Whitehouse has severed its links with Honda after selling its sole dealership with the franchise at Bexleyheath, Kent, to Dutton-Forshaw for an undisclosed sum.
HR Owen has opened the UK’s second Lamborghini dealership, following a £700,000 investment. Based in Stockport’s Town Hall Square, it is trading as Lamborg-hini Manchester and has a seven-car showroom.
Parklands Audi came under a bit of pressure recently.
Contract hire company MNH Vehicle Contracts has launched a compulsory safety feature checklist which the dealer and driver both have to sign before the driver can use a new car.
Despite increasing number of prestige marque vehicles reaching the used car market, Glass’s Information Services believes there is unlikely to be significant further decline in their second hand values.
The Energy Saving Trust has introduced a new grant management structure which it says will make it easier for customers to successfully apply for Powershift and CleanUp grants throughout the year.
Business cars are back in favour. Despite widespread predictions of the demise of the company vehicle, the latest annual HSBC Business Car Expectations Survey has found that, even for middle management, an upward trend is discernible.
Used car retail sales growth showed signs of slowing in April following a strong first quarter performance, according to the CAP Used Car Performance Index.
Skoda is challenging its retailers to target younger customers as it looks to widen its buyer profile and continue its sales growth.
Hyundai is to pilot a contract hire scheme from July 1 with 14 retailers, with a view to rolling it out to the entire network by September.
Hyundai is looking to exploit the brand’s ongoing sales momentum – up 32% last year, up another 33% in the first quarter of this year – by attracting more retailers to the franchise and encouraging further investment by the existing network.
Toyota GB is easing the financial burden of implementing its Retail Concept programme with a three-year repayment programme.
ChryslerJeep is resigned to losing a small minority of its franchised retail network as it gears up for greater volume and the 2005 launch of the Dodge franchise.
Used car sales in the first three months of this year were the highest quarterly total ever recorded, at 2,005,660 units, according to Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders figures.
Manufacturers have come under attack by small retail groups fed up with being asked to invest untenable amounts of money to meet new franchise standards.
Sytner Group is working closely with DaimlerChrysler UK to develop new ways of presenting cars in Mercedes-Benz showrooms. Point-of-sale innovations will later be made available across Mercedes’ UK network.
Lithia Motors Inc, one of America’s fastest-growing retailer groups, may the follow the lead of UnitedAuto and buy a stake in UK motor retailing.
Not many manufacturers can boast a year on year sales increase of nearly 400%. In May 2003, Bentley registered 19 cars.
Lookers’ non-executive chairman Fred Maguire has given his personal seal of approval to a subscription-based organisation aiming to bring together senior directors and managers in the automotive retail industry.
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A vehicle finance business from Cheshire is one of the 10 fastest growing companies in the UK.
Sytner is believed to be trying to beat off rival groups in a move to acquire Harrogate-based Massingberd Group plc, which has three Volkswagen dealerships and one Audi centre.
Sir Tom Cowie has made a surprise return to the motor industry at the age of 80 with Gainmanor Fiat in Tyneside.
Honda’s UK retailers will be the first British franchise holders to sell Chinese-built cars next year when the Japanese brand starts importing the Jazz supermini from a new plant north-west of Hong Kong.
The terms of the new block exemption make it easier for retailers to claim damages from their manufacturer if a national court judge decides a dealer has been unfairly treated, says Paolo Cesarini, the head of motor transport within the EC Competition Directorate.
Motor World is planning to follow Halfords on to the stock market with a flotation some time later this year to provide the funding for growth.
Latest figures published by the SMMT indicate that 150 new cars were pre-registered by manufacturers in April, bringing the total for the year to April to 670 units, with a value of £6,873,208.
Changes to the Consumer Credit Act, announced by consumer minister Gerry Sutcliffe, are long overdue but could increase paperwork for credit suppliers, according to critics.
Kent and Sussex dealer group Caffyns’ pre-tax profits for the year to March fell by 34% to £3.1m. But when goodwill amortisation and exceptional items were stripped out, pre-tax profits were 5% up at £3.35m. Turnover was 3% up at £153.1m.
The UK’s biggest solus Alfa Romeo dealership is due to open in Melksham, Wiltshire, on July 1. It will be one of the first in Britain to have the new Alfa corporate branding.
