11:28 am, May 10, 2023
A ‘volatile’ used market means vehicle sourcing firms need to be adaptable to dealers’ needs if stock issues are to ease any time soon.
That is the view of Rayhanneh Mazinani, who has appeared on the latest episode of the Car Dealer Podcast, sponsored by CarGurus PistonHeads.
Before the pandemic Mazinani worked in Kia and Volvo dealerships in Leeds before setting up vehicle sourcing and supply firm Trayd in 2021. You can read more about her journey here.
She told podcast hosts James Batchelor and Jon Reay that prior to the pandemic it was easy to predict what the year would look like for dealer groups.
Now however, she says patterns have disappeared, meaning that businesses such as hers need to stay on their toes.
‘The market at the moment is very volatile – it’s very unpredictable, she said.
Rayhanneh Mazinani
‘I think pre-Covid you had patterns and a bit more predictability in terms of buying behaviour. You would always expect a March registration month would be really busy, again in September and then it might peak in the summer.
‘Now it is so volatile. There is no pattern as such and that’s a huge difference to how it was before the pandemic.
‘In terms of my job, you have to be really adaptable, you have to have good communication with your dealers and you have to understand what’s happening at dealer level – what they’re selling and what they aren’t selling – and be able to source vehicles according to that.
‘It requires a lot of being able to adapt and finding new ways of sourcing cars. I always believe that as a business you should minimise your risk by sourcing in as many different ways as possible and that is something I try and stick to.
‘It is very challenging but it’s about being adaptable, responsive and really understanding your customer and what’s happening at retailer level.’
The latest edition of the Car Dealer podcast went live on Friday and covered the biggest headlines from the Car Dealer website last week (beginning May 1).
Among the topics up for discussion were Carvana’s latest set of results, April’s SMMT registrations and Chinese brand GWM Ora.
The full list of stories can be found below:
- Chinese brand GWM Ora continues assault on UK market with new Tesla Model 3 rival
- Stock levels dropped for franchised dealers last month as March’s plate change fails to boost part-exchanges
- Sales of new and used cars expected to boom in 2023, new predictions reveal
- New car registrations accelerated in April but there’s a ‘cloud’ over EV sales – SMMT
- Online used car dealer Carvana cuts losses and predicts profit for next quarter
- Staff at Scottish garage celebrate £1m lottery win after initially thinking victory was a scam
