Picture: Lorne Campbell / Guzelian Auctioneers at Manheim’s site at Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire. PICTURE TAKEN ON THURSDAY 5 APRIL 2018

The average UK car retailer suffered a loss of £11,000 in November, which is a £3,000 increase from the previous year, according to ASE.

The firm also reported for November, a used car return on investment to just above 75%. This was a result of a drop in sales volumes in the month compared to the year before.

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The ASE report said: “With these November results it is now certain that the full year profitability results will be down on the prior year, marking the second year of decline.”

“Whilst the drop in turnover masks some of the decline when we look at the return on sales, retailer profitability certainly reflects the challenges we have seen in vehicle supply and consumer demand.”

The report highlighted November being a mid-quarter month makes this challenging for retail profitability.

The report read: “Being a mid-quarter month always makes November a challenge for retail profitability and 2019 proved no different. When looking at the comparative we should remember that results were boosted by the delayed delivery of some WLTP cars during November 2018.”

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In December Cox Automotive released a dealer survey which outlined 58% of automotive retailers believed 2019 was worse than expected.

The survey also showed almost half of dealers expect the new car market to decline further this year. However, 52% of dealers said they believe consumer confidence may improve this year.

Philip Nothard, consumer strategy and insight director at Cox Automotive, said of the findings: “2019 brought its fair share of challenges for car dealers. Political uncertainty has had a negative effect on consumer confidence, and rising costs and competition for the best used stock all added to margin pressures.”

Nothard also said Cox Automotive predicts a challenging year ahead for new cars with their forecast showing a -1.3% fall in registrations year-on-year to March.