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A 36% April surge in online traffic from used car buyers was accompanied by a 7.1% year-on-year rise in advertised vehicle values on Auto Trader.
The re-opening of showrooms after COVID-19 ‘Lockdown 3’ was accompanied by a surge in pent-up demand which National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) chief executive, Sue Robinson, celebrated as a sign of a “healthy market which is set to continue to perform well”.
But while Auto Trader’s director of data and insight, Richard Walker, said signs of exceptional growth should give retailers confidence, he conceded that the ongoing acceleration in used car values – exacerbated by supply shortages – had brought “some concerns”.
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Car retailers across the UK should be working to ensure that organising a test drive is as easy as ordering an Uber, according to automotive eCommerce specialist drivvn.
After COVID-19 lockdown restrictions were lifted for car showrooms across the UK in April, many retailers credited customers’ ability to once again touch and feel their next car purchase before buying with last month’s 13.9% uplift in registrations reported by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Speaking to AM this week, Inchcape chief executive James Brearley said: “We absolutely believe that people want to test drive cars and have seen that in the spike of activity that’s been seen since the lockdown was lifted.”
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Inchcape UK chief executive James Brearley has revealed the AM100 PLC’s plan to open up to 20 used car retail locations, each with an adjoining fast-fit aftersales offering, by the end of next year.
Speaking exclusively to AM about the new project, he said that the business had already quietly established six businesses, with sites in Cheltenham, Derby and Shrewsbury joining previously established locations in Burton-on-Trent, Bolton and York so far this year.
Brearley said that Vertu Motors had since acquired the York facility as part of the purchase of Inchcape s Cooper BMW division in December but said there is more to come from the project, which has yet to be formally branded.