- McPhee details Hendy restructuring plan
- Ford reports EV cancellations due to pay-per-mile plan
- Salary sacrifice faces fresh uncertainty ahead of Budget
- Reeves to extend Electric Car Grant
- MG to expand Longbridge training facility
- WEEK AHEAD: Budget 2026
- Public sector pension generosity highlighted again
- Income tax threshold freeze until 2031?
- Used Fords now on Amazon Autos
- BYD targets major European expansion
- OPINION: Will 2026 be the year the legacy brands fight back?
McPhee details Hendy restructuring plan
Hendy Group has completed a sweeping reset of its structure, systems and partnerships as it prepares for what COO Duncan McPhee describes as a pivotal 2026.
Speaking at the Vehicle Remarketing Association conference this week, McPhee said current trading conditions remain difficult. “It’s fair to say the market is really tough right now. There’s pressure on margin, there’s some pressure on cost and consumer confidence isn’t in a great place.”
Despite that, he sees “opportunities” across the sector.
Marking just over a year in post, McPhee said Hendy had outgrown its previous operating model. “The group’s at a size now where the operating model had to be looked at,” prompting the creation of general manager roles to bring “absolute ownership and accountability”.
The group has also installed a new sales platform, refreshed its training approach and made difficult cost decisions. “We have had to reduce our workforce. We’ve taken about 5% of our workforce out.”
New brand representation has accelerated, with BYD, Omoda, Jaecoo and Chery joining the portfolio. “There’s so many brands coming to the UK, but… we’ve gone with those who we think have got the best chance of success.”
Looking ahead, he remained upbeat. “Everything we’ve done this year is all about setting ourselves up for success in 2026.”
* Read the full VRA Conference report, including more from McPhee, in the December issue of Auto Market Insight
Ford reports EV cancellations due to pay-per-mile plan
Electric car buyers are cancelling or delaying their purchase due to government plans to introduce a pay-per-mile charge for BEVs and PHEVs, according to Ford managing director Lisa Brankin.
Speaking to Radio 5 Live, Brankin said: “We’ve certainly seen through some of our data, customers who had placed orders, put them on hold or cancel pending what happens in the budget.”
She said it was “certainly not the right time” to introduce new levies on EVs. “That [policy], in the face of really fragile demand for electric vehicles, is just another brake. Electric vehicles in some instances have gone from being a great thing to being something that we’re trying to push people into.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Brankin also highlighted the imbalance between fleet and retail demand for EVs (where fleet is running at 40% uptake while retail is at 15-16%), industry-wide pressures such as higher National Insurance, increased competition due to new entrants and lower demand while businesses and consumers wait to see what’s in the Budget.
Salary sacrifice faces fresh uncertainty ahead of Budget
Salary sacrifice could be one of the most significant tax casualties in next week’s Budget, according to BDO tax partner Chris Bond.
Speaking at the annual VRA conference this week, Bond warned that the Treasury appears increasingly inclined toward tighter limits on the relief.
He said the government has long viewed salary sacrifice as an easy route for taxpayers to reduce income tax and National Insurance. Bond said recent signals point toward a single preferred option: capping income tax relief on salary sacrifice at £2,000 per person.
Any contributions above that threshold would lose their tax efficiency, a shift that would directly affect employees using salary sacrifice for pensions as well as those accessing vehicles through employer schemes.
The measure would raise around £2bn a year, reports Bloomberg – “which would cover about two thirds of the cost of scrapping the two-child benefit cap”.
Reeves to extend Electric Car Grant
The chancellor will extend the UK Electric Car Grant for another year (from 2028-29 to 2029-30) with a £1.3bn cash injection in the budget, reports the FT. She will also announce £200m to increase the rollout of charge points.The report made no mention of pay-per-mile charges for EVs.
MG to expand Longbridge training facility
MG is near-doubling the size of its retailer training facility in Longbridge. The expanded Cecil Kimber College (named after the driving force behind MG’s pre-war success) is expected to open in Q2 2026, according to MG’s head of product David Allison.
Speaking to sister title Auto Market Insight, Allison added MG was launching a series of new initiatives aimed at helping retailers provide better customer service including a new parts warehouse and logistics partner, a mobility programme and a customer-first programme.
* Read the full interview with David Allison in the December issue of Auto Market Insight.
WEEK AHEAD
Wednesday, Budget
Friday, Nationwide house price index
* Have an event or announcement coming up? Let us know and we will include it for FREE
DATA INSIGHT
Public sector pension generosity highlighted again
£57bn: The amount taxpayers will fork out this year to fund the pensions of retired public sector workers. For every £1 saved, public sector workers get £7 more in retirement than those in the private sector.
Income tax threshold freeze until 2031?
£50bn: The amount an expected freeze on income tax thresholds could raise per year by the end of the decade. It is understood the chancellor may keep thresholds frozen for a further two years, to 2031, in her Budget on Wednesday.
GLOBAL AUTO
Used Fords now on Amazon Autos
Ford retailers can now sell certified pre-owned vehicles on Amazon Autos. The blue oval becomes the second OEM on the platform, following Hyundai. The program starts first in LA, Seattle and Dallas, with more markets coming.
BYD targets major European expansion
BYD is planning a major expansion across Europe in 2026, reports Automotive News, scaling up its manufacturer and dealer footprint, along with new models. Germany will be a priority market, said regional chief Maria Grazia Davino. In her first year, BYD has tripled its staff and retailer network in the countries she manages.
OPINION
Will 2026 be the year the legacy brands fight back?
After two years of relentless momentum from new-entrant marques, particularly the fast-scaling Chinese players, could 2026 shape up to be the first real counter-offensive from the industry’s traditional heavyweights?
With Chinese brands now holding 13% of the UK new-car market – up sharply from 5% a year ago – the rate of growth is impossible to ignore. And with the total market holding steady at around two million registrations, every percentage point of share gained by one camp is lost by another.
The new entrants have built their UK presence on aggressive value, abundant specification and, usually, an EV-first product philosophy. They’ve proven that a well-priced, well-equipped electric SUV can be brought to market quickly and in volume. But the coming year may reveal the limits of that strategy and create opportunities for legacy brands to reassert themselves.
The longer established brands still hold powerful cards. Their retailer networks, while not perfect, offer national coverage, robust aftersales capability, have strong vehicle parcs and customer familiarity. They also are closer to their customers and potentially better understand their needs.
In an era when EV buyers are becoming more discerning, the value of predictable servicing, easy parts availability and established repair standards will grow.
Brand equity also matters more as the market transitions from novelty to normality. As EV ownership ramps up, many buyers are shifting from excitement toward caution: they want long-term reassurance, residual-value stability, transparent warranty support and confidence the manufacturer behind the badge will still be here in 10 years. Traditional OEMs can trade on that institutional trust, assuming, of course, they win the fight to stay in the market.
But there’s one weakness to the new entrants’ launches: they all seem to be targetting the same customer with broadly similar C-segment SUVs.
Yes, this is the biggest sector of the market, and it’s growing steadily, but by my count, there’s about 25% more models in this sector than there were a year ago. This can only mean the sector has to be the most competitive (and most difficult to do business in).
So, perhaps the established brands, who know their customers better than any new entrant can, will show some brave thinking and bring new ideas to the market, not just in the type of vehicle, but in the way they communicate with buyers.
Tristan Young
Editorial Director
Get in touch: tristan@autosunday.co.uk
ISSN 2977-6597