Just a few hours after Automotive Management Live 2024 closed the doors almost three dozen senior leaders of dealer groups joined Automotive Management and this year’s AM100 sponsors at an invitation-only dinner.
It was a superb opportunity to network, share thoughts about industry opportunities and hear insights from this year’s AM100 research.
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Our thanks go to the sponsors of the evening: Assurant, Direct Affinity CX, GardX, MFL Direct and RWA Automotive. And special thanks to BDO’s motor retail team for their collaboration with the research.
“What an exciting period this is for motor retailers,” Automotive Management’s editor Tim Rose told the gathering.
“Never in recent memory have we had so many new car brands trying to become established in the UK market, at the very same time as the incumbents are battling to adapt and maintain market share.”
He added: “Even before we collated the AM100 data, it has been clear that we’ve also had the biggest takeover activity since the era of Pendragon buying Reg Vardy. Consolidation means there is a bunch of new retailer names in the AM100 this time.”
The editor pointed out that the highest ranked real newcomer is Ray Chapman Motors, which doubled in size to four Volvo dealerships with its acquisition of Clive Brook. That move, and its existing success in selling Volvos, catapulted it past the bottom 10 of last year’s AM100.
On the topic of dealer group profitability, he pointed out that the AM100 research by our partner BDO found that just over a quarter of the AM100 are still achieving above 2% return on sales, but only 7 of all the groups improved profitability.
