7:43 am, August 13, 2014
THE average car dealer in the UK made just over £31,000 in profit in June, says ASE.
It means that the average dealer made a profit of more than £45,000 for the second quarter and an improvement of more than £4,000 compared with June 2013.
The average dealership is £57,000 ahead of the prior year on a rolling 12 month basis emphasising the strength of motor retail profitability at the current time.
ASE’s Mike Jones said: ‘The result continues to be driven by the vehicle sales department, with the quarter end bonuses driving profitability. With the SMMT revising upwards once more their estimate of total registrations for 2014 we should see continued growth in profits as we move through the second half of the year.
‘Whilst dealers are certainly being pushed to sell ever increasing volumes of vehicles, profits are now being made consistently across the year rather than in just the peak registration months of March and September.’
The good news is not restricted to new vehicle sales either, with used cars continuing to perform well.
Jones explained: ‘We continue to see a steady improvement in aftersales performance. Overall service department labour efficiency has now increased for 11 straight months, albeit by small increments. This trend should continue as we see the demand produced by the large volumes of new and used vehicles sold over the past two years utilising the spare capacity in the workshop. This should, in turn, lead to a continuation of the small improvements in overhead absorption.
