In conversation with John O’Hanlon

In this week’s webinar our Sales Director, Rebecca Clark spoke with John O’Hanlon, CEO, Waylands about his experiences throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and what his views are on the future for his business and indeed the automotive industry.

The conversation kicked off with a question from Rebecca around how John feels buyer behaviour has changed. He was quick to highlight that the UK population’s savings have increased from £5 billion pre-COVID-19 to £50 billion, as a result of working from home, putting holidays on hold etc., and that this unprecedented availability of cash has translated into an uplift in car sales seen through the industry. Of particular note is that this uplift, in John’s view, is also a result of buyers now being more willing to buy their second car now that they have bolstered their savings.

As with many retailers, John highlights that there has been a growth in demand for lower priced vehicles and that, because of this, Waylands have diversified their stock offering to ensure they are maximising their offering. 

But as demand increases, so too does the need for stock to meet it with John stating that it has become more difficult to follow the same routes for restocking as pre-COVID-19, with manufacturers not registering as many vehicles, in particular high spec models, and fleets not moving vehicles to market.

Right now, cars are more expensive and there are less of them and John reveals that to counter this they have increased their stock profile and looked at different areas and vendors for stocking. He clarified that is still important to maintain existing sourcing relationships, but it is now key to broaden to keep forecourts full since “we’re not in the business of selling tarmac!”

Rebecca went on to speak about the much-touted pent up demand and whether Waylands has seen its impact. In a candid assessment John outlined that pre-COVID-19 they sold 55-60 cars a week and sold only 150 throughout the ten-week lockdown period, essentially making them down 450 sales. Once lockdown was lifted, they did indeed see a surge in sales, hitting their run rate and exceeding by 250 vehicles in the last nine weeks. But those focussing on the numbers will have noted, as does John, that this is still 200 short of what they would have hit in normal trading – so whilst he has seen a surge there are still lost sales.

But he remains very upbeat and feels that the industry is now at a great place since the trade have not panicked about used car prices which has helped keep the market stable. He sees this continuing but is quick to highlight that for retailers there is no need to panic if there is a lull in the next two/three weeks as he expects (as a result of many people still taking a holiday). “Focus on your quarter rather than the next few weeks” is his advice.

Key to keeping up momentum in this busy period is an absolute focus on maximising every enquiry. This is something Waylands have been dedicated to and have actively been enhancing how we communicate with customers as well as ensuring there was enough staff available to deal with all enquiries, particularly given the surge in demand. Waylands implemented a clear strategy of getting back to enquiries rapidly, and most important of all, with a relevant response. Central to this has been the use of video to showcase vehicles remotely and this has opened up new opportunities to gain customers from further afield.

Closing out the session John was eager to end on a positive stating that COVID-19 has helped to accelerate the digitisation of the industry and ,despite the hardships of lockdown, goes on to say he has“ never seen such a level of demand and customers are happy to come to our showroom”.

You can listen to the full conversation and the rest of the webinar that includes the latest market data at https://bit.ly/3gFVWBm