12:00 pm, November 23, 2011
I WON’T profess to be an economic genius, but I do like to keep an eye on the bigger picture and try to work out what it means for the world of motoring. Euro zone debt crisis, soaring household bills and gloomy GDP figures all add up to one very worrying factor for the car industry – plummeting consumer confidence.
When the public is worried there’s another credit crunch on the horizon, or that we’re about to fall down the hump of a double-dip recession, the last place they want to be heading is a showroom to shell out on a new car.
Take a peek at the monthly car sales figures and you’ll see that anecdotal evidence is ringing true. It’s hard out there. The 61-plate in September saw sales fall nearly one per cent, while October managed to register a slight, albeit pleasing, rise of 2.6 per cent. Despite this, the SMMT and RMIF both predict we’re in for a long period of flat sales and the market is going to be extremely tough.
With this in mind it’s worth taking steps to cut your costs as much as possible and focus on every sales opportunity that presents itself now. To give you some tips on where cuts can be made we’ve produced the Guide to Saving Money. It details a whole host of firms who can help.
In the first instalment of a new regular feature in Car Dealer, we also look at ways you can weather the storm with expert analysis and advice in our top tips section.
And that’s not the only new feature we’ve introduced this month. You’ll also find That Was The Month, a digest of the last four weeks of motoring news in bite-sized chunks. If you like what you see and want a more regular fix we publish its sister column, That Was The Week, on our website every Friday.
QUIDS IN
THE WORK motor industry charity BEN does for our motor trade colleagues is very important to us. We’ve seen the difference it makes – and it’s huge. That’s why we’re always trying to raise as much money as we can for the charity, whether that’s by trading up from nothing to a Porsche, or leading a team of bangers halfway across Europe.
In Issue 45 we report on the latter. Our Bangers4BEN rally took place in October and was the most popular ever with 31 teams taking part. It was also our most eventful trip ever and the first time we didn’t manage to make it to our destination under our own steam.
Read about how members of the motor trade joined forces to raise a whopping amount of money in Issue 45. If you want to join the rally next year get in touch now – we’ll make sure those that do get first dibs on booking places.
ARE YOU IN?
CAR DEALER CLUB has been very successful since its launch this year. Hundreds of dealers have joined and are now benefiting from free legal advice from our team, headed up by columnist Lucy Bonham Carter. Members also get access to discounts from a host of motor trade suppliers.
This month we’ve launched a new website at CarDealerClub.com, which explains the benefits and we’ve also taken on a new member of staff – Natasha Smith – to administer things. So if you’ve got a query, give her a shout on our normal number.
And finally, we’ve recently made our popular iPhone App free to download. You’ll get daily updates from the motor trade direct to your phone – search for ‘Car Dealer Magazine’ in the iTunes store to get it. Some 556 of you downloaded it last month alone!
Click here to subscribe and to get hold of the latest issue
