Confidence amongst dealers continues to remain high at the start of 2019.
The vast majority (93%) saying they were confident about business prospects for the coming 12 months, according to the latest findings from Close Brothers Motor Finance’s Dealer Satisfaction Survey.
However, the results also showed a shift in the proportion of dealers who said they were ‘very confident’ in the previous quarter, to ‘fairly confident’ now. 45% of dealers said they were ‘very confident’, down from 60% in the previous quarter, while 48% said they were ‘fairly confident’ which is up from 35%.
Topping the list of threats, Brexit has now become an issue for 50% of dealers, according to the research.
This figure is up from 35% in the previous quarter, and is double that of 6 months previously at 26%. It is by some distance the top issue that is on the minds of dealers currently, affecting five times as many dealers as the next issue on the list – the ban on diesel – 10%.
