Dealers are coming under increased pressure from OEMs to put aside more space on forecourts for EV charging.
That’s the view of dealer property expert Bill Bexson (pictured) of APC, now owned by Savills, speaking to Zeus Capital head of research Mike Allen in the Motor Sector Podcast.
He said that dealers are unhappy with the move as it is eating into the space allocated for used cars, which have been a huge boost to the bottom in recent years.
“EVs and EV charging will have a huge influence on the future utilisation and configuration of dealership property.
“Clearly public charging is way off course and OEMs realise this. We are seeing increasing pressure from OEMs on their dealer counterparts to introduce more charging infrastructure into their dealerdhip property to support charging.
“This incurs capital expenditure, it can be costly and dealers are not happy about the loss of used car display space.
“It clear that to support the adoption of widespread EV charging the wider commercial property sphere will need to be more integrated,” said Bexson.
“The importance of using commercial facilities for charging is blindingly obvious,” he said.
Bill Bexson also gave his view on the impact of agency on property use. “Obviously, this is going to have an impact on dealer property values. We are already hearing stories that dealers will not have to display so many new cars and that is going to reduced showroom space.
“This opens up the opportunities principally for multi-franchising and this presents a broader opportunity to dealers to reposition their property, perhaps by expanding the franchise base or in some cases unlocking alternative use value.
“We are seeing dealer sites coming up for alternative use. However the dealership remains the focal point for the sale and distribution of cars and there is clear evidence of consumers staying loyal to the physical [premises] alongside online sales counterparts.”