Our thoughts and findings on the complex topic of the motor trade.

Want to save £11K on your next company car?

danieldowns@me.com (Daniel Downs) — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 12:00:27 GMT

We can make it happen...

Independent Fleet Management company, Yalson Commercial Consultancy, promises to save your business thousands on your company’s fleet!

Are you a Managing Director, a Finance Director or in fact anyone who has an interest in their company’s success? When it comes to your company cars and vans we're here to help. We're so confident we can help, we're happy to offer your first month FREE!

If you’re keen to work smarter and save money quarter on quarter then buckle up and read on, as we might just be the perfect fit for you!

In conducting a recent survey, we discovered that 98% of companies could save a significant amount to re-invest into other areas of their business. This is constantly evidenced in the deals we locate daily. Being experts in vehicle procurement we have access to the best deals in the market. Our personal best being a saving of £11,122 on one car and £16,441 on one van!

So how does this all work? Companies who employ fleet managers usually have fleets from the 50+ numbers, but it is more normal to see them in fleets above 65 (on average) as this can start to prove to be cost-effective in some cases.

The issue is that it’s a lot for them to manage by themselves, from a day to day point of view. In turn, this means that the procurement methods slip in a variety of ways, due to it being a drain on their time and resources when the change is due.

One of the ways this slips is that as relationships build with specific dealers, fleet managers can find it easy to ‘go back for more’. This is known as the ‘second sale’ and is considered to be far more profitable for the dealers. Another ‘slip’ is the reduced time on ‘shopping around’ and understanding the marketplace. No internal fleet manager has the time to do this nor do they have the time to keep and maintain an understanding of new marques on the horizon, price fluctuations, current and possible future offers, procurement methods, legislation changes… point made.

From our findings, Fleets of 15 or less seem to do better than the others but still can benefit from our services in a rather dramatic way. They tend to have the time to push for a stronger offer but due to their fleet size they struggle to have the same percentage discount available to them, because they are not buying in volume.

The way that these companies can benefit from using our company is that they can tap into the economies of scale we have built, meaning that the offers we get for them are stronger than if the dealer gave them all of their margins. It seems unfair that this is how it works but unfortunately that’s the way it is for many businesses.

To break this down further, if we take a per vehicle costing for our current clients after you take into account our services, the vehicle that had the least benefit from our service was a new pickup (that the dealers weren’t wanting to discount at the time) that had a reduced cost to the business of £604 net over a 3 year period. Granted, this is not a huge saving however to have someone else do all the legwork for you and still be able to save £604 after the cost of our service we think is evidence that we hold real value to the businesses we work with. If we look at the other end of the spectrum though, our greatest saving was the £11,122 on a car. This was of course a wonderful shock for the customer who historically procured vehicles at the higher price level and was simply over the moon with the savings we could generate her.

At Yalson, we’re pleased that the survey demonstrated that we can save 98% of the companies surveyed in the UK, thousands on their fleet. We can take that money that was previously left on the table and put it back into our client’s pocket whilst only charging them a small fee for our service. If you think you could be part of the 98%, and have a fleet between 10 and 50 vehicles that you are not getting the best deals on, then stop stalling and slide across to the fast lane with us. We will work wonders for your cost efficiency.

If you think you could be part of the 98% then I strongly recommend you contact our offices to get a complimentary evaluation of your fleet and your first month FREE!

We’ll take 30 minutes of your time to gather information then spend a day of our time assessing your fleet. If we find that you are in the 2% that cannot do any more to maximise the efficiency we’ll take our hat off to you and leave you in peace. If you’ve made it to the end of this post, I’m guessing you might be interested to see if we can help, so here’s our number 01924 677577 or email us at consult@yalsoncc.co.uk, we’re open Mon - Fri 9am-5pm.

UK Contract Hire prices risen 9% in the last 12 months

danieldowns@me.com (Daniel Downs) — Wed, 02 May 2018 06:09:23 GMT

What does this mean for future decision making?

People ask me the question all the time: 'Should I lease or should I buy?' The answer is always 'it depends' . Now, that's not an evasion tactic, it really does depend on a multitude of factors. A large proportion of the factors come down to simply the cost element of both sides of the argument. Seeing an adjustment in leasing prices of this size is huge and is one that will produce an impact on future decision making within businesses across the UK .

A research group called UHY Hacker Young discovered that the monthly cost of leasing a car jumped from an average of £232 per month in February 2017 to £253 in the same month in 2018 , a study based on some of the most popular marques in the UK car market. So, does this really come down to Brexit? Well indirectly, I would say yes. It's the weakened pound that increases import costs for the manufacturers. If the residual value hasn't increased inline (which I don't think it has) then the cost of leasing must go up . Therefore the impact of a weakened pound is passed straight on to the customer , either in whole or part.

Audi and Mercedes-Benz have their A3 and C-Class up in leasing price by 23% and 19% respectively . These increases are huge. I recall personally looking for a version of the C-Class in February 2017, the difference in price between then and now would have been £77.71 based on the 19% increase. A staggering amount when you would be getting the exact same product, no improvements, no variation on model, spec or engine... the exact same car .

UHY Hacker Young also concluded that the top three risers in the price category were for diesel models , this again will likely be due to the decrease in residual values due to legislation changes that have recently taken place.

Unfortunately, this jump in price doesn't seem to be something of a passing trend , it could well be here to stay. We as the UK market have enjoyed huge discounts of late , but these amounts have shortened as the cost of bringing a car to the UK market has risen . Let's take a car that cost's the UK end of the manufacturer €20,000 , as an example and compare the € vs £ at a 3-year interval . On March 11th, 2015 the exchange rate was 1.4134 . This means the UK manufacturer pays £14,150.28 . On March 11th, 2018 however, at a rate of 1.1283 , the car would cost £17,725.78 . A staggering difference of £3,575.50 . Now, over a 3 year lease period with 3 payments in advance , taking into account no interest at all, the increase in payments should be £94.09 . This shows that the manufacturers haven't necessarily passed on the full increase in costs to their customers . Should they pass it all on? Afterall it's their supply chain issues, isn't it?

The exchange rates are to be watched constantly . It's a fundament element of our business . It allows us (in the same way we monitor legislation ) to monitor and project the outcomes of the future with a degree of certainty. This projection protects our customers from an increase in cost to their fleet when it can be avoided in some cases , or at the very least planned for in all .

The challenge for businesses managing their own fleet is finding the time to maintain the level of knowledge required to make the best strategic decisions every day of the week. We are a company that can assist you in achieving goals within your fleet as well as enabling all-round business goals to be achieved through this one aspect of your company. If you would like a free evaluation of your current arrangement then please get in touch on either 01924 677577 or through email at consult@yalsoncc.co.uk where we can arrange a consultation to suit you.

Fancy a few thousand extra at the end of the quarter... every quarter?

danieldowns@me.com (Daniel Downs) — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 17:34:58 GMT

We will help make it happen...

If you’re a Fleet Manager, Finance Director, Managing Director or anyone who has an interest in their companies success for that matter; then this could prove rather valuable to you . As well as cause you to save a small fortune .

I’ve been interested since we started the company to understand fully who it is that can really benefit from our services at the highest level. It is, after all, high on our priority list to know who we should be speaking to so not to throw our marketing budget around like confetti, which in turn allows us to keep our fees down . I wanted to categorise companies using different filters and run a whole host of comparisons to allow me to become totally aware of who we should be approaching to offer the benefit of our services to.

The results initially surprised me, however after considering the reasons behind the result it became clear. It turned out that:

98% of the companies we surveyed could save money by using our services as well as have more time within the business to reinvest in other areas - Great news for us, but I still wanted to know who can save the most and benefit the most.
We also found that the category of fleets that would benefit the most are those with a fleet number between 14 and 64 vehicles . My understanding to this is that these companies generally do not employ a fleet manager, due to the cost vs savings not balancing out. Instead, usually the M.D., F.D., office staff or staff members who use the vehicles are the ones to price up and manage the fleet with the M.D./F.D. signing the purchase off . Now let’s be honest here, a ny director who has a fleet of this volume is far too busy and valuable to spend the necessary time on the fleet to ensure its total and maximum efficiency . Anyone who disagrees with this is either rather lucky or neglecting other aspects of the business (sorry to be blunt, but it’s true). The office staff or staff who use the vehicle are also valuable to the directors/shareholders in other areas and are not experts in vehicle procurement leading to overspending in most cases as well as too much time spent on this task .
Companies who employ fleet managers usually have fleets from the 50+ numbers, but its more normal to see them in fleets above 65 (on average) as this can start to prove to be cost-effective in some cases. The issue is that it’s a lot for them to manage by themselves , from a day to day point of view. In turn, this means that the procurement methods slip in a variety of ways due to it being a high impact on their time resource when the change is due. One of the ways this slips is that as relationships build with specific dealers, fleet managers can find it easy to ‘go back for more’ . This is known as (and I know I’m stating the obvious here) the second sale and is considered to be far more profitable for the dealers . Another ‘slip’ is the reduced time on ‘shopping around’ and understanding the marketplace . No fleet manager has the time to do this nor do they have the time to keep and maintain an understanding of new marques on the horizon , price fluctuations , current and possible future offers , procurement methods , legislation changes … I think I’ve made my point.
Fleets of 15 or less seem to do better than the others but still can benefit from our services in a rather dramatic way. They tend to have the time to push for a stronger offer but due to their fleet size struggle to have the same percentage discount available to them as they’re not buying in volume. The way these companies benefit from using our company is that they can tap into the economies of scale we have built meaning that the offers we can get for them are stronger than if the dealer gave them all of their margins. It seems unfair that this is how it works but unfortunately that’s the way it is for many businesses.

If we break it down to a per vehicle costing for our current clients after you take into account our services , the vehicle that had the least benefit from our service was an LCV that had a reduced cost to the business of £604 net over a 3 year period. I agree this is not setting any world records for savings but to have someone else do all the legwork for you and still to be able to save £604 after the cost of our service I think is evidence that we hold real value to the businesses we work with. If we look at the other end of the spectrum though, the greatest saving has been £11,122 on a car . This was a shock for the customer who has historically procured vehicles at the higher price level but also was over the moon with the savings we could generate her.

I was pleased that the survey demonstrated that we can save 98% of the companies surveyed in the UK thousands on their fleet , by taking the money that was previously left on the table and putting it in our clients pocket whilst only charging them a small fee for our service.

If you think you could be part of the 98% then I strongly recommend you contact our offices to get a complimentary evaluation of your fleet . We’ll take a half hour of your time to gather information then spend a day of our time assessing your fleet . If we find that you’re in the 2% that cannot do any more to maximise the efficiency we’ll take our hat off to you and leave you in peace. If you’ve made it to the end of this post I’m guessing you might be interested to see if we can help, so here’s our number 01924 677577 or email us at consult@yalsoncc.co.uk , we’re open Mon - Fri 9am-5pm.

A Little About Us

danieldowns@me.com (Daniel Downs) — Sun, 11 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMT

We want you to know we care

The purpose of the business I created was to lower the overall cost of a vehicle fleet, whilst managing the life cycle of a businesses fleet on their behalf . I’d always aspired to have an organisation that held it’s customers at its heart and benefited them , in turn allowing me to benefit but only after they have. In order to do this, I had to go backwards to go forward. I had to picture the end result of saving a business x number of pounds and worked backwards on how my 10 years worth of motor trade skills were able to accomplish this .

The Problem : Buying a vehicle takes up so much valuable time , a task usually taken up by someone who holds a much different skill set . The cause of this is the necessity of researching what vehicle will do the best job , plus which package is right for the business , all the way through to the tug of war that is played with the margins that the dealer so desperately wants to hold on to . This can lead to a business with potentially the wrong vehicle , acquired through the wrong purchase route , at the wrong price , all the while taking up far too much valuable time that is now lost .

The Solution : For a business to be able to outsource the entire procurement process, including the research of what vehicle is best suited for the task at hand , the best purchase route for that business, ensuring the requirements are met financially and the knowledge that we've left no stone unturned and ultimately left no money on the table (i.e. unnecessarily overpaid for said vehicle).

The How : There's a quote that has been with me for many years and it's from a man called W. Edwards Deming: “In God we trust; all others bring data.” We constantly gather and assemble data from the open source world through to the rather expensive world . Both are absolutely key and equally important to us. However, the data we collate is absolutely redundant to our customers if we don't turn it into usable information . Meaning we are useless without the data, yet the data is useless without us . We process data on market values to enable projections, market conditions, vehicle registrations, regional achievement, new product launches on the horizon, government legislation ... the list goes on. This data allows us to control a much larger fleet with absolute skill and accuracy as well as carrying out the procurement tasks much faster than anyone else . Thus meaning we can keep our fees down for our services , whilst saving customers vast sums of money ( north of £10,000 in a single transaction has been recorded) and huge amounts of time within their organisation that can be reinvested into other areas of the business .

We are a company that prides itself on your satisfaction . We only win when you win. To find out how much you could be overspending on your fleet please contact us at consult@yalsoncc.co.uk or call us on 01924 677577 .

Diesel Implications and Value Trends

danieldowns@me.com (Daniel Downs) — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 00:00:00 GMT

What's happening moving forward?

What's going on in the world of diesel engines? It would seem that governments throughout the world are taking action against them. I don't have an issue with the governments taking action to make the world a cleaner place , the challenge comes for me when the ones tasked with it's management appear to look at the revenue streams they can open, driving cold hard cash into their pockets. What is needed in the UK is a carefully considered framework , built in full, so that cities around the country can put the model into place for the good of everyone . Rather than like in some countries who have taxation on clean new diesel engines (as well as old dirty ones) , but no penalties for old dirty petrols . If we ultimately want cleaner air then lets do it the right way rather than being a bully towards diesels . It is after all a leading solution for many retail customers as well as businesses throughout the UK. If the taxation rests on the shoulders of diesel engines , small and medium business will have to consider the impact of this within their business model, especially the high mileage businesses .

Another issue I have is the way in which the media portrays the diesel engine as a whole. They're building in the nations mind a picture of doom and gloom from such a filthy block . The reality is that diesel engines are cleaner than ever , they are cleaner today than petrol engines from just a handful of years ago. Air quality is improving year on year. We have 70% less NOx levels to those we saw 30 years ago , and this will continue to improve as older engines come off the road. The media is a money making machine at heart, we all know that, but I feel as though they have a duty to at least provide it's viewers with honest, informed and correct information, this currently does not happen.

Let's face it the investment that manufactures drive into their euro 6 diesel blocks is phenomenal and they are reducing the co2 levels all the time, so much so that it is still better value to run a diesel engine for a company car with the low CO2 and BIK rates . There are 12 million diesel vehicles on the road today and that has been driven by the government and economy. People are still buying them today and will do tomorrow and the day after...

So, what will happen moving forward ? Well...

Scrappage scheme for diesels... maybe.
Used car diesel prices to steepen their curve of depreciation ... for sure (it's already happening).
Larger diesel cars impacted less from depreciation alterations ... I would think so.
Legislation brought in for used diesel engines, especially euro 5... maybe.
A used car market driven by leasing companies ... definitely.
Diesel engine popularity decline ... most definitely.

The point is that we can only try and predict the future of the diesel engine at this point rather than say anything for sure, this is mainly down the the fact that it depends on factors that are beyond our control, the biggest being the election and government decisions . The likelihood is that all of the above will happen, it's more a question of timing .

We can already note a decline in diesel engines being registered . This shouldn't put you off from a company car point of view . The decline is driven mainly by the retail market and that some are switching to an alternate fuel solution . The demand for diesel is still there and standing strong. It will be around for years to come as it's a great solution vs the rest.

You really need to consider all of the above within your purchase route analysis and decision making rules , as it could have a costly impact on your business if not . If you would like any further advice on the above then simply get in touch with us via the form or at consult@yalsoncc.co.uk or on 01924 677577 .

Inside scoop - April 2017

danieldowns@me.com (Daniel Downs) — Thu, 04 May 2017 00:00:00 GMT

What the dealers had to say about April 2017What the dealers had to say about April 2017

70% of dealers have reported on a decline in footfall compared to 49% last year. However the dealers noting an increase rose to 16% from 10% the year before.

Online activity performs at a similar level to the physical footfall with 63% of dealers indicating a drop . In 2016, this figures was at nearly half of this year's at 34%. Dealers noting an increase in activity over the month into April dipped to 10% compared to 22% in 2016.

Those offering reports of an increase in margin on the previous month rose to 18% vs 14% in April last year . Conversely, the percentage of dealers who felt they has experienced further compression increased from 25% in April 2017 to 39% in April 2017 . 43% said they experienced little or no change since March.

38% are reporting better stock availability since last month, which is a drop by over one fifth from 59% last year. 26% said stock availability had worsened since March.

Finance penetration seems to be much of the same story as last year, with a fifth reporting a decline this month . Those enjoying an increase fell from 20% this time last year to just 8% this year. Dealers reporting little or no change rose from 58% to 71%.

It looks like the alteration in VED rates has played a part for a declining April vs April 2016. The market just a few days before the end of the month was suffering with reports of a 42% decline on sales year on year . The figures then dramatically changed on the last day of the month . What is this down to? Well it's simple, the same old trick of pre-registrations which is dealers registering stock in their own name for the benefit of target achievement . This means you may see tremendous influxes of certain models within the market place as dealers try and offload this stock. Look out, there may be some deals to be had !

Inside scoop - February 2017

danieldowns@me.com (Daniel Downs) — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMT

What the dealers had to say about February 2017

February brings in reports of a 5% decline in the number of dealers seeing an increase in footfall compared to 12 months ago . The figures are 40% this year with 45% being last years figure . Dealers reporting a decline rose from 18% 12months ago to 29% this February . The remaining 31% stated little or no change .

Online activity follows a similar trend to physical activity for the second month in a row. However, dealers reporting an increase in activity in February were lower than February 2016 - 44% this February vs 53% 12 months ago . Decline is still playing it's part with some dealers, with a rise from 16% shooting all the way up to 27% this year . The dealers reporting tell a story of compression in retained margins jumping from 18% in February 2016 to a huge 39% this year , whilst those informing of an improvement since last month dropped by over half from 28% to 13% . The remaining 48% report on an experience of little or no change since January .

Fast approaching March and just 22% report on an improvement on stock availability since last month, however it is over double the 10% reported last year . Very much the same as last February in that 37% said stock availability worsened since January with the remaining 41% stating no real change .

Finance is the good news story for dealer this February with a report of 37% of dealers seeing an increase with a comparison of 21% in February 2016. 18% indicate a decline since January which is in actual fact a drop of 10% from last year.

There appears to be a steady and controlled rise in most areas. Notice that these are generally percentage increases on the previous year which indicate in increasing activity in many areas.

March is a full concern for dealers now . Like I said last month the early bird catches the worm in this game . Let's see which dealers went strong on their offers and therefore are ahead of the game. Now is the time to push them about to get what we want in terms of the good deals. I certainly know we are pushing them hard at the minute!

Who's the one to watch - 2017

danieldowns@me.com (Daniel Downs) — Wed, 15 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMT

The who's who of new models in 2017

There's some new entries this year that we have been eagerly waiting on. There are also some interesting and impressive additions to the 2017 family. Right through the range of size and price tag, we've complied a list of our favourites .

As with everyone, we all have our favourites, and ours is clear. The the all new BMW 5 Series . It's absolutely stunning . It's got the looks , it's got the mechanics , the tech and the gadgets . It would win most comparison tests that it mixes with, from performance to BIK. A word of advice, the 520d M Sport Auto is the sweet spot . Don't get me wrong, if you're car mad and like something a little more underneath the foot then you'll want to dip into the pockets and go for a more powerful engine.

Enough of the 5 Series, here is our list of the new models set to launch in 2017, a list that we think is worth writing home about:

Audi Q2
BMW 5 Series
Ford Fiesta
Land Rover Discovery
Mazda CX-5
Mini Countryman
Nissan Micra
Peugeot 3008
Skoda Kodiaq
Suzuki Ignis
Vauxhall Insignia
Volvo XC 60

This is by no means a complete list, however, it's the cars we think will have strong residual values in comparison to some of their competition, and certainly to those with predecessors. The cars that are replacements of run out models are born from substantial change, both internally and externally. Future values will be strongly supported by high demand for the early examples of these new models .

Inside scoop - January 2017

danieldowns@me.com (Daniel Downs) — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMT

What the dealers had to say about January 2017

It looks like dealers are revving their engines for a strong first quarter . Whilst there was a minor dip in the number of dealers reporting a monthly footfall increase in comparison to 12 months ago, 62% of dealers surveyed for 2017 said they experienced an increase in physical footfall over the previous month, compared to 69% the previous year . 20% said footfall was about the same as for December, but encouragingly, this is up in comparison to last year which was at just 17% .

Online activity follows a similar trend to physical activity. Dealers reported an increase in activity moving into January , however dealers reporting an increase in activity has declined from the previous year.

Stock availability has been recognised as much the same , with 28% reporting an improvement, comparable to the 29% last year. 42% noted little or no change to the stocking levels.

Dealers reporting on their margins remains much the same story as last year, with 33% noting compressed margins in 2017 vs 30% 12 months ago . 43% being the majority commented on little or no change .

Finance penetration results stay inline with last year . 25% report an increase compared to 23% last year . Dealers finance penetration continue to rise off the back of dealer funding incentives and the ever becoming more popular funding route, PCP (Personal Contract Purchase). Manufacturers offer strong incentives, such as deposit contributions which sit strongly with comparable offers of funding. Don't be surprised to see dealers enjoying a strong level of increase with their finance penetrations over the next few years.

There appears to be a steady and controlled rise in most areas. Notice that these are generally percentage increases on the previous year which indicate in increasing activity in many areas. The only area that seems to have stayed much the same is physical footfall. We believe that consumers are educating themselves through the power of the internet before even stepping foot onto a dealers premises.

March is looming for dealers and the momentum will continue to grow into February. I think that the early bird catches the worm in the motor trade and there will be some fantastic deals to be had over the coming months.

Is the Internet Your Best Source of Advice and Offers?

danieldowns@me.com (Daniel Downs) — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMT

An increasing number of people are turning to the internet for all sorts of advice. Fashion advice. Medical advice. Marriage advice.

Here are Yalson Commercial Consultancy, we certainly won’t dissuade you from getting fashion advice online, but we strongly recommend that you don’t turn to Google for fleet advice, because it could end up costing you a whole lot more than you expected. No one can understand your business at the other end of the internet, without ever having a conversation with you. Advice needs to be considered for each client, then presented in a constructive manner that is tailored and appropriate for that particular client. You can expect nothing less from Yalson Commercial Consultancy.

Yalson Commercial Consultancy - Latest Updates

danieldowns@me.com (Daniel Downs) — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 16:31:41 GMT

No one really wants to talk about their depreciating fleet, but this is one business issue you don’t want to leave unattended. After all, it could lead to a major adjustments within the business, adjustments which you are not ready for.

The importance of having a very clear and concise fleet plan takes on even greater magnitude if you have vehicles owned and hired through different purchase routes. Getting expert advice can save you thousands across your fleet and remove the headaches that can come with the understanding of purchase routes and why any particular one should be fitting for your business, let along understanding the period of ownership.