Car dealership Ridgeway Group is expecting a 6% increase in sales this year
Ridgeway Group is a car dealership rooted in some of the UK's most durable economic areas. Its showrooms in Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Berkshire benefit from a customer base that is predominantly employed in the private sector and close to a Thames Valley corridor that hosts an array of multinationals.
The eurozone crisis has hit sentiment nonetheless and Ridgeway's chairman and owner, David Newman, 50, says the final quarter of last year saw 10% fall in enquiries. "The back quarter felt pretty tough. People felt a bit battered, a bit down." Last year started well, says Newman, but the eruption of the eurozone crisis in August brought an abrupt gear change. "It all started with the August mess in the eurozone. People started to feel quite concerned that there would be a problem with the euro and that, plus austerity, meant that there was a slight lack of confidence."
According to Newman the market for Ridgeway's Volkswagen, Audi and Mercedes-Benz cars is still doing well despite the unfolding drama on the continent. The new year has started "brightly", he says, and Ridgeway is heading for a 6% increase in sales this year across its 14 dealerships. This compares with a poor overall domestic market that fell 4.4% last year to its lowest level since 1994.
Speaking from his office in Newbury, also the home of Vodafone, Newman says: "Geographically we are in good territories. Not too much public sector employment, historically wealthy areas, a good standard of living and lots of industry." Half of Ridgeway's sales are for commercial fleets, for leasing businesses, multinationals or major national companies – the best performing part of the UK market last year as consumer sales suffered.
The success of Ridgeway's premium German cars in recent years shows a "squeezed middle" effect on manufacturers, says Newman, with customers either going for the low-cost end occupied by Korean manufacturers or making a more expensive investment in Volkswagen, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, which offers long-term benefits on fuel and tax thanks to their low carbon-dioxide emissions.
"It is not easy at the moment and we are far from complacent. We are working hard to stand still. But we have the brands and the area to do it."