BMW has announced that its entirely new model variant, the 320Cd Convertible, will be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show.
Honda has announced that its Jazz range will be revised, with 1.2 S, 1.4 SE and 1.4 Sport grades, replacing the current 1.4 S/SE/SE Sport line up.
Fiat Auto UK is in the process of introducing an integrated sales, service and maintenance system called Fiat Link throughout its dealer network.
Andrew Dickinson’s recently-formed United Aftermarket Network (UAN) has taken the best elements of the three existing buying groups to create an all-new package, its founder claims.
Automotive design, engineering and development specialist Roush Technologies has been confirmed as an official service and repair partner for British performance car manufacturer Noble.
Assisting members to get technical information from carmakers is one of the aims of the new chief executive designate of the Garage Equipment Association Dave Garratt.
Sir Tom Farmer is planning to hand over control of his Farmer Autocare fast-fit business to a senior management team as the network continues to add outlets.
Mobile body repair business Revive! has started a drive to more than double its number of franchises nationwide by 2007.
Steve Kenny Accident Repair Centre in Didcot has gone into voluntary liquidation, less than a year after the business moved to a purpose built state-of-the-art bodyshop.
Kwik-Fit is keeping quiet over the progress of a trial which has seen six of its outlets expand their service to include servicing and MoTs.
Yorkshire-based accident repair business Alton Cars and Minster Cars has acquired Knaresborough Body Repairs from the Meridian Motor Group.
Research almost always turns up a revelation of crucial importance, and this is aptly demonstrated by the Black Horse consumer finance survey covered in this issue of AM.
Independent garages and franchised car dealers are still subject to excessive demands made by car manufacturers.
Plans by a Derby body repairer to ‘challenge the image of the franchised dealer and transform the traditional image of the body repair specialist’ have been supported by paint, equipment and bodyshop service suppliers including Spies Hecker, Junair, 3M, Globaljig, Pro-Align and computer software & support services provider EMACS.
Akzo Nobel has opened branches of its wholly-owned distribution network, Bodyshop Services, in Glasgow and Falkirk.
Prices of the last model VW Golf are starting to slip. Eight months after the launch of its successor, the family car is succumbing to the pain of depreciation.
Admiral the motor insurer is to float on the London stock market.
Rapid consolidation among dealer groups in mainland Europe is predicted to be the trigger for comprehensive changes in the way in which UK car retailers operate sales and servicing over the next decade.
Mercedes-Benz will be revealing its Vision Sports Tourer concepts ‘R’ and ‘B’ at the Paris Motor Show this month.
Volkswagen’s finance director Hans Dieter Poetsch has suggested up to 30,000 jobs could be lost in Germany if the IG Metall union does not accept cost reduction plans including a wage freeze.
The world’s best-selling limousine – the Mercedes-Benz S-class – bows out next year, to be replaced by this bigger, bolder-looking saloon, bristling with new technology.
The views of the automotive industry are being sought on proposals to change the law in respect of voluntary termination clauses in hire purchase and conditional sale agreements, which are estimated to cost the motor finance sector as much as £83m a year.
Dealers could face prosecution if they are unaware of legislation changes which affect the way in which they may promote vehicle payment plans from October.
Robin Woolcock, Volkswagen’s UK group managing director, has denied that a clash of personalities led to the manufacturer terminating VW contracts with the Hartwell and Whitehouse dealer groups.
Independent bodyshop group MRM has called in administrators less than two weeks after AM revealed the struggling company was having to slash its number of sites by almost a quarter.
A British racing car marque of the 1950s is set to be resurrected with the launch of Connaught’s new V10 hybrid-powered sports coupe. The Connaught Type-D is currently a project, but the company is hoping to gain a further £5m in investment that will see it go into production in early 2006.
Ford will officially debut its new Focus at the Paris motor show at the end of this month. A Focus saloon ‘concept’ was shown at the Beijing Auto Show in June but Paris will see the official unveiling of the entire model line-up.
Online used car marketer Fish4Cars is breaking into the new car market through an agreement with discounted new car database Broadspeed to offer around 4,500 models at any one time.
A dedicated training centre providing courses for dealer aftersales activity has won accreditation from the Institute of the Motor Industry this month.
Proposals which will shake up Europe’s £7bn vehicle components industry are due to finally receive the green light by the European Commission this coming Tuesday (September 14) after five separate postponements this year.
