2024 has been a tough year with supply outstripping demand, electric vehicle targets pushing the market and sluggish economy putting ever more pressure on consumer wallets. As well as these ongoing factors, in 2025 retailers will also have to deal with a leap in employment costs. However, as an industry we never fail to learn and adapt, so what does 2025 have in store and what can be put in place to maximise profitability.

Auto Retail Live’s Outlook for 2025 webinar on 10 December will examine these topics and reveal the results of the latest Auto Retail Barometer survey which tracks business sentiment in the industry.

Our panel of experts will get into the detail of new car supply, the impact of the ZEV Mandate, consumer confidence and employment costs plus look at the best metrics businesses should be using to make sure they’re on the right track for a profitable 2025.

In our final Auto Retail Live of this year we’ll have John O’Hanlon from Waylands, Graeme Potts from Eden Motor Group and Philipp Sayler von Amend from Carwow available online to discuss these topics, answer your questions and help you get ready for next year.

Topics and questions for discussion include:

Market overview

Industry themes for 2025

Tackling rising employment costs

Consumer behaviour in 2025

Likely vehicle supply scenarios under ZEV

Impact of rising EV mix on the retailer

September’s new car plate-change month is now out of the way, so attention inevitably turns to the used car market. Despite a relatively strong month for new, used car volumes for franchised retailers are essentially governed by how the market performed two-four years ago.

With the market missing more than 1.5 million cars during the pandemic, this is still having a significant impact on stock sourcing and pricing. Used car buyers are traditionally on a tighter budget than new car customers and they’re also more traditional in their fuel choice. The result is a distortion. Electric car prices may be weak, but the majority of the market is still running petrol and diesel vehicles where pricing is strong.

In this webinar our panel will discuss what this means for retailers and how profitability can be maintained through the very real disruption. Examining all these topics in our next Auto Retail Live Business Briefing, will be Perrys’ Darren Ardron, Swansway’s Peter Smyth, and Motors’ Phill Jones. Led by Auto Retail Live chair Al Clarke, the panel will discuss what’s going on now and what’s expected to happen in the used car market in the next few months.

Auto Retail Live, on Thursday 24 October, will examine the data, discuss hands-on experience and offer advice about how to get the most out of the rest of 2204.

Our expert panel will also be available live to answer your questions to help you run a more successful business.

Key topics for discussion include:

Used car market overview

Consumer behaviour in 2024

Used car pricing approach, what works best

Stock availability and sourcing

Part-ex policies, what’s best?

New brand entrants are joining the UK market at pace and putting pressure on existing traditional manufacturers at a time when electric vehicle targets, economic pressures and consumer confidence are all challenging. Of course, the arrival of these new entrants and the timing of government EV targets are not separate.

However, many believe that not all the new entrant brands will succeed in the UK. Similarly, few believe the UK market can sustain a higher number of brands than we have now, which means some longstanding brands could also fall by the wayside.

Assessing the market and what’s needed to succeed for both retailers who partner with these new entrants and the manufacturer is the latest edition of the New Entrants Report, published in partnership with Auto Trader.

To launch the report and discuss these topics join us on 8th October at 10:30am for our Auto Retail Live webinar, when we will analyse what these brands have to offer retailers, how and when they’re likely to come to the UK and how the market could change with an increasing number of manufacturers.

On the webinar panel are Victor Zhang, country director, Omoda & Jaecoo UK, Andrew Pilkington, deputy CEO sales & marketing, Vinfast UK, and Ian Plummer, commercial director of Auto Trader. They will share their knowledge and experience about the new Chinese brands and will be available to answer your questions online.

Key topics for discussion include:

• Is the UK’s plan for electrification helping or hindering new brands

• UK market pressures impact on new entrant progress

• What retail strategies are the new entrants adopting and why

• Why would retailers work with these new brands

• How can retailers work with new entrants

Retailers are the pinch-point between weak consumer demand for EVs and tough manufacturer targets for zero emission vehicles. What will this mean for dealers as we head toward the end of the year?

In out next Auto Retail Live webinar we’ll discuss where the market is now, what consumer demand looks like (with a focus on the EV ICE mix), and how retailers can hit increasingly tough OEM targets.

Discussing all these topics in our next Auto Retail Live Business Briefing, will be Jason Cranswick from Marubeni Auto Investment UK, Mark Busby from Hendy Group and Auto Trader’s Bex Kennett. Led by Auto Retail Live chair Al Clarke, the panel will discuss what’s going on now and what’s expected to happen to UK auto retail in the next few months.

Auto Retail Live, on Tuesday 10 September, will examine the data, discuss hands-on experience and offer advice about how to get the most out of the next quarter and beyond.

Our expert panel will also be available live to answer your questions to help you run a more successful business.

Key topics for discussion include:

• Where are we now on new car sales?

• Consumer EV demand

• EV targets for retailers

• New car supply

• Used car supply and pricing trends

Our panel discuss the issues surrounding the ZEV mandate, including:

Will this year really see a 1.45 million new car market as OEMs restrict ICE to hit a 22% BEV mix?

Is this just an OEM problem?

Is the next Government likely to change tack on EVs?

Which sales incentives work best to sell EVs.

What impact will the ZEV Mandate have on the used car market?

Talking through these points and more are Jonathan Gravell from Gravells, Mike Jones from Fresh Tracks and Auto Trader’s Rebecca Clark, all led by Auto Retail Live chair Al Clarke.

Nearing the halfway point in the year, it’s clear the market is now back to a reality that involves push, lower consumer demand, increased costs and tighter margins.

In this Business Booster webinar, in partnership with Real World Analytics, our panel of retailer experts will discuss the state of the market, how to handle pre-reg, what to do about subdued retail demand, ways of dealing with overage stock, what can be done about rising business costs and how to work with OEMs on EV targets.

Discussing all these topics in our next Auto Retail Live webinar, will be Nathan Tomlinson from Devonshire Motors, Craig Petty from Hatfields and John Hogan, Real World Analytics co-founder.

Led by Auto Retail Live chair Mike Jones, the panel will discuss what’s going on now and what’s expected to happen to UK auto retail in the next few months.

Auto Retail Live, on 22 May, will examine the data, discuss hands-on experience and offer advice about how to keep your business growing in an increasingly tough market.

Our expert panel will also be available live to answer your questions to help you run a more successful business.

Key topics for discussion include:

• Where to find and keep more customers

• How to battle car buying sites at part-ex time

• Mitigating rising business costs

• How to deal with pre-reg

• Rules to follow for overage stock

• Flagging retail EV demand

March’s plate change is upon us once again and new car supply is being to look decidedly like the past four years never happened with significant new car offers and a cautious consumer.

In this Business Briefing our panel of retailer experts will discuss the state of the current market, what can be done to bring in more customers for both new and used cars and how OEM offers and targets are impacting the bottom line for retailers.

Discussing all these topics in our next Auto Retail Live Business Briefing, will be Swansway’s Peter Smyth, Ron Brooks’ Tom Slack and Auto Trader’s Karolina Edwards-Smajda. Led by Auto Retail Live chair Al Clarke, the panel will discuss what’s going on now and what’s expected to happen to UK auto retail in the next few months.

Auto Retail Live, on Thursday 14 March, will examine the data, discuss hands-on experience and offer advice about how to get the most out of the next quarter.

Our expert panel will also be available live to answer your questions to help you run a more successful business.

Key topics for discussion include:

Where are we now on new car sales? (market update)

Are the OEM offers enough to drive the market? (consumer behaviour)

Will March be a profit success story?

Will new car volume be enough to power the used market? (Part-ex tips)

Outlook for the next few months on new and used

Disruptions to the used car market over the past few years have changed the automotive landscape permanently. Not only were fewer new cars sold during the pandemic, but the addition of electric vehicles and a shift to agency agreements by OEMs has necessitated a new approach to valuations, stock acquisition strategies and sales operations.

In our next Auto Retail Live webinar we’ll examine these influences on the used car market and provide the insight needed to adapt your operations to ensure ongoing success. We’ll have Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu, Rupert Pontin from AutoAPI and John Veichmanis, CEO of Carwow, all available online to discuss these topics, answer your questions and help you get ready for 2024.

We’ll unpack the intricacies of new car supply and its ripple effect on the used car market. Our experts will help you plan for the influx of March plate-change trade-ins and discuss the impact agency agreements will have on used car retailing.

The focus for this webinar will be to prepare retailers for the first quarter of 2024 up to and including the March plate-change and the increase in part-exchanges.

Topics and questions for discussion include:

• Market overview – where are we now (including economic factors)

• Outlook for Q1 valuations (March plate change)

• Influence of agency on used cars and trade-ins

• New car supply pressure on used

• Impact of rising EV mix and consumer demand

• Consumer behaviour when changing cars

As 2023 draws to a close the new and used car markets look far more like those in the pre-pandemic world, but what does that mean for trading in 2024?

Auto Retail Live’s Outlook for 2024 webinar on 12 December will examine this topic and reveal the results of the latest Auto Retail Barometer survey which tracks business sentiment.

Our panel of experts will get into the detail of new car supply, the impact of the ZEV Mandate, consumer confidence and behaviour, used car values and look at the best metrics businesses should be using to make sure they’re on the right track for a profitable 2024.

In our final Auto Retail Live of this year we’ll have James Brearley, COO at Peter Vardy, Jason Cranswick, COO at Marubeni Auto Investment UK, Peter Smyth from Swansway and Phill Jones, COO of Motors, all available online to discuss these topics, answer your questions and help you get ready for 2024.

The focus for this webinar will be to prepare retailers for the topics set to dominate their business in the coming 12 months.

Topics and questions for discussion include:

• Market overview

• Consumer behaviour in 2024

• Which KPIs should retailers monitor in 2024?

• Likely vehicle supply scenarios under ZEV

• Impact of rising EV mix on the retailer

• Used car values outlook for early 2024

The UK market is witnessing an influx of new brands from China and around the world, all of which have significant aspirations, new ideas, exciting new products and represent an opportunity for retailers. Starting with a clean slate, these brands are well resourced, fast moving and have the opportunity to both put pressure on established brands and disrupt the traditional route to market.

In our latest Auto Retail Live webinar, we’ll discuss what these brands have to offer retailers, how and when they’re likely to come to the UK and how electrification targets could give these new entrants an advantage. We will also review the success of the recent arrivals in the UK.

Joining us on the panel are Mark Blundell, UK head of marketing for BYD, Chee-Kiang Lim, China managing director of Urban Science and Ian Plummer, commercial director of Auto Trader. They will share their knowledge and experience about the new brands and will be available to answer your questions online.

Register HERE to join the webinar at 9.00 on Thursday 12th October

Key topics for discussion include:

Which brands are coming to the UK and when

How the most recent arrivals are faring

Why electrification is driving the number of new brands

What retail models are the new entrants adopting and why

Why would retailers work with these new brand