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It has been confirmed that Sytner will ditch its used car supermarket logo, CarShop, following a strategic overhaul of the company.
CarShop staff were informed that the company, the second most successful brokerage organisation among the UK’s top 100 car dealers, was going to “change its approach”.
At least one is scheduled to close, while some of the others could be transferred back to Sytner Select Approved Used Cars supermarkets.
In a statement, Sytner also indicated that it is in complex talks to sell part of the outlets to some other component as part of a going concern.
Sytner currently operates CarShop retail stores in Bristol, Cardiff, Doncaster, Manchester, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Sheffield, Swindon, Warrington and Wolverhampton. Recently, the company changed the name of Wakefield CarShop to Sytner Select.
A spokesperson for Sytner told Car Dealer: “We can verify that after conducting a strategic review and adding a successful pilot task at a former CarShop location, the organisation is consulting with our CarShop team in relation to the potential rebranding of most of our CarShop locations. to used car hypermarkets approved by Sytner Select.
“In addition, we can see that we are also in complex negotiations with an interested party to sell a minority of CarShop’s seats as an operating company, as well as potentially closing a site.
“Our priority, as always, will be to protect as many jobs as possible while ensuring the long-term success of the company. “
Staff told Car Dealer they were told several features could be at risk due to the changes. The company did not comment on the extent of the job losses that could occur as a result of the move.
Sytner bought CarShop for over £70 million in 2017 and in 2021 launched the CarShop logo worldwide.
Sytner is owned by Penske Automotive, a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and the company also uses the CarShop logo in the United States.
Last year, Penske’s cash inflow topped £23 billion and made a profit of £863. 5 million. The U. K. contributed 31. 3% to Penske’s cash inflow in 2023, while CarShop outlets in the U. K. and U. S. contributed 31. 3% to Penske’s cash inflow in 2023, while CarShop outlets in the U. K. and the U. S. contributed 31. 3% to Penske’s cash inflow in 2023, while CarShop outlets in the U. K. and U. S. contributed 31. 3% to Penske’The U. S. population remained static, adding 7% to the total.
Sytner’s decision follows a series of changes to the U. K. ‘s full-size used-car supermarket brand, which has seen others drop out of this category of the market.
The biggest casualty was the failure of online used car dealership Cazoo, which earlier this year “pivoted” to a used car market after its disastrous run of car sales came to an end. Last week, it announced to investors its goal of appointing directors. .
Pendragon’s new owner, Lithia, proved last month that many workers would lose their jobs after making the decision to remove the logo from its used-car supermarket, CarStore. He blamed the cause on a “collapse in the supply of used cars,” as his 16 CarStore locations were going to be closed.
This follows Peter Vardy’s closure of his Carz used car supermarkets last year. He also blamed unrest in the used car market and declining demand for used electric cars. Additionally, Inchcape closed 8 of its 17 Bravoauto used car supermarkets at the end of last year.
Steve Young, chief executive of automotive research specialist ICDP, said CarShop is “the last one standing. “
He told Car Dealer this morning, “I think there’s something in common in that those independent outlets have consistently maximum prices and they succeed or fail through their used car business, whereas a classic franchised dealership has new, used, and aftermarket products, so some herbal threat coverage is built in.
“With the three- to four-year drop in the number of used cars that has been evident since the Covid era, the availability of those cars is limited.
“At the same time, brands have reverted to their classic strategies of supplying new cars, so the value of a three-year-old car cannot increase too much to accommodate a limited supply, as it then looks expensive in terms of price per person. “monthly bills compared to a new car with those from the manufacturer as part of the financing agreement.
“It’s clear that the source problems will occur in the next three years, but it’s a long time to bear those maximum constant costs. Therefore, this long-term structural adjustment has been accelerated by source restrictions.
In December 2020, the car dealership visited the company’s newly renovated Nottingham CarShop and met with boss Nigel Hurley. You can watch a video of this excursion below.
James is the founder and editor-in-chief of Car Dealer Magazine and CEO of parent company Baize Group. James has been an automotive journalist for over 20 years and writes about automobiles and the automotive industry.
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