Lloyd Motor Group and BCA announce exclusive partnership
Lloyd Motor Group have announced an exclusive partnership with BCA to remarket around 5,000 prestige part-exchange and non-retail vehicles a year. Vehicles will be sold through BCA’s nationwide Online Auction programme with stock located at BCA’s Newcastle and Preston centres. All eligible vehicles will be sold through the BCA Assured programme.
Commenting on the partnership, Sam Lloyd, Director of Lloyd Motor Group said: “BCA brings a unique blend of industry-leading technology, the very best digital remarketing experience and continued investment in innovation to support our used car programme. The BCA team took the time to get to know our business and put together a remarketing programme that builds the right audience for the range of product we offer.”
Adam Lish, BCA Head of New Business – Dealer UK commented, “We are delighted that BCA has been awarded an exclusive remarketing partnership with Lloyd Motor Group. This significant business win will deliver a superb selection of high quality used vehicles for our buyers through BCA’s Online Auction programme.”
Fraud cases have risen in the automotive sector. Protect yourself from becoming a victim.
An article in Car Dealer magazine is worth noting. The article cites advice from UHY Hacker Young who have warned of fraud and other economic criminal activities arising from coronavirus. The firm has issued guidance on the steps a dealer can take to avoid being a victim of crime, and highlighted the different types of fraud dealers should be aware of. These include:
Review the article here to read their advice as to how you can take measures to avoid being a victim of fraud. We've done some homework of our own and we've found this pretty interesting fraud checklist by Todd Wolf on an American website. Have a look at it's guidance here!
Simple low capacity high-output petrol cars seem to be most in demand currently. The Ford Fiesta and Focus, VW Golf, Vauxhall Corsa, Nissan Qashqai, Mercedes A-Class, Mini Cooper, Toyota Yaris, Kia Sportage and the VW Polo make up the Top 10 according to Auto Express's analysis of UK registrations. Insight from dealers we've spoken to suggest anything that even looks remotely complicated to a customer (E.g. AdBlue), older diesels (In the light of the ULEZ zone expanding in October 2021) and cars that are unreliable according to the various customer surveys in the market are being actively avoided by many customers.
Open a Trade Account with ProPlaters for priority service and our best rates! Having now been trading for 18 months we are now in a position to offer Trade Accounts to the many car dealerships who wish to open an account with us. It's a simple phone call to register your details and having an account means you get our best prices and we'll prioritise your deliveries too. With current bookings taking between three and five days it's really worth doing. Please just call the team on 0203 878 3331 and we'll get you set up!
A significant backlog of cars urgently need to be delivered across the UK. A large number of auction sites, dealerships and storage sites are severely behind with their deliveries as appointment systems have created significant delays for transportation companies. With reduced staff and social distancing measures in place a number of sites have struggled to keep up with the volume of requests for collection slots, with many calls unanswered and with slots only being available many days in the future and at times which don't fit with transport company schedules.
A number of delivery companies are now actively avoiding a number of sites where they have been kept waiting for many hours at a time. Calls are being made for sites to speed up their activities and to improve their communications.
Large numbers of delivery drivers aren't returning to work. Many of the industry's car delivery drivers have opted not to return to work for fear of contracting the Coronavirus. Many trade plate 'driven' delivery car drivers (or 'Platers' as they are known in the trade) have hung up their high-vis in order to avoid car sharing and using public transport on the journeys to and from their delivery jobs. A significant shift to transported deliveries has occurred as this offers a better opportunity for social distancing and allows for drivers to be self sufficient in their movements to and from their various delivery jobs.
Welcome back one and all, especially to our friends in Scotland.....
Well it's been a while, but at last we're all back and trading. We ourselves saw the instant uplift in business yesterday as after 14 weeks with their doors closed our friends in Scotland re-opened and proceeded to book a large number of long distance car movements as soon as they were back at their desks. It's been a long time coming, but welcome back to everyone who's now back at work.
MOTs are coming back from 1st August. The IGA welcomes this decision
The government has now confirmed the MOT test will be reinstated for all cars, vans and motorcycles from August 1st. The six month extension was originally put into place on 30th March and drivers are being encouraged to book their tests in advance in order to help the many garages whose workload is going to be heavy through the coming weeks and months, especially as they are going to need to conduct tests with Covid-19 social distancing measures in place. The Independent Garage Association welcomed the reinstatement of the test but warns there are many unroadworthy cars on the roads today as a result of the temporary extension. Garages and workshops are urged to be vigilant and to take care for customers who have, perhaps, let their vehicles deteriorate more than would normally be the case. Visit the IGA's website here for more information on their services.
A sales bubble? Is this the new normal? And what changed.....
For sure Scotland opened, there's a huge pent up demand for cars to be PDI'd and delivered and many customers are buying cars in order to avoid public transport, but there are many tectonic shifts in the market too. Many hire fleets are being disposed of; a number of auction houses are struggling with moving cars through their pipelines due to the difficulties associated with social distancing and appointment systems; the car delivery marketplaces are full to the brim with cars needing to be collected and delivered; and many 'Driven Service' vehicle delivery drivers have opted not to return to work due due to age and health concerns. On the one hand it's completely understandable, on the other we'll miss the many friends who have decided to hang up their high vis. Our very best wishes to all of you.
Car accidents significantly increase post lockdown
Crashes and insurance claims have increased by more than a third according to figures released by Co-op Insurance. The company stated they saw a 35% spike in claims between may 9th and June 10th compared with the previous four and a half week period. Whilst more people have obviously now returned to the roads and there's simply more traffic, a spokesman for the Co-op suggested the increase could be due to people simply being out of the habit of driving regularly.
Congestion and ULEZ charges return. The Congestion Charge increases
Central London's Congestion Charge of £11.50 per day for standard vehicles and its ULEZ charge £12.50 were suspended at the beginning of the lockdown as part of a drive to reduce crowding on the city’s much reduced public transport, however the Congestion Charge was reactivated on 18th May and the daily charge increased 30% to £15 on 22nd June. The ULEZ has also been reinstated, though charges are unchanged at £12.50 per day.
Our new website is now live! Complete with its new mileage calculator
Check out our new website complete with its A to B mileage calculator. Simply type in the postcode or address of the collection ande delivery points and the map will display the shortest route and calculate the mileage for you. Here's a picture showing it in action, with John's choice of route from the office to one of his favourite haunts, Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow. And no, it isn't open just yet..... Many thanks to the team at Minty Creative for doing such a wonderful job with the new site. Click here to try it out!
23rd June 2020 - This week's news and updates -
At last! We're all open, except Scotland.....
Where the majority of the U.K.'s car dealerships have now opened for business, dealerships in Scotland will be the last to open their doors on June 29. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's announcement late last week was greeted with frustration by many as car dealerships were seemingly classified simply as 'non-essential retail businesses' and little credit was given to the many who had worked so hard over many weeks to prepare safe environments for customers. See the article at Car Dealer here.
Mike Hawes, Chief Executive of the SMMT calls for industry rescue package
A survey of the SMMT's members has concluded a third of staff in the industry remain furloughed across the UK. With reduced demand and social distancing measures slowing the sales pipeline, the SMMT is calling for unprecedented measures of support which include an emergency cut in VAT, additional access to emergency funding, business rate holidays, and short-time working measures. Mike Hawes, Chief Executive of the SMMT will address an industry summit today where he is expected to state the industry is at serious risk if assistance is not forthcoming. He is also likely to quantify economic impact in the light of a no-deal Brexit. See the SMMT's news here.
Are bounce back business loans being used to buy sports cars?
The website Thisismoney.co.uk have reported supercar and sports car dealers have been claiming business is booming as certain businesses use the zero and low interest loans being made available by government to purchase expensive cars. Under the taxpayer-funded government aid scheme, small firms can borrow up to £50,000 per company under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) with the debt 100 per cent backed by government, no repayments for a year and 2.5 per cent interest after that. Read the full article at Thisismoney.co.uk here.
Former Chancellor Alistair Darling calls for emergency tax cut
Alistair Darling, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer 2007-2010, has urged the government to consider an emergency VAT tax cut to boost Britain's post Covid-19 economic recovery. Rishi Sunak, the current Chancellor, is expected to announce a package of measures in early July designed to assist those sectors of the economy hardest hit by the three month lockdown.
Tesla, the most valuable car company in the world?
Autocar this week published a super article on the fortunes of Tesla. From a challenger brand upstart which Bob Lutz of GM's hall of fame once described as 'heading to the graveyard', to its new found celebrity status amongst Musk's spaceships and Billions. See the full Autocar article here.
Please let us have your vehicle booking details as soon as you have them!
When making a booking please try to give us all of the vehicle's details as soon as you have them and as correctly as you can. We've been experiencing some difficulties with incomplete information which means we can't confirm time slots at some 'appointment only' locations and, In a few cases it's resulted in the wrong trucks being sent (Vehicle weight determines which vehicle transporter type from the fleet we use!) If you could let us have the details asap the team would be very grateful. Thanks you!
New website and mileage calculator coming soon
The website's due for launch in the next week or so and it comes complete with the mileage calculator we promised so you can get an idea of transportation costs before you agree on a deal with a customer. Many thanks to the wonderful team at Minty Creative who have worked so hard on this project. If anyone needs a website or some social media content crafted please do check them out. They're talented, capable and cost effective too. www.mintycreative.com
Enquiries & bookings
We are now taking advanced bookings for this weekend and for the weeks ahead. Simply call us on 0203 878 3331, use the form on the website or email info@proplaters.com with your requirements.
Backload opportunities
Availability next week (w/c 29.06.2020) for backloads is to and from Bridgend, Cardiff, Chelmsford, Coventry, Dundee, Exeter, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Newport, Northampton, Oxford, Paignton, Plymouth, Poole, Southampton, Swansea, Teeside, Telford, Truro, Warwick, Weston-super-Mare and Yeovil. If you have requirements for vehicles to be moved either to or from these destinations please do get in touch.
16th June 2020 - In this week's news....
Retail therapy! Customers treating themselves to sports and premium cars
All credit to Car Dealer Magazine for a really interesting article about customers in Germany, Austria and the UK all being up for some motoring fun. Insights from Indicata UK suggests that a significant number of customers are using the money they've saved from cancelled holidays and lower family costs to invest in a used luxury or sports car. What would be your choice? Our team settled on a Lotus Elise! The team at Indicata UK did however express caution that this may be a short term behaviour, with the post lockdown norm being a trend towards smaller petrol hatchbacks and smaller SUVs.
Light at the end of the tunnel
What Car? ran a poll in May and the results are encouraging given 4,500 potential buyers revealed significant potential demand - with 18 per cent of those interviewed saying they were intending to buy or change their car as soon as the Covid-19 situation ends and another 5 per cent looking to buy within about a month.
What's going on in Scotland and Wales?
With the UK and Northern Ireland open, all of our friends in Scotland and Wales are still none the wiser. However Fiona Hyslop, one of Scotland's Cabinet Members has confirmed retailers can open for 'click-and-collect' as long as buyers don't enter the showroom when collecting their vehicles. Various industry commentators are currently suggesting announcements later this week or early next ..... watch this space! Meanwhile in Wales a colossal £1.2Bn deal has been reported by Wales247.co.uk as being in discussion. The St. Athan site adjacent to Aston Martin Lagonda's new factory has been designated as a potential site for battery production with the possibility of up to 1,200 jobs being created if it goes ahead, with that increasing to a possible 3,500.
Avoid scams with a car check from Car Analytics
There are plenty of scams out there currently and we don't want anyone to get caught out. Whilst many dealers we know have processes for checking car histories there's still a lot of deals being undertaken on trust. Many of us have been caught out in the past (It clearly states on a V5C 'THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT PROOF OF OWNERSHIP' so we're now actively checking vehicles with CA's simple Free Check service - and if we're in any way doubtful we're undertaking a full check. Car Analytics' service is here if anyone wants to have a look at it.
The return of F1 and BTCC Touring Car Racing
The 3rd of July will see the Formula 1 season kick off in Austria, however it's going to be a short season with seven races now confirmed as cancelled. Azerbaijan, Singapore and Japan are the latest casualties of the 2020 season. For more local action the Touring Cars will turn out again on 1st August and it's going to be a pretty busy month for the teams as the series has announced 4 meetings will take place in just 5 weeks. The venues? Donington Park is the kick-off, with subsequent events at Brands Hatch, Oulton park and Knockhill.
New website and mileage calculator coming soon
We've been listening to your feedback and the one thing you've all been asking for is a mileage checker so you can get an idea of transportation costs before you agree on a deal. The team has been working hard in the background and, fingers crossed, we should be live with this by the end of the month!
Enquiries & bookings
We are now taking advanced bookings for this weekend and for the weeks ahead. Simply call us on 0203 878 3331, use the form on the website or email info@proplaters.com with your requirements.
Backload opportunities
Opportunities are available next week (w/c 22.06.2020) to and from Cardiff, Colchester, Daresbury, Dumfries, Exeter, Glasgow, Kirriemuir, Lee-on-Solent, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford, Plymouth, Poole, Southampton, Swansea, Torquay, Truro, Warwick, Weston-super-Mare and Yeovil. If you have requirements for vehicles to be moved either to or from these destinations please do get in touch.
