Cinch has opened its first physical store on Bedford Road in Northampton, and another on Tyburn Road Birmingham. Stores will be opened in Manchester this summer with more locations to be announced later in the year. Cinch Chief Customer Officer, Robert Bridge said: “We’re now in our fourth successful year of growth in our online […]

Read More →

As exclusively revealed by Auto Retail Agenda last November, Lotus has switched back to the franchise model for its UK retail network after two years under an agency agreement, according to its retailers. Lotus joins a growing number of brands that have backed away from agency or delayed its introduction – including the Stellantis brands, Ford, JLR […]

Read More →

With increasingly complex functions in customer interaction, aftersales, used car management as well as constant developments in the advancement of vehicles, “retailers remain a cornerstone,” reports the latest Cox Automotive Insight Quarterly. “The question is not whether dealers are necessary, but how they can adapt to the ongoing agency model debate and continually prove their […]

Read More →

The first Fisker retailer has opened in Nottingham, as the new entrant goes from a direct sales to a hybrid sales model. A Lotus and Morgan retailer, Central GB, is the first Fisker retailer partner in the UK. In a battle to stave off bankruptcy Fisker is currently undergoing a restricting.

Read More →

Following fears the new ICE market may slow in the second half of 2024, due to potential sales restrictions from brands eager to meet ZEV Mandate targets, there are fresh hopes used cars could take up some of the slack for retailers. Although Cox Automotive is maintaining its baseline forecast of 7.4m used cars sales in 2024, […]

Read More →

Renault retailers can expect to add a fifth brand to their showrooms from next year with the launch of Mobilize. Mobilize is the French firm’s finance house, but is also the division that will sell the Twizy replacement called Duo, and commercial vehicle version called Bento. Mobilize will sit alongside Renault, Dacia, Pro+ and Alpine […]

Read More →

More than 125 Subaru retailers last week heard new MD Lorraine Bishton rule out the agency model and commit to franchised retailers. “The dealer model is here to stay,” she said. “People buy from people.” The event in North Yorkshire was part of a renewed focus on the Subaru brand by parent IM Group, which […]

Read More →

Inchcape has revealed it is to sell its UK retail division to US-owned Group 1 for £346 million. The sale is expected to complete during Q3 2024 and involves £100m being returned to Inchcape shareholders through a share buyback programme. Sales plans Inchcape revealed it was considering selling off the UK retail arm earlier this […]

Read More →

Ron Brooks has been appointed Suzuki sales and service for Derby and the wider area. It complements the retailer’s other Suzuki business in Mansfield, Nottingham. The site will open in the coming weeks and is part of the retailer’s growth pipeline to exceed £100m turnover. Group manager Tom Slack said the strategy was to “grow […]

Read More →

The average score for the all-important question ‘How do you rate your manufacturer overall?’ leapt from 5.8 out of 10 six months ago to 6.4 this month. High Scoring Kia and Mini shared top honours, scoring 9.2. However, the eight Stellantis brands shifted their combined average score from 2.6 in October 2023 to 5.3 in […]

Read More →