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Vertu boss Robert Forrester takes swipe at crisis-hit Cazoo and reveals retailer’s ‘fundamental flaw’

  • Vertu boss Robert Forrester says ‘pendulum never really swung’ for Cazoo
  • CEO believes troubled online retailer has ‘fundamental flaw’
  • 52-year-old insists majority of customers have not adopted purely online approach

Time 8:44 am, June 14, 2022

Vertu Motors boss Robert Forrester has taken a fresh swipe at crisis-hit Cazoo after the troubled retailer announced a dramatic cost-cutting exercise.

Speaking to the Daily Express, the Undercover Big Boss star said ‘the pendulum never really swung’ for the struggling outfit.

He told the publication that pure-online sales have not taken off in the automotive industry, causing a huge issue for the likes of Cazoo.


The 52-year-old CEO also said that the concept was ‘fundamentally flawed’ as customers are not able to test drive a car before they buy it.

He said: ‘The pendulum never really swung.

‘Pure online retailing of used cars has not been adopted by the vast majority of people in the UK.


‘Pure online retailers cannot do a test drive. I believe that is a fundamental flaw.’

His comments come after Cazoo announced plans to slash jobs and cut costs in huge money-saving initiative.

The bombshell declaration followed the news that rival online retailer, Carzam, had been placed in voluntary receivership.

Forrester recently told Car Dealer that out of 89,000 used car sales Vertu sold last year, just 900 were pure online sales.

You can view our full chat with him at the top of this story.

Jack Williams's avatar

Jack joined the Car Dealer team in 2021 as a staff writer. He previously worked as a national newspaper journalist for BNPS Press Agency. He has provided news and motoring stories for a number of national publications including The Sun, The Times and The Daily Mirror.



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