MT Interview

When Motor Trader arrived at the Chester home of Mitchell Group on 18 March before the full impact of the coronavirus outbreak hit UK life, managing director, Mark Mitchell, was celebrating early 2020 results that eclipse even the near 14% increase in profits achieved in 2019 – a year that saw the group rise five places to 175th in the ...

When Lexus named Steven Eagell Group as its best UK performer at the brand’s annual dealer awards, it was the latest in a string of accolades since Steven Eagell realised a long-held ambition, founding the eponymous group in 2002 through the Toyota sponsored operator programme. Steven Eagell today operates 18 Toyota outlets stretching across the home counties. Lexus Hatfield was ...

Peter Vardy is planning the next stage of development for the group with investment in premium brands and supermarkets It’s the middle of March and Vardy, CEO of the Scotland based eponymous dealer group is up to his eyes with the plate-change and the cars passing through the group’s Mini, Jaguar Land Rover, Porsche and Vauxhall franchises. Motor Trader met ...

Vertu Motors saw profits come under pressure in the first half with WLTP supply restrictions beginning to bite. The group saw adjusted pre-tax profits decline 13.4% to £18.1m compared to £20.9m in the first half of 2017 on turnover down 7.9% to £1.56bn. September sales were hit by WLTP induced supply restrictions and this situation is likely to continue into ...

Over the past four years seismic restructuring has been underway at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). Under Tata ownership, the group has been investing billions in new product across both brands, and that’s ongoing. It is also well advanced on a major revamp of the dealer network to streamline its structure and bring in common ownership of the two brands in ...

Pendragon CEO Trevor Finn is one year into a business strategic review, pushing hard on used cars, making specific investment cuts in its premium business and selling off its US arm In October last year Pendragon under CEO Trevor Finn announced a strategic review committing itself to reshaping the business, making specific cuts in premium brand outlets, expanding its used ...

Appointed in March this year, Peter Bell is the managing director at Manheim, the auction and remarketing division of Cox Automotive. In this interview he talks with Julian Buckley about adapting the business for the digital future, including changes to physical auctions   You’ve got an extended background in automotive but you’ve just recently joined Manheim. Can you say what ...

In an exclusive interview with Motor Trader, Fraser Cohen, managing director of the Glyn Hopkin Group, talks about the company’s 25th anniversary, together with recent company performance and how to get more women involved in the retail motor industry Glyn Hopkin is celebrating its 25th anniversary. What are the major accomplishments for the business over that time? To start, I ...

As Hyundai UK launches its new Click to Buy service, Julian Buckley speaks with Tony Whitehorn, president and CEO of Hyundai UK, about how the carmaker has worked digital into its selling mix   In January this year, Hyundai UK introduced its ‘Click to Buy’ site, described as the first national programme that would allow customers to purchase a new ...

Andy Barratt, chairman and managing director at Ford of Britain talks about dealer profitability, return on investment for the network, new car sales in 2018 and the crash in diesel confidence The NFDA surveys from 2017 had some good results for Ford. What can you do to maintain that performance, address any issues that might be coming up in the ...