Jennings has taken on the Subaru franchise for Middlesbrough, spending £800,000 – including some TV advertising – on adding the marque to its existing Ford, Mazda and Seat dealerships there. It is also the first dealership in the country to get the new Subaru corporate ID.
Revisions to the Audi retail network have seen around 38 of the 120 outlets change hands over the past 12 months. The process is part of a strategy that will see the company cut the number of partners from 90 in 2000 to 40. At the end of this year it expects to have 50.
Gowrings is to quit the motor business to focus entirely on its chain of Burger King outlets. Having sold its Ford dealerships some 18 months ago, the comp-any is now selling its three bodyshop in Oxford, Swindon and Wokingham to Nationwide Accident Repair Services.
Whitehouse Group is battling to save 80 jobs after losing the Volks-wagen franchises in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells in Kent.
TVR has fired six dealers over the past 18 months while fellow specialist sports car maker Noble has scrapped its retailer network.
Mitsubishi dealerships are to get a new corporate look – starting with the company’s own dealership at the head office in Cirencester, Gloucestershire. Until now, dealers have had a degree of freedom to choose their own branding.
Zurich Insurance has axed a number of approved repairers in the North-west and Midlands, and is now likely to target Scotland.
HM Customs has agreed to repay Lookers Group for VAT overpaid on demonstrator vehicles between 1997 and 1996. The total amount receivable, net of expenses, will be at least £15m.
Seven out of 10 body repairers think none of the bodyshop trade associations meet the needs of the industry, according to a poll conducted on the Auto Body Projects website.
Kia Motors UK is close to signing contracts with two major quoted UK dealer groups as the crucial next phase of its sales growth.
Renrod Motor Group is developing a four-franchise motor park at the Meridian Business Park in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. When completed this autumn, it will include Vauxhall, Toyota, Renault and Nissan dealerships, and is believed to be the first development of its kind in the area.
Logistics, aftersales, marketing and sales specialist Andrew Lester has been appointed to the new post of country manager for Alfa Romeo in the UK. He replaces managing director Glyn Owen, who has left the company after two years in the job.
The prospect of renewed fuel protests in the UK beginning this weekend threatens to damage residual values, claims Glass's
DaimlerChrysler's recent recall of some 680,000 Maybach, SL, S and E- series Mercedes-Benz vehicles to fix problems in their advanced electrohydraulic brake systems, points to the risks manufacturers run in their efforts to stay ahead of technology, it has been claimed
Interest rate rises designed to curb UK consumers' current spending frenzy is likely to trigger a car market stagnation
The four men who have been criticised for making millions of pounds for themselves from MG Rover, received another £400,000 in dividends last year from the car company's finance arm MGR Capital, according to the Daily Telegraph
Bridgestone has appointed Steve Howat as technical training manager for First Stop and Truck Point dealerships
Euro Car Parts, an independent UK supplier of car parts, has launched an air conditioning programme to support its aftermarket clients
Independent sports car maker, Noble, has reported over 30 deposits received at the Sunday Time Motor Show Live for its new M14. The cars will not be delivered for up to a year
Vauxhall had to haul more than 500 new Astras back into their factory after it emerged the brakes did not work, a report in the Sun newspaper said
Irish car registrations in May were up 4.2% to 15,470 from the same time last year
Renault will unveil a car for emerging markets costing €5,000 (£3,325) today in a move designed to add 30% to the French carmaker's sales by the end of the decade
European operations of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation have generated an operating profit of £119m compared to a loss of £-115m in FY2002
GM Daewoo has started building of a new diesel engine plant in Gunsan, Korea
Manheim Auctions has appointed James Davis as light commercial vehicle manager for the south, further expanding the company's team, headed up by Alex Wright
A new record has been set for long distance driving in a fuel cell car by Vauxhall/Opel
Citroën is offering substantial cashback deals on some of its cars as well as including free insurance across the rest of the range this month. The campaign is being backed by a major TV advertising run
DaimlerChrysler Services UK has announced a number of senior management appointments including Peter Derks as managing director. Peter succeeds Alwin Epple who has left the UK to take up a new position on the Board of DaimlerChrysler Services in Berlin
Epyx has expanded its 1link range of motor industry e-commerce products with the acquisition of the Smart Remarkit vehicle remarketing web tool
Prestige brand vehicles are set to be a goldmine for used car dealers despite growing volumes
