December 2020 European Car Distribution Handbook 2020
ECDH 2020 was published at the end of November and is available for purchase as a pdf document. More details about ECDH 2020 can be viewed HERE.
The car industry faces many challenges, but one area coming under increasing pressure is the structure of the dealer networks responsible for sales and service on behalf of the manufacturers. Changing customer behaviour, digitalisation, the need to improve the customer experience and reducing aftersales are all impacting on the role of the dealer, their financial viability, and therefore the shape of retail networks. Despite this, the latest findings from ICDP, the leading specialist research and consultancy business for automotive distribution, has found that the pace of change in networks remains “almost glacial”.
The 2020 edition of the European Car Distribution Handbook (ECDH) identifies a number of trends which were highlighted in the webinar:
The number of new car sales points in European networks declined for the twelfth consecutive year, but by only 1.8% year-on-year
In the context of market decline, this meant that new car sales per main dealer - an indicator of viability - remained stable at 324 across the 38 markets covered
For the average to reach the level achieved today in the UK (at 522, the most efficient West European network on this measure) at the current rate of change, would take until 2062
Although the size of authorised service networks declined for the tenth consecutive year, the rate of change has been even slower than for sales networks, despite the structural declines driven by driving patterns and technology, including electrification
Some manufacturers have launched new sales and service formats, introduced online sales channels and changed the legal relationship with their retail partners, but these are still limited pilots which would need to be greatly expanded to align with customer needs
The status in the report reflects January 2020, so pre-Covid, but there is no indication at the time of writing that recent restrictions will directly accelerate the trends
The presentation shown can be downloaded below and also the recording of the webinar can be viewed.