The recent events at Rover underline how easily this industry panics. Whatever your personal opinion of Rover, it makes perfectly good cars - even if they cannot be called truly excellent - and it will continue to have a loyal following in the used market for many years.
I recently dug out my old dealership sales log and it was a vivid reminder of how the car retail market has changed in recent years. Every detail of 250 sales a year is recorded, but it wasn't an exercise in nostalgia. I was interested to see how frequently the same customer names cropped up and, sure enough, after three years a large proportion of them did.
Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers plans to loosen carmakers' stranglehold over franchised dealers after the Competition Commission found new-car buyers are overcharged by up to £1bn a year.
Quartic Motor Group, which this month completed its third Ford customer marketing area, has appointed four directors to implement its new streamlined and lean policy.
Trident South, the independent Vauxhall dealer that went into receivership last month after losing £1.7m in 1999, has been sold to Plotsafe, a Vauxhall Motors Holding investment company, for more than £2m.
Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst has appointed Phillippe von Stauffenberg to develop its Glass's Holdings division, replacing Robin Oliphant, who becomes group chairman.
Dixon Motors has expanded its internet portfolio after taking a 50% stake in online motorcycle site Bikenet Motorcycles.
William Jacks is preparing to refranchise its Rover, Mini and MG dealership in Chiswick, London, bought last August for £1.6m.
Alchemy Partners, bidding to buy Rover from BMW, this week involved Stephen Byers in a row over Government action to aid redundant Midland car workers.
Honda is to start building its CR-V sports utility at Swindon in an attempt to absorb excess capacity at the factory.
Quicks Group has picked up its second Jaguar franchise, taking over the Stockport, Greater Manchester, territory from HR Owen-owned Holindrake.
Two critical reports claim that the motor industry is overestimating the potential impact of the internet on car retailing.
Vauxhall's dealers are the first to feel the effects of the more open competition envisaged by Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers.
Denise Kingsmill, who earned a reputation as a tough interrogator during the Commission's nine-month inquiry, said the Competition Commission new car pricing report offered an “objective, thorough and fair” verdict on the industry.
Freeserve, the free internet access provider, has launched an online motoring service described as a one-stop shop for UK car buyers.
More than 1,000 dealers have signed up to the 24-hour online car buying facility Cyberlot, according to Manheim Auctions.
Mitsubishi is to roll out its direct used car sales programme on a national basis as soon as suitable sites for the events can be found.
Motortrade IT firm Dragon 2000 has converted “a good number” of its 400-500 dealership management system users to its business-to-business internet stock locator.
Car superstore group Autolink has opened its third site in the South-east as it plans to “corner the market in affordable cars”.
Peugeot is preparing a pan-European buyback scheme for its new 607 as it targets the fleet market with promises of strong fleet residual values.
Claims that used car dealers are evolving into brokers who buy to a customer's order and take returns on a commission basis have been rejected by industry experts.
Finance specialist Private & Commercial Finance Group has reported an “encouraging level of interest” from dealers and the public to Carfree, its no-cost used car advertising website launched last month.
Major carmakers mounted a concerted campaign of preregistration in the last few days of March to boost first-quarter sales figures.
Autobytel is stepping up its push into the company car market with relaunched fleet pages and increased emphasis on fleet disposal.
Former Kia head of marketing Gary Elliott has joined the RAC as head of brand management with responsibility for marketing, advertising and research.
Polk, the marketing information services supplier, has completed its acquisition of TUP Group which was founded by Virgin Cars chief executive officer Ian Lancaster.
Dealer aftermarket operations need to find better ways to attract women customers, after a survey by Duckhams Oils revealed nearly half (46%) of all women rely on a male friend to make servicing arrangements for their car.
The London Repairers Alliance, set up last year to combat spiralling overheads and low labour rates within the M25 area, is mounting a £250,000 marketing campaign in conjunction with credit hire/repair firm Helphire.
Dealers have been warned to adopt e-commerce in order to benefit from the “massive advantages” of internet-based parts buying.
Vauxhall's move into selling cars over the internet has netted less than 250 customers in four months, a fraction of the expected volume.
