Automotive consultancy ICDP boss Steve Young has advised dealers to ‘push back hard’ now on areas of concern with the agency model being introduced by carmakers.
Young said that unless carmakers and dealers can sort out the detail on agency it will result in an ‘unholy mess.”
Young, speaking at the Motor Trader EV Summit in Birmingham, said the issue was not so much headline commission levels but the capability of carmakers to make agency work in terms of systems, processes and legal framework.
Check out the full video of Young’s presentation on agency and the Q&A afterwards here.
Young told summit delegates: “I think at this stage, in many cases, with the negotiations underway and particularly in the UK where you have the big dealer groups who are core to the networks for most brands, my advice would be to push back hard on the areas where there are concerns. Now.
“Because once it has gone in, it is going to be more difficult, and you will have to work with what you have got.
“And it is not about the commission levels, it is about the capabilities of the manufacturer. Are they ready? Do they have the people? Do they have the processes? Do they have the systems, and do they have a legal proposition?
“If the dealers push back on any areas where they have concerns, I don’t think the manufacturers will terminate them all. I am sure they will slip implementation if needed and that is really what is required because otherwise it is going to be an unholy mess.”