THREAT FROM COVID-19 WILL SEE SAFETY IN POLE POSITION FOR POTENTIAL BUYERS IN THE SHOWROOM AND ON TEST DRIVES

'SLOW OPENING OF BUSINESS THROTTLE WITH NEARLY HALF THE STAFF STILL FURLOUGHED'

ATHERSTONE Garage owner Tom Wilby has spent a lifetime in the motor trade but today will be a brand new experience as car showrooms cautiously throw open their doors after 10 weeks of coronavirus lockdown.

The 58-year-old has had two jobs since he left school in the late 1970s – both working in car dealerships – and admits he's known nothing like it before.

March 23 saw British car manufacturing screech to a halt which has subsequently resulted in the lowest output since the Second World War.

The internet had already changed the way people approach buying a vehicle with visual tours of the prospective purchase but Covid-19 will revolutionise the end-play of the deal, according to the boss of the family-run business.

More than half of companies will make permanent alterations to the way they work because of the virus crisis, new research has suggested.

Last Monday set that seal when Boris Johnson announced a "slow steps" easing of restrictions with the reopening of car sales centres – along with market stalls and garden fetes – from today with the proviso new working practices were adopted, in line with government guidance, to prioritise safety.

The message was social distancing requirements had to be adhered to throughout the showroom experience.

And the Atherstone firm – with a forecourt on the town's main thoroughfare – has spent the last week making sure there is "comprehensive protection" with sanitising measures adopted for all test drive, demonstrator and customer vehicles, and throughout the showroom at his Long Street premises and service centre in Abeles Way.

So how will it work from Monday?

The sales experience – which he admits is now "80 per cent internet-led" – will focus on social distancing.

And where that really hits home is in the final throes of the decision to buy – the test drive.

"We will be accommodating a new solo test drive – with the would-be purchaser the only person in the vehicle," said Mr Wilby, whose company secretary wife, Jayne, assists him with the firm while son David runs the service centre.

"Clearly there will be security issues attached to this with an element of trust involved as no one will be accompanying the potential buyer."

What about if the person decides against the sale and the car returns to the forecourt?

He added: "I don't see that as a huge problem. The test drive is the last link in the sale process and by then people have usually made up their mind to buy – so it is less likely that the car will be driven by anybody else.

"In any case, if the person decides not to go through with the purchase then the car will be thoroughly sanitised for the next potential buyer."

During lockdown, Atherstone Garage found buyers for a few vehicles.

But because main dealerships were not operating it was difficult to source good used cars and resulted in the 'sold' car being impossible to replace.

"It meant one less vehicle on the forecourt and we didn't want to reduce our stock completely," he added.

The reopening today will see an initial slow opening of the business throttle from Mr Wilby who started his career at the former Trinity Motors dealership in Hinckley and moved to Atherstone Garage in 1996 – taking over ownership two years later.

He is continuing with a skeleton staff, five employees returning and four will be still be furloughed "until the market picks up".

Car production fell to its lowest level since World War Two in April amid plant closures because of the coronavirus crisis, new figures reveal.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said production was down by 99.7 per cent compared with April last year, with just 197 models leaving factory gates in the month.

Instead of making cars for the UK and global export markets, many manufacturers produced personal protective equipment in April, including face shields, visors and medical gowns.

Output for both the domestic and overseas markets was "severely curtailed" in the month, with 152 cars built for export and 45 for customers in the UK, said the SMMT.

Latest independent analysis suggests annual UK car production could fall below one million this year, which would be lower than in 2009.

The UK's 168,000 automotive manufacturing employees are now starting to return to work, with around half of the country's car and engine plants set to be operating by start of this month, said the SMMT.

Factories are scaling up production along different timescales and, with strict social distancing measures in place, output initially will be restricted with a predicted loss of up to 400,000 units by the end of the year compared with the January outlook, and a cost to the industry of up to £12.5 billion at factory gate prices, said the society.