Dealer confidence in business prospects for aftersales have crashed in Q2 compared to the first three months of the year.
The JudgeService Dealer Confidence Barometer, which polled the views of over 2,000 retailers, revealed a fifth, 22%, of franchised dealers say they are positive about aftersales performance, compared to 44% in Q1.
Those feeling neutral increased from 40% to 61%, while those feeling negative was unchanged at 17%.
Optimism among independent dealers was higher with 38% expressing confidence (up from 33%), none feeling negative (down from 19%) but a rise in those feeling neutral 63%, up from 48%).
On car sales the picture was more optimistic. The survey found the number of independent dealers feeling positive about Q2 used car sales jumped to 44% from 19% at the start of the year.
Independents are also feeling less neutral (31%, down from 52%) and negative (25%, down from 29%) than in Q1.
The number of franchised dealers optimistic about used car sales remains unchanged at 50%, with a drop in those feeling neutral (28%, down from 35%) but a rise in those feeling negative (22%, up from 15%).
Franchised dealers’ confidence about new car sales also remains stable at 39%, with those feeling neutral (33%) and those feeling negative (28%) also in line with Q1.
Neil Addley, managing director of JudgeService, said: “The results of our latest Dealer Barometer are encouraging with dealers showing high degrees of optimism for how new and used car sales will perform over the course of Q2.
“This suggests dealers do not expect political and economic headwinds to have a damaging impact on buyer demand.
“The outlook for aftersales in Q2 is more uncertain than in sales. Whist the majority of customers now rely on their cars to tell them when to book their cars in for work, good old fashioned service and MOT follow-ups will help keep workshops full.”
