The Audi A6 is a mid-to-large Audi car that’s built for comfort, especially on longer trips. Here, they’re just saying it would have been comfortable to do the podcast from that car.
An electric car runs on electricity stored in a battery instead of gasoline. The dealer is saying that electric cars are becoming the norm, so they kept focusing on them.
New car tax is a change in the rules for how new cars are taxed by the government. The dealer is saying they were concerned it could affect electric-car sales, but they kept going anyway.
A part exchange is when you trade your current car in to help pay for the next one. They’re saying that after driving Teslas a lot, older cars feel noisier.
The clutch is a part that helps transfer power from the engine to the rest of the drivetrain. They’re guessing the noise could be coming from the clutch area in older cars.
The gearbox is the set of gears that helps the car move smoothly at different speeds. They’re saying older cars can sound like something in that system is making noise.
The Mercedes E-Class is a popular Mercedes model you’ll see a lot on UK roads. Here, the hosts are talking about how a high-mileage used one can still cause problems, and they compare that to Tesla ownership.
Battery life is how much charge capacity your electric car’s battery still has after years of use. If it’s still above about 90%, the car should keep most of its range and feel like it’s not “worn out.”
A window switch is the button you press to open and close the power windows. They’re saying it can occasionally break, even if the car is otherwise reliable.
A heated steering wheel is a steering wheel that warms up in winter. The host is saying that on older, higher-mileage cars, the wheel covering can wear and peel, so they may need to replace the whole steering wheel.
Stone chips are little bits of gravel or debris that hit the car and leave marks in the paint. They’re saying the front of these cars gets hit a lot, especially the bonnet.
A heat pump is a system that helps an electric car stay warm without wasting as much energy. In cold weather, it can help the car go farther because it uses electricity more efficiently.
Infotainment is the car’s screen and electronics for things like music, navigation, and phone connections. If the car has a newer infotainment computer, it can feel faster and get newer software features.
Customization just means making the car your own—like adding styling changes or choosing options. The dealer is saying some buyers want it, and some don’t.
Auction prices are what cars end up selling for at auction. The host is using those real sale numbers to show that EVs are being priced differently now than they were before.
A manufacturer’s warranty is the official guarantee from the car maker that covers certain repairs. The host is saying that if you don’t service the car the “right” way, the warranty might not apply.
A HEPA filter is a special air filter that cleans the air inside the car. The host is saying that some EV maintenance is more like replacing filters than doing lots of traditional service work.
Service history is the log of what work has been done on a car—like oil changes and repairs. It’s useful because it shows whether the car was looked after properly.
DPF means diesel particulate filter. It’s a part on diesel cars that catches soot from the exhaust, and if it gets blocked the car can run badly and repairs can get pricey.
A lease deal is when you pay to drive a car for a fixed time, then give it back. It usually costs less per month than buying, but you don’t own the car at the end.
The Range Rover is a large, luxury SUV from Land Rover. It’s designed to feel premium and look impressive, and it’s often associated with status. Dealers may talk about it because it attracts buyers and shows up in trade-ins.
The Ford Transit is a popular van used for work—delivery, trades, and fleets. Here, the speaker is basically saying the newest ones don’t look as thoughtfully designed as you’d expect.
The Ford Mustang is a famous performance car from Ford. The speaker is saying it’s not meant to be liked by everyone, and that sometimes people suddenly want one later when they’re harder to find.
The Ford Capri is a car name that’s been brought back. The podcast suggests they don’t see many of them, which means it’s not very common where they are. That can make it harder for dealers to find and sell quickly.
They’re talking about how some car types don’t get much attention at first, but then interest suddenly jumps. Often it happens because there aren’t many available, so more people start searching.
Term
Apple mouse
“Apple mouse” is a design comparison used to criticize the EV’s exterior shape, suggesting it resembles the rounded, minimal profile of Apple’s iconic computer mouse. It’s not a technical automotive term, but it’s a specific, listener-relevant metaphor for the styling critique.
A V12 is a type of engine with 12 cylinders. The host is saying that if this Ferrari had a traditional V12 engine instead of being electric, people might be less upset about how it looks.
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car from Porsche. In this discussion, it’s used as an example of a car whose used prices have risen a lot over the past year.
The Audi TT is a compact sports coupe from Audi, typically associated with a sporty driving feel and distinctive styling. In this segment, it’s included in a list of used-car price changes to illustrate that performance coupes are generally getting more expensive.
The Renault Megane is a popular Renault model. A “Megane coupe” is a version with a more sloped, sporty shape, and those older 1990s versions can be harder to find today.
The Ford Cougar is an older Ford model name. The podcast brings it up because it’s part of the history behind names like Puma. It’s mentioned more for context than because it’s a current, common car on dealer lots.
The Ford Puma is a small SUV-style car. It’s meant to be practical for everyday driving while still being compact. People bring it up because it’s a well-known nameplate and fairly common on the roads.
The Audi TTS Coupe Competition Plus is a sporty version of the Audi TTS. It’s meant to feel more performance-oriented and comes with extra equipment compared to a basic model. Dealers may talk about it because certain trims attract different buyers.
A coupe is a car shape with a fixed roof and usually two doors. People sometimes don’t like them because they can feel tighter inside than other body styles.
Arnold Clark is a big car dealership company in the UK. They’re being talked about here because they opened their first dealership in Wales and celebrated with a “sell it for £1” promotion.
Term
£1
£1 for a car is basically a publicity stunt. The real cost is usually hidden in the fine print or the overall deal, not the headline price.
The DS4 is a small premium car from DS. The podcast mentions it in the context of how it’s priced and how it shows up in their inventory. It’s not necessarily a car they see every day.
Car
DS4 Crossback
The DS 4 Crossback is a small crossover from DS (a premium brand). Here it’s just an example of a car that’s been sitting on the lot for a while while the dealer uses a surprising pricing trick.
Car
Citroen 2CV
The Citroën 2CV is an old, famous Citroën that was known for being simple and affordable. Here, they’re talking about Citroën reviving the 2CV name for an electric version.
Car
Citroen AMI
The Citroën AMI is a very small electric car meant for city driving. It’s designed to be inexpensive and easy to use, especially for short trips.
Car
Citroen e-Méhari
The Citroën e-Méhari is an electric version of a retro, open-top style car. It’s more of a fun, basic vehicle than a normal car you’d use for everyday commuting.
A quadricycle is a smaller, simpler kind of vehicle that’s usually less powerful and has different rules than a normal car. It’s often used for cheap, basic mobility.
Car
Citroen C4 Cactus
The Citroën C4 Cactus is a small car with a very recognizable, rugged-looking design. In this segment, they’re using it as a quick way to describe the e-Méhari’s shape.
“Super credits” are a government rule that makes some EVs count more toward a company’s EV goal. The idea is to encourage makers to sell smaller, cheaper EVs by giving them extra “points.”
The Toyota Yaris is a small car, and the host uses it to show what “under four meters” really looks like. It’s basically saying the policy’s definition of “small” includes common compact cars.
The 5 E-Tech Electric is an electric car based on the Renault 5 name. The podcast is saying it’s meant to compete with other small electric cars by bringing back the idea of the Renault 5. It’s an attempt to make a new EV that feels recognizable.
“Stalantis” means Stellantis, a big car company that owns multiple brands. The host is saying Stellantis is thinking about how to build smaller, cheaper electric cars.
The Renault 5 is a well-known older car name. The podcast is using it as a reference because a new electric car is being designed to feel like a rival to that original idea. It’s mentioned because the name still matters to buyers.
Car
Citroen C3
The Citroën C3 is a small hatchback, and the host is talking about how one version tried to look like a modern take on the old 2CV. They’re saying that styling choice didn’t attract the broader audience they expected.
Leapmotor is a Chinese electric-car company. The host is suggesting that if Stellantis works with them, it could make it easier to build a cheaper small EV.
The Land Rover Freelander is a type of Land Rover SUV. The podcast is talking about where the model name came from and how it was developed. It’s mentioned because it’s a specific model line with a particular backstory.
A tariff is a tax on things brought into a country from elsewhere. If cars are taxed when they’re imported, they can cost more, so companies may try to build them locally instead.
Subsidised means a government helps pay part of the cost, lowering the effective price or improving financial results for a company or industry. In EV markets, subsidies can distort comparisons because the true cost to taxpayers may not be obvious from the product’s price or performance claims.
LIVE
The Cardiola podcast is sponsored by AutoTrader.
John, have I mentioned that we sell more cars from adverts on AutoTrader than anywhere else?
Yes, I think I read that somewhere.
Well, with over 84 million consumer visits per month, they connect retailers like us
with more potential buyers than any other platform.
But it's not just about the numbers, is it?
Is that what you say to your accountant?
Because the support and the value we get from AutoTrader is, well, invaluable.
We now get AI-powered insight on every online inquiry about the level of buying intent from
each customer, incredible amounts of data about the cars that we'll sell in our local area,
and around-the-clock service support from our account manager.
It sounds like AutoTrader is basically doing all the work for you, James.
No, John, I still do some things, like take out the bins.
Anyway, to find out more about how AutoTrader can help you, visit autotrader.co.uk
slash partners slash retailer.
Welcome back to the Cardiola podcast, where we pick our favorite stories of the week
and ask an industry guest to choose which were the best.
I'm John Ray, and joining me this week is not anyone called James for a change.
It is, of course, OG podcast host Rebecca Chaplin.
Rebecca. Hello. Hello, John.
Hi. How are you? I'm fine. How are you?
I'm very well. I'm actually, I feel, I'm looking at myself in this camera,
thinking, when I look a bit sunburned, I feel like I've caught the sun.
Yeah, that's obviously all I've done this week.
Yes. I feel like you're slightly to blame as well, because we have been touring,
while the other two were hosting this, we were off touring around Europe.
Yeah, I was going to say, do you have, like, a rebuttal to Batch's claims last week?
Yeah, I mean, well, I'd like to say that I, yeah, I do try and tune in where possible,
but unfortunately, we were on the road and I didn't really fancy doing this podcast
from the back of an Audi A6, comfortable as that would have been.
So, I'd just like to take him up on the Elocution lessons as well.
I mean, really, come on. Anyway, let that one go.
So, what have you been doing this week, Rebecca?
Well, it's obviously been a bit of a weird week, because it's half-term,
and we've had a bank holiday, so it's going to be quite an interesting one
when we get to the news later, a bit of a struggle, but we'll see.
But yeah, nothing particularly interesting, apart from complaining about the weather,
or saying how nice it is, and then complaining, and like everyone I think has been doing.
Yes. This is normally the point where I would ask James how busy the dealership has been,
but he's not here. So, I'm just going to move us on and introduce our guest.
So, joining us this week, I'm pleased to say is owner of the lovely car company, David Gott.
David, thanks for joining us. Hello. How are you?
Very well, thank you. I love the name. I don't like to introduce you.
That is actually the name. It's not just John complimenting it.
A lot of ladies say that. The ladies always love the name, and then a lot of men go that
of it. Oh, can I set you back? That's a bit of a gay name.
How did that... Well, firstly, I mean, I've got a load of questions on, I'll ask you,
but firstly, how did the lovely car company come about then? Did you found it? Is it the
name that you've come up with? So, when I first started about 15 years ago, and I live in Sheffield,
and everyone calls you love, and everything's lovely. And at the time, I was just buying cars
that were under, like, three grand, and I just wanted to sell nice, clean, low mileage, lovely
examples. And that's where I came from, the lovely car company. And I've always wanted to change it,
but then as we've got more reviews online, got bigger, I just can't bring myself to change the
name. But that's the honest truth. That's what it is. That's what it's about. Yeah, I'm stuck with it
now. That's it. I quite like that, because you can't really, I think lovely is a generic enough
term that you can't have the ASA having to go at you about it, because you kind of say,
lovely car, you know, might not be pristine, but it's lovely.
Unique. You get a lot, whereas they're all very similar. I'm not like an example right now,
but I can't think of any other. Well, like ABC cars, or ABJ cars. Yeah, I never wanted to be, you know,
like, like, I don't know, like, like you said, AB cars, it's just not memorable. That's all.
I know me, Danny Von's watching DB Ottermore. Sorry, Danny.
It was always a bit forgetful, but now I've just got a shit name, and it's rememberable.
Well, anyway, tell us a bit about your motor trade journey. If that doesn't sound too,
I don't know, ranky, you know, like, how did you, how did you end up doing what you do now?
Yeah, so, so, yeah, I was a DJ for 25 years, worked all over the world, worked in
big club in my golf court BCM. After about 12 years of doing that, I came back to the UK,
and then whilst I was DJ during the day, I needed something to do. So I started selling cars from
home, and two or three on the drive, and they're just built up from there, basically. And then
when COVID kicked in, the DJ work was no more. And I mean, I was sort of full time when COVID
kicked in. Yeah, I was full time, we had like 20 odd cars. But when COVID kicked in, got really
busy, and then I like really focused on getting the business bigger. And now we've got about
50 cars in stock. And like I said, we've built it from sub 5k cars, where now everything's over
15k at the minute. So it's been a really good journey. It's been really enjoyable.
Lots of ups, lots of downs. But I'm still alive.
Am I right in thinking you guys mainly do Teslas now?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's all we're doing now. So about a year ago, I just said to myself,
I'm going to test it for one year. It was from last September. We already had about 50%
of our stock with Teslas or electric cars. And I said, you know what, I'm just going to try it. I
thought we're small enough. Because we're not, I've always tried not to be like a car suit back,
but I've always thought that you need a selection of cars, you know, you need a few small ones,
you need some big ones, you need some four before, you need some automatics. And then last September,
I said, I'm going to try it for one year. And we're just going to sell Teslas.
And to be honest, it's been the best thing I've ever done.
I mean, you've timed it very well, I have to say.
Bit of luck at the same time. However, last year, when that car tax,
nice, sorry, law came in, the new car tax, whatever you call it,
I didn't get to it at the same time, because we didn't sell half as much as what we normally sell.
And I thought, oh, God, is this it? Because it is sort of on the time of electric cars.
I just thought I've got to stick with it, because it is, everyone's got to have an electric car,
sooner or later. So I just stuck with it. And I'm so glad they have because the last three months
has been fantastic.
I mean, it's probably fair to say you're a bit of a Tesla expert by this point.
I mean, over 150 you've sold, did I see the other day?
I mean, what are they like as a product to sell? Presumably pretty good.
Otherwise, you wouldn't want to do it. You know, when I get in a part exchange vehicle
with an engine in it, I'm like, oh, what's that noise?
Is that the gearbox or the clutch going? Normal cars sound really rickety when you've been in.
When you're used to driving Teslas as much as we are now, it's getting to the point now
where I'm thinking the part exchanges, we're just going to trade them all on.
Because that, for us, being this sort of specialist, where we know we're onions with the Teslas,
then when we get like, we've had this Mercedes part exchange coming, an E-Class,
and we've bought it back once, and then we've sold it again, and then the customers complain
again about something stupid. You know, a 10 year old Mercedes E-Class for the 112,000 miles on the
clock. I think why am I wasting my time? I'd rather have a Tesla with 199,000 miles on the clock,
and I know it'd give you less hassle. This is the mad thing, because I think, like,
we in the motoring press gave Tesla a bit of a hard time for, you know, when you get in a brand
new one, I think there was a bit of noise made about perceived quality. It's that horrible
term we use, where everything's maybe a little bit plasticky. I don't think it's that bad, to be
honest, but some people kind of, it was the shut lines and things like that, people go, oh, they're
not very well made or whatever. But actually, as you say, I think they were surprisingly well. This
just sounds like an advert for Tesla. I only say this because James has taken one in, has he not,
miles on it or something, and it feels like a brand new car in lots of ways. It's not actually
worn. It's miles very hard at all. But what about reliability? How are you finding them?
Amazing reliability. So when you think about it, there is, I mean, I'm not mechanical
in any shape or form, but I feel like I now know all the things that go wrong
with the Teslas. So your face has just got a battery. And touch was, all of them have been
absolutely spot on. We do tests on them all. They're all above 90% of the battery life.
Most of our cars are not more than five year old. And then it's just changing tires,
suspension arms and bushes, but it's more bushes than anything. And they're not expensive.
And then that's it. And then you get the occasional window switch that'll break,
steering wheels, the older ones with higher mileage, you know, because it's a heated steering wheel
that'll start to open up and it'll start to peel away. So yeah, you might need to replace the
steering wheel. And but that's it. And the stuff was black ones, especially stuff with
stone chips. Bonnet on them are terrible for getting stone chips. I know a lot of people
are like, Oh, there's too many white ones out there. But the white one, the Griggs can't see
the stone chips. You know what I mean? And yeah, windscreens occasionally have to change the
windscreen on them. But that is it. This is a far cry from all the like, Oh, you know,
when it goes wrong, it's a 10 grand battery or anything like that. That, you know, it doesn't
sound like you've had too much bad luck with them then. Touch was. So how do you go about when
you're buying them? There's this perception that as you say, they're all white, and they're all
identical. But they're not really are they because there's quite a lot of subtle differences between
each. It's not even modeled. Well, it suppose it is model year of, let's say a model three,
but they've been making them for what 10 years now nearly. But there's a lot of difference
between one that was made, you know, eight years ago to one that's just come off the
factory floor now. I mean, what do you look for? Like there's things like heat pumps and there's
things like, has he got the new chip in it for the infotainment and all that sort of stuff?
Not to give you trade secrets away, but what do you look out for?
That is basically it. So it's the, if we sell anything over six year old, we would try not to
unless we take it in part exchange. The first question everybody asks, hasn't got the heat pump.
If it hasn't got the heat pump, then people seem to be more prepared to pay that little bit more
to buy one with a heat pump. Then the rise in chip, they all want the new rise in chip because
it's got better software on it. But I mean, me personally, I would get an eight year old one
just for the range, even the range on the older ones is still really good on the long range ones.
And so it won't put me off at all. But I see we're being in that price range of the older ones
yet. So I don't know their cell, but I assume the cell just as good as the newer models.
What's interesting there is it sounds like people coming to buy these are pretty clued up about
what they're buying. We've only done all this because of the customers. That's it. It's like
being a DJ. The customers will tell you what songs they want on and I'll be DJing thinking,
what's this song they're on about when I look for it? I find it and I play it and everyone's cheering
and oh, what a brilliant DJ he's playing the best song ever. That thing, it's just this fan that
told me, oh, have you got that song? It's exactly the same. Everyone's come up to us and they're like,
as you've got the E-Pub, as you've got the rising chip, as you've got this and I'm saying to salesman
right, we need to do this, that and the other and just follow the market. And that's sort of what
we've done. Well, that leads me nicely on to customization. Because I noticed you're quite
good at jazzing them up and wrapping them, I'm guessing, and putting a kind of body kit on the
front and all that kind of stuff. How many customers are coming to you wanting something a little bit
different from the average Model 3 or Model Y? I'd say it's 50-50 at the minute. So we get a lot of
people that absolutely hate the body kit. Oh my God, they're terrible. And then you'll get a retired
65 year old chap and he's like, oh God, I want that body kit. You never know. It's 50-50 down the line.
Is it something you're putting on the stock that you have and then just waiting for the customer
that wants the one in? It's a bit off. We can just look at one and we think, oh, do you know what,
that needs a body kit. Sometimes if we've had one in stock for quite a while that hasn't got a body
kit on, we'll stick a body kit on it. Let's see if we can get it out the door with that.
At the same time, I think the body kits now, I think the plateaued, especially with the Model 3s,
I think it's been overdone a little bit now. So we tend to not put the body kits on as much.
But we just give the customers the option at the minute it's all out. Oh, we're hearing at the
minute, the last month is, I'm fed up with putting all this money in my car, petrol and diesel and
they just want to save money. But for us, it's just an added bonus that they can customize the Tesla
as if they want to. How long do you think this is all going to last then, this sort of
good times with electric cars? Do you think it was going to carry on or
see that load down? Yeah, that's it for now, isn't it? I think that is. I mean, I've never seen
this podcast with a bloody diary of a city owner and he was, he got this picture up over in New
York in the 1920s and it was a picture of New York with all the horse and cart and then the
10 years later and it was New York just full of cars. And that's the same with electric cars.
You know, we have the everyone hates electric cars for the last maybe 10 years we've had it.
But now you can just see it. It's just changing like week by week, especially now people getting
hit in the pocket with the fuel. Nobody likes losing money. So, so, so yeah, a lot of people are
you can tell by looking at the auction as well, you know, auction prices Tesla's are now two grand
into book BMW one series. I was watching one last week, it was grade two, and that went a thousand
pound behind the book. Normally, I'd be thinking, oh, great, I buy that because it's cheap. But
even for me, I'm like, the times are changing now.
Is it just Tesla's or are you kind of, I know you've ventured into some other EVs before, but
are you at this point, are you kind of like, right, no, I'm not doing any Merck's or BMW's or
whatever, you know, an EQC or an iX or anything like that. Is it, is it just Tesla's you've
headed your bets on now, going forward? Yeah, yeah, well, just because we're only a small deal
of shit. Again, when people come here, they're here to buy Tesla. So if I just want, we've done it
before where we've had like a Coupe Reborn thing, that looks nice, that Coupe Reborn, and it's just
sat there forever. And then we've bought an Audi Q, God, I'm so bad with this car.
An Audi Q-tron or whatever the bloody hell it was. And we bought it and it was due to service.
So we had to take it to Audi and it was 600 pounds for the service. And I was like, what are you
doing with this car? It's just got a battery in it, you know? Yeah, but you need to, if you don't
do it, the manufacturer's warranty isn't valid and all this. The other way, we got invited to the,
like the Tesla red place when it's through Auto Trader. And we asked the question about like,
why the charging 600 pounds and the Tesla block, it's absolutely con, like these cars do not need
servicing. And Teslas don't need servicing. If it needs anything on the dash, like it needs a
HEPA filter, you book it in, get it changed and that's it. So that's another reason why I want to
keep selling them because it's just, yeah, we've got a massive team. So it's just the floor keeps,
everything keeps flowing easier. Well, before I could like, we've got to get on the phone to
Mercedes and we've got to try and chase up this service history. And before you know it,
you've wasted like two hours of your day just trying to get some service history.
So all that time, we're getting back.
I mean, you sort of answered my next question, which is James's absolute favorite one to ask,
which is, what cars will you not buy? Like what will you actively avoid? Or, you know,
so you get it as a PX, what are you going to get rid of immediately?
You've got some JLR products at the minute.
It's easy, isn't it? It's just like, yes, like two litre miscellaneous,
eco boosts. Yeah, pretty much all of them at the minute. Yeah, I don't really like any of them.
What's the car you've had the worst experience with?
Before we, that was another thing doing the Teslas. Don't get me wrong, I would never,
because I'm not the type of person to give up on anything, but it was getting to the stage where
what else could I do? You know, this before we signed the electric cars, because it was just
relentless gearboxes. Every time the foreman and the customers ringing, oh, we bought this car
a few weeks ago. And the thing is, we'll always fix it. And then you just see your profit margins
go down. But I have still got one car in stock that I've had for nearly three years now.
And that is a Kia seed. And everyone thinks Kia Seed. Yeah, is this the famous, is there a
YouTube video you did about this Kia Seed, if I imagine this? No, I've not done a video about
this one yet. What's wrong with this seed then? So I bought it, no. I mean, James will have it,
it's a Kia, he loves them. Well, yeah, I think you hear Kia, it's the most reliable car in the world.
And it's a 19 plate, 40,000 miles, so it's still in the Kia warranty.
It's just got an engine management light on. It's going to be nothing. It's going to be a sensor.
So we've took it to the garage, it knocks sensor, changed that, then like, oh, it must be something
to do with the DPF. Well, they can't be the DPF because it's only at the time. It was only
three year old, something like that. And it was like three year old. I thought it cannot be the
DPF. So they've tried to do all these different sensors. They've took everything off. I must have
spent at least two grand on it already. I took it to Kia and they said, oh, look, you've missed one
service. So it's out of warranty. I was like, oh, okay, right. So we're trying to fix it,
trying to fix it. This was the Kia, Rick Chesterfield, by the way, they're all a little bit
miserable in there. I'm sure the mechanics are all right, but the bloke at the desk, he's a right
miserable kid. Every time he sees me, he's like, oh, you again. So we've had it knocking on three
years. So last month, I like, we need to get rid of this car. Let's take a Kia at Sheffield,
because they might be a bit friendlier. So we've took it to Kia Sheffield. And after two days,
they ran up and they said, oh, look, the DPF. It's the DPF. There's something wrong with it.
I was like, are you sure? I'm like, you can't be. He went, honestly, it is. He said, you're two weeks
away from the car being out of warranty. He said, oh, we'll change the DPF for you. It would normally
cost three grand plus labor and fitness, but we'll change it. I was in such a good mood. Honestly,
I was like, oh, this is fantastic. This is like, oh my God, it's the last car I've got left. The last
car I've got a diesel engine in it. I'm like, this is just amazing. So he gets it. Two days later,
he rings up and he goes, I'm so sorry. He said, but the warranty's void. I'm like, why? He said,
you've never had the car before. They've took out the DPF. I'm like, you're joking. So idiot.
I was like, I had a problem with the DPF. Like maybe it needed re-genin, but then they thought,
oh, do you know what? We'll like drill it all in and we'll try and map it out.
But here, DPFs apparently are impossible to map out.
So, okay, I thought we'd have an earlier statement. He will not buy that. He will not buy that.
I say that. If you put it on Motorway and he finds out it's got a 99 retail rating, he will buy it.
I mean, how are you getting your, how did you come about the Kia? How are you getting your stock
at the minute? I didn't mind anything with an engine management value on.
Yeah, I just used to buy from auctions and I had my own car by the website as well,
too, used to do that. That was good for getting the older generation when they retired or
someone had to give up driving. You get some really good buys like that. That was sort of like
the lovely car company model, low mileage, one owner type of cars. But yeah, but now we just
buy from just, you know, my place is BCA, Aston Bakery and just other sources.
But it's a lot easier buying as well to just buy that one brand.
How are you finding coming up against all these really cheap lease deals on electric cars? And
he mentioned the Cooper born and that obviously lots of them are cheap. But you find in your stuff
sort of holds up against that because they are good dealers aren't they at the end of the day?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think, again, it's just trying not to pay too much for one of these cars,
like getting a Cooper born at 25 grand or 20 grand, second hand, you just go out and buy a flipping
new one, wouldn't you? Because the dealers you get are great. When we do try and stay in that,
if it was Cooper born, I'd be staying around the 12 and a half, say in Grandmark.
It's the same with the Teslas, we've got to be in the right price bracket. We don't want to price
ourselves out of it. Yeah, we're seeing so much Chinese product, particularly around here.
It's like Spot the J2 at the moment, just feels like everybody wants. I mean, I spoke with some
dealers who mentioned that they're having a great time at the moment buying stuff because people
want to trade on their petrol diesel car. But they then want to go buy from, they want to buy a J2 or
something cheap, past times are hard. What do you guys like, when you look at
the cars on the road, like, do you think in your eyes, drives that J2 or do you think?
I think the JQs are a little bit like,
I don't know, they're a bit new build, Mrs. Hinch kind of,
you know, they're very Instagrammy and all that sort of stuff. I mean, we're like...
It's like a cool team of Range Rover, don't they? Yeah, like it's all image, isn't it?
What I can see though, like if I was, if I had three kids and a budget and I wanted a new car,
I could see myself going for like a Cherry Tigger or something like that, though.
Yeah, I think the Tigger looks slightly better. I can't remember if I talked about this last time
I was on the podcast, but because like, I love electric cars, I've been banging on about a podcast
for years and years and years, but the Chinese ones, I just think it looks like no one's designed
them. And even I drove past a brand new transit the other day and I thought like, you can see how
something, you know how they like carve them out of clay, like you can see the design work that's
gone into the front of a transit, but when you look at a lot of them, they're just like someone's
sketched out and they've gone, okay, go make that then. When we're in Dunton in Essex as a Ford
designer, go, yes, yes, I've noticed. I've been to enough factory tours to be shown, look how we
are. Well, I mean, I've not driven one probably at least for five years, but they were awful to
drive. I don't know if they've improved at all. The Capri as well. I'm not a fan. I don't think it's
like world car thing where they make them like a car that everybody will like rather than going,
this is for this person and this is for that person. That Mustang, I just think is a bit.
Because we found that they were really popular, the ones that we had.
You don't see a lot of them on the roads and I always think like, who's actually, I have seen
like one Capri since they've come out, but we just don't get many around here, but then we don't,
I was talking about this the other day because obviously we used to have the Southampton factory,
so we used to get a lot of Fords and we had a lot of Ford dealers, but that's sort of because
that's fatal, the factory's gone and a lot of the dealers have gone. We don't really see as many
Fords on the road and it shows a lot of Fords family discount, didn't you? That's people.
I think the Copras look beautiful, you know, blue ones, but whatever I like, I should never buy.
Well, and also there's this weird thing, isn't it? A bit like with the Mastangs, like they might
have sold not that many of them, but you find three years later, suddenly everyone wants one
with high demand because there are none. That's the sort of the weird situation we find ourselves in,
like when you, I think James finds it at the minute with like, say at me, electrics,
like I can't get enough of them, but they only sold, I mean, there's only ever about 15 for
sale at any given time on AutoTrader or whatever. So yeah, you find yourself looking at these weird
little niches of cars that you'd forgot existed, but suddenly everyone's searching for it's really
weird. But then they attract the strange customers. I don't think James has any that aren't strange, so...
Great in Gosport really, isn't it? No, he seems to buy strange cars and have strange customers.
I mean, one final question before we move on because we've got to do our stories,
not there are any stories this week because it's been very slow, but in terms of advertising,
so I know you guys are quite big on social media and YouTube and so on, but in terms of, well,
firstly, how does that bring you any sales? Are you finding, like for James, for example,
obviously he's got the benefit of our lovely Cardi the Magazine YouTube channel that we've had for
15 years or so, but he's suddenly getting loads of inquiries on Jimneys because he's done a video
about them, completely unrelated to not an advertising video necessarily. Do you find you
get the same kind of pickup from YouTube? Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. I think when people, because,
you know, it takes people 23 months to decide whether the, you know, when they actually
pull the trigger on a car. So if they've been on our YouTube and seen us talk about
Teslas and then they'll go on to Instagram and they'll do this and it's just constantly at the
back of the mind, isn't it? Last week, it's every week that we sell, like Saturday a woman come in,
she's come in, she's like, I didn't want to go to the big car supermarket, the faceless people,
she said, I wanted to come to you, so I'd seen your videos, I'd seen your, I just like everything
about what you do and, you know, the days of us just advertising a car, it's gone now, isn't it?
You've got to do something a little bit different, you've got to get your names out there and it's
just like a funnel, isn't it? Like, I used to think, oh, if we do loads of Instagram stuff, we'll sell
loads of cars on Instagram, but it's not like that, you've got to do all these different things
and then if you do all of them, it's all like compounds over time.
So, in terms of your general advertising platforms then, what's working for you guys?
What's bringing you the most leads at the moment? Do you know what, I'm going to be totally honest,
if I'm going to say leads or enquiries, what I get in that email, it's mortars, if I'm being
nice. Really? I'll show them all.
As I believe they're now known. Yeah, Ramri, with them for four months, but every day there's a
calls really, or a trader, but the messages that we get like emails or they're not great, no?
From motors, is that from auto-trader? Auto-trader.
Right. Yeah, yeah. Interesting.
So, you've obviously got a very specific stock profile, I suppose, so it's hard to
sort of, because I find, well, from second hand from James, you kind of find some
stuff works better on different platforms, don't you? So, I mean, like, I think for him,
the higher end stuff seems to do a bit better on auto-trader generally, but then also, of course,
if he's following retail rating staff, more so than anywhere else, but it's, yeah, it's just
interesting, isn't it? It's different bits of the country and different stock profiles, and
it's just a question I like to ask. I honestly think it's to do where you are in the country.
Traders down, like, your way of the south, they can have 25 cars advertised and they'll
turn over that stock twice. They'll do 50 cars in a month, where if we have 25 advertised on
auto-trader, we'll probably just sell 25. I think that's just because we're in the mid-life.
Honestly, I don't know. It keeps me up at night thinking of it all. So, what I just try to do
is keep, so before we used to have 50 cars on auto-trader, and we've just cut that down to
the starter pack, and it's 25. We actually have 20 plus five, what do you call it, the five
adverts, where you can just add tactical stock. Tactical stock, that's it. So then, when it gets
to August, I'll take them five adverts off. When it comes to December, I'll take them five off,
and we'll just have the 20. And then with mortars, we'll have 40 advertised,
and then Instagram, obviously our website, Facebook, Instagram, Facebook, all that. That's
just for like getting us out there and YouTube. It's not trying to sell cars, it's just trying to
show, look, we're here, we're nice people, and we just want to sell you a nice car. That's it.
That's it. So, it's just, it is you've got to keep the advertising to a minimum.
Interesting. Right, well, we're over halfway, so I'd better get on and do some stories, I think.
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trade.autotrader.co.uk. Now, back to the podcast.
So, Becca and I are going to run through our favorite stories of the week. And at the end,
David gets to decide which of us chose the best ones and who is the winner.
I think James won last week. But due to what I'm going to call a technical error,
the end of the podcast got chopped off. So I'm going to take that as a sign that
Ashley, I should go first. So I'm going to. It has been a bit of a slow news week as we've
said a thousand times, but I'm going to start when it would seem appropriate to start with an
electric car. Sorry, sorry. So I'm just going to briefly talk about this new Ferrari, which
will be of no relevance to anyone listening because I think they're going to make about,
I don't know, probably a few hundred of them and they're all going to be bought by people who have
made millions on YouTube, I would imagine. David, you could be, you know, in for one, I don't know.
But it has caused a storm because nobody really likes how it looks. I think I've seen maybe a
couple of positive, well, suggestions about how it looks. But the rest, the rest of the
internet seems to be up in arms that it doesn't look like a Ferrari. It looks like a sort of,
to most people, some sort of Chinese electric four door thing that they've put a Ferrari badge on.
Some people have said it looks like an Apple mouse because of course,
Johnny Ivers had some, some involvement in the design. I think the interior, everyone seems
to love, it's just the exterior. We've seen the interior before, haven't we? We have. I think
because it's got this sort of like retro styling, everyone, that's like half the problem. Everyone's
expecting something that was going to look kind of retro and like a Ferrari. I do think like
the Ferraris have looked so different over the years, not that I want to jump in and defend them
because I don't really like it at all. But they've made plenty of cars that people didn't like over
the years. And then they still sold because people just want to buy a Ferrari. They have,
it's true. And I think, I don't know if some of the hate has come from the fact that it's
all electric. I actually think a lot of it is just to do with the shape of it and what it is.
If it had a V12 under the bonnet, I think people would still hate it. And I can sort of understand
why because it's very, I think proportionally, it's all over the place personally, but I'm
I'm not really a Ferrari person. It's a family car, isn't it? Well, it is a family car. But I think
even like the, what's the four by four, the Puro Sangway. Yes. I think even that at least
looks Ferrari-ish, even if it is an SUV. This doesn't, I don't think. That being said, what
Ferrari say about this is that it's supposed to attract a new type of audience altogether.
So this is why it looks different. So this is not for your average person with a red Ferrari in
the garage, some of whom I know are listening. This is for, yeah, I suspect it's for people who are
maybe, dare I say, five or 10 years younger than us, Becker, and have made lots of money
on cryptocurrency, et cetera, et cetera. I think it's for a different type of audience. People
who really love Teslas, but want like something more luxe. More expensive. Yeah. Anyway, David,
what did you make of this? I'm guessing you've seen it. That's answered that.
I don't really like cars, if I'm being honest.
Fair enough.
Well, that's put an end to our story. I mean, do give it a Google and see what you think,
because it is well worth a look. I was just going to say my favourite thing about this is,
and this is obviously not a story that's corroborated. I just read someone posting about it,
but when everyone really didn't like it, all of a sudden a lot of the same posts saying how great
it was with the same picture being linked in again and again. So someone,
it sounds like someone has been paid to send a load of bots out to say, it's so great, isn't it?
Wonderful Ferrari doing. I just love that about it.
I see what I will say. It's taken the heat off Jaguar for a bit, isn't it?
I know. I saw someone else comparing that as well, saying like, oh,
we'll see if they're actually doing the right thing.
Right. Well, anyway, I won't dwell on this for any longer, because it's a Ferrari and none of us
are ever going to drive it probably. So, Becca, move us on. Oh, I'm going to move us on. What shall
I go for next? A story that I wrote this morning actually I'll go for,
which is about used coupe prices increasing more than any other body style. Very important news,
I know. But I did think it was quite interesting because, again, sort of reflecting about that
last story, things changing. People are new car manufacturers aren't making as many coupes.
Actually, there are only a third as many on the market today as there was a decade ago,
which I thought was quite interesting. And because of this, prices are going up.
This is according to CarGurus, who said the Jaguar F-Type was up 16% year on year. The Porsche 911
is up 14% and the Audi TT is up 4%, suggesting demand for performance-led vehicles
is going up because they're becoming harder to source. I don't know if it's sort of potentially
because of the time of year as well. But yeah, I don't know what you guys think.
I wonder how far that goes. Like, the 911 is always going to go up in value, aren't they?
Yeah, I do. Different types I can understand because they're still pretty good and they're
not made anymore. Do you think, like, the 1990s Renault and Megane coupe in bright yellow,
you know, does that count? I don't know. The original Cougar, whatever it was,
all the Puma. Yeah, I don't know because they only really talked about it from 10 years ago.
But the other thing that's sort of interesting is that of the ones that are on sale today,
half of them are made by BMW. Oh, okay. I've always struggled with a four-series coupe.
If we ever get a four-event Audi TTs, I would struggle to sell an Audi TT.
Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, to be fair, I've had a few people tell me that recently,
they can't get rid of TTs. But yeah, they can't get rid of it.
The dorms seem to be made in convertible cars anymore, don't they?
No. No, I can't think of many. No. I mean, the coupe thing, do you know what? I'm not a big fan
of coupes, I'll be honest, because I just think they look a bit posory. And I like, I don't know,
I just think if it's a four and a half meter long car, I just want some space in it personally.
Like, fastest state car is where I'm at personally. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I do sort of agree when you like
compare the... That's why no one's making them anymore. Oh, yes. Obviously, there is a reason
that that one's making them anymore. Interesting, though. You're still drawn.
Shall I move us on? Yeah, go for it. Trying to squeeze in as many as possible in the last 15 minutes.
So, I'm going to talk about Arnold Clark, who have opened their first Welsh dealership, which is
surprising. I was surprised they hadn't made it across the Wales, because they're kind of creeping
down the UK, aren't they, Arnold Clark? I mean, they're not big in the south yet. But I'm sure
it's only a matter of time. But, okay, so that's somewhat interesting itself. But what I thought
was quite interesting and why I'm talking about it is how they've celebrated the opening of this
dealership by selling a car for just £1. So, I think the way that this works is that their new
motor store car supermarket thing, one of the cars in there, like a mystery car,
is a pound. But they've left like, I don't know, £14.995 or whatever in the price board. And whoever
buys it is going to be told at the point of checkout. Good news, you're not paying £15,
you're paying £1, which is quite a nice little surprise for them. And I thought that's an excellent
way to perhaps get rid of a car that you've... Well, it doesn't apply here because they've only just
opened, but a car you've had in stock for a very long time has secretly priced it as a pound.
DS4 Crossback or something that's in the corner that's been there for nine weeks. Like, yeah,
advertise that you're selling one car in your stock for a pound and wait until someone buys it.
But they might never buy it if it's that car that's in the stock, but...
Well, that's true. But then you'll sell lots of other cars and people trying to get the one that's
a pound, you see. So I thought I was a clever bit of marketing. I mean, David, if you planted
trying that to get rid of your seed with a dodgy DPF... Well, I've always started doing that on
Facebook, I'm just from, you know, when you get a cheap part exit and then you say,
we're going to give it away. You know, if you've nicked it for like 400 quid.
But they've never been like mechanically okay to even give away.
Yeah, that's the thing when they come back and they say it's broken. What do you do? Do you just
say, well, you did get it for a pound? Exactly. And they probably would come for you as well.
Yeah, it would probably attract the type of customer who was going to go, yeah, but it's
that's why I've never done it. So I thought, why do you want all the likes for people just
trying to get something for like a pound? They're never going to buy anything from you, right?
Yeah.
Right, is it? No, it's not. That was my go, Rebecca.
Yeah, I'm just trying to remind myself if it is definitely this week.
Oh, it doesn't matter at this point. Have you done the two CV one yet?
That was on my list. That does count. I didn't know if that was overlap.
Yeah, I love this. So Citroen have decided they're going to bring about two CV.
But I just I'm so we have no idea about anything else about it at the moment. I don't think.
But obviously they've already got the AMI. So this is they're supposed to be their like really
accessible affordable EV car. So is it going to be like a slightly more practical AMI?
Yeah, this is because I was reading the same story and all you get is the two
horses at the top and that's their interpretation of launching a two CV.
And of course auto express auto express have been running renders of a new two CV for about 20 years
on the front covers. Finally, we're right. Exactly. I don't know. I the way that it's written
yeah and the way that they've it's suggested that it's going to be the spirit of
two CV which got France mobilized during the Second World War and all this stuff.
I'm not sure they use those exact words. Yeah, anyway, it's in our story.
James Batchel has written this so he's slightly he's probably gone for the history angle.
He has. Yeah, he loves it.
Yeah, it will make me think that it's going to be very cheap.
I know what I don't want is like I don't know if anyone remembers
they won't I don't know why I'm saying this but Citroen a couple of years ago launched
like the e-mahari which was basically like a rebadged plastic quadricycle that somebody else
made. It's a bit like the Ami really like it's not a real car. It only does 28 miles an hour.
That sort of thing. It didn't really look like the old Mahari.
Not really. No, it looked like a C4 cactus. Yeah, that's what I was going to say.
All I can have is had in my head was like a C4 cactus with like no top on it.
Basically, yeah, but it's C4 cactus but made of plastic after a deadly accident or kind of
like if you put a C4 cactus and the little Tykes car in like that machine thing from that film
The Fly and they converged. That's what you'd get with the e-mahari. Anyway, hopefully it's
being a little bit more practical than that but what I've got in my head is the EU has set up this
attempt to get European manufacturers to make smaller and cheaper EVs and they're going to get
these things called super credits where to count against your EV threshold basically a teeny
a small I say small I think it means under four meters which is not actually that small because
a Toyota Yaris is under four meters but electric whatever kind of car is going
to count more against the EV quota than a big EV basically so that's for them to make them.
So I suspect it will be something like that which is probably going to be okay.
When I first saw it I thought oh this is Stalantis thinking how can we make a Renault 5 rival.
Of course like the Renault 5 is a slightly cooler looking car. Obviously I know the two CVs
are very popular but I don't think anyone would call it a cool looking car to get the inspiration.
It's very hard to reinterpret it isn't it without it looking really really ugly and
I think they like if you remember the first generation of C3 that was supposed to be a
slight reinterpretation to two CV because that was sort of round and unfortunately just meant
that grandma's bought it and no one else. But then I was going to say we obviously went to France
didn't we where they can the AMI they can drive from 16 and I was amazed how many of them when
you go into the little villages and stuff there are these kids driving them round and I know it's
not going to be the same thing but there obviously is that particularly in Europe that sort of market
for cheap run-arounds. Yes we're not so good at that over here we should be but we're not.
The thing is will they be quick enough to do it or will the Chinese sneak in and
do it anyway that's the thing. That's who's got the intensity to make small cheap EVs a thing.
Well yeah but we've also got the potential they've obviously got the
what tie-up have they got Leap Motor. Oh yeah Leap Motor over something else but
they've sort of got a Chinese tie-up so you never know. They did say didn't they that they were
going to be using their buying power of having Leap Motor and Stellantis together so maybe that
makes something cheap. What do you think is going to be like the larder of the electric car?
I think yeah that's a fair point like I think they've kind of like that because what was a larder
a larder was like a rebadged old fear wasn't it. I think we've moved beyond that now haven't we where
like all the like there's no nation in the world that's making like maybe like in Iran or something
there's no nation that's making old rebadged versions of cars from 20 years ago anymore are they
like they're all all the Chinese cars might be a little bit rubbish in some ways but at least
they are kind of like brand new. Shall I try and sandwich in a final story? Yes if you've got one.
I say a story I mean it's going to be about chips isn't it. No it's not. I was actually going to just
briefly allude into James' substack which I know he likes me to do because then somebody
subscribed to it possibly but he's been talking about why legacy car makers are jumping into
bed with the Chinese and I'm not actually going to go into his thoughts on this because I haven't
read it but I'm just going to give my thoughts on this news that's been floating around you know like
there's been cherry and JLR launching the Freelander name as a entirely Chinese
developed product I think it was designed by a JLR designer or a former JLR designer or something
like that but there's all this talk at the moment isn't there of Sunderland, Nissan, Sunderland
plants closing a line and Nissan's boss even saying we will find hopefully a partner to go in there
he's not explicitly said a Chinese automaker but that is the suggestion is perhaps a Chinese
automaker could do that. There's various musings about cherry making things in JLR plants because
they have this tie up as I say there's all this news about I think was it Leetmote said last week
they were going to start making things in Europe in Stellantis factories? Yeah they're going to do it
together. Yes which of course is great news for all those factories that have our under capacity
at the moment as most car plants are because the relative is you shut them down which nobody wants
what I kind of can't quite work out is surely with these Chinese cars at the moment the reason
they're really cheap is because they're made in China and I mean somebody suggested to me that
China does not have that cheap labor rates but I think it's probably cheaper than here
and they have access to cheap electricity to power the plants and lots of subsidized things I
would imagine from the Chinese government and they're all you know a bit like BYD to use that
example they make everything apart from the tires and the glass I can't remember two things in their
car that's all they don't make or the tires and the windscreen wipers something daft like that
they've got very they're very well integrated in their supply chain they've got the whole supply
chain if you take half of the production outside of China how can that how can elite motor be as
cheap if it's made in Slovakia or France or somewhere like that where the labor rates are
higher and the electricity prices are higher and so on I just don't quite understand how it's going
to work can I give you my really pessimistic view go on that if you make a very small part of the
process or like finish the cars in the UK or in Europe at a point where you're potentially
going to have to pay very high tariffs to import them don't know if that changes anything but it
does give you sort of power when we look at Nissan particularly whenever the government does something
that Nissan doesn't like they go well we'll pull out a sundal and all these people will lose their
jobs or the same thing with other factories to where to JLR they like to wave their flag around
and be like we'll leave and all of a sudden everyone's like oh no and they get in Nissan's case a lot
of money or JLR have over the years as well and Vauxhall and Stellantis and all this sort of thing
so I think from that perspective are they going to save on potentially an end process thing if
they can do that and I guess when you look at things like Leap Motor where they're already
they've already got like a Europe tie up it might make sense for them within Stellantis.
The Europe one I can kind of see because there's the tariffs and that's the only reason really
that everyone starts making things in various countries isn't it the reason that JLR is in
China and is in India and you know and so on it's like locally made stuff yeah being air quotes
doesn't hit doesn't get tariff I mean it's the reason Nissan is here really isn't it they wanted
access to Europe without tariffs making the bluebird or whatever it was so yeah it's a similar
sort of thing and but what I don't know is how clever European politicians are now about what
quantify is being made in that country like to use the bluebird example when they came over it was
yes it arrives in a crate of all the bits from Japan and you just screw them all together
and I think two years later they built a paint shop and then they kind of gradually expanded
it and so on but yeah I don't know how made in Europe it has to be not to get a tariff and so on
for the UK there's barely any tariffs at all on Chinese stuff so
I don't know I just think it's probably slightly better for them from a visual's point of view
if you start making in these countries what do you reckon David do you think people will be more
well people don't need an incentive gone by a Chinese car at the minute do they
do you think it'll make any difference making them in say the UK
but anyone care they're nailing the head but they want to do it daughter because there's some
advantage finishing them off in some sort of tax advantage but I've seen something on YouTube
about the BYD's and you know they've made out so they've made like millions and it's the most
successful electric but car in the world but it's just the government like funded everything and they've
like they've done something with the balance sheet where they've bought all the cars and they're just
parked up on airfields and stuff like that so you can never believe anything can you what
these like government say or what not and it's up to them with who you know
they'll know someone in the government it's some sort of where they're saving some sort of money
so I don't know I really don't trust them
I do think that you just can't really quantify how much it is costing them when things are being
subsidised by a government that doesn't like to necessarily tell the truth I mean I know I've
not looked at that I've not spoken to the Chinese government but I do get the impression that
no but I assume you'll be doing that immediately after this no we're like yeah it's one of those
things where how would we ever check that is what is what I mean like it's almost impossible to know
but it's kind of easy to believe that it's not maybe as good as they like to say it is all the
time like any government likes to say how good things are all the time yeah quite positively
um well I think we're running out of time so uh David before I ask your verdict are there any
stories you think we've missed this week that we should have talked about
as long as you can't name them that's fine that's all
I don't know how you're going to win I'm like the worst guest you could ever have on
you're doing great honestly off the news well I actually do well I'll tell you what I'll tell
you how great you've been depending on who you choose the winner um what was your favourite story
of those I'm guessing not the Ferrari no I'm not feeling that I really I enjoyed that last thought
about uh the China and that because I'm not really interested and your knowledge
excellent news the blue bird when he's mentioned blue bird I thought you're too young so not even
know what blue bird was do you know every Nissan ever produced if you asked him to right now
and probably all the spec evils pretty much yes I will cop to that um well is that a victory for
me then yes I will absolutely take that uh well on that on that delightful note um I suppose it's
time to end uh thank you very much to David for coming on today and chatting about your business
and about how you came to be in the motor trade and how the lovely car company got its name
it's been lovely to have you on thank you Becca thank you as well to Becca for joining me this week
after our lovely road trip uh and thank you all for listening hopefully we don't chop off the end
of this particular podcast um and you're here to hear me say we'll be back next week with another
episode so make sure you're subscribed so you'll be notified when that goes live if you want to
check out the stories you mentioned today take a look in the show notes below or head to Cardi
magazine.co.uk thanks for listening and goodbye
About this episode
AutoTrader’s AI is used to gauge “the level of buying intent” behind online enquiries, and the hosts dig into how that data and dealer marketing funnels affect turnover. The guest explains growing from sub-£3k cars to “about 50 cars in stock,” while Tesla-focused dealers talk EV reliability, battery health, and what to check like heat pumps and infotainment chips. Elsewhere: used-car pricing is shifting, Arnold Clark’s “sell a car for £1” stunt, and Citroën’s rumoured 2CV EV return.
