Porsche AG turned in the highest profit ever recorded in its history during the 2002/03 fiscal year, which closed on July 31, despite the difficult economic climate and the substantial costs incurred for the launch of the Cayenne
Dixon Motors is to launch a management development programme it says will put it “18 months ahead of the competition”. Over 40 managers from a range of disciplines will complete the one-year course which complies with IMI standards.
Kudos Cars has been formed in the North-West to offer wealthy members access to a stable of premium cars for an annual membership. The club will be limited to 100 members only.
The Energy Saving Trust's PowerShift and CleanUp initiatives have funded over 3,300 vehicles in the current financial year, and this should increase to around 8,000 by end of March 2004, compared to last year when 5,000 vehicles received funding. As a result current commitments plus those in the pipeline mean all funds have been allocated for this financial year.
Volvo Car UK has confirmed the three DuPont Performance Coat-ings brands – DuPont Refinish, Spies Hecker and Standox – as preferred business partners for its body and paint network.
This is the new luxury flagship car from Maserati – the Quattroporte – that will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month.
Smart has announced price cuts on its entry-level City Coup Pure. Prices now start at £6565, a saving of £435.
The Volkswagen Transporter has been crowned International Van of the Year.
Saab dealers will get a boost this month with the launch of the 2004 9-3.
The Renault Espace was voted best MPV at the Scottish Car of the Year Awards...
BCA is developing its fourth German auction centre. The 25,000sq m site has the capacity to almost double in size to meet the projected needs of the business.
AM sister title Car magazine has voted Vauxhall's £25,995 VX220 Turbo performance car of the year
Directors at Suzuki GB have voted against setting up a direct supply channel to handle sales of the company's first corporate car.
Audi is driving forward its used car operations by opening a series of supersites to double sales and bolster residual values. The German carmaker wants to increase used vehicle sales through its franchised dealers from 32,000 this year to 65,000 by 2007.
Ferrari is mounting a major challenge to Bentley's new Continental GT with the launch of the 612 Scaglietti.
Advanced features to boost road safety are to be harnessed to help Honda win higher sales across Europe.
VW Group's investment in Bentley will be crowned by the launch early next year of the Continental GT.
Mazda made £151m operating profit for the first half of the financial year, an increase of 94 per cent (£73.5m) on the same period in 2002. Turnover was £6.61bn, up £267m on the 2003 figure.
General Motors Europe has signed a deal worth more than £4bn with Avis Europe to supply the rental company with more than 350,000 vehicles over the next five years.
Leading industry figures are calling on the Bank of England to keep interest rate rises to a minimum following last week's increase, the first for nearly four years.
Toyota has reduced the number of franchise partners and retail sites after streamlining its UK retail network.
BMW has opened a new purpose- built performance centre at Rock-ingham, Northamptonshire to cater for in-house and external driving activities.
Fiat Auto's operating losses improved to £196mn in the third quarter of 2003, compared to £233m last year, but were worse than anticipated.
Mileage discrepancies now affect almost 10 per cent of popular second hand vehicles, according to HPI.
Reg Vardy has opened a new showroom in Glasgow for used Mercedes-Benz cars.
GM Daewoo moved a step closer to completing its retail network with the appointment of eight new dealers, taking the total network to 80.
Credit card fraud cost the motor industry £4.2m over the past 12 months, according to a new report published by the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS).
Renault opened a £2m training centre this week to help the automotive industry fight the crippling skills shortage. The facility at Ruddington, in Nottingham, is part of Renault's commitment to developing school leavers' skills through the Modern Apprenticeship Programme.
A new hi-tech training course is being launched to help dealers meet tough new rules covering the sale of motor insurance products.
Dealers could be forced to review their demonstrator fleets following the publication of new Health and Safety Executive guidelines.
