The AA has agreed to buy all 129 Halfords service centres in the UK from The Boots Company for £5.75m. Each of the sites will be rebranded as AA Service Centres.
Five-year warranty packages will be launched by Kia next week.
Insurance premiums are rising as NHS Trusts increasingly pursue guilty drivers for the cost of treating road accident casualties.
Honda is to use Isuzu diesel engines in a bid to boost European sales. Production of the 1.7-litre diesel engine will start in November at the Polish Isuzu plant.
Vauxhall has appointed Nigel Griggs as aftersales marketing manager.
Drivers in Scotland and Northern Ireland are paying the most for fuel with petrol finally breaking the 80 pence per litre barrier.
James Muir, aged 42, has been appointed as managing director of Mazda Motors UK, the Japanese manufacturer's new wholly-owned subsidiary. The new company takes over full responsibility for Mazda in the UK with effect from 1 August.
Two months from launch, Ecom Auto Auctions has announced that around 200 dealers have signed up to the business-to-business online vehicle auction service.
A new report by the European Commission has found that the price disparity between new car prices in the UK and the rest of Europe remains high.
PSA Peugeot Citroen and media group Vivendi Universal have abandoned their joint venture to equip cars with internet access, the French newspaper Liberation has reported.
A manufacturer liaison team has been created at Pinewood Computer Solutions aimed at increasing co-operation between the two parties.
Vehicle finance specialist Singer & Friedlander has gone into partnership with Matrix, the Stoke-based motor finance broker, to offer S&F dealer customers access to the sub-prime market with a 'one-stop-shop' offering.
Hyundai Car (UK) as appointed a new relationship marketing manager, former Nursing Times marketing manager, Lisa Hender.
Virgin Cars has criticised the SMMT for painting a “false doomsday scenario” on the future of Block Exemption, which, it says “adds nothing intellectually to the debate".
The SMMT is warning against pessimism as figures show a fall in car production in the UK in June.
The first European-built Chrysler PT Cruisers has rolled off the production line at DaimlerChrysler's Eurostar Assembly Plant in Austria, as the company stepped up production in response to strong global demand.
DaimlerChrysler has reported better-than-expected second-quarter results, and said its turnround programme was on track.
Nationwide Accident Repair Services, the proposed new name for Perry Group, is planning to double turnover in five years. Perry sold its dealerships to the Pearlglass management buyout in March.
MG Rover expects to breakeven next year, despite having reported a loss of £254m on turnover of £961m in the last eight months of 2000 following its sale by BMW.
Mercedes-Benz dealers who are offered territories under DaimlerChrysler UK's franchise reorganisation will be expected to part-fund compensation for terminated retailers under the terms of a settlement agreed last week.
Customers of Reg Vardy are helping to give deprived children in the North-east a better education.
A difficult first eight months of its financial year when price uncertainty kept customers away from showrooms caused pre-tax profits to fall at Reg Vardy plc.
Bodyshops are beginning to take advantage of online ordering systems according to R-M Automotive Refinish, which launched its @quisition service last year.
ICI Autocolor has launched two basics in its 2K engine bay repair system range designed to help non-EPA registered bodyshops save time and money.
Standox, part of DuPont Performance Coatings, is promising dramatically reduced primer drying times after developing a new product for launch later this year.
Vehicle manufacturer approvals for paint maker products will become more important as they wrest control of the accident repair market away from insurers.
Dealers across Europe are worried about possible changes to Block Exemption rules but feel powerless to influence EC commissioner Mario Monti's decision making.
Philip James, Akzo Nobel Coatings managing director, said the decision to approach work providers was part of the paint company's evolution to become more than a product supplier.
Toyota intends to make the Verso a sub-brand with models launched across the range, according to John Howett, Toyota Europe vice president sales and marketing.
Volvo's all-new 2.4-litre D5 diesel engine will be available in the UK in S60, S80 and the V70 estate from October with automatic versions arriving in early 2002.
