Dealer Confidence Strengthens in Q2
24 April 2026 by Curtis Hutchinson
Q2 dealer confidence rises above the doom and gloom of national and global headlines
Despite the constant stream of adverse economic, political and global headlines, dealers have higher levels of business and consumer confidence than at the start of the year.
The latest quarterly JudgeService Dealer Barometer, conducted last week and polling the views of over 2,000 retailers, showed the number of franchised dealers feeling positive about their Q2 business performance had jumped from 37% in Q1 to half.
Those feeling neutral about their prospects dropped from 43% to 22%, although those feeling negative had risen from 20% to 28%.
Independent dealers were also more positive than before up from 29% to 38%, with negative rates more than halving from 43% to 19%. Although those waiting to see jumped from 29% to 44%.
Dealers’ views on consumer confidence also improved, especially among independent dealers which increased from 24% to 38%. Dealers were also less neutral (31%) and less negative (31%) than in Q1.
Franchised dealers were more measured with those feeling positive up marginally from 38% to 39%. However, those feeling negative were also at 39%, increasing from 19% in Q1.
Commenting on the findings Neil Addley, managing director of JudgeService, said: “Our latest Dealer Barometer shows the resilience of franchised and independent car retailers who can look beyond the noise and negativity of what is currently a relentless daily news cycle to focus on what they do best: source and sell cars.
“This dogged termination to get on with the job has resulted in higher levels of confidence going into Q2 than they expressed about Q1.”
Further details and comments available from Neil Addley on 07795 665927 or neil@judgeservice.com.
About JudgeService
Launched in 2011 by Neil Addley, JudgeService is the UK’s only customer review platform developed exclusively for the car retailing sector. By ensuring all reviews are verified and genuine, JudgeService builds a solid foundation of trust and respect between customers and sellers enabling car retailers to actively manage their online reputations.
JudgeService shares granular insight reports with dealers to help them identify opportunities to improve customer satisfaction levels, with many achieving 100% recommendation scores.
Based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, JudgeService has published over 1 million customer reviews and is used by over 2,000 franchised, independent and car supermarket sites across the UK.
