MG Rover is unlikely to survive another 10 years in its current form, Ford of Europe must restructure urgently, and General Motors will remain reluctant to make its relationship with Fiat any more formal.
Within 10 years the majority of UK car owners will no longer be buying their cars – they'll be leasing them. That's the vision of BMW, which expects its rising finance penetration – last year 37 per cent; this year 41 per cent – to continue. Frank Munk, chief executive at BMW Group Financial Service GB, predicts that the UK will follow the example of the American market where drivers have no interest in owning their cars.
Chris Oakham, Sewells consultant, explains whether bonuses affect the quality of work.
Motorpoint, one of the UK's largest car supermarkets with outlets in Burnley, Derby and Glasgow, is planning to open a fourth site to serve London and southern England.
Television personality and former rally driver Penny Mallory will host the prestigious AM Awards next year in Birmingham.
Nissan is asking its retailers to spend tens of thousands of pounds on upgrading their showrooms. The Japanese carmaker says the move will help revamp its corporate image and boost sales.
Despite a new-look European management and a series of well-received new models, Ford Motor Company has not yet convinced two of the world's debt experts – Moody's and Standard and Poor's – that it has turned the corner.
MG Rover has been approached by a sizeable number of garages seeking to become official service and repair agents following the recent changes to block exemption, according to company sources.
Retailers face growing confusion after Customs and Excise announced changes to the way it handles claims for overpaid VAT on car demonstrators. Analysts say changes were sparked after Customs was swamped by “inflated” applications from dealers – some were attempting to claim more than their annual turnover.
Car manufacturing in the UK will come under the spotlight next year after Government ministers announced plans to launch an official inquiry.
Vauxhall chairman Kevin Wale is calling on the Government and European Union to simplify its rules and regulations to allow British carmakers to compete on an international stage.
Service technicians are leaving their jobs at a relatively early age while fewer apprentices are coming into the industry to replace them.
Toyota GB has appointed a network of, so far, 17 "Official Toyota Service Outlets", exploiting the 'authorised repairer' provisions of the 1400/2002 European block exemption regulation.
esure's first recommended repair network will launch on 1st December 2003, initially with 14 repairers, many of whom have collaborated in the design of both the contract and systems that form the basis of the network arrangements.
“Government plans to raise the limit at which companies need to be audited will be great news for small businesses,” said the RMI chief executive Matthew Carrington, commenting on a new accounting and audit bill included in yesterday's Queen's Speech.
A Vauxhall Zafira was selected for a ceremony today, 27 November, to mark the silver jubilee of the Motability Scheme. Vauxhall was a founder member of Motability and is one of the largest single suppliers of cars to the scheme.
Ford is to close its 'Ingeni' London design centre, which it opened in 2001 to produce work on both automotive and non-automotive products.
Average retail prices for new cars in the UK rose by 3.9% over the 12 months to October 2003, according to the latest European Index of New Car Prices published by eurocarprice.com in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The British motor industry has expressed high levels of confidence in the future for automotive manufacturing in the UK. This was tempered with significant concerns about the 'increasing burden of red tape' and the failing national transport infrastructure.
The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) has today launched a new qualification in vehicle sales, as part of a strategy for tackling unacceptably high staff turnover, improving staff motivation and business performance and enhancing the public perception of car retailing.
The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a new Battery Directive, which will require the collection and recycling of all batteries placed on the EU market. Nearly half are currently sent to landfill or incineration.
GM Daewoo is to adopt Datafirst's UCL (Used Car Locator) to handle used stock in the UK in December, following in the footsteps of Vauxhall. The system is already in use in GM Europe networks elsewhere in Europe. The system will link dealers' used stock to the search facility on GM Daewoo's own site.
Hyundai says the choice of sites for Hyundai's European car manufacturing plant has been reduced to four candidates – Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Another report says only two are still in the running.
A new group has been formed within the Motor and Allied Trades Benevolent Society BEN which focuses on the needs of younger members of the industry.
Production figures released today by the Office for National Statistics show that UK car production in October climbed 2.5% to 153,361 units. Exports accounted for a record 74.2% of monthly output, and year-to-date volumes rose 0.6%, on track to meet the SMMT's 1.65 million forecast.
Continuing the biggest product offensive in its history, Saab Automobile AB has announced its first SUV, the 2005 Saab 9-7X, featuring standard all-wheel-drive and two engine choices.
New data confirms confirms the consumer problems with dealers and garages identified by the OFT apply equally in the US.
Government denial of an impending MOT tester shortage has been criticised by the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI). Addressing Parliament recently, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport David Jamison refuted that there is any need to recruit more MOT testers: “There is no evidence to suggest that there is a shortage of qualified MOT testers.”
A ballot for strike action at the Nissan car plant in Sunderland started on 24 November after Nissan management “refused to hold talks with the Amicus trade union” over compulsory re-location of the company's purchasing department. Balloting of workers in the purchasing department could mean that Nissan are faced with the threat of strike action for the first time in the Sunderland plant's history.
MG Rover is halting production for four days this week to enable dealers to 're-balance' inventories.
