What has 2017 brought us? I guess that we now know, if we ever doubted it, that everything about our market is changing at a frantic pace.  New entrants, new models, new product, new fuels and new technology. And the first 17 years of this millennium have shown that whatever change you have experienced in the past year is probably going to double in pace next year. It has been a year that has been difficult to make sense of, one that has been disappointing in terms of sales results and profitability and one that has left many strategists wondering exactly how to proceed.

I go into 2018 wishing that I had bought a couple of things a few years ago. Bitcoins and Pendragon shares. Though perhaps the last quarter has tempered faith in the latter, and the last 24 hours in the former. Certainly we have that a few misplaced words, a few unwelcome truths and an adverse market reaction can wipe millions off the value of either of those, or any other share, in the blink of an eye. Bitcoin dropped 20% this morning, but then it has risen 2000% in the past couple of years, and Pendragon plummeted by almost 50% towards the end of October with a profits warning. Shares in Spain followed a similar path after their election results.

And sales at a number of manufacturers have followed a similar path, as rapid expansion, poor quality control and at times over-hyped products has meant that they have borne the full impact of the demonisation of diesel. Other brands, more reliant upon petrol or electric have fared pretty well. A big question for all of us going into January will be “what happens to diesel now?” And I do not think the answer is simple.

But one thing is simple, we will probably continue to see manufacturers caught out for historical misdeeds regarding fuel consumption figures, quality control and “gaming the system”. A new report out today points the finger at Subaru, they join nearly all the other manufacturers over the past year who have suffered a similar scandal. The one that seems to have come out of it the best, ironically, is the one who kicked this whole thing off and are the biggest sinners in some people’s eyes, VW. Admittedly some of their executives and senior managers have been before the courts, and in some cases have been given sizeable jail sentences, especially in the States, but as a company they have gone from strength to strength not just in the UK but around the world. Get your bad news out there early and get on with it.

Careerwise this has been a tough year for many people. Many of the large groups have looked at their structures, the cost of their payroll and their predicted income and decided they are overmanned and at times overpaid. I think that 2018 will be quite a difficult year for salary levels for many people, especially those at the coal face of the industry in sales and service. The one area that continues to provide difficulties for all employers is technicians, it is difficult to tell at the moment whether this is a temporary thing, as apprenticeships grow dramatically and technology changes meaning there will, in theory, be much less reliance upon technical expertise for new electric vehicles. But at the moment there is no doubt that every technician is worth their weight in gold, whereas every sales executive is probably seen as somebody who can be replaced. Replaced in time by a very well designed website, a fate that may well be shared by car showrooms as well.

Until we sort this horrible Brexit mess out, it is difficult to see how registrations can return to their previous levels. The hidden horror of over-reliance on PCP’s is also coming home to roost, as used car values are taking a bit of a hammering, especially in the unfashionable diesel sector. Goodness knows what those deals look like on paper now, and how anybody is going to get out of the hidden accumulated losses on their balance sheets. Debt is a difficult thing for an economy to wean itself off, a debt driven boom can fall spectacularly. Hopefully this year we have seen the worst of it, and that we are not going to see a continuing descent over the next 12 months.

It only remains for me to wish you a very happy festive season and let us all hope for a highly successful 2018, whatever we are doing. Enjoy your Turkey.

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The received wisdom in producing a CV is that it should be two pages long, no more no less.

I fully subscribe to that view, because once a CV is printed out it logically falls into two halves – “this is who I am” and “this is how I got there”.

However, it is important to remember that most CV’s nowadays are first received electronically. So whether it’s on your PC or mobile, most of them appear on the screen as half pages. It is a tiny point, but if you lay out your CV so it logically has two sections on each page, then the information is more easily absorbed. It will probably make the two page layout prettier too.

So I suggest an ideal CV is laid out something like:

  1. Name address, personal details and education
  2. My current or most recent role
  3. Previous roles
  4. Other information such as interests, references, professional qualifications, training.

Try laying it out like this. It is a good discipline, and it gives much more structure. Don’t worry if you can’t get it exactly right, but it is at least a good start.

Good luck

For many years we have used online interviews as a way of meeting candidates and getting a much better impression of them. But we have noticed recently that some candidates are viewing such meetings is quite casual and unimportant. They are a crucial part of our process, we have always met candidates, preferably face-to-face, before recommending them to our clients.

Just so you know, we won’t properly register or consider you until we’ve met you, whether online or face-to-face. And the impressions that you create online are just as important as anything else. You might think this is all a bit old-fashioned, that in today’s technological age personal appearance promptness, preparation are not important. They are, they tell us a lot about you.

So if you are invited to an online meeting and you are late, you are still dressed in your pyjamas, you get online late because you haven’t tested the technology, or you’ve allowed your kids to download some virus that stops it working, then we probably not going to be as impressed as we might have been. It might be easy, it might be simple but it’s important. Treat it as such.

Do you want to see how quickly the world of automotive is changing? Forget poor results towards the end of the year, forget bad production figures. Forget the rising price and fuel. Instead take note of the increasing numbers of strategic announcements across the globe. Nearly everything relates back to technology and there have been a number of slightly off the wall headlines in the past seven days that may have escaped your attention.

Take a story about Renault, for example. They have recently bought a publishing house, the reason? Because they recognise that self driving tech will mean that drivers and passengers could gain up to 2 hours free time in their cars, and so they want to provide them with reading matter. I must say it is not a link that I saw coming.

What about Toyota and Panasonic teaming up to launch a car battery study? Or China’s Xiaomi, who has suggested that it might start building cars soon. In case you have never heard of them, they are one of the biggest builders of smart phones in the world. And let’s face it a car is not far away from that technology, it just has a wheel on each corner and is a bit bigger. And another Chinese manufacturer, this time the established carmaker BAIC has said it is going to go all electric by 2025. Times are a-changing

And finally, as everyone considers the downsides of increasing technology, China appears to have put a blanket ban on foreign companies using any type of mapping, GPS software or even recording and photographing technology from within cars. They fear espionage in all of its forms. And I have to say, having looked at recent virus threats I do not think their fears are unreasonable. Whether the actions they take are a problem, I cannot comment on. But then I ask myself, if Pres Trump was faced with a similar problem in the US, would he continue to allow foreign companies to develop the technology? Or would he simply ban it? I think we probably all know the answer. Technology is changing our world in ways that are so fast, at times so unpredictable that it is difficult to see what the future holds. But we do know one thing in the automotive industry, in 10 years time it will be very different.

Have a great weekend, try and get some sleep early in the evening if you’re watching the cricket.

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Type it  (rather than shoot it)

For many years we have advised candidates against using PDFs as a way of sending CVs. Now that systems have become more sophisticated, the process is a lot easier and nobody minds the format too much.

Except if you scan a printed CV as an image and send it to us as a PDF. In time software will be able to deal with this, and convert your picture to text, but that technology is not automatic enough yet. So by sending what are essentially a couple of photos of your CV to us, you cause us and other recruiters considerable problems. Your details will not automatically be read, the text will not automatically be understood and systems will not automatically find you.

It is much better to send us the word processed original than a PDF in this way. Because if our computer can’t read it you go to the back of the queue. And if we’re busy you may never get to the front.

When you start working for a company you have two choices. You can decide that they pay you an ordinary salary for an ordinary day’s work, or you can look at the longer term. Those that give better than average always get recognised and always work their way up the career ladder, especially if they make some smart moves along the way.

But make sure your boss knows what you are doing – they can help you if you help them. I don’t mean in an unsubtle way, telling them that they’re not capable of doing their own job and you are having to help them out of a hole.  But if you tell them you want to get on in your career, that you want to work at a higher level then when you have proved yourself you can politely ask for suitable recognition and everything that goes with that.

So be upfront – let your boss know what you are doing – especially if you need permission or approval for new project ideas – and be open to advice, guidance and support, but (most bosses love to help people develop – you’ll be a breath of fresh air).

We know that those that move up the ladder the quickest are those that pick up any opportunity they see lying around, they take on any responsibility that needs filling. And they are a dream to have working for you.

How times have changed for sub-prime lenders. The days when Wonga and other such operations openly advertised on television with rates of up to 6000% APR have gone, although a number of slightly cheaper alternatives have emerged. And it certainly doesn’t help if it is announced you are subject to an FCA investigation, as Provident Financial found out this week. Shares dropped 12% on the announcement that its Moneybarn car loans arm was being investigated. Thist has caused further problems for the group who lost tragically their Executive Chairman recently and whose Chief Executive quit earlier in the year.  The company that built its reputation on doorstep lending is struggling to adjust to the new realities, and the FCA is just beginning to bear its teeth.

As sales continue to decline, there are some signs of green shoots in parts of the car market. Brands that had performed exceptionally well over the past five years are having a tough time, much to the concern of dealer groups who have invested up to £12 million in new premises. While these looked at the time like deals that could not be turned down, some of the more traditional brands that perhaps have got unless carried away with their own importance have prospered. Mercedes-Benz in particular has had a good year as has pretty well any brand that doesn’t rely on diesel to head up its product range. Diesel engines have seen a catastrophic 30% fall in sales, something that is predicted to continue into the New Year and beyond. I have commented before that there is always overreaction, but then that is the nature of markets. Electric vehicles, hybrids and even petrol engines have done pretty well.

And an announcement from Sweden will be welcomed by many, as Saab has announced it will soon start producing its new range of electric vehicles. The return of the iconic brand to our roads will be welcomed by many, the fact that there is a washing machine motor under the bonnet might make a couple of them gasp, but knowing Saab’s reputation for engineering excellence I am expecting more than a pleasant surprise. Can’t wait.

Have a great weekend – relax there’s no cricket to worry about.

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You may think it makes a lot of sense, in these days of identity theft, to leave your home address of your CV. After all, it may stop you from being discarded just because of where you live.

Except that many systems nowadays file candidates according to their postcode, and they will only call you if they think you are within reach. If you leave off all address details, especially your postcode, from a CV it might mean that you don’t get considered for anything. You may not know it, but LinkedIn, Facebook and loads of other services forward you content based on your location. And many recruitment systems work on the same basis.

If you want to be considered for as many jobs that are as relevant as possible, include your postcode details in your CV. I can assure you that cyber criminals have many more ways of stealing your details, rather than job applications.

I talked last week about “promoting yourself” by doing more that was useful for the company. By putting yourself out there.

By using the word promoting here I mean the act of getting your self up the career ladder, not a self seeking publicist. Don’t wait for dead man’s shoes, make yourself valuable and even indispensable to to the company. So indispensable that good employers will recognise your worth and promote you rather than lose you.

This means of course that you need to invest some time and effort. Note that other word in the headline ‘invest’, many people won’t see it like this because they don’t want their employer to get something for nothing. They don’t want to be taken advantage of, they want to get home to their families on time.

So make yourself different. The investment helps the company but it’s also for you. It will get you increased experience, make you instantly more valuable  to your current employer and in your future career.

And don’t be shy.  If you are going to take on extra work and responsibility tell your boss what you were doing and why you are doing it.

So much to cover, so little time this week. Take for instance the news that Nissan is suing the Indian government, or the government of the Tamil Nadu region, for $770m. No small sum – they are seeking international arbitration as they feel they have been denied subsidies which were promised when they set up expensive and highly successful plants in the region. According to the Financial Times they are just one of a number of international companies pursuing the Indian government, underlining how difficult it is to do business in the region. And lest you think it doesn’t matter, and $770 million always matters, India is the world’s fifth largest car market. And it is unlikely to get any smaller with the rate of growth on the subcontinent.

General Motors announces an ambitious plan today to have self driving taxis by 2019. At the rate technology itself is growing, I suspect that whatever the outcome eventually in the Uber employment case, there won’t be many taxi drivers employed anyway. This market is advancing rapidly, and with recent announcements that Waymo has already deployed a fleet of taxis in Arizona, GM put a number of journalists behind the wheels of self driving cars recently in San Francisco. Most reported that the car handled most situations pretty well. And San Francisco’s streets were packed.

Finally the government is coming under considerable pressure over here from the car industry. Bosses have understandably accused the government of penalising diesel technology, a technology that they were promoting with glee only a few years ago. Many feel that, as often happens, the government has overreacted on the diesel front and that while it is not the greenest fuel, modern diesel cars are certainly not the polluters they’re made out to be either. And everyone is realising that electric is not the completely green alternative many pretend it is.

Finally in a slightly unrelated item, Tesla has built the world’s largest battery. Or probably more accurately, the largest battery farm in South Australia. And not only that, they have completed the project in 60 days. It has been is installed to alleviate the region’s power crisis, which can in extreme conditions see power cut to almost the whole of the state. This battery farm, which the size of a footabll pitch, could power over 300,000 homes completely for an hour before needing a recharge, that is quite a number of AA batteries. And they built it in 60 days, because their swashbuckling CEO, Elon Musk, promised to build it within 100 days or they got it for free. How technology is moving forward rapidly.

Have a great weekend – don’t stay up too late watching the cricket.

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