Independent used car dealer group Carbase has appointed former Pendragon Car Store division boss Chris Caygill as its new strategy innovation director and Richard Green as chief executive.
The Vertu Motors board has said that the AM100 car retail group is positioned to realise “ambitious growth aspirations” after crediting a huge Vertu team effort for a creditable 2020 trading performance.
Mitsubishi Motors in the UK franchised car retailers are still waiting to be issued with new aftersales contracts a year after the Japanese brand announced its plan to end new car sales in Europe.
Peugeot has set out its intention to continue a “journey upmarket” with the introduction of a new logo, marketing campaign and corporate identity (CI) for its franchised car retail network.
Livery Dole, Tees Valley and Ullswater Road Garage have opened new Subaru UK dealerships as part of a “roots-up” restructure of the brand’s franchised car retail network aims to add 10 new locations in the first half of 2021.
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) chief executive, Mike Hawes, has suggested that the immediate re-opening car dealerships represents the “fastest way to UK automotive manufacturing recovery”.
Aston Martin’s new DBX SUV accounted for more than a quarter of the British carmaker’s 2020 sales as volumes declined by 32% in a COVID-impacted 2020.
Bosses at the newly-formed Stellantis car manufacturing super group are said to be poised to make a decision on the future of Vauxhall’s Astra-producing Ellesmere Port plant.
JCT600’s VW Van Centre in Hull received Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles’ ‘Gold Award’ as it emerged from a COVID-impacted 2020 as the LCV franchise’s top-performer.
Inchcape has confirmed that its London Stock Exchange listing has been reclassified to remove reference to retail as it disposed of 13 UK dealership locations as part of a renewed focus on distribution in 2020.
Hyundai has launched the first of three electric vehicles to be launched in the next four years as part of its newly-established Ioniq EV sub-brand – the Ioniq 5.
Car dealers across Scotland have been left “bitterly disappointed” by news that showrooms are unlikely to be allowed to re-open their doors to customers until April 26.
Further clarification on the legality of car sales test drive provision has prompted rendered the decision over whether to offer customers contact with vehicles “a purely moral decision”, it has been claimed.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic resulted in Europe’s lowest January new car registrations total since 1982 – down 26% year-on-year to just 839,600 units.
Franchised car dealers emerged as the automotive retail sector’s most trusted operators as 95% of car buyers told What Car? they were comfortable with the prospect of visiting showrooms when ‘COVID-19 ‘Lockdown 3’ is lifted.
