While UK car manufacturing is beginning to reopen production lines after producing just 197 units in April, Andrew Burn, partner and head of Automotive at KPMG, said the road ahead is far from clear, despite the UK’s car dealerships being given the green light to open. Export markets, uncertainty about demand, and the challenge of cross-border supply chains all provide significant headwinds for the country’s car makers.
KPMG has appointed Dr Sarah Owen-Vandersluis as its UK head of future mobility, and Edwin Kemp as UK head of automotive strategy. Commenting on future mobility, Owen-Vandersluis said changes would continue to accelerate, even with the effects of COVID-19. She believes that the pandemic “will accelerate previous trends towards digitisation, customer-centricity and zero-carbon.”
Analysts have commented on the “unsurprising” news that UK new car sales have plummeted to depths not seen for 70 years in April. Automotive industry observers at Deloitte and KPMG looked to the future, suggesting cautiously that the reopening of showrooms could provide opportunities for consumers, while suggesting that sales digitisation could be important for dealers.
Professional services firm, KPMG, has appointed Andrew Burn as UK head of Automotive with immediate effect. Burn is a partner within the firm’s restructuring practice and has over 25 years of experience in guiding clients through challenging situations. He has provided company side restructuring advice across the public and private sectors, as well as to privately owned and private equity-backed companies and PLCs. Over the last ten years, he has worked extensively with clients in the automotive sector across the UK and Europe, advising on various areas including supply chain risk management. He succeeds Justin Benson who has left the firm to pursue a new opportunity.
Analysts have warned that the dire effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on car production are not fully reflected in the March figures, released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Andrew Burn, partner and head of automotive at KPMG UK said that while the March data shows that conditions were difficult, April’s numbers will show the full extent of the effects of the UK lockdown on the sector.
Having initially committed to banning cars based on petrol, diesel or hybrid engines from 2040, UK prime minister Boris Johnson is now planning to implement the ban from 2035.
UK car production fell -14.2 per cent in 2019, to 1,303,135 units, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), with a -6.4 per cent drop in December rounding off a third year of decline. Output was affected by multiple factors, including weakened consumer and business confidence at home, slower demand in key overseas markets, a number of significant model production changes and a shift from diesel across Europe. Factory shutdowns in the spring and autumn, timed to mitigate expected disruption arising from the anticipated departure of the UK from the EU on 29 March and 31 October, also had a marked effect.
While the 2019 UK car registration figures are clear that the market declined last year, various sources gave differing views as to what are the most important trends and what should be done.
The speaker programme for the Vehicle Remarketing Association’s “2020 Vision” seminar has been announced as the event reaches capacity with the final delegate spaces booked.
More than 150 industry professionals are expected to attend The Slate at Warwick University on Wednesday 27th November to hear a programme designed to help equip them to meet the challenges facing the sector in the coming year.
Beleaguered wholesale and tyre services company Kings Road Tyres is now in administration, with KPMG appointed joint administrators. The administration comes at the end of nearly a decade of turbulence for the company, which is one of the UK’s oldest tyre wholesale operations, having been incorporated in 1959.
UK car manufacturing output plummeted in April, with figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showing it was down -44.5 per cent year-on-year. 70,971 cars rolled off production lines in the month, as factory shutdowns, rescheduled to mitigate against the expected uncertainty of a 29 March Brexit, took effect in many plants across the UK.
British car production declined -14.4 per cent in March, falling for the 10th month in a row with 126,195 units rolling off factory lines, according to figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Production for both home and overseas markets declined in double digits, down -18.1 per cent and -13.4 per cent respectively.
UK automotive executives believe that the owner/driver of a connected car in future won’t own the data their vehicle generates, according to KPMG’s Global Automotive Executive Survey 2019.
Justin Benson, head of automotive at KPMG UK, comments on the latest SMMT car manufacturing figures, which saw a 9.1 per cent fall in 2018.
The UK new car market declined by -6.8 per cent in 2018, with annual registrations falling for a second year to 2,367,147 units, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). A -5.5 per cent decline in December capped a turbulent year of model changes, regulatory upheaval and continued anti-diesel policies, adding to the ongoing decline in consumer and business confidence.
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