17 June 2018

Omni-channel auto retail specialist Rockar has posted a loss of £2.8 million for 2017 in its latest results, a worsening of almost £1m, against 2016 figures.  However, speaking exclusively to Auto Retail Agenda founder Simon Dixon said he expects Rockar to become profitable in 2018.

Results for the parent company called Rockar 2016 show group turnover increased to £46.6m from £15.9m in 2016.  During the year, Rockar disposed of its Hyundai retail outlets to Motorline for an undisclosed sum.  The results show that the Hyundai operation made a pre-tax loss of £158,000 on a turnover of £18.6m in 2017 an improvement on 2016’s £407,000 loss on £14.6m turnover.

However, it was Rockar’s Jaguar Land Rover division that accounted for most of the pre-tax losses.  During 2017, its first full year of operation, the site in Westfield shopping centre made a loss of £1.8m on a turnover of £26.9m.  In the preceding six months, this business lost £1.2m on a £1.3m turnover.

Commenting on the figures Mr Dixon said: “If we were a traditional dealer we would want to make money immediately, but we’re not.  We are bang on where we expected to be in our plan and we will go into profitability this year – 2018.”

Mr Dixon added that this applied to both the overall group and the JLR operation.  “We will continue to be investors in our platform and any money we make, we will continue to invest in the business.”

Rockar is expected to open its first Ford concession within clothing store Next, in Manchester’s Arndale Centre next month, and in the past year has also helped Mitsubishi set up an online sales operation.

The Mitsubishi relationship has also now grown into the setup of a physical dealership.  Mr Dixon added: “We’ve just had a soft launch with Mitsubishi in Lakeside, but like the Ford operation in Next in Manchester we’re not the franchise holder, we’re working with manufacturers to show them new ways of retailing.”

Tags: Arndale, Mitsubishi, Motorline, Rockar