Impact of COVID-19 on motor industry?

Am in financial services too and (bar this afternoon) will be working from home for the foreseeable. I have asthma and herself has also a respiratory condition so we cant take any risks.
Will be self isolating until this blows over. We have 2 weeks of food at least stocked up so I dont envision even leaving the house for rest of month.

Picked up my new car today. Sales guy said that it has been dead, not just with footfall but with inquiries coming in online.

There is no doubt that when people are worried about the finances buying new cars is not high on the list. I imagine it will be a tough year for them.

I bought my car in October but due to factory delays only got it today - so could not really back out without losing the deposit I paid for a custom order. Was due to upgrade my wifes car next month, but cant see that happening.

Will car prices drip if theres a recession due to this virus ???

I think it is starting to kick in now as got a hyundai in waiting for a petrol pump hoping it came today but did not and dealer said closing for 2 weeks OMG.

colm_mcm wrote: »

On the ball!

Stretch1432 wrote: »

Will car prices drip if theres a recession due to this virus ???

Personally I'm hoping house prices drop... As long as I can keep my job and the banks keep lending.

Stretch1432 wrote: »

And what exactly happened back did they drop

How could you not be aware?

I work in the trade for a large group.

The year on a whole will be a write-off, but definitely new registrations. It hadn’t started well and this will knock it further. If, and I mean IF, we as a nation can get a hold of this virus within 6 months we’ll be doing well. And if it comes back worse in the winter...well, no industry is safe. Either way spending on luxury items such as cars will not be a priority for many in 2020. Fred In A Sheds selling cars under and over €5k should be ok, but large groups and or premium brands are in for a rough ride.

I’m far from a scientist but I disagree with the poster that said this will knock back the environmental issues facing the industry. I think it’ll have the opposite effect. This is fundamentally going to change the world to a state that many, including myself, cannot fathom. I think health care and the environment will be two of the biggest issues governments face for years, definitely the 20s, for almost every nation, but most definitely ours. Mother Nature has hit the reset button. We really have no clue what impact the ripples of that will cause, but most people will care more, not less, about the environment.

They've already started but there will be a lot more redundancies coming. If each dealership can survive the next 3 months (minimum) with little to no income it will be on a skeleton staff. Dealer principles will be selling, service managers will be servicing. When (if) it does pick up dealerships will require at least 50% fewer sales staff for Q3/Q4. Redundancies are the only way some places will ever open again. Hard to tell who'll survive. Sales staff, marketing, service advisors, junior techs and newer valetors will be first to go. Literally a skeleton staff just on the off chance they sell some used stock and get some service bookings - IF they can open again before May.

Also that Ozone sterilization is apparently very effective and very cheap to run. But as someone said, as soon as one person sits in the car after the cleanse, there's bacteria in the car again.

Do the fandango wrote: »

I work in the trade for a large group.

The year on a whole will be a write-off, but definitely new registrations. It hadn’t started well and this will knock it further. If, and I mean IF, we as a nation can get a hold of this virus within 6 months we’ll be doing well. And if it comes back worse in the winter...well, no industry is safe. Either way spending on luxury items such as cars will not be a priority for many in 2020. Fred In A Sheds selling cars under and over €5k should be ok, but large groups and or premium brands are in for a rough ride.

I’m far from a scientist but I disagree with the poster that said this will knock back the environmental issues facing the industry. I think it’ll have the opposite effect. This is fundamentally going to change the world to a state that many, including myself, cannot fathom. I think health care and the environment will be two of the biggest issues governments face for years, definitely the 20s, for almost every nation, but most definitely ours. Mother Nature has hit the reset button. We really have no clue what impact the ripples of that will cause, but most people will care more, not less, about the environment.

They've already started but there will be a lot more redundancies coming. If each dealership can survive the next 3 months (minimum) with little to no income it will be on a skeleton staff. Dealer principles will be selling, service managers will be servicing. When (if) it does pick up dealerships will require at least 50% fewer sales staff for Q3/Q4. Redundancies are the only way some places will ever open again. Hard to tell who'll survive. Sales staff, marketing, service advisors, junior techs and newer valetors will be first to go. Literally a skeleton staff just on the off chance they sell some used stock and get some service bookings - IF they can open again before May.

Also that Ozone sterilization is apparently very effective and very cheap to run. But as someone said, as soon as one person sits in the car after the cleanse, there's bacteria in the car again.

Thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightening.

They go pretty much hand in hand as both are driven by demand.

Some dealers have been left high and dry by Hire Drive companies who have cancelled orders on the back of this. Hard to blame them but the timing absolutely sucks for dealers.

Cars registered and ready to go and orders pulled.

Know of approx 1000 units and there is probably couple of thousand more.

All those will have to be resold before any new regs can be even considered.

Carnage is the word that's being bandied about.

pablo128 wrote: »

I was thinking about going to the UK to buy a used car later this year. If I can manage to hold on to my job, this could work out in my favour.

Sounds like a plan, watch the news at 9pm.

CianRyan wrote: »

Personally I'm hoping house prices drop... As long as I can keep my job and the banks keep lending.

Well I build 'em for a living, and there's no room in new house pricing for a fall unless companies are prepared to make them loss leaders - easier just to mothball the sites and wait it out. Last time 'we' did that it took a decade and they came back to market at or above the boom. That model won't change, but the timescale might.

Fwiw, only 48% of a house price is the actual building of it....