AM ONLINE
Vertu Motors asserts ‘scale is a key success factor’ in five-month trading update
Vertu Motors has asserted that ‘scale is a key success factor’ in automotive retail in a five-month trading update detailing its rapid expansion through the addition of new dealerships across the UK.
Today’s (March 2) trading update from the AM100 PLC included its growth to become the UK’s largest BMW Motorrad retailer, its acquisition of 27-site Helston Garages and the opening of new Toyota dealerships in a West of Scotland territory inherited from Arnold Clark.
MOTOR TRADER
Marshall wins Hyundai retailer group of the year award
Marshall Motor Group took the overall retailer group award for consistently high performances Hyundai’s annual retailer awards.
Marshall Hyundai Worcester was rated the highest ranked overall retailer in the country.
Read Motor Group won the group customer excellence award, with Stockport Hyundai collecting the overall retailer winner for customer excellence.
AM ONLINE
Arnold Clark grows freehold property portfolio with Cazoo site acquisitions
Arnold Clark has continued to grow a “healthy freehold property portfolio” with the acquisition of two Cazoo vehicle handover sites.
The AM100 car retailer’s chief executive Eddie Hawthorne confirmed to AM that business had acquired the in sites in Chertsey and Northampton.
“We’ve acquired the sites and will be leasing them back to Cazoo on a 19-year lease,” Hawthorne said.
“We now have about 30 or so sites that we are the landlord of. They are part of a healthy freehold property portfolio that we started to build around 2009.”
BODYSHOP MAGAZINE
Vospers named Vauxhall main dealer
Southwest car dealership group Vospers has been appointed as the new main dealer for Vauxhall in Plymouth.
As part of the contract, Vospers will make a substantial investment in the Vauxhall brand between now and the summer, including a dedicated eight-car showroom with the latest corporate identity, and new workshop equipment.
Nick Vosper, managing director of Vospers, said: “I am very excited to be adding Vauxhall to the Vospers portfolio of brands, who are ideally positioned to offer a great range of vehicles, including all-electric and plug-in hybrid models, at affordable prices.
MOTOR TRADER
Inchcape to roll out Tekion DMS across dealerships
Inchcape is carrying out due diligence and testing of the Tekion cloud-based dealer management system which it plans to install across its UK dealer network.
Tekion is a relative newcomer to DMS market. It was founded in 2016 by Jay Vijayan, chief information officer of Tesla for four years.
Vijayan led the IT team which built and scaled Tesla’s digital and information platform from ground-up.
Tekion has been making waves in the US where it has attracted serious investment for its customer-centric software. It is now said to be operating in 39 States, attracting dealer groups of varying sizes.
MOTOR TRADER
Lookers ramps up mobile repair network across the UK
Lookers is rolling out its mobile repair business and plans to have 30 vans on the road by the end of the year.
The dealer group kick-started the initiative last year adding 20 vans and aims to add another 10 in 2023. Lookers is billing the move as part of its strategy to develop new sources of revenue. It also has 26 fixed sites across the country.
Lookers said customers are increasingly interested in keeping vehicles in prime condition but do not want to booking into a repair shop to get minor bumps and scratches fixed. It said repairs coming to the customer is not only more convenient, but also a great time saver.
As part its focus to do more for customers while boosting revenues, Lookers will increase capacity for all cosmetic repairs to be carried out in house, instead of being outsourced.
CAR DEALER MAGAZINE
Arnold Clark snaps up Cazoo sites in Northampton and Chertsey in ‘£10.5m deal’
Car dealer giant Arnold Clark has reportedly splashed out on two Cazoo customer handover centres.
In a briefing note to staff sent last week, boss Eddie Hawthorne revealed the group has bought Cazoo’s sites in Chertsey and Northampton (pictured).
Arnold Clark is believed to have spent £10.5m on the two sites and plans to continue to lease them back to Cazoo.
MOTOR TRADER
Cambria boss ‘excited’ about huge investment in Grange Brentwood
Cambria boss Mark Lavery said he was delighted with the planning approval gained to expand its Grange business in Brentwood, Essex.
Cambria Automobiles’ subsidiary Grange Cars has been given permission to develop a new dealership in Brentwood. Grange Motors is relocating its existing Aston Martin and Jaguar dealerships in London Road to a new site close by, which will also house its Bentley and Lamborghini dealerships from Chelmsford and a new Land Rover dealership.
They say this will result in a suite of new showroom and servicing facilities and extra jobs – it currently employs 46 full time roles but intends to expand activity to 170.
Grange said its current premises at Brook Street are no longer fit for purpose due to the site’s size and location constraints.
MOTOR TRADER
Waylands’ boss celebrates dealership wins at Volvo retailer awards
Wayland Automotive CEO John O’ Hanlon took to LinkedIn to celebrate the group’s performance in the Volvo Car UK Retailer of the Year Awards.
Waylands now has Volvo dealerships in Bristol, Newbury, Oxford, Reading and Swindon.
“A fantastic night for Waylands at the Volvo Car UK Retailer of the Year celebration,” he said.
“Waylands Oxford took home the prize for the regional retailer. And Waylands Reading placed a marker with the Most Improved Team.
MOTOR TRADER
Vospers appointed new dealer for Vauxhall in Plymouth
Vospers has been appointed as the new main dealer for Vauxhall in Plymouth.
It will replace former main dealer Evans Halshaw.
A temporary showroom is set to open at Marsh Mills in the coming days. Vauxhall commercial vehicle sales and aftersales customers are to be looked after by the dedicated Vospers Van Centre team, located at Valley Road in Plympton, Plymouth.
Nick Vosper, managing director of Vospers, said: “I am very excited to be adding Vauxhall to the Vospers portfolio of brands, who are ideally positioned to offer a great range of vehicles, including all-electric and plug-in hybrid models, at affordable prices.”
AM ONLINE
Eden Motor Group set to launch car subscription service in Karzoom partnership
Eden Motor Group is launching a new car subscription mobility service after becoming Karzoom’s retailer partner for the Thames Valley.
The AM100 car retail group will offer vehicles from franchised partners Mazda, Hyundai, Peugeot, Suzuki and MG on one-to-three month short-term agreements as part of the new offering, which promises a “completely seamless and fully managed car ownership experience”.
Customers can arrange delivery to a location of their choosing when using the subscription service, facilitated by Karzoom, which follows similar partnerships with Perrys Motors, Hendy Group and Brayleys Cars.
Eden Motors chief executive Graeme Potts said: “Karzoom manages everything through its central online system, including all elements of the booking process, meaning all the hard work is completed by the Karzoom Team, whilst we manage the vehicles and the customer handover process.”
