Tesco Closes Car Program

Everyone wants a piece of the car industry. The lucrative nature of the business brings in players that would have never venture into the area. Perhaps most surprising among these has been the UK’s biggest supermarket chain Tesco. While its attempts have been noteworthy, the company’s Tesco Cars has recently announced that it is shutting down its second-hand car project a year after its launch.

A corporation with hands in many different schemes, its cars program has had not been performing as well as was initially hoped. Reporters at the Guardian have pointed out that the joint venture with Carsite has failed to secure the supply of cars that were required. Unsustainable, headquarters has cut its loses short before any more damage could be done. As a result the company said that “the customer response has been positive and shows the value of a trusted brand in this market, but securing a good supply of cars has been difficult and we would always want to deliver the best range for customers.”

Reports have noted that Tesco Cars had intended on advertising up to 3,000 cars a week when it was first launched. Nearly a year has passed and, based on recent reports, the company was only selling up to 150 vehicles a month, quite a bit short of its predicted quantity.

The company’s closure comes as a result of high level of disquiet in Tesco’s headquarters. The Guardian has noted that the supermarket’s CEO Philip Clarke has announced a turnaround strategy in order to reinvigorate the company’s sliding stock prices. The chain has suffered a number of setbacks since Christmas where it’s Big Price Drop campaign cost them nearly £5bn slump.

The direct result of all these alterations has been a plan to cramp some three years worth of alterations into a single year. Quite an impressive mission, one of the first choices made regarded Tesco Cars. Announcing its closure on its website, the company has apologized for any inconvenience that they made have caused, adding that it has started the “business in good faith but could no longer offer a satisfactory range” of cars.

This has only been one of many cuts made by Tesco’s this year.  For example, the company has already cut its handyman business Tesco Home Services. While it was initially only a trial, the company knows precisely what works and what doesn’t. It is this acumen that has launched them to the top and maintained this position.