Ex cabinet minister to speak at RMI Annual Dinner
The Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP will be the guest speaker at this year’s Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) Annual Dinner, on Thursday 20 October at the Landmark Hotel, London.
The Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP will be the guest speaker at this year’s Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) Annual Dinner, on Thursday 20 October at the Landmark Hotel, London.
The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) has revealed the results of its Winter 2016 Dealer Attitude Survey, with a high level of dissatisfaction with profit returns one of the most notable results. “It is concerning that dealers seem very dissatisfied with their current profit return, although they are more optimistic about their future profit potential,” said Sue Robinson, NFDA director. Despite the averages showing that dissatisfaction is increasing, Mercedes, Land Rover, and Kia franchises returned strong results, while others improved their scores considerably since the summer survey.
Light commercial vehicles’ sales rose 6.3 per cent compared to last year with 15,385 vans and light trucks registered, the latest SMMT commercial vehicle registration figures show. The most significant increase came from mid to large size vans, which grew by over 14 per cent. ‘Pick-ups’ and 4×4 trucks showed a minor growth, while sub 2.0t car-derived vans, often used by self-employed tradespeople, declined -5.2 per cent.
The UK new car market achieved modest growth in August, as registrations rose 3.3 per cent against the same month last year, according to figures released by SMMT. 81,640 new cars were registered in the month, with year-to-date performance remaining positive, up 2.8 per cent to 1.68 million units.
This year’s National Franchised Dealers Association Summer 2016 survey, published today, had 1,746 respondents from a total participating dealer network of 4,090, which equates to a response rate of 43 per cent. This is the highest return ever, surpassing last winter’s high of 39 per cent. There were 28 franchise networks in the survey which represent a range of dealer sizes and ownership type from across the UK.
Official figures published the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that overall retail sales in the UK rose 5.9 per cent in July 2016 compared to the same period last year.
Recently, the National Association of Motor Auctions (NAMA), the UK’s leading representative body for vehicle auctions, sent a letter to the newly appointed secretary of state for transport, Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, raising the subject of odometer fraud, or ‘clocking’; the practice of altering a vehicle’s odometer to show a lower mileage than that actually travelled, thereby increasing the re-sale value of the vehicle.
Figures released by the SMMT show that UK new car registrations experienced a very slight increase in July, up 0.1 per cent for the month, at 178,523 units. 1,599,159 new cars have been registered so far this year, putting demand in the year-to-date 2.8 per cent higher than for the same period in 2015, following a strong first quarter. Fuelled by a possible inflection point in the market – two years of strong car registrations figures have built up a wave of two-three year old used cars that could detract from new car purchases – and the as-yet unseen effects of the Brexit decision, some are advising a note of caution.
The National Franchised Dealers Association has called on the government to delay the new apprenticeship levy. Due to start in April 2017, the levy will be applied to employers with a wage-bill of over £3 million who will contribute with a tax of 0.5 per cent of their wage-bill. “The NFDA supports recent calls by businesses to the government to delay the apprenticeship levy”, said Sue Robinson, director of the association.
In May 2016, European passenger car registrations showed double digit growth marking 33 consecutive months of growth. Year-to-date, the market grew by 9.9 per cent, totalling 6.4 million units. “It is extremely positive to see that European new passenger car registrations rose 16.0 per cent in May, reaching 1,288,220 units,” said Sue Robinson, director of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers across the UK, commenting on figures published by ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association).
In the first quarter of 2016, 11,755 ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) were registered in the UK, 1 per cent of all new vehicle registrations. These figures show an increase of 31 per cent compared to last year when ULEVs were accounting for 0.8 per cent of all new registrations, and they were up an impressive […]
The UK new van market saw steady growth in May 2016, according to figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Demand for new light commercial vehicles (LCVs) rose 1.9 per cent, with more than 28,000 hitting British roads – the highest number on record for the month.
Demand for new cars in the UK remained stable in May with a steady 2.5 per cent growth in registrations, according to figures released by The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). 203,585 cars were registered in the month, May’s highest total since 2002.
“We are pleased to see that passenger car registrations in the EU continued to perform well in April marking 32 consecutive months of growth”, said Sue Robinson, Director of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers across the UK, commenting on figures published by ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association).
In April 2017 a new apprenticeship levy will be introduced with the purpose of increasing the quality and number of apprenticeships across UK. Employers with a wage-bill of less than £3 million will not pay the levy, whereas those with a wage-bill of £3 million or more will have to contribute at a rate of 0.5 per cent of their pay bill. However, the first £3 million of the payroll will be excluded by a discount that will give some relief, in line with smaller businesses.
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