News - Page 1337

Vauxhall’s Astra Twintop is available to order now and is priced from £16,995. Deliveries start in late spring.

Pendragon’s management have officially taken up roles as executive directors of Reg Vardy.

Ford has said ‘nothing less than a complete mindset change’, not only for Ford but the whole automotive industry is needed to tackle the global carbon dioxide emissions problem.

Honda’s models have performed well in the latest EurotaxGlass’s residual values chart.

Ford has developed a new registration process to deter thieves from stealing portable satellite navigation systems from cars.

Reg Vardy chief executive Sir Peter Vardy and managing director Robert Forrester resigned their posts last night, just hours after Pendragon announced it had built up a 55.2% shareholding in the Sunderland-based dealer group.

Seat has won its highest ever share of the UK new car market and its best January registration figures to date.

Fiat’s dealers are reportedly enjoying a positive reaction to the all-new Grande Punto, which went on sale on Saturday.

Porsche is extending its current product range with the addition of a new 911 Turbo.

Daihatsu’s new Terios 4x4 makes its debut at the Geneva Motor Show later this month.

The Duke of York will publicly launch Toyota’s £500,000 fundraising challenge for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) during a visit to the Burnaston Plant, Derbyshire tomorrow.

Ford has launched a new edition of the Mondeo, the Edge.

William Clay Ford Jr, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Ford Motor Company, has been nominated as the 2006 Automotive Industry Executive of 2006.

EurotaxGlass’s has created a new service that generates residual value forecasts for new or recently registered cars.

Smoking will be banned in all workplaces from next year following a vote in the Commons last night. There is still, however, no clarity on whether the ban will include cars.

A total of 366 new Mercedes and Smart Cars with a showroom value exceeding £9 million have been ordered by CCL UK Group to meet the demand faced from their insurance industry clients through Cambridge based Robinsons Mercedes-Benz.

Over half of Reg Vardy shareholders have accepted Pendragon’s 900p per share offer for the Sunderland based dealer group, however the remaining shareholders could still cause problems for the dealer group’s plans.

HR Owen wants to dispose of its Premier Automotive Group East Anglia business to Lookers Southern, a subsidiary of Lookers for an undisclosed price.

Capital Bank Motor could launch a ‘bundled’ product within six months, covering finance, insurance and servicing, for a set monthly budget if it can bring a “good-sized manufacturer” and/or a major plc retail group on board.

The acquisition of Kerridge by big rival ADP at the end of last year came as a surprise to many in the industry and the merging of two of the largest DMS providers will no doubt have implications for dealers and competitors alike.

Here is the latest information on forthcoming AM events.

Hyundai new car sales rose by almost 5% in January, with 2,230 vehicles sold.

Delegates at last week’s London FLA convention on future motor finance trends were at risk of suffering statistics overload as they absorbed a welter of figures, prepared by Trend Tracker, on point of sale finance’s future viability – or lack of it.

Mazda is to show its new Mazda3 MPS for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show on February 28.

Nissan Europe will present two new concept cars at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

Alfa Romeo has announced prices for its new 159, which goes on sale on February 25.

Exploit your CRM system to keep one step ahead of the competition, says David Ross

MoT and car servicing network Nationwide Autocentres has changed hands in a £49m management buy-in by former RAC senior managers.

Kia Motors UK has started its used car programme with its first regional ‘big deal weekend’, the first of 20 around the UK.

This month, Black Horse Motor Finance launches its brand new consumer website.