Covid rules helped independent dealerships amid crash in new car sales

A dealership boss admitted the lockdown restrictions had actually been advantageous to businesses like his.

Chesterfield-based Eldon Stevens’ firm Barnfield Cars specialises in prestige, sports cars and 4×4 vehicles.

On the initial impact of the lockdown announcement in March 2020, Eldon, 52, said: “Everyone closed for those first few weeks. But the small independent dealers were much more agile.

“We and others like us proved to be far more resilient to change than the big groups. We were quickly able to implement the appropriate safety measures, enabling us to reopen more or less straight away.

“We had to put sanitation in place, set up digital documents transfer and virtual tours for the click-and-collect service.

“For the firms with 150-plus dealerships nationwide to do the same it could take months.

“We soon found the new system was much smoother for both buyer and seller.

“Showings and test drives were banned of course. It meant people had to do their own research. People also had a lot more time on their hands to look for what they needed.

“This meant enquiries were almost always founded on genuine interest. We saw a lot less ‘tyre kicking’.

“The only downside of the new system is some cases of people abusing the 14-day guarantee.

“I’ve heard of people ‘buying’ a Porsche 911 on a Friday before returning it the following Monday. Thankfully this has been a rare occurrence.”

On the widely-reported surge in used car values, Eldon said: “Independently of Covid, a shortage of semiconductors has limited the production of new vehicles.

“This means for used car sellers there are often three buyers showing solid interest in a given vehicle.

“The way the market has gone, private sellers need to make sure they’re on the first page of results on search platforms such as AutoTrader. It’s very competitive.”