1:46 pm, June 8, 2020
Have you downloaded your free copy of the latest edition of Car Dealer yet? If not, you’re missing out on a whole host of goodies.
Among the news, reviews and features in the jam-packed issue 147, we’ve got top industry insight from columnists James Litton and Ben Garside.
Automotive retail consultant James Litton examines a certain online marketplace:
I’ve been supplying editorials to James and the team at Car Dealer for almost 10 years now, and although I’ve foreseen a few trends over that decade, my hot takes often cool very quickly.
Never has that been more the case than with these Covid-19 times in which we find ourselves. It is a braver person than I who puts their head above the parapet to proffer bold predictions in these most perilous of times.
So with that in mind, I thought I would write about one of my most favourite topics over the past 10 years: Auto Trader.
Auto Trader is like the council tax of the motor trade. Most people think its rate is too expensive, it’s hard to see where your money is going and the price keeps going up. Yet despite us not having a choice with council tax, most people choose to continue with their Auto Trader subscription.
To Auto Trader’s credit, the company has evolved over the past few years from a great URL with a clever search engine to a data powerhouse which, for those who understand and utilise its products correctly, could solely be used to price and remarket cars and still make a comfortable living from it.
But the problem Auto Trader sometimes fails to understand is that not all used car operations are created equal… To read the rest of James Litton’s column, download the latest digital edition of Car Dealer Magazine for free here and go to page 29
Meanwhile, First Response marketing manager Ben Garside sees light at the end of the coronavirus tunnel:
I can’t believe it has been a month since I produced my last article – more than four weeks confined to my home with very limited time spent outdoors.
The time has passed a lot quicker than I first expected. I attribute this to a few areas.
Worktime has been filled productively with strategy, projects, and communications planning, making the days fly by.
Most of my evenings and weekends have been spent turning my garage from a complete mess into a workable gym area, allowing me to use the space to keep myself active and healthy. I am sure there will be a lot of you doing similar things to keep busy, active and focused.
The government has stated that we have now passed the peak, but as I write this we haven’t been presented with its blueprint on how, or when, we will start to see current social distancing restrictions relaxed.
I do not have a crystal ball and wouldn’t like to try to predict the future on this occasion, as there are too many mitigating factors.
One thing I am sure of, though, is that it will not be an on/off scenario and this may mean that we must wait a while until the car showrooms can fully open again. However, there is some light, if you are willing to adapt and make changes… To read the rest of Ben Garside’s column, download the latest digital edition of Car Dealer Magazine for free here and go to page 51
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