Oliver Reppert has officially taken over as CEO and MD of Mercedes-Benz UK from Gary Savage. His career began as aftersales product manager at DaimlerChrysler in 1998, and he spent four years in the 2000s directing retailer development. He served as the CEO of CarToGo from 2016 and became the CEO of car sharing service […]
Read More →Mercedes-Benz UK CEO Gary Savage has questioned the latest NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey for its relevancy to the agency model. Dealer attitude decline As highlighted in the October issue of Auto Retail Bulletin, under true agency agreements, all stock is held by the national sales company, which means there is zero pre-registration by retailers. However, Mercedes retailers […]
Read More →It has been announced that the SLM Group has bought SMC Motor Group for an undisclosed sum. New Brands SLM Group operates dealerships in East Sussex, Kent and East Anglia, including five Toyota, one Vauxhall, one Suzuki, one GMW ORA dealerships. They also operate two used car SLM Select businesses and two body repair Centres. […]
Read More →Jaguar to launch ‘Second Life Leasing’ for used EVs Jaguar is set to launch a corporate used car leasing product, possibly called Second Life Leasing. It’s developing the product with its financial partner Lex Autolease and is expected to launch it in September, before opening to salary sacrifice customers by Q1 2024. The product would […]
Read More →Lookers has reported a drop in underlying profitability and gross margins in the first half of 2023 following record figures for the past two years. The group’s underlying profit figure was down £1.1 million at £46.1m on a turnover that was up 8.0% at £2.42 billion. Lookers, which is currently the subject of a takeover bid by Canadian […]
Read More →Constellation, through its Cinch Holdco UK business, has withdrawn its support for the Alpha Auto’s bid for Lookers and now intends to vote against the deal. Constellation, parent company to Marshal Motors, Cinch, BCA and We Buy Any Car, owns a 19.2% share in Lookers. Canadian firm Alpha Auto Group initially made an offer of 120p a […]
Read More →Mercedes-Benz Retail Group accounts for the year ended December 2021 were published last week. They showed a profit before tax of £29.9m. However, the retail group also voluntarily restated its 2020 results, after discovering mistakes. This saw loss increased from £19.7m to £20.3m. Mercedes-Benz Retail Group CFO Tim Schoeler has officially left the business. His […]
Read More →OEMs who have moved to agency are yet to be fully tested on their skills at selling cars compared to traditional retailers. “The lessons learned are limited when supply is restricted,” said the ICDP’s Steve Young during a panel discussion at the Automotive News Europe Congress. It has been easy for OEMs such as Mercedes-Benz […]
Read More →Lookers is set to be bought by Canada’s Alpha Auto Group, via a UK entity called Global Auto Holdings, in a £465m deal. The deal by the privately owned Canadian retailer network was first announced by Sky News and has been confirmed this morning. It is an all-cash offer for Lookers by the bidding vehicle […]
Read More →Arnold Clark is to invest £23m to install more than 500 electric vehicle chargers across the UK. They will be available 24/7, be “totally secure” and Arnold Clark customers will get preferential rates. The ambitious new Arnold Clark Charge network will use rapid DC chargers from Finnish company Kempower. Around 500 units, offering charge speeds […]
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