Loughborough University’s School of Business and Economics has launched a specialist retail automotive programme in Singapore.

The new programme marks a first for the school in delivering its retail automotive courses overseas.

The courses are being offered to employees of Wearnes Automotive as part of a strategic partnership between the university and one of the largest motor groups in South East Asia.

The modules will be taught in Singapore on a block release basis similar to its programmes delivered in the UK.

Wearnes Automotive, founded in 1906, currently distributes and retails 11 brands throughout the region, including Bentley, BMW, Bugatti, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda, McLaren, Renault, Volkswagen and Volvo. In Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, it is Volvo's largest distributor.

Prof Jim Saker, the director of the centre for automotive management at Loughborough Uni, said: “For a number of years we have had students from locations such as Dubai fly in for our programmes, but this is the first time we have offered the automotive programmes overseas.

“It is an exciting opportunity to get a more global perspective on the sector and to build on our reputation as the top provider of retail automotive education.”

Andre Roy, group managing director of Wearnes Automotive, said: “We firmly believe that our people’s expertise and customer service standards must be synonymous with the brands that we represent.”