WINNERW I N N E R OFO F NEWSPRESSN E W S P R E S S AWARDS’AWA R D S ’ AUTOMOTIVEA U T O M O T I V E BUSINESSB U S I N E S S PUBLICATIONP U B L I C AT I O N 20202 0 2 0 BACKLASH FOR BCA / P6 Revised cinch platform makes it a competitor, says retailers WWHATHAT NNEXTEXT FFOROR LLEVC?EVC? / P22 The maker of London tax cabs is branching out into electric vans www.am-online.com NovemberNovember 22020020 ££8.008.00 DEALER TECHNOLOGY GUIDE / P31 A 31-page guide to suppliers at the cutting edge TIME TO ‘RESET AND RESTART’ – SAYS ROBINS & DAY CHIEF EXECUTIVE JAMES WESTON AS HIS TEAM RESPONDS TO THE CHALLENGES POSED BY COVID-19 / P18 adRocket FP_AM_9781CCPAM2id4396297.pdf 10.16.2020 10:33 EDITOR’S LETTER fter the lull of this year’s second quarter, hasn’t quarter four turned into a race for everyone? The pressure is on to finish the year as strongly as possible and keep that confidence sustained into 2021 as we all continually adjust to the changing restrictions. To help keep you inspired and up-to-date with the latest best practice, and to help you see what your peers have been up to, AM has two virtual events scheduled for November and December, which you’ll be able to log on to from your PC or phone. First, there will be a webinar for this year’s AM100 on A November 18, in association with BDO, where we’ll reveal the latest trends and highlights of the UK’s biggest motor retailers. Details of how to register for this will be on AM-online shortly. Second, on December 2 and 3 we’re holding Automotive Management Live Virtual. There’ll be 20 insightful speakers plus exhibitors to meet on our hi-tech, interactive, virtual exhibition platform and you’ll be able to download brochures, view videos and attend live Q&A sessions with industry experts. See page 8 for more details. I’ve missed seeing many of you at industry dinners and conferences, so, hopefully, I’ll see you – virtually – at those two events. MEET THE TEAM Tim Rose Tom Sharpe Stephen Briers Jeremy Bennett Editor News and Editor-in-chief Head of digital/ features editor associate editor am-online.com NOVEMBER 2020 3 adRocket SEARCHING FOR A NEW COSMETIC INSURANCE PROVIDER?... [email protected] | www.assurant.com FP_AM_442542id4399250.pdf 21.10.2020 10:26 CONTENTS 18 Robins & Day UP FRONT INSIGHT 06 News insight 18 Face-to-face: 22 Manufacturer 25 10 minutes with... 10 News digest James Weston interview: LEVC Cameron Wade 12 Chief executive of Robins LEVC chief executive The managing director Market intelligence & Day feels the pandemic Joerg Hofmann explains of Silver Bullet reflects on 17 Viewpoint has given the opportunity the company’s plans for building a deal online and to reset and restart its electric future the role of the showroom TALENT DEALER 31 An A-Z guide 66 of suppliers Men’s health in We look at the companies motor retail TECHNOLOGY GUIDE providing specialist solutions 67 People on the move 68 Virtual round table 70 Eight questions to... Chris Marsh, group SHOWROOM parts manager of Rygor Commercials 62 MG5 EV 64 Long-term report am-online.com NOVEMBER 2020 5 NEWS INSIGHT DEALERS HIT OUT AT BCA’S DIRECT SALES PLATFORM ‘They have opened Pandora’s Box’ and are ‘cutting our legs away,’ say unhappy retailers CA has been met investments in infrastructure, stock- with a backlash holding and marketing”. from car dealers But one franchised retail group B following its decision director said he felt cinch was “cutting to relaunch its cinch our legs away” and “monetising marketing platform as an online car dealers” by using them as a stock retailer perceived to be in direct funding tool. competition with its traditional He added: “From my point of view remarketing customers. why would I hand over my money to One retailer accused the remar- fund cars for cinch to sell?” keting giant of “opening Pandora’s Eddie Hawthorne, chief executive Box” by going to market with the new of Arnold Clark, said his business offering which will go head-to-head had no use for the cinch platform as with Cazoo and traditional dealers its in-house digital channels were which have accelerated their digital delivering strong results. But while sales strategies in response to he said that BCA’s move into retail COVID-19. would not affect remarketing rela- One retailer told AM: “They have tionship with the top AM100 group, opened Pandora’s Box and they may BCA’s decision to let cinch that stance could change if the well reap their just desserts. sell its cars direct to venture proved a success, shifting its “Many businesses in many sectors onsumers has struck a position to that of a “rival”. of business have considered taking sour note with retailers Swansway Garages has a long- on their customers in the past and held remarketing relationship with the wise ones have thought better of BCA but has declined the opportunity it. Clearly BCA has decided that the capacity to store more than 6,000 share of the resulting profit. to work with the cinch retail platform rewards are greater than the risks in cars and prepare more than 50,000 BCA’s relaunch of cinch comes just after discussing terms with cinch this case.” cars per year. weeks after the remarketing giant retail director, Jason Cranswick. Launched in July 2019 as a rival to Speaking to AM, Cazoo founder Alex launched a new “Retail Ready” stock Director Peter Smyth said that Auto Trader, the cinch sales platform Chesterman insisted BCA’s shift into channel. Now it appears that BCA’s BCA’s move into the retail sector has now evolved, offering car buyers the role of competitor “doesn’t affect car retail customers could be asked had also been enough to consider a choice of more than 4,000 cars for our relationship at all”. to fund stock sold via cinch on the another remarketing partner. sale, some of which are dealer stock. But some of the retailers that one hand, while competing with He said: “What they are wanting us Cinch promises free home delivery spoke to AM about BCA’s decision to consumers to buy vehicles on the to do is for us to fund and own the and a 14-day money back guarantee become a retailer said they were other, said one concerned trader. stock that they advertise and sell. We in a model which emulates that of ready to reconsider their remar- are already in the business of selling BCA customer Cazoo. keting partnership as a result. COOL RECEPTION our cars ourselves and to my mind Last summer, Cazoo signed an Many objected to a business model A short statement issued to AM by there are better places that I can exclusive agreement with BCA for that invited them to buy stock that BCA said that cinch helps its dealer deploy those funds. a dedicated vehicle preparation site would be exclusively marketed on partners “increase their offering to “I was told we would not be able to in Corby, Northamptonshire, with the cinch platform in return for a consumers without additional advertise the cars on any other marketing platform for 60 days if we went with cinch. Normally we only E-COMMERCE PLATFORM MEETS hang on to our cars for 60 days before we get rid of them, so that’s BOTH CONSUMER AND DEALER not a gamble I’m willing to take.” Smyth added: “What I’d say to the NEEDS AND WILL DELIVER team at cinch is ‘good luck’. It’s FLEXIBILITY AND INCREASED PROFIT irritating that they’ve done this more than anything. I think this is another OPPORTUNITIES IN AN INCREASINGLY case of ‘vulture capitalists’ trying to squeeze more out of the automotive DIGITISED POST-COVID-19 MARKET retail sector.” JASON CRANSWICK, CINCH BCA was unable to field anyone to comment on cinch’s move into retail 6 NOVEMBER 2020 am-online.com SEND US YOUR NEWS If you have any news stories you’d like to let us know about email us at [email protected] in the week prior to AM’s publication. However, a statement from Cran- swick, who made the move from his SOME CAR RETAILERS WILL role as Jardine Motor Group’s former commercial director back in BE CONSIDERING WHETHER August, said: “We have worked in partnership with our dealer THEY WANT TO CONTINUE TO customers to develop a direct-to- DO BUSINESS WITH SOMEONE THEY consumer (D2C) e-commerce platform that meets both consumer ARE ALSO COMPETING WITH and dealer needs and will deliver flexibility and increased profit oppor- MARTIN FORBES, COX AUTOMOTIVE INTERNATIONAL tunities in an increasingly digitised post-COVID-19 market.” PUSH FOR GROWTH Some automotive retail sector inves- tors have suggested that BCA’s IF I WAS A RETAILER, I’D BE move had come as a direct result of Cazoo’s success in attracting £450m SLIGHTLY PEEVED TO PUT IT in venture capital funding and a valu- MILDLY. IT’S ANOTHER BIG ation of more than £2bn in early October. FORCE WITH AN AWFUL LOT OF MONEY “Previously, BCA’s owners must have looked at their business and BEHIND IT COMING INTO AN ALREADY thought ‘we have all this infrastruc- CROWDED RETAIL SECTOR ture and a huge wage bill and yet Auto Trader is making huge amounts RUPERT PONTIN, CAZANA without getting its hands dirty’, so they launch cinch as a rival,” one told AM.