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After consecutive falls in prices, according to the latest RAC Fuel Watch report, published at the end of January,  petrol and diesel prices could be set to rise. At the same time, forecasts for utility prices, including electricity, are expected to fall, with wholesale energy prices falling substantially recently. Is this the pendulum switch back to electric vehicles in the used market?

January saw average petrol prices fall to their lowest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Across the month, UK petrol prices fell by 3p per litre. It meant that petrol ended the month at an average of 148.89p per litre. Average diesel prices fell further, down by 4p per litre to 170.37p per litre. As recently as June last year, the RAC was reporting the average price for a litre of petrol was £191.43, over 40p per litre higher than today’s costs.

In its latest report, the RAC suggested that prices of petrol and diesel may start to rise, with wholesale oil prices showing signs of increasing during January. More recently, wholesale rises have moderated. However, one area of upward pressure remains in the form of UK fuel duty rates.

Last March, the Chancellor of the Chequer, then Rishi Sunak, cut UK fuel duty rates by 5p for 12 months to help struggling families manage the soaring price of fuel alongside other rising household costs. The step was set to last for 12 months, so at this time, on 23 March 2023, this reduction could end.

Added to this is the possibility that petrol and diesel might go up by around 12p a litre. Such a move was detailed in the economic and fiscal outlook document published by the Office for Budget Responsibility last November.

Nothing is guaranteed, and it seems likely that plans for fuel duty can be expected to feature Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Budget. However, sooner or later, increases seem inevitable.



Debbie Mckay, Commercial Director of Motor Sales

With UK petrol prices set to rise, could this help used EV sales activity? Hear more from Commercial Director of Motor Sales, Debbie McKay. 

UK petrol prices set to rise

Over recent weeks, the decline in used EV values has been a significant talking point in the trade. It is little surprise because, in January, CAP HPI reported EV values fell -6.6 per cent. The trend has trade buyers naturally cautious. Similarly, lenders will be mindful of the falls, notably when assessing residuals and GFVs. 

As with so many things, it is essential to get behind the potential reasons for the change. Some are more obvious than others. The most obvious is that the supply of used EV stock has been gaining momentum, but other factors include:

A little over a year ago, used EV prices were rising ahead of ICE values

Discounting of new models in January by Tesla and then by Mercedes due to over-production

The cost of living crisis that has seen consumers switch to cheaper, sometimes older stock

The pace of adoption of used EVs. Many early adopters are on board, but the ‘early majority’ may take a little longer to persuade that the charging infrastructure and high utility  prices make now the time to switch, let alone at a premium price 

With significantly more new EV products set to hit forecourts this year, and with production ramping up as manufacturers get to grips with the semiconductor shortages, the pricing of EVs, new and used, will be an interesting dynamic. Used car buyers, more usually known for their inherent agility, are being understandably cautious right now.  However, I have little doubt that trade buyers will be ready and willing to jump back into the market when EV wholesale values stabilise.

Umesh Samani is the owner of Specialist Cars in Stoke, as well as current Chair of the Independent Motor Dealers Association. As an acknowledged Used Car expert and renowned industry commentator, I would wholeheartedly agree with his recent quotes published in the Car Dealer Journal: 

“The current price drops are merely a realignment of their (EV) true current values. Maybe once the market has stabilised for EVs, the values may start to go up a little as demand starts for them at realistic and affordable prices.”

Used EV prices will find their level arguably sooner than later, and EVs will be a significant part of the used car landscape sooner that we might realise. Already, new EV sales comfortably exceed diesel sales. Over half of all new cars sold in the UK are EVs, and Battery Electric Vehicles continue to see the greatest growth.

To provide some context. In May last year, the SMMT reported that 748,349 EVs were on the road in the UK. If, conservatively, half of all new cars sold over the next three years are EVs, then at least an additional 2.4 million EVs will be on the road. A significant part of the N-3 used car parc will be EVs. In the coming months, I’m sure EVs will find their level.

Chris Rowthorn, Director of Motor Sales Operations

Over recent weeks, the decline in used EV values has been a hot topic across the industry. Hear more from Director of Motor Sales Operations, Chris Rowthorn.

Used EV value trends

Strong demand, record used car prices, and a struggle to source used stock were the key themes of the UK market in 2022. The signs in the year to date are that these trends have continued into 2023, with used car prices rising to record heights. Sourcing stock continues to be a challenge for the retail community, which is looking wider and paying more for the right inventory.

MotoNovo's stock funding service continues to grow to support dealer demand, and a crucial part of this growth is the business' digital stock funding tool, Supplier Direct Funding (SDF). Alongside other funding options, SDF has now recorded £50M in inventory funding for dealers and added to the range of remarketing organisations which have embraced the service as Chris Rowthorn, Director of Motor Sales Operations, announces;

"Surpassing £50m in lending  represents a significant milestone for Supplier Direct Funding. It reflects the strong upward trajectory for this distinctive funding model, which measurably helps buyers to take time, cost and friction out of used car stocking. Established demand is also accelerating through our expansion of partners, and we are delighted to announce that we are now working with Motor Auction Group (MAG) at their locations in Rotherham and Corby."

The stock funding partnership approach embraced by Supplier Direct Funding sees MAG, one of the UK's oldest auction businesses, create a marketing campaign to support the launch, encouraging their customers to discover SDF's unique benefits. As Zoe Sutton, MAG's Sales Director, concludes, they are keen to promote the win:win appeal of the service;

"Supplier Direct Funding represents an opportunity for us to help our customers access well over 35,000 vehicles this year and do so in a manner that saves them time and money. We know all too well the time it takes to load stock onto a floorplan for dealers and the risk of errors. SDF digitises all this and buys time for dealers to search for and buy more stock. It is elegantly simple and effective.”

Press release issued by MotoNovo Finance, February 2022

We're now supporting our dealers with over £50 million worth of funded stock from trusted suppliers, helping them expand their forecourts and free up cash flow.

Growth as MotoNovo's stock funding service accelerates

Spanning across the UK, our Account Managers are dedicated to supporting our dealer partners. Whether it’s introducing our newest products, helping them through regulatory change or just a friendly face to talk to, they’re always on hand to help.

Creating an even bigger support network for our dealer network, we’re excited to launch our first ever apprenticeship programme throughout Field Sales. Working towards gaining their Sales Executive Level 4 qualification, our newest apprentices are learning the knowledge, skills and behaviours in several key areas of the Account Manager role. Gaining hands-on experience, they’re responsible for retaining and growing a number of existing customer accounts, generating new business and closing sales. You might even see them out on the road!

Give a big MotoNovo welcome to two of our apprentices, Mohammed Alam and Sam Neary. 



What made me you choose an apprenticeship with MotoNovo?

Sam: The massive draw to me joining MotoNovo was the friendly feel between employees, even during my onboarding process. Everyone was super helpful and kind. I like how it is an apprenticeship so I will also gain a formal qualification at the end of it. 

Mohammed: An apprenticeship was always the popular choice for me because it provided a combination of on-the-job training and a qualification. With this apprenticeship, it allows me to gain hands-on experience whilst also learning the theoretical knowledge necessary for my L4 sales qualification. I chose MotoNovo due to them having the same core beliefs and values as me. MotoNovo are a competitive company who aren’t afraid to take on new ideas and develop their business, which quite resembled me, so I thought I would be a great fit for this role and company.



What’s your favourite part about your role?

Sam: My favourite part of the role is how much I get to travel with it being a field-based role and how every day is different. This makes it exciting as you never know how one day will differ to the next. 

Mohammed: The joint visits have been my favourite part of the role so far. After 5 weeks of online coaching sessions and learning all about the business, finally being able to see all of this in action and experience it first hand was amazing. I genuinely really enjoyed visiting the dealerships and talking to the owners.



Sam: The thing that has most surprised me is how helpful everyone has been on my enrollment. A lot of people have reached out to help me get started and offering to spend time helping me understand the business better. 



What has a typical day looked like for you so far?

Mohammed: This is the most brilliant part of this apprenticeship, not one day is the same! One day I might be at home having a coaching session on our products and the next day, I can be off to Cardiff for a regional meeting. It never gets boring and for someone who had to spend two years of school over teams, I really appreciate how different this is.



We pride ourselves on providing the best support possible not only for our dealer partners, but our teams too. Congratulations to our long running Account Managers on their latest promotions:

Charlotte Jenkins, South East Region, from Account Manager to Senior Account Manager

Morgan Meaney, South East Region, from Account Manager to Senior Account Manager

Graham Halliday, Northern Ireland Region, from Senior Account Manager to Regional Manager

Emily Birkinshaw, Eastern Region, from Senior Account Manager to Motor Development Manager.

Creating an even bigger support network for our dealer network, we’re excited to launch our first ever apprenticeship programme throughout Field Sales. Find out more.

Introducing our Account Manager apprenticeship scheme

The challenges for an online-only used car retailing model have come into clear focus over recent months, and this has escalated as we move into 2023.

On January 3, it was announced that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) had begun the process of de-listing warrants for online car retailer Cazoo due to “abnormally low” price levels. While the business can continue to trade normally, it adds uncertainty to a business whose shares stood at $0.18 on the day of the announcement. The price reflected a fall in value of 96.5% decline over the past 12 months.

Significant efforts have been made to reshape the business model to become profitable. However, concerns about its longevity continue to be reflected in falling investor confidence.

Cazoo’s woes are similar to those of the US Carvanna business upon which Cazoo is broadly modelled. It has gone from chasing growth to slashing operating costs and cutting staff. Increasingly this looks like a late move for survival at risk of failure. In December, Carvana’s largest creditors signed an agreement to negotiate debt restructuring together. It was a move that raised the spectre of imminent bankruptcy.

The other major online used car retailer in the UK, Cinch, is also facing challenges. Its latest accounts published on January 5 for the year ended April 3, 2022, revealed a pre-tax loss of £149.1m pre-tax loss, or £126.7m after tax. In the preceding year, losses were £22m.

Cinch points to long-term plans in its accounts, designed to have long-term benefits. The challenge Cazoo and Carvana face is whether investors are happy with a long-term return; the same could also prove to be a challenge for Cinch.

In so many ways, the lockdown conditions created by Covid appeared ideal for an online model. Arguably, the opposite has proved to be the case. Bricks-and-mortar retailers were forced to embrace online but did so by creating an omnichannel model that enabled consumers the opportunity to visit a dealer and test drive a car. A simple but vital difference as the UK re-opened.

Another difference was market empathy. To succeed, used car retailers must buy right to sell right, act with agility and keep a close eye on cash flow, which is critical in a low-margin business that retails depreciating assets. The online retailers have invested heavily in brand building, and while their brands are widely known, it has been at a considerable cost.

It is too early to say that online used car retailing is not viable. Some buyers like the model and perceived lack of ‘faff’, but when an established omnichannel retailer can offer online/offline and a physical and accessible presence for aftersales (that was not part of Cazoo’s initial model), then you have to reflect it is the traditional dealer with an omnichannel capability that offers the greater choice.

I am left to reflect that traditional retailers learnt quickly from the new start online retailers (classic agility) but that online retailers have learnt far more slowly from conventional retailers. In the immediate future, this is the difference.

Debbie McKay, Commercial Director of Motor Sales

Hear from Commercial Director of Motor Sales, Debbie McKay, on what the future could hold for online only retailers. 

Online only used car retailing continues to struggle

The cost of living crisis is a daily news item that continues to cause concern. Inflation has been driven initially by spiralling utility prices and changes in the global economy sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic. The UK is not alone; the position is similar worldwide.

As we start Q1, we have pulled together a high-level 'state of the economy' report based on five crucial factors; inflation, mortgages, grocery costs, utility costs and interest rates. It is designed to create a snapshot of the broader economy and how it impacts people looking to buy a car and source finance.

In short, while interest rates may not yet have peaked, inflation may have done with encouraging signs that utility prices may start to decline. There is plenty of scope for change, but as we start 2023 economically, there is room for optimism as we look ahead.

Inflation is measured by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and is based upon a 'typical' basket of goods defined by the ONS. There are two measures used by the ONS, the Consumer Prices Index, including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH) which rose by 9.3% in the 12 months to November 2022, down from 9.6% in October and the more commonly used Consumer Prices Index', or CPI, which excludes housing costs, which fell to 10.7% in November, down from 11.1% in October. Both are well above the Bank of England target of 2%.

In its November 2022 Monetary Policy Committee report, the Bank of England predicted that inflation would decrease below 10% after March 2023 before dropping below 2% in the first half of 2024. It expects that by the end of 2023, inflation will be between 5% and 6%.

For most mortgage borrowers, changes in the Bank Rate have had no effect on their mortgage rate in the short term. Currently, 74% of homeowner mortgages are on a fixed rate contract, with 96% of new borrowers choosing this option since 2019. Therefore, most borrowers will see no immediate increase in their monthly repayments.

Grocery price inflation for December stood at 14.4%, down slightly from 14.6% in November. It was the second month in a row that grocery price inflation had fallen, raising hopes that the worst has now passed. However, it's still a painfully high figure.

Rising utility prices have been the primary driver of inflation, and their impact on people and businesses has then fed into broader price rises. It appears there is room for optimism looking ahead.

Natural gas prices closed at a 15-month low in the first week of January due to mild weather, an influx of liquified natural gas (LNG) and high gas storage levels.

The net result sees forecasters suggesting that the energy price cap, which dictates what suppliers can charge for gas and electricity, will fall as low as £2,600 per year from July. Well below previous predictions, it would mean that households' utility bills could be hundreds of pounds less than feared.

In December, the Bank of England increased Bank Rate to 3.5%, the ninth consecutive rise. At the same time, the Bank advised borrowers to prepare for fresh increases in the new year. While further rises seem likely to help stem inflation, forecasters believe it could peak at 4.5% in 2023.

The effective rate on new personal loans to consumers increased by 64 basis points to 7.87% in November, the highest level since December 2017. Since then, the Bank of England Bank Rate has increased, as noted above.

Chris Rowthorn, Director of Motor Sales Operations


Kickstarting the year, we're looking at five crucial factors impacting the industry; inflation, mortgages, grocery costs, utility costs and interest rates.

Q1: cost of living impact

The EV market hit a bump in the road as 2022 came to a close, but will it damage the uptake of EVs as we move forward? In the medium to longer term, I doubt it, but there are short term issues in what is an immature market, as used EVs find their value, a position not helped by the high costs of used EVs, notably BEVs if there is a short-term issue.

Vehicle Excise Duty or road tax as we also know it. Currently free for EVs, this will change in 2025 following the Autumn Statement on November 17th.

From April 1st 2025, all EVs will be subject to the standard road tax rate, currently £165 per year. EVs with a list price of £40,000 or more will also pay the £355 premium car tax rate. When combined, this will mean an annual charge of £520. It will also be retrospective and apply to cars first registered from April 1st 2017. On the one hand, it can be argued that this will impact EVs; it will undoubtedly take away one of the benefits, but in real terms, it is just cost-neutral versus an ICE option.

Increased used EV supply and the cost of living crisis

SMMT tells us that in Q3, the used car market fell for the second consecutive quarter, declining by 12.2%. However, used battery electric vehicles rose 44.1%, and hybrid electric vehicle sales were up 2.5. Plug-in hybrid sales, however, fell -5.8%. All good, but we must recognise that the increase was from a low base, especially for BEVs. 

Into Q4 and CAP HPI data highlights that the volume of all EV types into the used wholesale market has trebled compared to 2021. The influx of used EVs with their typically higher price is having an impact on activity. From an auction days perspective, EVs average 20 days compared to 10 for ICE vehicles. It is here that we can see the cost of living impact. EV values have come under pressure and recent data suggests that the greatest month-on-month falls in vehicle values are led by EVs.

The average auction price for an EV up to 3 years old is £12K higher than a petrol car. In the 3-5 category, it is £15.3K higher. With our findandfundmycar.com data pointing to a hotspot monthly payment range of £200 - £250 PCM, EVs are proving expensive, even if, over time, the running costs are likely to be lower.

Right now, range and arguably charger availability remain consumer concerns, add to that the price premium being charged for EVs, and in the prevailing market, the increased supply is searching for more than ‘early used EV adopter’ demand.

There is a changing guard in terms of power plants, and the new car market is starting to be dominated by EVs.

According to research by EY, EV sales in the US, China and Europe will outstrip all other engines five years sooner than previously expected. More tellingly, Auto Trader data suggests that from 2026, more electric cars will be sub-five-year-old than petrol or diesel, with the volume of three-five year old stock being predominantly EV by 2030.

The reality is that EVs will dominate the used car market in a few short years because they will be the cars that dominate the new sector, and that momentum shift can only increase from here on.



The EV market hit a bump in the road as 2022 came to a close, but will it damage the uptake of EVs as we move forward? Hear from Commercial Director of Motor Sales, Debbie McKay. 

News - 2023