Finance firms reach out to dealers in lockdown
Autobridge and Blackbird Finance are contacting dealers to help them navigate the Covid-19 lockdown and to prepare them for getting back into business once the government lowers the alert level.
Director Geoff Sinclair says dealers have responded positively to the support offered by the companies during these uncertain economic times.
“We do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach and we’re reaching out and talking to our dealer businesses so we can assist them in a way that’s most relevant to them,” Sinclair, pictured, explains.
“This lockdown period is seeing us working with them and providing relief around existing loans and extending them for further periods. We’re also capitalising a lot of interest and fees so we are not impacting on dealers’ cashflows as we know for some the well is a little dry.
“The response from dealers has been quite positive. They are appreciative of having someone contact them and discuss issues with them in a wider sense as well as an industry sense.”
Sinclair says the nationwide lockdown means business is “grinding to a bit of a halt” for most sectors of the automotive industry but it was vital that dealers prepare for when they can start trading again.
“Dealers are generally a pretty hardy bunch and everyone accepts the situation is what it is, but we’re also working with them to try to make sure they are in as good a position as they can be so when we move out of lockdown they can hit the ground running,” he adds.
“I think one of the biggest challenges is not going to be the lockdown period as such but it will be getting back to business, restarting sales and getting the money flowing again, which could take a few weeks.
“We’ve been looking at how we can assist going into lockdown but also what the world is going to look like when we move out of that and what can we do to help our dealer base once we get to that point.”
For any new deals, Sinclair is advising potential customers to wait until the economy is moving again and they have been able to get vehicles out of storage, through compliance and on their yards.
“We’re saying let’s hold fire on funding,” he explains. “Rather than have them incur a liability to us, we would prefer to hold fire and wait for things to settle down and once they can get the car on the yard that’s the point to raise any finance they require.”
