Prime MG supplier Summit Storage pulls new automobile gross sales
One of many high performing MG dealerships is pulling out of recent automobile gross sales, citing the producer’s exponential development because the principal challenge.
Household-owned Summit Storage in Dudley – which celebrates 80 years in enterprise this yr – knowledgeable its clients this week that it had taken the choice after cautious consideration to stop being a MG Motor UK new automobile gross sales franchise.
“Whereas our partnership with MG has been optimistic, we consider that refocusing our efforts will higher serve the wants and expectations of our clients,” it stated
Summit Storage will now consider promoting Authorised Used Vehicles and offering aftersales companies, together with official MG guarantee, servicing and repairs.
The enterprise stated that the strategic shift aligned with its core values of integrity, reliability, and buyer satisfaction – mirrored within the quite a few occasions it had been recognised in MG Motors UK annual awards as an aftersales supplier of the yr.
Whereas Summit Storage thanked MG Motor UK for the partnership and assist through the years, its co-owner and gross sales director John Newey defined to AM extra of the reasoning that led to the choice.
“The motor commerce on the whole is dealing with some tough occasions in the mean time with the decline within the variety of clients truly buying. I do know that MG has in their very own phrases been rising exponentially however the actuality is, this yr, there has extra strain with much less and fewer retail enterprise.”
He stated that as a result of a lot of the retail enterprise was being pushed by Motability and fleet gross sales, decrease margins right here had prompted the enterprise to take a strategic have a look at the sustainability of recent automobile retailing.
“There’s been numerous issues which have introduced this to go, however from our standpoint as a enterprise – we’re third era because it was my grandmother and grandfather that began the enterprise again in 1945 – we felt that as a result of MG has grown so massively, there was a number of strain on our workshops to have the ability to ship the service in time. We felt that being unbiased would be a greater alternative for us.”
Newey additionally spoke of the price related to financing of recent automobile inventory. “Over the previous couple of months, what has been evident is that we had numerous additional finance provided to us by way of Santander which gives the MG inventory financing facility.
“Final November, we had a number of new MG inventory arriving however at the beginning of this yr, the market was just a bit bit extra depressed. Even so, we needed to pay fairly giant curiosity quantities on this facility. It was simply not sustainable.”
“We checked out that, and likewise the pressures on our workshops and our service space and we consider we may give a greater service to our clients by being unbiased.”
In time period of future retailing technique, Newey stated that Summit is planning to supply used automobiles from manufacturers that it has not beforehand carried similar to Audi, Lexus and Mercedes in addition to modern-day classics much like MG.
