.48 -16.01Lotus 37 0.01 10 0.00 270.00 42 0.01 35 0.01 20.00Maserati 52 0.01 48 0.01 8.33 87 0.01 99 0.02 -12.12Mazda 6,092 1.54 6,869 1.84 -11.31 9,075 1.50 9,708 1.72 -6.52Mercedes-Benz 18,870 4.78 16,334 4.38 15.53 29,002 4.79 25,576 4.54 13.40MG 41 0.01 236 0.06 -82.63 81 0.01 446 0.08 -81.84MINI 9,150 2.32 8,451 2.27 8.27 11,934 1.97 11,306 2.01 5.55Mitsubishi 2,185 0.55 1,417 0.38 54.20 3,043 0.50 2,102 0.37 44.77Nissan 20,658 5.23 20,586 5.52 0.35 33,931 5.61 30,081 5.34 12.80Perodua 55 0.01 83 0.02 -33.73 98 0.02 135 0.02 -27.41Peugeot 19,857 5.03 18,969 5.09 4.68 31,260 5.17 29,411 5.22 6.29Porsche 1,097 0.28 1,160 0.31 -5.43 1,660 0.27 1,728 0.31 -3.94Proton 8 0.00 59 0.02 -86.44 12 0.00 95 0.02 -87.37Renault 6,493 1.64 7,364 1.98 -11.83 9,806 1.62 11,581 2.05 -15.33Saab 0 0.00 105 0.03 -100.00 1 0.00 114 0.02 -99.12SEAT 6,828 1.73 6,817 1.83 0.16 10,457 1.73 10,084 1.79 3.70Skoda 9,711 2.46 8,507 2.28 14.15 15,504 2.56 13,878 2.46 11.72smart 987 0.25 972 0.26 1.54 1,464 0.24 1,488 0.26 -1.61Ssangyong 90 0.02 171 0.05 -47.37 163 0.03 233 0.04 -30.04Subaru 519 0.13 542 0.15 -4.24 669 0.11 920 0.16 -27.28Suzuki 7,089 1.80 5,941 1.59 19.32 9,956 1.65 7,711 1.37 29.11Toyota 17,925 4.54 18,032 4.84 -0.59 26,065 4.31 25,760 4.57 1.18Vauxhall 42,017 10.64 38,624 10.36 8.78 69,227 11.44 57,836 10.26 19.70Volkswagen 31,091 7.88 30,756 8.25 1.09 49,260 8.14 49,873 8.85 -1.23Volvo 5,736 1.45 5,637 1.51 1.76 8,926 1.47 8,875 1.57 0.57Other British 69 0.02 153 0.04 -54.90 186 0.03 268 0.05 -30.60Other Imports 138 0.03 137 0.04 0.73 215 0.04 262 0.05 -17.94Total 394,806 372,835 5.89 605,198 563,556 7.39

REGISTRATIONS OF NEW CARS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM - BY MARQUE

MARCH% Change

YEAR-TO-DATE% Change

Q1 new car registrations (cont)

i Market Watch


Retail networkchanges by brandAMi collates the retail network changes of 49manufacturers each month.

In Q1 2013 25 brands either increased or reduced their network size. The majority (15 brands) cut back total representation. A total of 10 increased it.

The most significant changes were made bySubaru (-18.18%) and Ford (-6.25%) andMitsubishi (-5.77%) in reducing the networkstanding.

Others cutting back were Mazda, Vauxhall,Peugeot, Skoda, Hyundai, Audi, Proton, Toyota,Citroën, Suzuki, Miniand Volkswagen.

With the weight of change being on reduction itfollows that the overall retail outlet total for all 49brands monitored fell slightly from 5,275 to 5,211,or -1.21%.

Infinitiand Lamborghini increased the most inpercentage terms, but by little in numbers – eachadding one dealership to bring their total to seven.Chrysler increased its dealer representation by7.41% (four sites), Kiaby 1.69% (three sites) andNissanby 1.42% (3 sites).

Others expanding were Maserati, Great Wall,Chevrolet, SsangYongand Fiat.

NameNew vehicle retail outlet count

at January 1, 2013New vehicle retail outlet count

at March 31, 2013Percentage

changeAbarth 28 28 0.00%Alfa Romeo 57 57 0.00%Aston Martin 21 21 0.00%Audi 124 122 -1.64%Bentley Motors 21 21 0.00%BMW 152 152 0.00%Chevrolet 75 76 1.32%Chrysler 50 54 7.41%Citroen 195 193 -1.04%Dacia 134 134 0.00%Ferrari 17 17 0.00%Fiat 157 158 0.63%Ford 527 496 -6.25%Great Wall 46 47 2.13%Honda 178 178 0.00%Hyundai Motor UK 152 149 -2.01%Infiniti 6 7 14.29%Isuzu 87 87 0.00%Jaguar 87 87 0.00%Jeep 47 47 0.00%Kia 175 178 1.69%Lamborghini 6 7 14.29%Land Rover 117 117 0.00%Lexus 46 46 0.00%Lotus 17 17 0.00%Maserati GB 14 15 6.67%Mazda 138 133 -3.76%Mercedes-Benz 120 120 0.00%MG 33 33 0.00%Mini 145 144 -0.69%Mitsubishi 110 104 -5.77%Nissan 208 211 1.42%Perodua 34 34 0.00%Peugeot 242 236 -2.54%Porsche 34 34 0.00%Proton 69 68 -1.47%Renault 167 167 0.00%Seat 122 122 0.00%Skoda 130 127 -2.36%Smart 52 52 0.00%SsangYong 52 53 1.89%Subaru 52 44 -18.18%Suzuki 141 140 -0.71%Toyota 181 179 -1.12%Vauxhall 351 342 -2.63%Volkswagen 209 208 -0.48%Volvo 106 106 0.00%

TOTAL 5,232 5,168 -1.21

10-year view of franchised outlets and non-franchisedused car sites, including three year prediction

i Market Watch


Sales perfranchisedoutletThe data puts side-by-side registrations, outlets, market shareand sales per outlet (cars) for 2012 total year and Q1 2013.

Franchise Sales Market share Outlets Annual sales per outlet 2012 Sales Market share Outlets Sales per outlet Q1 2013

2012 2012 2012 2012 Q1 2013 Q1 2013 Q1 2013

Alfa Romeo 7,253 0.35 56 130 1,486 0.25 57 26Audi 123,622 6.05 122 989 38,262 6.32 122 314BMW 127,530 6.24 152 839 31,322 5.18 152 206Chevrolet 12,260 0.66 77 159 3,027 0.5 76 40Chrysler 3,333 0.16 47 65 725 0.12 54 13Citroen 73,656 3.60 197 393 22,187 3.67 193 115Dacia N/A N/A 133 N/A 1,978 0.33 134 15Fiat 49,907 2.44 160 312 14,877 2.46 158 94Ford 281,917 13.79 545 528 84,347 14 496 170Great Wall N/A N/A 46 N/A N/A 47 N/AHonda 54,208 2.65 176 306 18,144 3 178 102Hyundai 74,285 3.63 154 486 19,986 3.3 149 134Infiniti 530 0.03 6 76 120 0.02 7 17Jaguar 14,109 0.69 89 159 4,978 0.82 87 57Kia 66,629 3.26 170 383 19,204 3.17 178 108Land Rover 48,626 2.38 119 409 18,765 3.1 117 160Lexus 8,404 0.41 46 183 2,261 0.37 46 49Mazda 26,183 1.28 140 187 9,075 1.5 133 68Mercedes-Benz 91,855 4.49 123 747 29,002 4.79 120 242MG Rover/MG 782 0.04 33 24 81 0.01 33 3Mini 51,324 2.51 145 356 11,934 1.97 144 83Mitsubishi 6,549 0.32 113 58 3,043 0.5 104 29Nissan 105,835 5.18 202 511 33,931 5.61 211 161Peugeot 99,486 4.87 234 431 31,260 5.17 236 132Porsche 7,998 0.39 40 200 1,660 0.27 34 49Proton 208 0.01 72 3 12 0 68 0.2Renault 40,760 1.99 167 244 9,806 1.62 167 59Saab 232 0.01 N/A N/A 1 0 N/A N/ASeat 38,798 1.90 122 318 10,457 1.73 122 86Skoda 53,602 2.62 135 403 15,504 2.56 127 122Smart 5,616 0.27 52 108 1,464 0.24 52 28SsangYong 875 0.04 48 17 163 0.03 52 3Subaru 2,023 0.10 60 34 669 0.11 44 15Suzuki 24,893 1.22 142 175 9,956 1.65 140 71Toyota 84,563 4.14 180 470 26,065 4.31 179 146Vauxhall 232,255 11.36 354 660 69,227 11.44 342 202Volkswagen 183,098 8.96 212 868 49,260 8.14 208 237Volvo 31,790 1.55 109 292 8,926 1.47 106 84

Total 2,034,994 4,978 603,165 4,873

i Market Watch


Dealer financial performance – 2011 (2012)

Top performing byturnover –20111. Pendragon - £3,465,800,000 (£3.63bn)

2. Sytner - £2,659,497,000

3. Arnold Clark Automotobiles -£2,253,071,000

4. Inchcape Retail - £2,023,200,000

5. Lookers - £1,898,500,000 (£2.1bn)

Top performing by profitbefore tax – 20111. Arnold Clark Automobiles - £51,762,000

2. Sytner Group - £49,426,000 (£66m)

3. Lookers - £31,900,000 (£36.5m)

4. Mercedes-Benz Retail Group -£11,036,000

5. Park’s Motor Group - £10,536,000

Return in capitalemployed (ROCE) – 20111. Hodgson Automotive– 47.84%

2. Griffin Mill Garages – 32.89%

3. Hatfields - £27.24%

4. Ridgeway Group– 27.23%

5. Thompson Motor Company(Audi North West) – 23.55%

Gearing – 20111. The Co-operative Motor Group–

114.43%

2. Hadley Green Garages – 114.21%

3. Silver Street Automotive (now ownedby Marshall Motor Group) – 98.94%

4. Marsh Wall – 97.88%

5. Robins & Day – 97.2%

Return on sale – 20111. Parks Motor Group– 3.1%

2. CEM Day– 3.04%

3. Spire Automotive– 2.83%

4. Westover Group– 2.7%

5. Hartwell– 2.64%

Further financial statistics are available at www.am-online.com/ami

i Market Watch


Q1 2013: New car launches in:

JanuaryDacia Sandero

Hyundai i30 3 door

Jaguar XF Sportbrake

Lexus LS

Mazda6

Peugeot RCZ

Porsche Cayenne S diesel

Porsche Cayenne Turbo S

Renault Clio Renaultsport 200 Turbo

Seat Ibiza Cupra

Vauxhall Mokka

Volkswagen Golf

Volvo V40 Cross Country

FebruaryRenault Clio

Vauxhall Adam

MarchAudi A3 Sportback

BMW Z4

Citroen DS3 Cabrio

Mini John Cooper Works Paceman

Mini Paceman

Porsche Cayman

Seat Leon

Seat Mii Auto

Skoda Octavia

Toyota RAV4

AprilMercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe and Cabriolet

Mercedes-Benz E-Class Saloon and Estate

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

Peugeot 208 GTi

Vauxhall Cascada

Volkswagen Beetle Convertible

MayDacia Sandero Stepway

BMW M6 Gran Coupe

JuneMercedes-Benz E63 AMG & S Model

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Coupe Black SeriesRenault Captur

Mercedes-Benz CLA

Renault Clio Renaultsport 200 Turbo

SpringAudi RS5 Cabriolet

Chevrolet Trax

Dacia Lodgy

Ford Fiesta

Ford Mondeo

Land Rover Range Rover

McLaren 12C Spider

Mercedes-Benz GL-Class

Peugeot 208 GTi

Vauxhall Cascada

Q2 2013: New car launches in:

i Market Watch


News watch: Key eventsin the firstquarter of2013

n The Whitemores Group buysPhoenix Wimbledon Vauxhallfrom the administrators

n Kia appoints design directorPeter Shreyer as president

n Chinese brand Qorosannounces plans to launch inEurope

n Broadbridge MotorCompany’s Citroen businessin Horsham shuts because offinancial problems

n 2012 new registrations rose5.3% on 2011 to 2.04m units, afour-year high

n Subaru moves from threeyear/60,000 mile to fiveyear/100,000 mile warranties

n Peoples Ford buys J Pilling &Son single site Ford dealer inAccrington

n Vertu acquires Dobies(Vauxhall and Seat site inCarlisle) for £4.3m andVauxhall dealership inKeighley from Walter C Brigg

n Hyundai says 2013 sales willbe flat due to shortage ofsupply

n Now Motor Retailing acquiresVauxhall and Chevrolet dealerMonorep which went intoadministration in November

n Len Curran appointed RenaultRetail Group MD

n Vauxhall MD Duncan Aldrednamed acting Opel/Vauxhallvice president, sales,marketing and aftersales

n Benfield managing directorNigel McMinn promoted tochief executive. Mark Squiresbecomes executive chairman

n Renault Retail Group opensone of Europe’s biggestNissan dealerships at NissanLondon West

n New car registrations up11.5% making January thethird month of double digityear-on-year growth and the11th successive rise. SMMTpredicts market will rise by0.6% to 2.057 million units in2013 and by 2.6% to 2.11million units in 2014

n Average dealer profitabilityimproved from 0.7% return onsales to 1.17% in Januarycompared to last year,according to ASE.

Acquisitions:single sites andholding companydeals in Q1 2013

Single sites bought Jan - April 2013

Bought Bought by Town Postcode New car franchisesCounty Motor Works Cambria Automobiles Chelmsford CM2 6PN Alfa Romeo, Chrysler Jeep, VauxhallRoyce Roberts Skoda DM Keith Hull HU6 7AD SkodaGreyhound Ford Peoples Accrington BB5 5EG Ford, Bodyshop sold to Howard BasfordVauxhall Keighley Vertu Motors Keighley BD20 7BW Vauxhall

Holding company bought

Bought Bought by New car franchisesDobies Cumbria Vertu Motors Peugeot (NR), Proton (NR), Seat, VauxhallMonorep (administration) Now Motor Retailing Chevrolet (NR), VauxhallPhoenix Wimbledon Vauxhall The Whitmores Group VauxhallSilver Street Motors Marshall Motor Group Seat, VolkswagenSquire Furneaux Hildenborough Group (Grafise) VolvoGilder Group JCT600 Audi, Seat, Volkswagen

NR = not retained

January

i Market Watch


n Q1 2013 registrationsincreased by 7.4% year-on-year (13 months ofconsecutive growth), privateregistrations up 11.2%.

n Vertu pre-close statementsays its performance will beahead of current marketexpectations. In five months toend of January like-for-likenew retail volumes up by13.6%

n Single site Lexus, Mazda andSkoda franchise MitchellGroup reports turnoverincrease from £36.1m to£37.2m on 2011, withoperating profit £1.53m from£1.48m

n JCT600 acquires £200mturnover Gilder Group withnine sites in eight figure dealbringing its turnover to £850mand to 50 dealerships

n Peoples Ford pre-tax profitsincrease 26% on 2011 to£2.03m with turnover up by£2.36m to £146.7m

n GM Europe boss Steve Girskyclaims Vauxhall will overtakeFord as UK top brand in threeyears with new products andcomponent purchasepartnerships with PeugeotCitroen and joint developmentplans

n BMW chairman says electricmobility is the future

n Lookers’ 2012 results showrevenue up from £1.9bn to£2.06bn, adjusted profit to£36.8m from £33.8m and PBTto £35.3m from £31.4m

n Ford of Britain boss MarkOvenden says pre-reg activitywill increase this year in theUK

n February new car registrationsup year-on-year by 7.9%, the12-month of consecutivegrowth and at the highest levelsince the end of the scrappagescheme in spring 2010. 2013forecast to be a flat year

n Inchcape Retail UK achieves arecord 2.8% return on salesand increased sales by 3.6% to£2.1bn. Trading profit rose by8.4% year-on-year to £58m

n Spire Automotive buys threeScotthall BMW and Mini sitesfrom Jardine Motor Group atWatford, Stirling Corner andRuislip, boosting turnover by£250m

n Lookers’ operations directorAndy Bruce promoted to COO

n RAC enters online classifiedsmarket with Netcarsacquisition

n Mark Ovenden to take on JoeGreenwell’s role as Fordchairman on his retirement inApril. He will also be chairmanof Ford of Britain

n Andrew Venn appointed headof operations at HarrattsGroup. Former Pendragonfranchise director’s role is to“evolve the organisation froma thriving family business to aclass leading motor retailer".

n New Chinese manufacturerQoros will not enter Europeanmarket as budget brand, butas rival to Volkswagen andFord in the next four years

n Dealer group John Grosesigns deal with Revoo toengage directly withconsumers online andmanage reviews of thebusiness and its cars

n HR Owen posts annualresults, reporting sales up26% to £243.5m in 2012, profitbefore tax up 28% to £2.3mfrom £1.8m. New carregistrations increased by 11%on a like-for-like basis. Usedcar volumes up 5%

n Seat CEO James Muir saystotal brand sales must doublein order to ensure its long-term survival. But this doesnot apply specifically to the UKwhere its market share is1.9% on 39,000 sales in 2012.

n Whitequay Group with threesites in Southampton, Readingand Newbury (and the Kia,Chrysler Jeep, Seat, Skodaand Suzuki franchises) wentinto administration

n Cambria Automobiles buysCounty Motor Works, aChelmsford-based franchiseddealer with Vauxhall, AlfaRomeo and Chrysler-Jeepbrands for £2.9m and nogoodwill

n Ken Ramirez replaces ThierrySybord as Renault UK MD

n Jardine Motors buys Toyotadealership in St Ives,Cambridgeshire from ThurlowNunn

n Government says there couldbe 1.6 million hydrogen-powered cars in the UK by2030

n Snows Group buys Toyota andLexus branded businesses inExeter, Honiton, Plymouth andTorbay from Marsh Group

n Caffyns tells investors thatnew car sales rose 20.6% inthe four month to Februarycompared to last year. Usedcar volumes up 10.6%

n DM Keith acquires RoyceRoberts Skoda, a single sitebusiness in Hull

n Sytner records highest eversales and profits for 2012,exceeding £3bn sales – growthof 15%, helped by itsacquisition last spring of IsaacAgnew in Northern Ireland.PBT of £66m was a third up on2011

n Pendragon turnover up 5% to£3.63 billion and PBT by 58%to £37.8m. Operating profitwas down 13% to £67.9m

n Group 1 Automotive buys fourremaining Inchcape Forddealerships in Bracknell,Guildford, Farnborough andWokingham

n AM poll: dealer confidence upon 2012. 51% of dealersbelieve 2013 will see marketimprovement

n Honda appoints PhilCrossman managing directorfrom post as general managerof the cars division.Predecessor Dave Hodgettspromoted to Europeanregional auditor.

n Marshall Motor Groupacquired 10-site Silver StreetAutomotive adding Audi andSkoda and expanding groupinto the south west for the firsttime

February

March

i Market Watch

The results of collating andcomparing new car offersadvertised by 24 leading vehiclemanufacturers covering 95% ofthe retail market place anumber of trends haveemerged.

Following on fromNewCarPromotions’ analysis of2012 the following trends areevident so far in 2013:

New car pricing(RRP):- The average price of a new

car has risen over the pastthree months by 1% to£25,083 (the past 12 monthsshows a 2% increase).

- 10 of the leading 24manufacturers haveincreased their prices withinthe past three months withCitroen showing the largestincrease of 7%, followed byAudi with 6% and Fiat with5%.

- Seven manufacturers’pricing has remained staticwith the remaining sevenactually reducing their

prices. Kia has seen thelargest reduction with a 5%fall in RRP.

- Of the brands monitored bywww.newcarpromotions.co.uk the top five mostexpensive vehicle rangesare:

Jaguar £55,726Land Rover £43,458Mercedes Benz £41,628Audi £36,516BMW £35,615

See overleaf for Price Trends

Cash offers /customer savingsIn recent months the focus oncustomer savings has reducedslightly in favour of finance ledmessages and particularly PCP.All brands have moved awayfrom the ‘no VAT’ messageappearing in many new caradvertisements last year.Having said that, 15 new carmanufacturers are promotingcustomer savings with theaverage falling slightly but still asignificant £1,814 on average.

Finance offers -PersonalContractPurchase (PCP)PCP finance is extremelypopular with vehiclemanufacturers enabling themto offer optically attractivemonthly payments and takingthe focus away from hefty RRPs.The theory is that people arewilling to ‘rent’ a new car tohave lower payments and thelatest models andspecifications. This fundingmethod also enables peoplewho may not have been a newcar buyer to own a brand newcar. Low monthly payments andregular changes into the ‘latestthing’ are appealing.

One of the clearest indicationsthat PCP is gaining favour withvehicle manufacturers is theincrease in 0% PCP. Sevenmanufacturers now offer thisfunding option compared to twothis time last year.

This is great news forconsumers and expensive tofund for manufacturers. Anindication of how tough thetimes are perhaps.

After nine months of reducingadvertised payments theaverage monthly payment isnow back up to £314 per monthas it was this time last year.

There is good news in thatmanufacturers are increasingtheir deposit contributions withthe average now a significant£1,680.

Those in the market for a luxurycar for example can get £13,500towards the deposit on aMercedes-Benz S Class;£13,025 on a Jaguar XJ and£11,650 on an Audi A8.

However, with static averageterms of 38 months, a4%increase in customerdeposits required in the lastthree months and APRsreducing to 5.3% across themarket, it is clear that residualvalues are falling.

Finance offers -0% APRrepresentativeThere is good news for buyerswishing to take traditional 0%HP finance as 12 manufacturersare currently actively promotingthis method of finance.

Even better, the average deposithas reduced by over £1,000 inthe past 12 months to £6,166 sogone are the days where a 50%deposit was required to gain 0%funding.

The average terms areincreasing though with theaverage offer being promotedover a 45 month period (versus38 on PCP).

Manufacturers are aware thatcustomers shop around andwith the focus on PCP it isinteresting to note that only fivemodels are currently advertisedon HP with interest rates above0%.

OwnershippackagesLonger warranties weresomething of a fashionableinclusion over the last few year,but the past few months hasseen stability in this area as wellas with free and fixed priceservicing. Six brands currentlyoffer free servicing on some orall of their models whilst sevenother manufacturers advertiselow cost, fixed price servicing.

This does not appear to be agrowing sector at the momentwith clear focus on opticalmonthly payments by manymanufacturers.

See overleaf for MarketingProgramme Data

ConclusionThere are clear trends in the UKautomotive market showingthat consumers are willing topart with their cash but theywant value for money and wanta ‘deal’.

They are better informed thanever before by visitingautomotive websites for reviewsand to compare prices before

they contemplate setting foot ina car showroom.

Manufacturers have respondedby making new cars moreaccessible to prospects with lowdeposits and recognising thathigh APR’s are no longeracceptable.

Rather than large customersavings, PCP depositcontributions are the norm asmanufacturers try to enticeprospects away fromcompetitors and keep them ontheir finance books for futurerenewal.

Aboutwww.newcarpromotions.co.ukis an independent websiteoperated by In Market SolutionsLtd. We compare the advertisednew car offers of 24 brandscovering over 96% of the UKmarket. Data collected is usedto drive the comparison functionof the website saving users timeand effort in searchingmanufacturer websites. As wellas assisting new car buyers, wecan provide data formanufacturers and dealers toassist in planning new carmarketing activities. ContactNick Philips, Director, fordetails:

[email protected]

Tel: 07930 333909


Special report:New car pricing andfinance offer analysis Source: www.newcarpromotions.co.uk

i Market Watch


Brand Oct '11 Jan '12 Apr '12 Jul '12 Oct '12 Jan '13 Oct '11 v Oct '12 Jan '12 v Jan '13 Oct '11 v Oct '12 Position

Jan '12 v Jan '13 Position Jan '13 v Oct '12

Audi 32315 32021 32174 32647 34357 36516 113.00% 114.04% 3 1 106%Land Rover 37831 38854 38232 38908 42450 43458 114.87% 111.85% 1 2 102%Citroen 18237 18242 18389 18349 19014 20345 111.56% 111.53% 19 3 107%Mazda 18957 19052 19012 19154 20253 21144 111.54% 110.98% 2 4 104%Mini 18827 18876 18921 18937 19681 20457 108.66% 108.38% 6 5 104%Toyota 19097 19200 19623 19694 19538 20398 106.81% 106.24% 5 6 104%Hyundai 18278 18289 18420 18820 19758 19266 105.41% 105.34% 7 7 98%Nissan 20429 20511 20646 20990 21430 21456 105.03% 104.61% 11 8 100%Honda 22975 22975 22975 23498 24007 23864 103.87% 103.87% 10 9 99%Mercedes Benz 40202 40177 40442 39028 41538 41628 103.55% 103.61% 14 10 100%Chevrolet 18388 19401 19401 19500 19697 20007 108.80% 103.12% 4 11 102%Alfa Romeo 19420 19420 19420 19420 19931 19931 102.63% 102.63% 13 12 100%Kia 16951 16951 16500 16931 18229 17396 102.63% 102.63% 18 13 95%Ford 21077 21123 20925 21197 21000 21592 102.44% 102.22% 12 14 103%Skoda 18660 18660 18639 18631 17976 18874 101.15% 101.15% 8 15 105%Renault 17536 17536 18206 18054 18157 17675 100.79% 100.79% 16 16 97%BMW 35458 35415 36378 37177 35927 35615 100.44% 100.56% 22 17 99%Fiat 14486 14538 13922 14220 13755 14489 100.02% 99.66% 15 18 105%Volvo 29658 30579 30681 30528 30132 30043 101.30% 98.25% 9 19 100%Vauxhall 22109 22329 21595 21641 21970 21670 98.01% 97.05% 21 20 99%Peugeot 19210 19496 19541 19596 18733 18701 97.35% 95.92% 17 21 100%Seat 19779 19779 19478 19613 18823 18823 95.17% 95.17% 20 22 100%Volkswagen 24347 24446 24532 24830 23252 22923 94.15% 93.77% 23 23 99%Jaguar 61461 62270 59993 59963 55726 55726 90.67% 89.49% 24 24 100%

24403 24589 24502 24639 24806 25083 101.65% 102.79%102%

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Special report:£ Price Trends sheet

i Market Watch


Oct-Dec 11 Jan-Mar 12 Apr-Jun 12 Jul-Sep 12 Oct-Dec 12 Jan-Mar 13 Rolling Change Previous % changeAv Customer Saving £1,640 £1,910 £1,779 £1,915 £1,935 £1,814 -5% 6%Customer Saving available (brands) 11 12 13 14 16 15 25% 6%

Av PCP payment £312 £314 £300 £294 £286 £314 0% -10%Av PCP Deposit Contribution £1,300 £1,370 £1,286 £1,138 £1,249 £1,680 23% -35%Av PCP customer deposit £4,565 £4,318 £4,531 £4,538 £4,597 £4,770 10% -4%Av PCP term (months) 37 38 37 37 38 38 0% 0%Brands promoting > 36 month PCP 8 9 8 8 10 7 -22% 30%0% PCP available (brands) 1 2 3 4 4 7 250% -75%Av PCP APR 7.0% 6.5% 6.15% 6.0% 6.1% 5.3% -18% 13%Av HP payments £247 £286 £260 £250 £286 £239 -16% 16%Av HP term (months) 45 42 43 46 42 45 7% -7%Av HP customer deposit £6,549 £7,340 £6,551 £7,040 £7,801 £6,166 -16% 21%

0% HP available (brands) 10 11 11 13 14 12 9% 14%Free Servicing (brands) 7 8 6 6 6 6 -25% 0%Fixed price servicing (brands) 3 8 7 4 8 7 -13% 13%Extended warranty (brands) 5 7 7 6 7 7 0% 0%0% VAT (brands) 2 3 4 4 3 0 -100% 100%

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Special report:Price Marketing Programme Data

i Market Watch


Special report:

Consumer confidencein the new car marketQ1 2013 Author: Terry Hogan, co-founder, Motoring.co.uk

Consumer research has revealed thatnearly 38.9% of consumers are looking tochange their car in the next 12 months – aslight increase in the appetite for a new cardisplayed at the end of last year.

77% plan to change in the next three years,up from 72% at the end of 2012.

19.7% plan to change in 2014 (16% gave this

response in Q4 2012), 18.1% in 2015 (18%),11.5% in 2016 (9%) and 4.4% in 2017 (6%).

Just 23% intend to stick to their car past thethree year point, a figure that was 28% at theend of 2012.

A survey of 1,489 consumers was carriedout in March for AMi by Motoring.co.uk.Since the previous survey in November

nearly 10% more people say they willchange because they want to – not becauseof vehicle condition or age.

Kia, Hyundai and Skoda are higher on choicelists at the expense of more established,volume brands.

The consumer confidencesurvey findings:

Why are you thinking of changing?The rise in people making an emotional decision to change (“fancy achange”) could be an indication of rising consumer confidence, coincidingwith a reported increase in house buying and mortgage activity.

Will you buy new or used?For the next 12 months, the proportion of consumers looking to buy newremains the same as when surveyed in November. Those who areundecided have increased by five percentage points at the expense ofthose who said they would definitely buy used. This could be anotherindication of consumers feeling more confident perhaps – and alsoperhaps the influence of strong finance offers being made available fornew product (see ‘New car pricing and finance offer analysis’ above).

Consumers not changing for at least 12 monthsCar buyers who are not changing for the next 12 months are increasinglylikely to consider a new car, with 25% having this option on their wish list.Those definitely buying used have decreased by 7%.

In conjunction withmotoring.co.uk

Source: motoring.co.uk

i Market Watch


Name three brands you would beinterested in. First choiceFord continue to lead the way, still the first choice for around 13% ofconsumers. But more than a quarter of consumers put one of thepremium brands BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz as their first choice. Socalled value brands such as Skoda and Kia appear in the top 10 for thefirst time, leap frogging volume brands such as Peugeot, Mazda, Citroenand Renault.

Biggest fallers in brands considered(compared to November survey)This data is generated by user brand recall, not via a list of manufacturers,so is a great benchmark. Renault, Peugeot and Ford are the biggestfallers. Aggressive monthly payment offers from Ford look to have moreor less maintained market share.

Rises in top 3 brands consideredCurrent market trends in consumer shopping show that premium andvalue or challenger brands are doing well at the expense of themainstream, and this is mirrored in the automotive brands considered byUK consumers.

Special report:Consumer confidence in the new car market Q1 2013 (cont)Source: motoring.co.uk

i Market Watch


How much will you pay for your nextnew car? There are changes at the top end of planned expenditure as 27% ofconsumers are willing to spend more than £25,000, up from 23% inNovember.

The top five considerations whenchoosing your next car No change here from November with price, MPG and reliability in the topthree. Rising fuel costs have put fuel type at four ahead this time ofinsurance cost. Performance, brand image and technology/ICE havebecome more important in the last four months.

Special report:Consumer confidence in the new car market Q1 2013 (cont)

Top 10 brands being considered byused car buyersBMW is the top used car choice with Kia coming in at number 10,replacing Peugeot from November’s poll.


i Market Watch


How will you pay for your car?Bearing in mind consumers’ reticence to discuss finance, it is believed thecash element in the results is a little higher than reality. However, thenumber giving this response has dipped by 8% since November. Dealerfinance, hire purchase and personal contract purchase benefit withnumbers giving this response doubling since the same period at 18%. Theproportion is higher for premium brand purchases at 23%.

If you choose finance, how much doyou expect to pay per month?No significant changes here on November, continuing to reflect thecurrent market place for new car offers.

Buying experience, what didn't you like?During the dealership experience product knowledge is good, with only3% of consumers concerned about this aspect. Customers are beingcalled back enough for their liking after their visit.

A significant proportion (23% ) of users thought that staff were eitherunhelpful or lacked interest in them.

17% cited the eternal ’ not enough for my car’ reason for theirdispleasure.

Special report:Consumer confidence in the new car market Q1 2013 (cont)Source: motoring.co.uk

i Market Watch


Why wouldn’t you use a franchiseddealer for servicingHigh cost is the typical answer. There is a clear marketing opportunityhere to address the issue with consumers needing educating on thebenefits of franchised dealer servicing. At the same time franchiseddealers needs to consider greater visibility of pricing and also makingservice booking and management by consumers as effortless as possibleie a meeting of technology and great customer care.

Special report:Consumer confidence in the new car market Q1 2013 (cont)

Motoring.co.uk is the number one provider of automotive transactionalconsumer data, generating 50-60,000 automotive consumer records and10,000 new and used car leads for its manufacturer and dealer partnersper month. Motoring.co.uk is also the UK’s largest motoring website fornew car search, with over 1.3M registered users growing daily and over150,000 new and used vehicles for sale.

Where would you go for servicing onyour next vehicle?The good news continues from November, with consumers saying theywould be as likely to use a franchised as an independent dealer. Half ofthe respondents who would choose a franchised would use the supplyingdealer; half would use the closest franchised site. So, long distance sellingmay work for dealers, but servicing needs to be local.

Clear trends appear to be that consumers are starting to open theirpurse strings just a little, with premium brands benefitting from strong registration gains. More users are considering new cars, at higher values.

More users are concerned about the brand they drive, and the gadgetsthat are included, particularly ICE and connectability.

Value for money is still the big driver in model consideration, and thatdoesn't look like changing in the short-term, so OEM focus on MPG andemissions is set to continue.

There are a lot of positive notes from this survey for the franchiseddealer, with demand increasing. More new cars this year means moreused car sales in 2-3 years time.

A focus on retaining the consumer beyond the initial sale will helpdealers with repeat customers in the medium-term. Winning morebusiness from independent servicing, tyre and aftermarket outlets wouldseem to be a big opportunity for short-term margin and long-termgrowth and customer satisfaction.


i For the first time detailed information on 200 franchiseddealer groups and vehicle manufacturers operating in the UKhas been compiled by Automotive Management's newintelligence division AMi to create an essential strategicplanning and business tool for dealers, manufacturers,suppliers and investors.

Constantly updated, AMi gives you the information tocompare, benchmark and identify growth strategies by region,brand and individual dealer or manufacturer with informationat your fingertips. AMi's wealth of data also means we candeliver market reports and bespoke research.

AMi enables you to:

• Monitor the UK’s most dynamic dealers • Identify the fastest growing dealers • Assess brand relationships • Benchmark performance • Access dealer health checks • Assess risk and identify opportunities • Track dealer group activity.

AMi is available on subscription. To find out more downloadour digital brochure:

www.am-online.com/AMI digital brochure.pdf

or call Julie Howard on 01733 468141 or email [email protected].

Website: www.am-online.com/ami

Helping you drivegrowth, improve profitsand identify investment

opportunities

market watch - am-onlinestatic.am-online.com/files/amimarketwatchquarter1-2013.pdf50,000 cars were...

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