Britain’s car dealerships reopened this week under strict social distancing rules so they can cope if crowds of buyers descend upon showrooms.
If the first few days of business in St Albans are anything to go by, those concerns are looking misplaced.
A handful of customers were browsing forecourts in the city north of London on Wednesday morning. Evans Halshaw Vauxhall was dealing with a customer visiting the showroom on their first trip out after weeks of self-isolation. At a Honda Motor dealer, a couple were paying for a Jazz hybrid hatchback they’d decided to buy before the lockdown. Elsewhere, salespeople were waiting at their desks for buyers to show up. There was no risk of anyone being turned away to enforce distancing rules.
It’s a far cry from China, where dealerships were swamped with visitors after restrictions on movement were eased. Sales there have already returned to the same level as late last year, helped by government measures to stimulate the market.
British sales are set to grow this month, if only to satisfy the pent-up demand accumulated over two months of national lockdown. Fewer cars were sold in April than at any time since the Second World War and demand last month was still around one 10th of the level a year earlier.
Yet it’ll be tough for the UK car market to match China’s V-shaped recovery. Millions of jobs are at risk in an unprecedented economic slump, and many people have eaten into their savings as incomes fell. So consumers are less likely to load up on credit for a new car. That points to hefty price cuts to shift inventory that could hammer the profits of manufacturers.
“For those in a position to buy, dealership discounts and special offers are likely to be widely available, providing consumers with an incentive to purchase now,” said James Fairclough, chief executive of AA Cars.
Pendragon, one of the country’s biggest car dealers, said it’s had an encouraging start to the week with a mix of customers either looking at new and used vehicles or picking up cars they’d put down deposits for before the lockdown began.
“It is too early to predict how sales will fair coming out of this unprecedented situation, but the demand is out there,” said chief marketing officer Kim Costello in an email. “Many customers we speak with are eager to purchase a vehicle as a safer alternative to public transportation.”
Job Lost
There are questions over whether normal business will resume even when the economy recovers. Car-sharing has begun to challenge private vehicle ownership. And a sharp drop in air and noise pollution during the lockdown has boosted campaigns to discourage car use.
Some dealers are bringing back sales staff only gradually, both to gauge demand and to ensure their social distancing measures are enforceable. Some will never return: Lookers, one of Britain’s biggest car dealer networks, said on Thursday it’s cutting about 1,500 jobs and closing 12 sites, as trading resumes “at lower than normal capacity levels.”
What happens at dealerships in coming weeks will have big implications for manufacturers from Nissan Motor to Tata Motors’ Jaguar Land Rover. They were forced to shutter factories for weeks during the height of the pandemic, and are starting to manufacture small numbers of vehicles that will need a home. British carmakers Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings and McLaren Group are now cutting jobs to cope with the fall in demand for their premium cars.
Test Drives
Measures to stop the spread of coronavirus are making selling cars a more cumbersome process. Customers are often asked to make appointments before showing up. Visitors must follow one-way signs around showrooms and perspex screens separate customers from sales staff.
On the upside, buyers get to enjoy a test drive alone. At the Vauxhall dealership in St Albans, owned by Pendragon, the customer is monitored via dashboard cameras and the dealer gets a notification if they go off a pre-approved test route.
Ford Motor Company said it will require pre-authorisation on the credit cards of prospective buyers and ask them to leave the keys to their old car before they head out for a test drive.
With more car sales now happening online, the absence of big crowds at retail outlets doesn’t tell the whole story. And with the government encouraging people to return to work without using mass transit, some commuters may be tempted to buy their first car.
A South African couple living in St Albans plan to take delivery of a car from Evans Halshaw Vauxhall this week as a way to avoid public transport, said the branch’s head of business, who asked not to be identified.
Many of the new car buyers in China were also looking for a way to get around while staying off buses and trains. There are reasons why Britain might not follow the same pattern.
“I can’t see masses of people suddenly jumping from the trains, trams and buses into cars to go to work, especially since issues of parking and traffic jams are being made worse by social distancing measures and the reductions in the width of roads,” said Tim Urquhart, principal automotive analyst at IHS Markit.
UAE - India ties
The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner after the US and China
Annual bilateral trade between India and the UAE has crossed US$ 60 billion
The UAE is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India
Indians comprise the largest community with 3.3 million residents in the UAE
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first visited the UAE in August 2015
His visit on August 23-24 will be the third in four years
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visited India in February 2016
Sheikh Mohamed was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2017
Modi will visit Bahrain on August 24-25
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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SANCTIONED
- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
Punchy appearance
Roars of support buoyed Mr Johnson in an extremely confident and combative appearance
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if you go
The flights
Air France offer flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Cayenne, connecting in Paris from Dh7,300.
The tour
Cox & Kings (coxandkings.com) has a 14-night Hidden Guianas tour of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It includes accommodation, domestic flights, transfers, a local tour manager and guided sightseeing. Contact for price.
The five pillars of Islam
Ahmed Raza
UAE cricket captain
Age: 31
Born: Sharjah
Role: Left-arm spinner
One-day internationals: 31 matches, 35 wickets, average 31.4, economy rate 3.95
T20 internationals: 41 matches, 29 wickets, average 30.3, economy rate 6.28
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
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$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
Expert advice
“Join in with a group like Cycle Safe Dubai or TrainYAS, where you’ll meet like-minded people and always have support on hand.”
Stewart Howison, co-founder of Cycle Safe Dubai and owner of Revolution Cycles
“When you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of salt and other electrolytes from your body. If your electrolytes drop enough, you will be at risk of cramping. To prevent salt deficiency, simply add an electrolyte mix to your water.”
Cornelia Gloor, head of RAK Hospital’s Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Centre
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can ride as fast or as far during the summer as you do in cooler weather. The heat will make you expend more energy to maintain a speed that might normally be comfortable, so pace yourself when riding during the hotter parts of the day.”
Chandrashekar Nandi, physiotherapist at Burjeel Hospital in Dubai
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Real Sociedad v Leganes (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Real Valladolid (4pm)
Valencia v Granada (7pm)
Eibar v Real Madrid (9.30pm)
Barcelona v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Sunday
Real Mallorca v Villarreal (3pm)
Athletic Bilbao v Levante (5pm)
Atletico Madrid v Espanyol (7pm)
Getafe v Osasuna (9.30pm)
Real Betis v Sevilla (midnight)
'Ghostbusters: From Beyond'
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace
Rating: 2/5
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
