12:18 pm, August 23, 2023
Dealer group Vospers saw profits slide last year and has called for ‘greater stimulus’ in charging infrastructure to increase customer confidence in EVs.
Latest accounts filed with Companies House show the family-run dealer group finished 2022 with a pre-tax profit of £4.7m – down £0.7m on the year before.
Turnover was boosted by 5.5 per cent, however, to £252.1m.
EBITDA (excluding vehicle depreciation) and return on sales fell to £6.0m (2021: £6.8m) and 2.0 per cent (2021: 2.3 per cent) respectively, the latter influenced by the company taking no government support last year, it said.
Vospers said the results were ‘tempered’ by a lack of new vehicle supply and long lead times for customers.
During the year Vospers parted ways with Renault and Dacia, believing it couldn’t grow its business at its Plymouth showroom and deliver the level of profitability needed. Therefore, it elected to terminate the contract.
So far in 2023, Vospers has lost its Nissan franchise but has added Vauxhall to its portfolio in February and now operates a showroom in Plymouth.
In the accounts, the dealer group said it has installed 100kW-plus charging points at its main sites, but called for greater investment in national EV charging infrastructure to ‘increase consumer confidence’.
Commenting on year ahead, director Peter Vosper said: ‘To the end of April 2023 we have seen increased difficulty with supply of new vehicles differing profitability with our volume manufacturers that we hope will improve over the rest of the year.
‘New vehicle supply continues to be restricted with extended lead times and the likelihood is this will now continue at least the end of this year. With the changes to interest rates and government economic growth targets not being achieved we can see some difficult challenges ahead.
‘This has affected the recovery of used car volumes to pre-pandemic levels values although margins remain strong as a result of a lack of supply that we anticipate will continue through this year.
‘Aftersales continues to perform in line with industry expectations and we are focussing our efforts on retention strategies.
‘We are currently exploring new opportunities that align with our plan for future growth.’
The company operates showrooms across Cornwall and Devon and has franchises with Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Cupra, Fiat, Ford, Jeep, Mazda, Peugeot and Vauxhall.
It also runs four van centres, a Renault and Dacia service centre and three dedicated used car sites.
