News - Page 1125

Fiat is to appoint 14 dealerships for its Abarth sports brand, and says up to 12 will be ready for the launch of the £13,000 Grande Punto Abarth in July.

Korean car brand Hyundai wants to follow in the footsteps of Tata and Dacia by selling a new car for under £1,800 in India.

Ford has announced plans to open a £1.5bn assembly plant in Mexico, which will produce Fiesta for the US market.

Lookers has appointed Bill Holmes as a non-executive director of the group with immediate effect.

Arnold Clark is poised for further growth after reporting a tax-paid profit of more than £50 million and significant increases in turnover and sales of both new and used cars.

Scottish dealer group John Clark has flagged a 17% increase in full year sales to £258 million.

Lloyds TSB has recruited from within the group to appoint a new managing director of the motor and leisure division of finance provider Black Horse.

Michelle Mone left school with no qualifications, but spotted a gap in the lingerie market and has since built an international brand, Ultimo.

Directors of commercial companies with more than 50 employees are almost five-and-a-half times more likely to become victims of identity fraud than the average UK resident, according to Experian.

Tata Motors will raise $1.8bn to fund its purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover.

Sports car manufacturer Lotus has bought a British lightweight parts supplier in a multi-million pound deal.

Honda staged the UK’s first live TV advert on Thursday evening.

Castrol Oil has joined forces with motoring journalist Quentin Willson to help push its Right Oil for Your Car campaign.

European aftermarket trade body FIGIEFAhas vowed to continue lobbying for a revision of the Block Exemption Regulation (BER) in order to avoid a

The European Commission last night announced proposals to simplify the motor industry Block Exemption 1400/2002 from 2010.

The Block Exemption Regulation's stipulation of minimum durations for contracts is doubted to have had much impact in reassuring dealers of a return on their investment.

Measures which prevent carmakers from restricting their original equipment suppliers from selling spare parts directly to the aftermarket have been effective in ensuring competition in the market, says the evaluation report into the current Block Exemption regulation.

There has been growth in the number of authorised repairers under the current Block Exemption regulation (BER), however repairers have not used their entitlement to seek aftermarket parts from alternative sources.

The evaluation report shows the European Commission is pleased with progress on cross-border competition between retailers for the same franchise in different EU member states, but believes this could continue without sector-specific clauses in the motor trade Block Exemption.

The adoption of quantitative selective distribution agreements by almost all carmakers under the current Block Exemption Regulation (BER) has not broadened competition, states the European Commission's evaluation report.

The European Commision's evaluation report has criticised the franchised dealer sector for not taking up the opportunities to sell brands of competing manufacturers within the same showroom.

South-east of England dealer group Caffyns has suffered £1.5 million downturn in profits to record a £197,000 trading loss in the final year of its recovery plan, and warns it has suffered from the national economic decline.

The MVRA field business services team has begun acontract to take all eight of the Stoneacre group of bodyshops through the Thatcham/BSI Kitemark for PAS125 by the end of 2008.

HR Owen has gained a contract to supply estate agency James Pendleton with 25 Alfa Romeos.

Carmaker fills open point at Hatfield after six year search.

Garages will pay £75 per year to subscribe to the Car Service and Repair Code of Practice, which launches to the trade this month.

Lookers said this week it is “making progress.

The automotive sector’s honeymoon on the insurance-based sales regulations looks to be over

Lack of demand in rural area blamed for closure.

Redundancies being made at Pendragon.