A European manufacturer has developed a new range of performance brake discs to increase stopping power and help reduce accidents.
Kia, Europe's fastest growing carmaker, has started work on its first European car plant to help meet rocketing demand. The £690m plant in the Slovak Republic will have the capacity to build up to 300,000 cars a year.
Mazda is doubling the number of UK fleet specialist dealers in a bid to boost corporate sales. The Japanese carmaker currently has seven fleet dealers in its 140-strong network.
A joint venture that promises to deliver efficient estimating processes, volume access to matching quality non-OE parts and improved profitability to bodyshops is being launched by SSVG, part of Unipart Automotive's Crash Repair Division.
Manufacturing union Amicus has named Duncan Simpson's successor as national officer for the automotive industry as Tony Murphy, formerly Amicus' national officer for automotive components. Murphy took over from retiring National Officer Duncan Simpson on Thursday, 8 April.
As if to confirm the warnings from the Motorcycle Action Group on the effects of “excessive” insurance premiums(AM, April 9), March registrations for powered two wheelers were substantially down year on year.
As the first spade was turned to launch the construction of Kia's first European plant at Zilina in in Slovakia, the company's vice president in Europe Jean-Charles Lievens confirmed his company's European volume objective: 500,000 units by 2008, after 300,000 next year.
Fiat-GM Powertrain joint venture engine plant alongside the Vauxhall assembly plant at Ellesmere Port is to close in early July, it was confirmed to unions on 7 April.
Smart is claiming to be the first car manufacturer to offer an integrated Apple iPod play-back and charging station into its limited edition Fortwo i–move.
Employees of Dennis, the vehicle chassis-maker owned by Mayflower, stand to bear the brunt of a deficit in the company's pension scheme
Ford further strengthened its vehicle sales in Europe during March, and has announced that it took a 9.8% share of the overall European vehicle market for the month and completed the first quarter of 2004 with a total share of 9.2%, ahead of the previous year
TRW Automotive Aftermarket has launched an extension to its friction programme. This addition, which is the first in a series of range extensions planned for 2004, will add a further 81 UK specific part numbers across a range of products and applications
Goodyear Tire & Rubber, the world's largest tyremaker, on Monday said it would cut $65m from its net income reported between 1997 and 2003 as a result of a four-month internal inquiry into the company's accounts in Europe and the US
March saw record new car registrations despite fears that a fire, which damaged BT phone lines across much of the west country and the north-west, would affect the final figures
MasterFit is to become the sole service franchise for the Vauxhall brand, the manufacturer has announced – a plan hatched a while ago but now coming to fruition with the growth of outlets from a current 250 to 400 by the year-end.
Vauxhall has assembled a new aftersales management team under aftersales director Paul Daly, following its announcement that MasterFit is to be the brand's sole aftersales franchise.
Hyundai says it is the UK's first distributor to give dealers and their customers the facility to compare its cars against the opposition at the touch of a button, with fully independent data including price, performance, equipment, warranty, specification, etc.
Having just made deep price cuts of up to 56% on 200 part numbers, Subaru has now launched a three years' free servicing offer, along with 0% finance on the Impreza 2.0 GX.
BMW has outpaced rival Mercedes-Benz with a higher-than-expected 14.5% increase in second quarter profits and by reconfirming its forecast of record earnings for the full year.
People carrier with a purpose
Diesel is re-shaping the new and used car markets – its share of the European Union new car parc has doubled from around 20% in recent years. And although the UK diesels have continually underperformed that level of growth it is has now reached nearly one in three new registrations.
Who'd be a carmaker executive in the UK? MG Rover directors are facing intense public, media and Government scrutiny over allegations of asset stripping
Last spring, AM reported the results of research into selling cars to the over-50s – they felt neglected and ignored by retailers and manufacturers, despite having more money to spend than all other consumer groups put together.
The Government is determined not to make the same mistakes again. In 1998, when then BMW boss Bernd Pischetsrieder dropped the bombshell at the British motor show that he would close subsidiary Rover's Longbridge plant unless it made huge cost savings and efficiency gains, MPs were caught completely cold.
Speaking at the recent AM Aftermarket Conference, Guy Liddall, of Motor Trade Selection, revealed how the present shortage of vehicle technicians could build into a crisis.
Vauxhall is the latest carmaker to respond to the emerging threat of insurer-mandated aftermarket parts in the body repair sector. Retail prices for 28 of Vauxhall's most popular bumper parts have been cut by an average of 19%, while the retail price of lighting has been reduced by an average 21%.
Divisions are growing between the sales and repair divisions of the retail motor industry over the attempt to outlaw rogue traders and win consumer confidence.
A new DaimlerChrysler brand centre has opened in the West Midlands. Drayton Group has created a multi-brand super-site by adding the ChryslerJeep franchise to its existing Mercedes-Benz and Smart dealership in Wolverhampton.
Arnold Clark Automobiles has posted a storming set of results for 2003 after a major buying spree in the first six months of the year.
Strong performances from Fiat and Mazda mean they have jumped up the satisfaction chart in the latest RMI dealer attitude survey.
