9:26 am, March 13, 2025
Today, Car Dealer hosts its annual conference bringing together top level speakers, research and people from around the motor trade to hear the big topics that really matter to them.
We’ll be sharing the breaking news from Car Dealer Live at the British Motor Museum today (March 13) as it happens in this live blog which will be updated regularly.
If you haven’t been able to attend the show in person, you can still watch all of the sessions live or catch up on them later with a streaming ticket. These can still be purchased from cardealerlive.co.uk.
The doors are now open with guests heading in and preparing to take their seat for the first sessions of the day.
This morning we’ll be hearing from ex-Nissan and Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer and franchised dealers Peter Smyth from Swansway, Jason Cranswick from Marubeni Auto Investment and Danny Minshall from Greenhous Group.
Auto Trader COO Catherine Faiers will also be revealing their exclusive research looking at market trends and the performance metrics car dealers need to focus on this year.
Those at the event can post on social media tagging Car Dealer or using #CDLive.
Looking forward to speaking at this mornings Car Dealer Live #CDLive at the British Car Museum in Gaydon. pic.twitter.com/9s7p8MXMxS
— Dr. Andy Palmer (@AndyatAuto) March 13, 2025
9:30 James Baggott opens the conference
Car Dealer Magazine editor-in-chief welcomes guests to the conference in his opening speech, hinting at some of the topics we’ll get to hear about throughout the day.
9:35 Dr Andy Palmer on his time at Nissan creating Leaf
Palmer tells the audience how Nissan was looking at Toyota and the Prius and wanted to create a competitor – but instead decided to ‘leapfrog’ and create the Leaf.
10:05 Jack Williams writes:
There was some brilliant stuff in there from Andy Palmer, especially when it came to the subject of his former employers over at Nissan. His verdict that the company has been able to ‘scare the s**t out of the government by threatening to pull out of the UK was certainly direct and to the point! He added that Nissan would be ‘mad’ to leave this country, which seems fair given the popularity of the Qashqai, but you could sense his concern for the future of a brand he knows a hell of a lot about!
10:19 Franchised dealers say there’s still money to be made
Bosses from Swansway, Greenhous and Marubeni Auto Investment were in agreement that there is money to be made despite the challenges in the market. They were honest about electric vehicles and OEM pressure making things harder, with Danny Minshall admitting while profitability was down it was only slightly.
Talking about agency sales, Jason Cranswick describes it as ‘resting’ with pure agency seeming to disappear. However, he believes it will be back in its true form in the future and dealers will embrace it.
10:41 Jack Williams writes:
I don’t think anybody was expecting Yoda to be quoted during that but you never do know what you’re going to get with car dealers! One thing I did find interesting from our franchise panel was the fact that both Peter and Danny spoke about going and getting staff from outside of the industry. We all know that selling EVs requires a different skillset so it does make sense but it’s not something I’d ever really thought about. It’s certainly quite a leap for someone to go from selling sketchers to selling electric cars!
10:44 Auto Trader’s Catherine Faiers is joined by Jacob Freshwater from Fresh Motors
Faiers and Freshwater discuss market trends, talking about electric vehicles.
‘Price parity’ has already been a buzzword of the conference when it comes to EVs and Faiers adds that we need ‘an electric car for everyone, not just for those who can afford it’.
11:30 Philip Nothard an James Brearley highlight growth area of EVs
Cox Automotive’s Phil Nothard shared exclusive research on trajectory of EV ownership in the UK, predicting it will increase 177% from 2022 to 2028.
He was joined on stage by Lookers MD James Brearley who shared that while EVs were still a small part of their business, he knows how important it will be to engage with the EV market over the next 12 to 18 months.
Omar Akhmad from Dolce Vita Cars, North-West London: ‘It’s a great day, very informative, it’s always good to find out how businesses of different sizes are doing things. The AI session was particularly good and Andy Palmer was very informative.’
12:16 James Baggott writes:
This morning’s sessions have been fascinating. I enjoyed Andy Palmer’s forthright opinions on the Nissan and Honda tie up. He says he’s surprised it’s happening but that it really needs to. His thoughts on electric cars was also interesting, especially as the Godfather of EVs as he’s known. His take on what is needed to improve uptake – more chargers – was also key.
The franchised dealers had mixed opinions on what is needed to help boost EV sales. I wanted to hear some real practical ideas to boost demand. There was some – more chargers again and some financial incentives for customers.
12:22 Volvo Cars UK MD Nicole Melillo Shaw on the importance of brand for Volvo customers
Melillo Shaw discussed the year so far for Volvo but was quizzed on the agency model, as one of the only manufacturers that has continued with this sales strategy.
During the keynote, she covered how important Volvo’s brand has been in navigating changes – and how her own background has benefitted this.
12:41 Motorway session under way with some interesting stats to kick off the discussion
James Wilson from the company is joined by Mike Bell from Available Car as they discuss how AI has transformed his dealership and helps them avoid leakage.
Jason Pickerill from All Electric Garages Group: ‘This is the third of these events I’ve attended and there are always some valuable nuggets of information to take back, for example in respect of AI. The EV content has been great too. The motor trade is a tough business to be in at the moment and coming to Car Dealer Live is very worthwhile.’
13:51 We’re back with you after lunch with John O’Hanlon
Our third keynote interview of the day is Waylands CEO John O’Hanlon, sharing how he’s built his group over the last seven years.
He shares that when Ridgeway was sold, it wasn’t his time to leave the industry and that’s why he wanted to start Waylands. He commented that Daksh Gupta of Marshall in 2016 ‘did a number on his chairman’.
James Baggott asks will his own growth strategy involve acquisitions and O’Hanlon says he won’t hit his targets ‘organically’.
We’re back underway for the afternoon here in Gaydon with @waylands_group boss John O’Hanlon joining @CarDealerEd on stage. You can keep up to date with #CDLive via our live blog https://t.co/fjthc3eR1C pic.twitter.com/Z24Xo2KzOJ
— Car Dealer Mag (@CarDealerMag) March 13, 2025
14:20 JATO’s Bo Yu shares how Chinese brands are reshaping the UK car market
James Batchelor asked Bo Yu will people embrace Chinese brands and she commented ‘it won’t happen over night’.
She was joined by Paul Hilton also from JATO and Aaron Carter from DM Keith, which represents BYD.
Theo Cook from Bowens Garage: CDL is very informative, it’s very well run and I’m enjoying the day. I liked the chat with Nicole Melillo Shaw – very interesting. I’m also looking forward to the independent dealers’ panel – that will be the one that’s most relevant to me.’
14:52 James Baggott writes:
I throughly enjoyed the AI session with Motorway. It was very interesting to hear how dealers are practically deploying AI. Hearing from Michael Bell of Available Car on how AI has tipped his business back into profitability was a real stand out for me – he’s used it to talk to customers and it’s had real success. A superb insight into how a dealer is using AI right now.
15:00 Stellantis and Renault UK bosses answer questions
There’s been plenty today about the pressures OEMs are under and the ZEV mandate but James Batchelor gets it from the horses mouth in conversation with Eurig Druce from Stellantis and Adam Wood from Renault UK.
They discussed the challenges of EV car sales and the need for better government support but also the new product that their dealers can be excited about.
Panelist Bo Yu from JATO: ‘It has been very interesting. For me personally the day has been really insightful as well.
‘Our session went very well and I was very interested to hear both the questions and the answers to get a different perspective’
15:30 Rachel Clift and Daksh Gupta talk about coping with high pressure
Two people who know a lot about high pressure roles – a former Olympian and PLC CEO! Gupta and Clift shared their advice for car dealers who can end up in stressful and challenging situation, particularly those who work alone in their dealership.
Clift is the CEO of Ben, who provide support to car dealers struggling – with one audience member thanking them for helping his friend.
15:55 Jack Williams writes:
The JATO session on new Chinese brands was one I was really looking forward to beforehand, given how many of them have arrived in the UK since we were last here. The data which Paul Hilton and Bo Yu took us through really put some meat on the bone of that subject and it was fascinating to hear their thoughts about the next steps. If I was a big legacy brand I’d be feeling pretty worried about now!
17:10 James Batchelor writes:
It’s easy to forget about the importance of video as it’s a been a topic of the motor trade for the last decade, but it was good to hear Mohammad from Google reaffirming how key it is. The customer feels like they already know you before they’ve walked through the door, and that’s so powerful – the dealer then builds on a relationship rather than establishing one.
17:20 Mohammed Lone from Google
Lone from Google talked about AI as an enabler rather than a replacer. He said: ‘AI can be great, but when it comes to relationships, humans have characteristics that AI can’t replicate.
‘Is AI for all car dealers? Yes. There is a lot of hype around it however and a lot of that is justified.’
