Catamount Constructors’ Post

Mercedes and Volvo agency February update The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have now produced their February figures for Mercedes and Volvo compared to BMW and Audi. The table with the data is at the end of this post. The big news on agency this month is that JLR have announced that they're pushing their conversion to agency into the long grass. Now that we're back to a ‘normal’ market with supply-led sales, it's not surprising that they've taken this decision. Due to the scale of balance sheet risk, combined with a lack of flexibility through set pricing that agency creates, it was always going to make it difficult to implement profitably in a market the size of the UK. The fact that the majority of the Chinese new entrants are not going agency tells us all we need to know about their belief in squeezing extra margin from the supply chain by going direct to the consumer. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the Mercedes and Volvo boardrooms as they work through their increased balance sheets and requirement to keep up market share by putting sales through fleet and car rental - their least profitable channels. The elephant in the room is whether the VAG group will continue to push for agency. If I was a gambling man, then I would say not and expect they'll find a reason to follow Land Rover and, to use a Private Eye expression, "do a reverse ferret". Until next month. #Agency #Mercedes #Audi #Volvo #BMW #SMMT #BEV #preregistration #fleet

Interesting development in the US pick-up light truck market; the OEMs are finally figuring out that pick-ups owned by those employing their vehicles for work is a totally different market segment than suburbanites who are enamored with the 'tough' image of owning a pick-up to load a scoop of mulch once a year. Ford saw the light last year and successfully started their Pro sales/service channel for workers employing their vehicles for work. Note that the F-150 is the most popular new light vehicle sold in the US. Ironically, the original purpose of GM's GMC division was to do the same as Ford and Stellantis, but they lost their way over the last few decades and now sell to all commers. I will surmise that GM will either refocus the GMC brand to those employing their pick-ups, as well as selective SUVs, in the trades, or will launch a separate sales/support channel. The question is whether other OEMs selecting pick-up trucks in the US will follow this path? #oems #ford #stellantis #gm #pickuptruck

Mercedes and Volvo Agency May The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has produced their May figures for Mercedes and Volvo compared to BMW and Audi. I have now been able to get the figures showing the split between fleet and private for the brands as well, and these are in the tables below. Now that Mercedes has over a year and a half under their belt it could be argued that they have gone through the bulk of the pain and everything has settled, albeit at a lower market share that they may want long term. They have a healthy split between fleet and retail (53:47). Conversely, Volvo is coming up to their anniversary of introducing agency, and they continue to be overweight in fleet to retail sales (62:38). So it will be interesting to see how this affects residuals in the coming years. The interesting brand is Audi which is back year after year and still making noises about agency. Will they be prepared to go through the pain to do this on top of their currently reducing market share? Until next month. #Agency #Mercedes #audi #volvo #bmw #smmt #BEV #preregistration #fleet #NFDZ

🚗 Suzuki GB names new director of automotive 🚗 Suzuki GB PLC has announced a new appointment to the role of director of automotive. Dale Wyatt, who currently holds the role having been with the brand for 17 years, will be taking early retirement from March 2025. He will continue to direct the company’s automotive division until January, when he will be replaced by David Kateley, who has himself been with Suzuki since 2003, and currently leads its automobile sales operations division. Read more online: https://lnkd.in/e56iu3iu 🔔 Click our follow button to see regular car and fleet industry news and insights, and subscribe to our newsletter 🔔 #BusinessCar #suzuki #cars #carsales

Mercedes and Volvo agency April update The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have now produced their April figures for Mercedes and Volvo compared to BMW and Audi. This month I have added an additional table that shows the split between private, fleet, and business. Mercedes continues to pull back to more traditional levels, and Volvo is also growing. On the surface, this would indicate that maybe some of the challenges of agency that have been discussed are not as severe as anticipated. However, if you look at the split between private and fleet sales, we can see that the private sales are struggling year on year. If manufacturers are having to sell through the fleet channel, this will involve discounting to move the vehicles. This will ultimately hit retailers on two levels: Firstly, they are selling fewer cars. Secondly the discounting will affect residual values in the medium term. The other challenge retailers face is that they're being forced to pre-register vehicles. This will have a drag on their balance sheet - especially if short term sales into fleet come back at a reduced prices. What is difficult know is the percentage of Mercedes and Volvo sales that are are into the fleet market. If anyone reading this knows these figures then please message me and I can add details to the data next month.     Until next time #Agency #Mercedes #audi #volvo #bmw #smmt #BEV #preregistration #fleet #NFDZ

Asbury Automotive Group Inc. Reports Retreat In Q1 Bottom Line, misses estimates: Asbury Automotive Group Inc. (ABG) reported earnings … .58 billion last year. Asbury Automotive Group Inc. earnings at a … #car #cars #awesome

Next month is an exciting month at Autoclass MK as we celebrate our 20th year in business. Have you read the great article about us in this months edition Mercedes Enthusiast? #mercedesbenz #miltonkeynessmallbusiness #Businessbirthday

BMW operating profits take a hit in Q1: BMW reported falls of 25% in … divisions: automotive, financial services and motorcycles. Although car sales were a … #motorcycle #motorcycles #motorbike

•  Hugh increase in car sales led to increased dividends for Eagers! Eagers Automotive is australiens’s largest car dealergroup. Australia, Fortitude valley Eagers has about 11 % of Australia’s new car sales market. It operates 250 showrooms selling brands including Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, Honda, BMW and Subaru, and also sells the electric vehicle brand BYD. February 22, 2024 Simon Evans, Senior reporter Financial Review Eagers Automotive, the country’s largest car dealership, will pay a record dividend of 50¢ per share, with the company’s largest shareholder, billionaire businessman Nick Politis, receiving a payday of $35.3 million. Eagers chief executive Keith Thornton said there was a backlog of around 40,000 vehicles ordered by buyers who were waiting on delivery for various models, which would help sales for at least the next 12 months. He expects to increase revenue by more than $1 billion in 2024, a target which he labelled “probably a conservative number”. The company has about 11 per cent of Australia’s new car sales market, which last year increased by 12.5 per cent to set a record of 1.2 million vehicles delivered to buyers.  Eagers lifted its final dividend payout to 50¢ per share from 49¢ a year ago even after net profit after tax slipped by 7.8 per cent to $299.1 million for the 12 months ended December 31. Revenues were up 15 per cent to $9.85 billion. Mr Thornton said the 50¢ payout was not necessarily a high watermark. There were productivity and efficiency drives across the business and a strong pipeline of new products including a new BYD dual-cab petrol and electric ute this year. Source: Financial Review #Toyota #Ford #Volkswagen #Honda #BMW # Subaru  #BYD. https://lnkd.in/eTRvSc5g

Germany ■ Glinicke Group grows with Volkswagen! The Glinicke car dealership group is partnering with Deisenroth to distribute Volkswagen Group brands. Both companies have a strong presence in their respective market areas in Hesse. Source: kfz-betrieb On January 1, the Glinicke Group from Kassel will acquire a majority stake in the Alsfeld-based Deisenroth & Soehne car dealership, which has seven locations. With this acquisition, Glinicke is shifting its focus back to expansion after a period of internal growth and consolidation. The last significant acquisition made by the multi-brand dealer, which has historical ties to the Volkswagen Group brands, was the Stöber car dealership with three locations at the beginning of 2018. #Volkswagen #GlinickeGruppe #Autohaus #VW #Audi #Seat #Cupra https://lnkd.in/eVaBwK9d