Dealers can sell online, deliver, and offer ‘click and collect’ during coronavirus lockdown

Looking for a new car during lockdown? The government has confirmed that car dealerships can sell cars online and deliver them to your door during the lockdown, or offer a collection service, even though car showrooms will not be allowed to re-open to the public before 1 June.

New guidelines have confirmed car showroom are among the list of retail business that must remain closed to members of the public to reduce social contact. However, they can continue to operate online.

“All retail, other than those exempt, must close their premises to members of the public. However, staff may be present to make deliveries or provide services in response to orders such as those through telephone, online, or mail.
Click and collect services can also operate, though customers must not enter premises,” the guidance states.

This echoes an official statement issued to Car Dealer Magazine last month. A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), said: "We have asked non-essential shops like car dealerships and showrooms in England to close, unless they provide urgent car repairs and other necessary services.

"They are all able to continue to sell cars remotely and deliver cars, as long as they follow our clear guidance from Public Health England to protect both employees who cannot work from home and their customers."

The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) has also urged dealerships and other delivery agents to start moving vehicles again in order to unclog the thousands of cars and vans that are congesting the automotive supply chain including car leasing.

The Department for Transport has previously made it clear in a letter to the logistics sector, that logistics, including the collection and delivery of vehicles, should carry on during the lockdown, provided that it can be done in accordance with Coronavirus safety guidelines.

"The government has made it very clear that it wants ‘all supply chains’ to continue ‘to the greatest extent possible’ during the Covid-19 outbreak,” said BVRLA chief executive, Gerry Keaney.

“This includes vehicle logistics, and not just cars and vans that are being delivered to essential workers. By getting these vehicles moving, we are not only helping the Covid-19 response, we are also ensuring that businesses and individuals can pick-up where they left-off as soon as the lockdown ends."

For more information on car leasing during the coronavirus lockdown, click here.