Best Bib and Tucker
A fairly reliable measure of success among motor traders is the car they choose to take home.
Most independents will try to hold something moderately flash in stock, put a bit of a premium on it and be quite happy if it doesn’t sell for a few weeks, so they can run around in something nice. Barometric accuracy of the practice was never more obvious than at the end of 2008, when low-key steeds like the Mondeo TDCi Titanium estate became the car of choice for struggling dealers.
Much has changed over the last few months. These days it seems like CLS Mercedes have slotted into many of the spaces vacated by the value-for-money Mondeos. Though big, beautiful AMG Mercs and the odd Lambo Spyder are certainly more attractive machines to sit behind in an auction car park queue, not all of our retail customers are impressed by shiny things. Let’s remember this, and try not to let garish displays of recent affluence kill the kudos of understatement.
The Thrill of the Chase
As we near the end of May, the auction halls remain busy for the fifth month in succession, with no obvious signs of demand petering out just yet.
If there is anything more exciting than a car auction in full flow, I’ve never seen it. Erudite auctioneers selling proper cars in a buzzing auction hall is one of the most invigorating environments on the face of the planet, and a central part of many peoples’ passion for our wonderful industry.
Auctions are never going to be the perfect arena for car buying, but what flaws they have are outweighed by the thrill of seeing grown-up guys go head-to-head over hotly contested stock, with the auctioneer all the time encouraging them to go one more. Beat him, make it yours, you know you want to. It is glorious drama of the highest calibre, involving real profit and real loss. The day I get tired of watching it is the day I know it’s time to quit.
Politics and Private Enterprise
After a fortnight’s worth of revelations concerning the moral depletion of our politicians, now is not the time for industry leaders to let their defences slip. The MPs about to be ‘Alan Sugared’ will probably be job hunting at just about the same time many commentators see growth returning to UK industry.
Assuming it will take about the same time for memories of fiddled expenses to fade, it might be reasonable to expect CVs from some of these public sector superheroes to turn up in motor industry HR departments. Now might be a good time for them to stick a few “unwanted” posters up.
