As we start 2021 under lockdown conditions, retail businesses are once again responding with determination to get the best out of a challenging situation. In our first broadcast of 2021, Auto Retail Live’s Q1 Briefing examines the pinch-points of the latest lockdown, how customer buying habits have evolved and what’s the best course of action to get through this, especially if the lockdown continues into March; the UK’s biggest month for new car sales.

In our Q1 Briefing James Brearley, Inchcape UK CEO, Rawdon Glover, Jaguar Land Rover UK managing director and Ian Plummer, commercial director at Auto Trader all share their experience of how best to operate under the latest lockdown.

The focus for this webinar will be retail new and used car sales, how to thrive online and how to prepare for lockdown’s lifting.

Key topics for discussion include:

What to do as we get ready to exit lockdown

What if lockdown is extended into March?

Customer behaviour in lockdown 3.0

Will people buy without a test drive?

What are the longer-term impacts of an on-off market?

Even before Covid-19, 2021 was always going to be a turbulent year. The UK’s separation from the EU starts in January. Emissions targets get tougher in 2021. And the number of new-start tech firms trying to reinvent auto retail seems to be on an exponential growth trajectory.

In our final Auto Retail Live of 2020 we had Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu Motors, Jonathan Gravell, managing director of Gravells Motors, Paul Ward director of Shelbourne Motors and Darren Preddy, director of dealer sales of Rapid RTC all available online to discuss these topics, answer your questions and help you get ready for 2021.

Register to join us HERE

The focus for this webinar was on new and used car sales, how to hit your targets while dealing with a changing landscape. Questions for discussion include:

How have the 2020 lockdowns changed consumer behaviour? What more can dealerships be doing?

What should retailers do about Brexit?

Do retailers need to plan for the new petrol and diesel car ban now?

Will the new-start tech firms reinventing auto retail, such as Cinch and Cazoo, be successful?

Why haven’t we seen a shift to agency agreements yet?

Lockdown 2.0 may not come with the same shock as the first, but it’s raised a new set of questions around what the Government will and won’t allow this time round plus how best to refine online sales and click and collect to keep business running and customers satisfied.

In our Q4 Briefing we have Darren Edwards, Sytner Group CEO, Bill Berman, Pendragon CEO and Catherine Faiers, COO at Auto Trader all answering your questions and sharing their experience of how best to operate under lockdown.

The focus for this webinar will be retail new and used car sales, how to hit your targets while dealing with a changing landscape.

Key topics for discussion include:

Lockdown 2.0, what have we learnt from the first lockdown to help us now?

What’s different this time round and how to deal with it.

Are the manufacturers doing enough to support their networks?

How is your September going? Want to do even better?

Then tune in to this Auto Retail Live podcast to get the critical insight to hit your September targets, grow your profitability and maintain impetus for the remainder of 2020.

Due to the premature end to March sales, this September will be the most important month of 2020, both for the sale of new vehicles and maximising the part exchanges to fuel your used car sales.

Held in association with Mazepoint, our podcast features Daksh Gupta, CEO of Marshall Motors, John O’Hanlon, founder of Waylands, Ian Plummer, Auto Trader commercial director and Tracy Ellam, Mazepoint commercial director.

The focus for this webinar will be new car sales, how to hit September’s targets without resorting to pre-registration, will the pent-up demand continue, how to spot new opportunities within your own data and how the rest of 2020 will shape up.

Key topics for discussion include:

The latest on September new car registrations

Identifying business opportunities in your data

Consumer demand outlook

How to deal with OEM targets and pressures

Used car opportunities

The FCA’s new rules on commission disclosure and a ban on discretionary commission payments will have far-reaching implications for the sale of cars. Our Auto Retail Live webinar The Future of Motor Finance looks at how retailers can continue to make money from finance, but also make the buying experience easier, clearer and simpler for consumers resulting in better customer satisfaction and increased new and used car sales.

In this Auto Retail Live webinar we’ll have Mike Pierce, managing director of Sytner Finance, Neil Pickles from RSM Risk Assurance Services, James Tew from iVendi and finance sales expert Andy Tong to help improve your retail performance.

The focus for The Future of Finance webinar will be on what the new FCA rules mean to your business, what you can and can’t do as well as looking at how to future-proof your operations.

Key topics for discussion include:

What did the FCA report on car finance say

What are your immediate actions

What can and can’t you do

How you should be planning for the future

Business is far from normal yet, but the September plate-change will still happen and targets still have to be hit. Our next Auto Retail Live Quarterly Briefing will help put your business in the best position with advice, tips, insight and discussion from our expert panel.

In the Q3 Briefing we’ll have Robin Luscombe, founder of Luscombe Suzuki and Mitsubishi, Mike Jones, chairman of ASE Global and Sue Fish, head of new cars at Auto Trader on the panel to help improve your retail performance.

The focus for this webinar will be retail new car sales, how to hit new car targets without resorting to pre-registration and the latest buyer behaviours as well as the impact of the broader economic climate.

Key topics for discussion include:

Will pent-up demand continue to September?

Is there enough, or too much, supply?

Latest consumer trends

Economic impact on auto retail

Showroom shutdown followed by pent up demand is uncharted territory for the used car market. In this Auto Retail Live webinar we look at how the pricing and sourcing of used cars has been impacted plus what’s in store over the next few months.

First broadcast on Thursday, 25 June we had Neil Smith from Imperial Car Supermarkets, Rupert Pontin from Cazana, Mark Fretwell from Chrysalis Loyalty and Bex Clark from Auto Trader, all available to answer your questions.

Showrooms may be open, but we are still facing unprecedented challenges, so it’s vital to come out as strong as possible. With this webinar we aim to help you achieve this.

Key topics for discussion include:

How is consumer demand?

Can used car supply keep pace?

Which way will prices go?

What will the drop in new car sales do to RVs?

Can used car sourcing go fully digital?

Now that showrooms in England have reopened, in this Auto Retail Live webinar we investigate how best to get customers to start buying cars again, how to ramp up the sales process and what the early pinch-points have been plus how to solve them.

This webinar’s panel includes; Paul Hendy from Hendy group, Stuart Buckley from Calltracks and Pontus Riska from Rapid RTC.

Key topics for discussion include:

How a leading retailer is managing his business

How the market is performing

How best to get the message to your customers

What sort of message should you be delivering

What are the early pinch-points – both in the physical showroom and in the (sales) process of getting people back in

New, used and aftersales differences

In this Auto Retail Live webinar, we investigate online sales, click and collect, handling part exchanges, test drives and distance selling. Plus, we will have the industry’s leading legal experts on hand to discuss the latest on the furlough scheme, employment issues and other current challenges facing auto retailers.

We are joined by the leading retailer Peter Vardy, Sandra Martins and Iain Larkins from Radius Law, plus Karl Werner from MotoNovo Finance, all who answer your questions.

Now that click and collect is an option for retailers with closed showrooms, join Peter, Sandra, Iain and Karl to see what you can do to ensure every opportunity is maximised for your business, now and as we begin to open the showrooms in the ‘New Normal’.

Key topics for discussion include:

How a leading retailer is managing his business

How customers behaving online

Trip hazards of distance selling

How best to handle vehicle handovers and test drives

Online finance integration

How to ready your business for reopening

We analyse the Government’s plans to get businesses back up and running while maintaining worker and customer safety as lockdown starts to ease.

Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu Motors, Sandra Martins, head of employment at Radius Law, Catherine Faiers from Auto Trader and Jeremy Evans, founder of Marketing Delivery, chat to Al Clarke about the issues of the day.

Key topics for discussion include:

What the Government has confirmed you can do

What the Government has confirmed you can’t do

Analysis of the grey areas

How to bring staff back to work

Messages for customers