- NFDA DEALER ATTITUDE SURVEY OUT TOMORROW
- RECORD NUMBER OF CARS ON UK ROADS
- NICOLE MELILLO SHAW: RETAILERS ‘HAPPIER’ WITH AGENCY
- UK AND EU PORTS IN CHAOS
- WEEK AHEAD: UK unemployment
- POLESTAR IN HUGE RETAIL BOOST
- US CAR SALES TO PLUNGE IN 2025
- TRUMP TARIFFS CAUSE US USED CAR INFLATION SPIKE
- STELLANTIS SCRAPS T03 PRODUCTION IN EUROPE
- OPINION: Ageing car parc
NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey out tomorrow
The Winter 2025 edition of the NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey, revealed tomorrow at 9am, is expected to show across-the-board improvements as retailers report a strong relationship with their OEMs.
Around 20 brands are expected to show an improved overall rating, with around 10 showing a decline. Improvements are anticipated in EVs, although from a low base, and profit returns are expected to show gains too.
“The Winter 2025 NFDA Dealer Attitude offers an in-depth look at the evolving relationship between manufacturers and franchised dealerships,” chief executive Sue Robinson will say, “shedding light on both advancements and persistent challenges.”
* Read full analysis in the May issue of Auto Market Insight – subscribe here
Record number of cars on UK roads
The UK car parc has reached a record of nearly 42 million vehicles, according to the SMMT’s latest Motorparc data. Cars are also up 1.3% to 36.1 million units – and the number of EVs is up 38.9% year-on-year to reach more than 1.3m units.
Include plug-in hybrids, and cars with a plug now account for one in 20 vehicles in use – that’s 2.15 million cars. Petrol cars have also risen 1% to 21m cars, while diesel fell a significant 4.4%, the fifth straight year of decline. There are still 11.6m diesel cars on the road though, making up 32.1% of cars in use.
Britain’s car parc is ageing too. The average age is now 9.5 years old, up from the eight-year-old average of 2019. 43.5% of the total parc has been in use for more than a decade.
The number of vans also grew to record levels, up 1.8% to 5.1m units.* Read editorial director Tristan Young’s opinion below
Nicole Melillo Shaw: retailers ‘happier’ with agency
Volvo UK MD Nicole Melillo Shaw describes Volvo’s switch to the agency model as one of the biggest changes in the firm’s history. Speaking to The Sunday Times, “she insists that dealers are much happier with not taking cars ‘onto their balance sheets’ – even if they picket more modest fees as a result”.
Volvo is benefitting from being “much closer to the consumer” with targeted advertising too.
The UK is now Volvo’s third-biggest market, behind the US and China, and sold more than 11k cars in March for the first time ever. Q1 was a record too.
Melillo Shaw adds that she’s been told “you don’t look like a normal automotive MD… [but then] I’ve never really been too bothered about fitting in”.
UK and EU ports in chaos
Major ports in the UK and Europe are “clogging up” as ships carrying goods between the US and China are in limbo. The Sunday Times reports there are hundreds of ships queuing up to enter ports. Industry execs are worried the chaos could be just the start of serious disruption.
One expert said goods normally flowing between the US and China are being rerouted to Europe. In the first week of April, 51 ships called at the port of Southampton, compared to 12 a year ago. 226 ships called at Antwerp, up from 34 a year ago.
The US will also this week unveil plans for a $1m fee to be imposed on all Chinese vessels docking at US ports. This is up from today’s fee of $20k-$50k. It risks “forcing global shipping to a near-standstill”.
WEEK AHEAD
Monday, NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey
Tuesday, UK unemployment
Wednesday, CPI and RPI
Friday, GFK Consumer Confidence
DATA INSIGHT
Polestar in huge retail boost
76%: Year-on-year quarterly increase in Polestar UK volumes. Retail partners are driving the increase in Q1 sales to over 12,300 cars, said CEO Michael Lohscheller.
US car sales to plunge in 2025
1 million: Goldman Sachs’ estimated fall in US new vehicle sales in 2025 – down from 16.25m to 15.4m.
GLOBAL AUTO
Trump tariffs cause US used car inflation spike
President Donald Trump’s 25% automotive tariffs have “set off a frenzy at car dealers across the country,” reports Bloomberg. The biggest inflationary event since Covid means retailers are desperately short of used car stock and willing to pay over the odds to acquire cars. One retailer typically has around 100 cars in stock; it is currently below 40.
Used car prices are expected to rise further if the volatility continues.
Stellantis scraps T03 production in Europe
Stellantis has halted production of the affordable T03 electric city car in Poland after the French government ruled it was not eligible for an EV ‘eco bonus’. The T03 is built from kits assembled in China, which mean it does not have enough local content to be eligible for a subsidy of up to €4,000. An insider told Automotive News there are no plans to resume T03 production in Europe.
OPINION
Ageing car parc
Yesterday’s UK car parc figures from the SMMT make for interesting reading. With the parc up 1.3% to more than 36 million cars this should signal good news for retailers, particularly when it comes to aftersales. Couple this to a shrinking number of new car retailers and there should be more cars per site.
Dive a little deeper, however, and there are two more factors that retailers should pay particular attention to.
First is the rate of growth of the EV parc. Small numbers always make for large percentage gains, but the 1.3m BEV parc (up 39% over last year) means electric cars now account for 3.6% of all cars on UK roads.
In theory, EVs should require less in the way of servicing and aftersales attention. At least that’s what consumers are promised and retailers are warned. But speaking to retailers, this doesn’t yet seem to be the case. The fact that we’re still really in the early days of EVs and the technology isn’t quite as honed as it is for ICE cars, means warranty work levels are still high.
The second point of note, is the average age of cars. SMMT data shows the all-car average is now 9.5 years, up from 9.3 a year ago. It’s also significantly higher than the eight-year average from just before the pandemic.
While franchised retailers aren’t great at customer retention beyond three or four years, and anecdotal plus personal experience would suggest that older car servicing still isn’t the priority it should be within the retail group sector, this is a portion of the car market that can produce a good return.
Given the pressure on consumer wallets and the need for retailers to fight increasing costs, the two points should be the focus of attention in the near future simply because both areas are only likely to increase in importance.
Tristan Young
Editorial Director
Get in touch: tristan@autosunday.co.uk
ISSN 2977-6597