Welshpool-based SPX Contech has bought its own dedicated manufacturing plant from the Welsh Development Agency in a £3.75m deal.
AM’s sister company, Sewells Information & Research, has just embarked on its 2005 Dealer Attitude Survey – and the postroom is already straining with the volume of replies.
The addition of Far Eastern vehicle manufacturers to Thatcham’s ever increasing accredited parts catalogue has highlighted the fact that block exemption changes have yet to filter through the parts market.
Discussion forums are one area of bodyshop industry growth. In addition to the ABP Club there is now the RMI’s Accident Repair Industry Forum and the Audatex Industry Forum.
Bishop Auckland-based Bodywork Direct is solving its skill shortages and opening up a new revenue stream by gaining ReMIT accreditation for its in-house training centre.
Dundee bodyshop Broomhill Autobody has gone into liquidation. Four other Broomhill Autobody businesses, including a holding company, continue to operate in Scotland. KPMG has been appointed as liquidator.
Benfield Motors, the North-east-based dealer group, has invested more than £80,000 in three mobile cosmetic repair vans.
Toyota is to base its training centre for all its European manufacturing staff at its plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire.
The Government has outlined details of its support package for companies affected by the collapse of Mg Rover.
Retail finance company Open and Direct is launching into the automotive market with a range of products it believes will widen customer choice and deliver increased profit opportunities for dealers.
MG Rover has begun insolvency proceedings, calling in accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers and has stopped production at its Longbridge plant.
Matthew Carrington has streamlined the Retail Motor Industry Federation board to help map out clearer policies based on members’ views.
Car prices are continuing to move into line across the European Union, according to a new EC report.
Citroen has defended its policy of cashback promotions as it prepares to launch a Spring Drive sales campaign with a raft of extra offers.
TVR is investing in a new flagship dealership in London, but the Blackpool-based sports car manufacturer, bought by Russian Nikolay Smolensky in July 2004, insists manufacturer-owned sites will not replace its dealer network.
Mercedes-Benz dealers will have yet another model to squeeze into their showrooms next spring when the six-seater R-class arrives in the UK.
ChryslerJeep dealers are expecting an increase in showroom footfall following the network’s promotional tie-up with the DVD launch of Disney’s animated film The Incredibles.
AM100 dealer group HR Owen has returned to profit following its £3.3m loss in 2003. The group’s financial results for the year to December 31, 2004, show a pre-tax profit of £0.5m from turnover of £687m, which has increased from the £534m turnover in 2003.
A UK TV first was witnessed over the Easter Bank Holiday when Ford launched an interactive advertising campaign for the new Focus estate.
Delegates at autoretailing 05 can put their learning to good use by gaining a recognised management qualification.
The retail motor industry will hear a top-level briefing when one of the country’s top economists, Mark Berrisford-Smith of HSBC Bank, takes the stage at autoretailing 05, the AM/RMI Dealer Convention.
Lexus has revealed its European growth plan, which will see it sell 65,000 units through 350 dedicated retailers within the next three years.
Kings, part of Sytner, is to open a new £2m Chrysler Jeep dealership in Swindon this week on the Drakes Way, next to its Mercedes centre.
Parts manufacturer Wagon has today announced that it has stopped supplying MG Rover because of doubts over the beleaguered car company’s ability to pay its bills.
Inchcape has announced the acquisition of the Robert Smith Group and its subsidiaries.
DaimlerChrysler shareholders have criticized company executives at its annual meeting for the recent earnings slide and quality problems at its Mercedes division.
Peugeot has announced its spring offers, which will include deals on 206, 307, 607 and 807 models.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders announced the appointment today of Konstanze Scharring as head of policy and economics
Subaru is launching a limited edition Forester with just 240 manual and 60 automatic versions available.
If there is one thing we like to think the British car industry is good at, it’s surviving. For us, triumph and disaster were equally rare impostors as we steered the path of mediocrity.
