News - Page 1380

The Birmingham Evening Mail has taken the bizarre step of printing its front page headline in Mandarin in a desparate attempt to get the new owners of MG Rover to break its silence on its plans for the Longbridge carmaker.

TRW Automotive is cutting a quarter of its workforce at its brake systems factory in Pontypool.

Mazda Motors UK Ltd has signed agreements with Sikkens (Akzo Nobel), DuPont Refinish and Spies Hecker (DPC) to exclusively supply paint for warranty repairs in its approved bodyshops throughout the Mazda dealer network.

Two consortia of private-equity firms has submitted competitive offers to buy Hertz, Ford’s rental subsidiary.

International Automotive Distributors Limited (IAD), trading as Maccess, has announced the acquisition of the ADS business from Unipart Automotive.

AM100 dealer group Lookers has released its end-of-year results showing a rise in turnover of 12% and a 27% growth in operating profit in a market described as ‘subdued’.

Wheat is to be used to fuel a new Ford Focus, the first of which has arrived in the UK for fleet trials.

The Chancellor should introduce a variable tax on fuel in order to soften the blow of record oil prices on consumers and businesses, according to the RAC Foundation.

The car finance market has grown steadily in Europe in the past five years, with motor financiers advancing €87bn (£59.1bn) in new loans at the point of sale in 2004, compared to just €68bn (£46.2bn) in 1999.

Results from sales across the UK.

A director who fraudulently claimed about £140,000 through false invoicing and a range of other scams has been jailed.

Vauxhall pre-registered more vehicles than any other manufacturer in July, figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reveal.

While the news headlines report a High Street retail industry feeling the pinch of reducing consumer confidence, there are few signs that the used car retail market is similarly affected.

Fashionable roadster

Geoff Smyth, who joined Fiat Auto Ireland in 1979, has returned to Ireland to head up the organisation as managing director.

Volvo has revealed its two new safety concepts which are aimed to prevent drink driving and speeding.

Chrysler has announced the price of its Chrysler 300C executive saloon.

The managing director of Pinewood Computer Solutions, Neville Briggs, has responded in a letter to our article 'graduates fail as employees'.

The motor industry’s worst kept secret is finally out in the open: Porsche will launch a fourth volume model line – a ‘premium class Sports Coupé’ – in 2009.

The knock-on effect of Hurricane Katrina is threatening to push up petrol and diesel prices in Britain.

Audi has the most efficient dealer network in the UK.

Lookers has today completed its acquisition of two depots of Murray Motors Volvo, in Glasgow and Lanarkshire, Scotland from John Martin Group Ltd.

MD Chris Elvidge talks turnaround tactics with Stephen Briers.

With sales picking up, MD Brian Collier is predicting a better time for dealers, reports Stephen Briers.

Honda will display four new models at the Frankfurt Motor Show this month.

UK-based automobile companies in India investigating the possibility of entering partnership deals.

An events roadshow aimed at helping dealers has been launched by the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI).

Phoenix Venture Holdings (PVH), the former owner of collapsed carmaker MG Rover, has sold Studley Castle for £4.5m to a football tycoon.

Volkswagen has confirmed it will build a Golf-based compact SUV.

FPS, a UK’s warehouse distributor, is re-launching Trico wiper blades, as the company becomes the brand’s largest distributor in the UK aftermarket.