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THE FULL effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the dealer landscape are emerging as the week has started with the announcement of redundancies, financial losses and acquisitions.

Vertu Motors said it will make 6% of its workforce, 345 employees, redundant despite a stronger than expected June sales month, reporting a £9m profit.

However, the Group suffered a £14.2m loss during the previous three months as the country went into lockdown.

Fleet sales were down by half, commercial vehicles down 6% and used car sales declined 5.9%.

The group said: “As a consequence of these efficiency improvements and other cost initiatives, it is anticipated that the group will reduce headcount by approximately 6%.

“This programme is expected to be concluded at the end of July and together with other identified cost savings, is expected to deliver on-going annualised cost savings of £10m.”

Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu Motors said: “The Covid crisis has driven an acceleration of technology uptake and we are embracing this trend to future-proof the business.

“As automation progresses, we have made the difficult decision to reduce group headcount.”

Independent, non-franchised car supermarket Motorpoint said it suffered a pre-tax profit fall of 15.3% to £18.8m in the year to March 31.

It blamed temporary site closures during the lockdown, which started in March – usually its busiest trading month.

The full-year results followed a disappointing half-year, when its pre-tax profit dropped by nearly a fifth, despite a rise in revenue.

Chief executive Mark Carpenter said: “As a group, we responded quickly to what was a fast-changing situation in the final and typically busiest month of our reporting year, and at all times our number one priority has been the safety and well-being of our team and customers.

“I am proud of the way that all of my colleagues responded, having been confronted with an unprecedented set of circumstances.”

Carpenter said the business had continued to invest across its operations, e-commerce and marketing capabilities to provide “greater agility” and to build a sustainable, platform for the long term.

He added: “Nevertheless, the group’s strong cash generation has still allowed us to return over £20m to shareholders during the period.

“We continued to grow our market share during the year and are very pleased with the strong level of customer take-up of our recently launched fully contactless home delivery and reserve-and-collect services, particularly post the year end.”

Motorpoint said nearly 2,000 home delivery orders had been completed in just over two months.

Meanwhile Cazoo, the new online car retailer, has announced the acquisition of Imperial Car Supermarkets, one of the largest independent used car retailers in the UK.

Imperial Car Supermarkets was established in 2006 and has grown to 18 retail sites across the UK including Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Exeter, Ipswich, London, Portsmouth and Southampton, offering over 2,500 nearly new and used cars for sale and supported by a number of service, preparation and support centres.

The deal, which combines Cazoo’s digital capabilities and platform with Imperial’s extensive infrastructure and expertise, will provide Cazoo with a national network of storage, distribution, after sales and collection hubs.
In the past month, Cazoo has raised a further £25m of funding, joining the exclusive list of companies known as unicorns with valuations of over $1 billion. It has also announced two major football sponsorship deals with Everton and Aston Villa and appointed Stephen Morana as its Chief Financial Officer.

Cazoo is pioneering a shift to online car buying in the UK and since its launch last year consumers have embraced the idea of buying used cars entirely online and getting them delivered to the door in a convenient two-hour slot, in much the same way as buying most other products.

Cazoo owns and fully reconditions all its cars before offering them for sale and delivering them in as little as 72 hours. Every car comes with a full 7-day money-back guarantee and comprehensive 90-day warranty and Cazoo has already sold and delivered thousands of cars to customers all across the UK.

Alex Chesterman, Founder and CEO of Cazoo said: “The acquisition of Imperial Car Supermarkets will enable Cazoo to better serve its customers and fulfill our increasing number of deliveries throughout the UK.
“This deal provides us with key infrastructure as well as a wealth of automotive expertise which will help accelerate our growth.”

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