Being held at the Crowne Plaza Heythrop Park near Oxford, the event is sponsored by Manheim and is expected to attract 200 remarketing and associated professionals.
Seven high-profile industry figureheads will front the VRA’s biggest event of the year, presided over by TV presenter and motoring journalist Ginny Buckley who returns as the conference host.
The presentations and debates will consider the key challenges and changes in this important sector and provide a platform for the whole audience to have a say in how the remarketing industry gears itself up for the future. Although the event is predominantly focused on cars, there will be a CV element to it as well.
Deloitte’s lead partner for automotive consulting Mike Woodward kicks off Session One giving his views on how macro economic influences are impacting the automotive sector and how current and future events will affect used car activities. Autofutura’s director Matt Sandom will share exclusive research, undertaken for the VRA event, looking at supply, usage and defleet dynamics, and the shifting age and profile of returning vehicles.
Manheim’s chief operating officer, Michael Buxton, leads Session Two by presenting the changing requirements of the wholesale buyer and how the industry needs to respond to these. Tim Peake, Trader Media’s group strategy and commercial planning director, continues his debate on connecting buyers and sellers, in what he describes as the retail-driven supply chain. BCA’s managing director, Spencer Locke, will then consider how retailers are managing used vehicle activity in the face of a changing market and what they must do to future-proof themselves.
In Session Three, Graeme Potts, managing director of innovative retailer Eden Automotive Group, shares his interesting perspective on a range of helpful and unhelpful influences affecting the used car market from a franchised dealer’s viewpoint.
Rounding off the third speaker session, CAP’s operations director, Adrian Rushmore, will look at the down the line impact on the industry of manufacturers’ product line polarisation and different model proliferation, plus the changing face of the three-year-old vehicles. He will also consider whether the retail consumer will be receptive to the changes ahead.
Session Four concludes with a “question time” style session, chaired by Ginny Buckley, who will quiz a panel of experts about their views on the day’s topics and the audience will also be able to provide their input and feedback, via personal voting handsets.
Tickets are available to book online, via the website at www.vehicle-remarketing.co.uk. Prices are £149 for VRA members and £199 for non-members including access to the whole event from 9.30am to 4.00pm, plus lunch and refreshments.
