- IMI TURNS TO LINKEDIN FOR NEW CEO
- JLR LAUNCHES REVIEW OF GLOBAL CREATIVE ACCOUNT
- OMODA JAECOO’S FIRST RETAILER AWARD WINNERS
- MOTOR DEPOT PROFIT HALVES TO £1m IN 2024
- PENSION FUND PACT EXPECTED THIS WEEK
- WEEK AHEAD: Vertu FY
- CAR FINANCE DRIVES RISE IN COMPLAINTS IN H2 2024
- ENERGY CUSTOMERS COMPENSATED FOR OVERCHARGING
- CHINA EXPERT ‘WARNS GERMAN RETAILERS AGAINST CHINESE BRANDS’
- VINFAST SIGNS FRENCH, GERMAN RETAILERS
- GUEST OPINION: Ready or not, here they come
IMI turns to LinkedIn for new CEO
The IMI has increased its efforts to find a new permanent CEO by advertising the £120,000 role on LinkedIn. The move follows the return of previous CEO Sarah Sillars OBE as acting-CEO, the third person to hold the interim position.
Sillars, became the IMI’s third interim CEO on 1 April, after Kevin Finn stepped down from the role at the end of March. Finn has been running the organisation since December 2024 and who’d taken over from Azlina Bulmer. In turn, Bulmer had taken over from long-standing permanent chief executive Steve Nash who stepped down from the role, after 12 years, in July 2024.
Sillars previously ran the IMI between 2002-2009 and then became executive chair until 2012 when she became vice president.
The IMI has seen the departure of nine directors in the first four months of 2025, according to Companies House.
The first criteria for the new CEO is listed as: “Define and execute IMI’s strategic vision, ensuring long-term financial sustainability and growth.”
The most recent accounts for the IMI show that for the year ending 31 March 2024, the organisation posted a pre-tax loss of £3.0 million on a turnover of £12.6m. In the preceding year the IMI recorded a pre-tax profit of £257,611 on a turnover of £12.0m.
The swing in fortunes in part followed a detailed review of “the carrying value of the intangible assets of the business in line with accounting standards. This has resulted in the impairment and advancement of charging amortisation on the intangible assets in the year of £2,215,419 resulting in an overall deficit for the year of £3,018,875 before revaluation of the property”.
The impairment charge is equivalent to 17.6% of the IMI’s turnover.
The accounts, in part, blamed higher than expected start-up costs for an operation in China.
JLR launches review of global creative account
JLR has launched a review of its global creative account, which has been held by Accenture Song since 2021 alongside its in-house agency Spark44. Its existing contract runs until the middle of 2026.
The Telegraph reports the review comes after Jaguar was “forced to defend a controversial advert and rebrand that sparked widespread derision late last year”. Jaguar MD Rawdon Glover said criticism of the actors in the campaign was fuelled by “vile hatred and intolerance”.
Omoda Jaecoo’s first retailer award winners
Arnold Clark won the Best Group Sales Overall Performance in the first Omoda and Jaecoo annual dealer awards. Drayton Motors Louth, Bassetts Swansea and Toomey Brentwood won the Best Sales Performance Centre for small, medium and large territories respectively.
Other winners included Stoner Gillingham for EV Leadership, Toomey Brentwood for Aftersales Performance, Peoples Limited for Retail Marketing Excellence, Wellington Motors for Social Media Excellence and Brindley Garages for Top Fleet Dealer Performance.The event, which included a gala dinner and Chinese opera, was held at The Grove in Hertfordshire.
Motor Depot profit halves to £1m in 2024
Car supermarket Motor Depot – which is now known as carsupermarket.com – saw turnover rise from £339m to £387m in the year ended September 2024. Profit before tax fell from £2.3m to £1m. Q1 profitability was impacted by the sharp decline in used car prices; the company entered the year with a “significant volume” of older stock. Q3 was also impacted by the “28% reduction in the availability of cars aged 1-5 years compared to 2019” which drove up acquisition costs.
Pension fund pact expected this week
More than 15 major pension fund investors, including L&G, Aviva, Phoenix and M&G, are understood to be part of a voluntary pact known as the Mansion House Accord due to be announced this week. It will oblige them to invest up to 10% of their assets in fast-growing companies and infrastructure, with half of that in the UK, by 2030. The Sunday Times reports that if they fail to comply, the government could give itself the power to mandate pension funds to invest cash in UK projects.
WEEK AHEAD
Tuesday, UK unemployment
Thursday, Vertu results for the year ended February 2025
Thursday, GDP
DATA INSIGHT
Car finance drives rise in complaints to FOS in H2 2024
141k: Number of complaints received by the Financial Ombudsman Service in H2 2024. They were driven by banking, credit disputes and a rise in motor finance commission cases.
Energy customers compensated for overcharging error
34k: Number of energy customers compensated for overcharging between 2019-2024 by 10 energy suppliers. Around £7m was paid out – an average of £205 per customer.
GLOBAL AUTO
China expert ‘warns German retailers against Chinese brands’
German retailers are becoming increasingly sceptical about working with Chinese brands, reports Automotive News Europe, partly because EVs are in low demand and partly because established brands are improving their product offer. In Q1 2025, Chinese brands in Germany achieved a 1.5% market share, just 0.5% up on the previous year.
Some experts are now warning about “inevitable” market consolidation, particularly with European retailers taking on a “significant” amount of risk. “I can only warn dealers against investing in a Chinese brand,” China expert Jochen Siebert of consultancy JSC-Automotive said to Germany’s Automobilwoche. “It’s not worth it in the current situation.”
VinFast signs French, German retailers
Vietnamese new entrant VinFast has signed its first official retailer in France, Astrada Simva, and its second retailer in Germany, Schachtschneider Automobile. VinFast chair Le Thi Thu Thuy said the company is “taking further steps to transition to a full dealer franchise model in Europe, reaffirming our commitment to this significant market”.
OPINION
Ready or not, here they come
Make no mistake – the Chinese automotive onslaught is not just coming, it’s already here, writes Andy Goss. Having spent extensive time in China as a JLR board director overseeing both imports and the joint venture with Chery, I’ve witnessed firsthand the rapid evolution from industry newcomers to formidable global competitors.
The Chinese will succeed internationally – this is inevitable. Their advantages are substantial: ruthless procurement capabilities that European manufacturers would struggle to match, state-of-the-art production facilities unburdened by legacy systems, strategic control of critical EV minerals, and exceptional software integration. Add to this their rapidly improving design aesthetics, and you have a formula for disruption that keeps German boardrooms awake at night.
BYD exemplifies this threat, selling as many vehicles in Q1 2024 in the UK as they did throughout all of 2023. They’re projected to secure 5% market share by 2026 – approaching Ford’s current position. Others will follow, with an avalanche of competitive products headed our way.
However, despite their advantages, Chinese manufacturers still have much to learn about operating in Western markets. They certainly need to better appreciate what the profitability requirements are which will drive retailers profitability and therefore business case and capital allocation.
The retailer’s viability requires mastering four critical pillars: new car profitability, used car operations, aftersales service, and financial services. Currently, most Chinese brands are standing on just two legs of this four-legged stool – an unsustainable position.
To succeed, these newcomers must address several key challenges:
First, brand awareness requires significant investment. BYD understands this with high-profile sponsorships like the Euros, but many others mistakenly believe retailers should shoulder this responsibility.
Second, organisational structure demands the right balance of Chinese leadership who can manage upward communication to headquarters, complemented by experienced European operational teams with market expertise. Micromanagement from China has already disrupted potentially successful ventures such as Lotus.
Third, networks need proper scale and territory planning. The Chinese don’t need 120 independent retail partners – they need strategic partnerships with perhaps half a dozen major groups who possess the resources and processes to accelerate market penetration.
Finally, establishing captive financial services is crucial. Modern consumers don’t buy cars – they finance them through monthly payments. Without competitive financing options, even the most impressive product lineup will struggle.
The UK market presents a particularly attractive opportunity for Chinese brands given the current regulatory environment. Without tariff barriers, they face fewer obstacles than in markets such as the US or EU.
European manufacturers do have time to respond, particularly in the premium segment where brand loyalty runs deep. But in the volume market, Chinese brands offering competitively priced EVs in the £30,000-£35,000 range with attractive monthly payments pose an immediate threat.
The automotive landscape is changing dramatically. Those who adapt fastest – whether established Western brands or Chinese newcomers who learn these critical market lessons – will determine the industry’s future.
Andy Goss
Chairman of Vertu Motors and highly experienced automotive executive
Get in touch: tristan@autosunday.co.uk
ISSN 2977-6597