WLTP SURVEY / P8 Supplies will be hit in plate change month, dealers tell AM RINGWAYS / P24 MD Stephen Russell: How tough calls prepared us for prosperity AUTOMOTIVE MANAGEMENT www.am-online.com SUZUKI / P32 August 2018 £8.00 Used cars are not the holy grail, says UK boss Dale Wyatt SPOTLIGHT / P39 MOTOR RETAIL IN 2030 adRocket FP_AM_AMIFC16071id3553576.pdf 07.16.2018 16:36 EDITOR’S LETTER he Government wants as much as 70% of new cars sold annually to fall into the ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV) category by 2030 as part of its Road to Zero strategy. It’s a commendable target, and one which car brands must strive to achieve. They must demonstrate they are capable of eventually achieving zero tailpipe emissions, even if this means technology partnerships and alliances to reach this target, which is just two model life cycles away. The pressure is truly on. But the industry also needs certainty regarding the state support T available to it in the medium to long term. The plan confirmed plug-in car and van grants at their current rates only as far as October 2018, and a grant in some form until 2020. That’s really not good enough. The Government needs to help make electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids as affordable as petrol cars in the next decade (although I suspect it will just as likely tax conventional powertrains and fuels to make them unattractive for many buyers). In addition, charging infrastructure needs to expand faster than sales growth. The £400 million Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund, which was announced in last November’s Budget, should help support businesses that produce and install charging points, but I hope this is just the start. Consumers need confidence that their new transport options will get them to where they want to be, without wasting time finding a charger that is working and available. Otherwise, few of your long-standing customers will change the habits of a lifetime. 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 AUGUST 2018 3 adRocket Get your transport sorted fast! Over Full cost control 10,000 £65 £115 Vehicles moved Set the price you wish to last month Live data dashboard pay across your group £ 600+ Reliable Great cost savings Transport companies Fully managed service We have now been using Movex across our 100 dealerships, “it gives us full cost control and transparency across our group. We are confident we have made the correct decision“ in partnering with them and would highly recommend them! Jon Head, Commercial Director Marshall Motor Group Please contact [email protected] for more information or visit movex.co.uk to place a job The Vehicle Logistics Platform 127886 FP_AM_373620id3483284.pdf 16.05.2018 15:15 CONTENTSCONTENTS 24 Ringways UP FRONT INSIGHT 06 News insight 24 Face to face: 31 5 minutes with... 32 Brand values: 10 News digest Ringways Greig Hilton Suzuki After becoming MD on the Tracker’s managing Managing director 12 Market intelligence cusp of the last recession, director on the profit Dale Wyatt believes fleet 20 Opinions Stephen Russell believes opportunities for dealers sales will help him hit 2% the hard choices he made in connected cars, the market share, but he says then laid the groundwork internet of things and he will not risk his dealers’ DEALER for prosperity now telematics profitability to get there MASTERCLASS SPOTLIGHT: THE FUTURE OF MOTOR RETAIL 64 Online vehicle retailing 40 Tomorrow’s 43 The dealership 49 Bracing for car market in 2030 change TALENT What will sell in the car Suppliers, dealers and From rising property market of 2030? Are industry experts predict prices to omnichannel SUVs the new MPVs? Will how dealerships will retail and new pay models, 75 Artificial intelligence driverless vehicles kill off change over the next dealers face a decade of and recruitment new car sales? 12 years unprecedented upheaval 76 People on the move 78 Eight questions to... John Stone, SHOWROOM Bentley brand director at HR Owen 68 Volkswagen Touareg 72 Long-term reports am-online.com AUGUST 2018 5 NEWS INSIGHT DVSA WILL LEGALLY FORCE MANUFACTURERS TO RECALL VE The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will give manufacturers a 10-day deadline before it legally forces them to recall vehicles or face prosecution he Driver and soldier who was killed when his car it had received to the DVSA, Graeme with Vauxhall and BMW, where he Vehicle Standards crashed into a tree after he swerved Grieve, BMW UK chief executive, said felt “the flow of information wasn’t Agency (DVSA) has to avoid a broken-down BMW. A it did, citing 106 complaints where the the same as it was with other cases”. T sought and received further 312,000 vehicles were customer has experienced stalling or After the meeting, the committee clarification on the recalled on May 9 this year, the same a cutting-out of the vehicle. recommended that the Department legal powers it has to force vehicle day BBC’s Watchdog programme However, Gareth Llewellyn, the for Transport (DfT) make the DVSA’s manufacturers to issue recalls on reported on the issue. DVSA’s chief executive, told the enforcement powers more explicit, safety-critical issues. The DVSA and BMW gave committee: “No, [BMW] didn’t. We rather than the current wording, The clarification followed investi- conflicting evidence on the sharing of have asked on a number of occa- which is “presumptive”. gations into Vauxhall’s Zafira model information during the recall process sions for that information and we Llewellyn then sought legal advice B fires and BMW’s recall of 312,000 during a transport select committee have still yet to receive it.” on the extent of the DVSA’s enforce- vehicles due to an electrical fault. meeting on June 26. BMW denied providing inaccurate ment powers. This advice is what led BMW issued a recall of 36,000 When asked by the transport information. it to its new recall process. vehicles in April 2017 after the death committee if BMW provided all infor- Llewellyn said that while rare, “We now send a letter to a of Narayan Gurung, a former Gurkha mation on the number of complaints there had been occasions, such as manufacturer to say the DVSA will be 6 AUGUST 2018 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] THERE’S A DfT spokesperson refused to comment directly on whether it REPUTATIONAL would consider prosecuting vehicle owners for ignoring safety recall DAMAGE IF I FORCE notices. However, she did say: “Our priority YOU AS A REGULATOR TO is to protect drivers and the public UNDERTAKE A SAFETY RECALL from unsafe vehicles. “We are working with the DVSA to GARETH LLEWELLYN, DVSA review the recall system as a matter of priority, so that emerging safety Llewellyn said the DVSA had assistance technicians to help, and it issues are identified quickly and the already issued one of the new letters, may establish some “dedicated DVSA uses their enforcement which prompted a quick recall, and facilities” to help complete the recall powers to compel manufacturers to it was due to send another in the a as quickly as possible. It is also take appropriate and rapid action.” few days after they spoke to AM. sending 50 temporary staff into the The committee said it also wants He emphasised that there are network, and is encouraging dealers to look at making it mandatory for hundreds of recalls a year in the UK, to find “creative ways to create manufacturers to put a failsafe in most of which are not safety-critical, capacity”, such as using bodyshops vehicles, meaning that if they experi- and that they are handled well with and PDI centres. ence a loss of power, a back-up communication between the DVSA Professor Klaus Kompass, system means the hazard lights and manufacturers. vice-president of vehicle safety would still work. Llewellyn said: “With most manu- engineering at BMW, also confirmed Llewellyn said: “On the day of the facturers, the vast majority of recalls that he is working on an update, to accident, the most valuable thing at work really well. be introduced next year, that will the time would have been for the “But we want to be very clear send specific warnings to BMW’s hazard warning lights to have worked. that there’s reputational damage if Connected infotainment screen and “You would normally have safety I force you as a regulator to under- to the BMW Connected app on systems as a failsafe. It is amazing take a safety recall on what can be a owners’ smartphones. that hazard warning lights are large fleet.” These messages will be more attached to the same terminal as Llewellyn said the agency still has specific about the problem affecting everything else in the car so when other issues with the range of its a vehicle and explain the urgency to you lose power, you lose the one powers: “The Consumer Rights Act take a car to an authorised repairer. thing you need at that time. of 2015 failed to reinforce the role for Kompass said: “We will only send “That’s a manufacturing consist- DVSA of entry, search and seize. out those messages when we feel ency across most operations and I That’s one element we don’t have the urgency is high enough to get wonder whether that’s a future access to.