The UK’s motor retail and parts industries face an ‘uncertain future’ as the number of firms in ‘significant financial distress’ according to a new report.
The research, published by insolvency firm Begbies Traynor shows that both new and used car dealers are having a very hard time as new registrations continue to fall. Interestingly, the firm cites a glut of used cars on the market as one of the reasons for used car dealer’s distress, rather than the number of pre Euro-5 vehicles taken out of the market as a result of scrappage schemes offered by various VMs.
Over the past year, the level of ‘significant distress’ for used car dealers rose by a third to 1851 dealers, compared with the same period in the previous year.
Julie Palmer, partner at Begbies Traynor, said: “Consumers up and down the country are tightening their belts in the face of rising inflation, increased interest rates and real wage pressures, causing households to put the handbrake on spending on big ticket purchases, and encouraging many to hold on to their vehicles for longer”.
“Even those owners looking to upgrade their vehicles are struggling to do so, as a recent glut of second hand cars on the market continues to depress the value of second hand motors while making new vehicles and their hefty price tags even less appealing”.
New car dealerships fair little better, with consumer confusion regarding diesel legislation and a lack of electric infrastructure keeping would-be car buyers away. Worryingly, the findings chime with the results of a KPMG survey released at the same time that predicts over half of all dealerships in the UK could close within eight years, leading a number of dealer principals and other motor industry executive to state that the only way these businesses can survive is to convert to a used car dealer and/or repurpose to becoming an independent service garage (see page 5).
FINANCIAL HEALTH
The Begbies Traynor findings were published in the firm’s Red Flag alerts, which monitors the financial health of UK companies. It warns that a number of macro-economic pressures last year contributed to this considerable increase in distress, with the combination of rising inflation, stagnant real wage growth, a weak
pound, political uncertainty, November’s rise in interest rates, and the ever-tightening credit environment putting increasing financial stress on businesses across the country. As a result, 258,349 UK businesses ended the year in a position of negative net worth, while a further 154,251 demonstrated a ‘worrying increase’ in their working capital deficit.
Palmer added: “When the overall business environment is so challenging, unfortunately there can be few real winners, however certain sectors of the economy are certainly feeling the pinch more than others. In particular, the vast UK support services sector saw a spike in distress as their stretched customers reined back spending. The construction industry saw the lowest levels of optimism in five years while the real estate sector felt the full impact of the increasingly stagnant UK housing market”.
to be expected really. For decades dealers have been squeezed by their car manufacturer `partners`? who simply don’t want them making money from their products.
A warning to the aftermarket if they think that car makers and their `tier one` friends don’t have them in their sights. They always opposed the block exemption thing and have played a long game to design the aftermarket out.
All aspects of the aftermarket from importers and brand builders, right through to independent garages, should keep the trade clubs at arms length. They either want to put you out of business or manage the margins out of your business in the same way they have to their own dealers.