The member view: Where’s the sector heading?

IMI member Andrew Livesey gives his thoughts on what’s happening in automotive and how things will change in the future

These are strange times we’re working in at the moment, a time that will probably be regarded in the future as very significant. The question is, what are we accelerating towards?

Where’s my car?

Full order books are no good if the cars are not arriving from the manufactures. I’ve seen lots of companies go out of business with full order books, it’s of no consequence if you can’t fulfil the order and bank the cash. A wait time of six months is now the norm for a new car.

Pre-COVID you could order a car with individual detailed specification, now it’s a choice of one or two packs, but even then the car might arrive with some options missing. Of course, this leads to pricing and customer satisfaction situations. Many dealers are now scouring the country for nearly new cars.

One of my dealer contacts recently sold a one year old electric Hyundai for several thousand pounds more than the retail new price; the business buyer didn’t want to wait six months for the delivery of a new one. The Hyundai had been traded in for a slightly older BMW because of his monthly trips to Newcastle from Kent meant he had to recharge the Hyundai. It only takes minutes to charge, but waiting for a charging point could take hours.

Charging issues (not those ones)

The change that will hit our industry in a big way in August is the extension of the London Ultra-Low Emission Zone – ULEZ – to cover all the London Boroughs, including both Heathrow Airport and the Dartford Crossing.

Until I started writing this I didn’t realise how many cities have restrictions on emissions; but check before you travel – they are changing very quickly. In fact, I was hatching a plan to sell non-compliant cars into areas without restrictions – I’ll forget that one. If you have a non-compliant car, you have three options, keep on paying the charges, scrap it, or put it away until it’s 40 years old and becomes a historic vehicle – however there might not be any petrol available then.

Crystal ball gazing

In the fuuture my guess is dealerships and garages will disappear, like the gas and electric show rooms have. Cars will be bought online, in fact, that’s pretty much the case now.

There will be specialist tyre and battery outlets for the essential items. The car monitoring electronics will be such that MOTs will be replaced by an office reading a signal from the car, that concept is already working in the likes of McLarens for service monitoring. The removal of petrol and diesel engines means, of course, there will be no need for emission testing for type approval. This will make it a lot easier and cheaper for small car makers – with the electric motors made by electronics companies, along with all the other parts, so the car badges are likely to completely change to the likes of Siemens and Bosch.

Do you agree with Andrew Livesey’s thoughts on automotive, or do you have your own view on how the sector is developing? Get in touch and your point of view could be published next.