9:52 am, May 18, 2026
Used car dealers have to be more adaptable than ever thanks to constantly changing customer demands.
That is the verdict of DB Automotive founder Danny Bond, whose independent dealership business has recently pivoted to become a specialist in used Teslas.
With an owner who is never far from the news and prices which only ever seem to be heading one way, used car dealers could be forgiven for wanting to give Tesla a wide berth, but Bond is one of a growing band who is making the brand work.
Appearing on the latest episode of the Car Dealer Podcast, the Yorkshire-based businessman explained how he has completely transformed his stock profile.
As recently as last year, Bond’s forecourt was dominated by Mercedes-Benz stock, but a change in approach from finance companies meant that a change of approach was needed.
He said: ‘We had two years of just doing out and out Mercedes-Benz, A-Classes, E-Classes, CLAs, GLAs, GLEs, that sort of stuff.
‘For whatever reason, one day the finance companies decided that they didn’t like the E-Class anymore, they didn’t like the C-Class anymore, they didn’t like the GLE, so the residuals got so low on them that that kind of monthly payment the customers were looking for, that went.
‘We did the mixed German stuff for the last few years and then in the last quarter of last year, I sold a couple of Tesla Model Ys and I thought: “This is easy, this feels too easy”,
‘Looking outside of my pitch now, it’s probably 35 Teslas out there at the moment. We’ve just made a pivot now to pretty much all EV and it’s working really well.
‘It feels really easy in terms of that my prep bills are low, I don’t ever hear from the customers again when they go, because there’s not really much that goes wrong with them.
‘I’ve kind of always had to, as an independent, just pivot and not be afraid to pivot, not be afraid to change things.
‘If I see something that isn’t working, then I can change it. And just by chance, I tried that with the Tesla stuff.
‘I think that will be me for the next couple of years, at the very least. My electric bills are sky high but that’s where we are in this current place!’
You can watch the full episode on the Car Dealer 2.0 YouTube channel or listen on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
