Brexit, digital marketing, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) compliance and competition compliance in the automotive sector were all subjects discussed at the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) Autumn Roadshow, which took place recently at the Hilton Warwick.
No review of 2016 would be complete without some reference to Brexit. Before the referendum result on 23 June, few people thought it would happen. Now the vote of 52 per cent in favour of leaving the European Union has long been counted, we can’t avoid talking about Brexit. Furthermore, with Donald Trump having won the US presidential election on 8 November in what he predicted would be “Brexit+++” the impact of the UK vote has taken on even greater significance.
Nissan Motor Company Ltd. has committed to producing the next Qashqai crossover vehicle in Sunderland. Executives had warned that this may not happen following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. However, not only has the company received satisfactory assurances to continue with production of the Qashqai for the next few years (the next Qashqai model is expected to be made in 2018 or 2019). Nissan also confirmed that it will add production of the next X-Trail model at its Sunderland as well in something of a surprise move.
As the government moves towards its April 2017 article 50 declaration, the automotive industry is calling on politicians to ensure the car business is left with the structures it needs to prosper.
With this in mind the RMI is specifically calling for a free trade deal to support the industry’s future: “With the UK in a period of uncertainty, we are urging government to engage with all sectors in our industry to prevent any uncertainty, encourage confidence and enable investment”, said RMI board member Colin Parlett, speaking at this year’s retail motor industry federation annual dinner in London tonight (20 October 2016).
The Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) has recently hosted a meeting involving the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) Committee to discuss the type approval framework revisions for motor vehicles.
“The double impact of the pound weakening against US$ and global oil prices strengthening will cause pump prices to move sharply upwards,“ said Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA).
For Liverpool based wholesaler Kirkby Tyres, 2016 has become something of a landmark year. The company is currently undergoing a major infrastructure development that includes a major Warehouse Management System (WMS), and Kirkby has also made key personnel appointments, including a new director of business development & special projects.
The NTDA Tyre Wholesale Group annual lunch saw greatly increased numbers alongside enhanced association support in its new position the day before the Tyre Industry Conference (5 October 2016), and location (the Hilton Birmingham Metropole adjacent to the NEC). The group chairman, Kirkby Tyres’ John Parker, presented his third – and potentially final – annual survey of the UK wholesale landscape. His topics included part-worn tyres, against which he joined the NTDA in taking a more radically oppositional stance, commented on the coming challenges and perhaps opportunities of Brexit, and the role of wholesalers in the e-commerce age.
What does Brexit mean? …Brexit? Breakfast, as the apparently hungry Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies mistakenly said in the mother of all Freudian slips during this year’s Conservative Conference in Birmingham? Who knows? Indeed, as a certain Tyres & Accessories colleague remarked upon hearing Davies’ innocently accidental verbal pratfall, Prime Minister Theresa May’s favourite phrase on the subject – “Brexit means Brexit” means just about as much as “Brexit means breakfast”!
The Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) has revealed its theme, ‘How to survive and thrive – post Brexit’, for its annual conference, aiming to address arising issues following the aftermath of the recent European Union (EU) referendum and produce a lively debate for conference guests.
The conference, held at the ICC in Birmingham on 15 December, will be facilitated by John Sergeant, the well-known BBC television and radio journalist, and BBC’s chief political correspondent from 1992 to 2000.
Chris Bosworth, director of strategy at Close Brothers Motor Finance, comments on the SMMT UK Registration figures for July: “These figures indicate that the automotive sector remains resilient in the months after the UK’s decision to leave the EU, with the small growth in registrations helping the sector recover from a flat performance in July. […]
With Continental’s acquisition of Bandvulc, the voice of independent retreading in the UK has been substantially diminished at a moment of intense market pressure and political uncertainty. Issues surrounding the at times unbelievably cheap new commercial vehicle tyres imported from China have been around for many years now, and have certainly squeezed retread output in this period. The Brexit vote has increased doubt that protectionist European market measures for which independent retreading businesses could lobby the EU to provide would be implemented in a more isolated UK market, though in the short-term the reduced value of sterling has presented opportunities for British-manufactured product. While nothing is currently clear, we will leave our readers to consider the chances of UK market protectionist measures against Chinese imports being implemented while the country redefines its trading relationship with global economic superpowers. It’s not hard to see how the security provided by merger with Conti was attractive to Bandvulc.
With the nation voting to leave the European Union, the proprietor of Scotlands Ash Garage in Didcot, Peter Welch, is beginning to assess the implications this has for independent garages, stressing the importance of transferring EU legislation into UK law.
According to the IHS Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), UK manufacturing fell to its lowest level since February 2013 in July. At 48.2 in July, the metric was down from 52.4 in June. This is only the second time since early 2013 that the PMI has fell to a sub-50.0 level. The move was reportedly the steepest decline since October 2012.
Following the publication of the SMMT’s UK monthly automotive manufacturing figures for June, Chris Bosworth, director of strategy at Close Brothers Motor Finance, suggests that the current growth spurt may be coming to a close. The extent to which this will be affected by Brexit remains to be seen, Bosworth adds, though it coincides with what he calls an “inflection point” for the UK car market.
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