Nine out of 10 used car retailers are expecting 2004 to be a very good year. Tony Willard reports
Britain's automotive supplier and bus maker appointed Deloitte Touche as administrator last night, following yesterday's the suspension of share trading.
The findings from Proudfoot Consulting's seven-country, 12-sector 2003 productivity study suggest that salespeople generally spend only 10% of their time actively selling. But the automotive sector is ahead of the rest, with 17%.
Thanks to a new set of cashbacks available throughout this month, a new Citroën C2 hatchback can be bought for under £6,500.
Suzuki GB has announced plans for the development of a new 15,400 sq m national parts, training and technical centre at Milton Keynes. The facility will also handle Suzuki motorcycles and marine products.
Hyundai's three-year/30,000-miles free servicing offer is being extended to cover its Getz hatchback, Matrix mini-MPV and upper-range Accent models sold up to the end of June 2004.
Rolls-Royce has opened its latest showroom at 1 Red Square, Moscow, in a converted museum next door to the Kremlin and opposite St. Basil's Cathedral.
Following announcements of board resignations and accounting irregularities on Monday, Mayflower Corporation's troubles deepened yesterday.
Although its Ryton Peugeot plant is to close its 700-strong fourth shift in June, PSA is to recruit 7,000 more people in France this year, having taken on 4,400 in 2003.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung suggests that the ailing Mitsubishi Motors' revised mid-term recovery plan will require a €2 billion capital injection.
After some delay and vocal German government opposition, the European Commission has decided to send a formal request to Germany to amend certain provisions of the1960 law privatising Volkswagen (known as the VW law.
MG Rover chairman John Towers is appearing before the Trade & Industry Select Committee today, opening a series of hearings on the UK car industry.
With the discovery of accounting irregularities that could cost some £20m, Mayflower Corporation, the supplier to Land Rover among others has announced that chief executive John Simpson, finance director David Donelly and joint MD John Fleming are to resign when the firm's delayed 2003 preliminary accounts are announced next month. Chairman Rupert Hambro will also resign when a replacement is found.
Finance Mitsubishi has launched a “unique industry-leading customer retention and lead management system” to the Mitsubishi's UK dealer network.
HR Owen plc has reported a pre-tax loss for 2003 of £3.3 million, on turnover which was up £44 million to £534 million. It had made a pre-tax profit of £2.3 million in 2002. Before exceptional items and goodwill amortisation, the pre-tax loss was lower at £1.7m, but acquisitions, disposals and delayed delivery of new high-end models for its luxury/specialist franchises hit margins.
The OFT has launched its promised campaign to get car buyers to check the terms and conditions of manufacturer warranties on offer with new and nearly-new cars.
Neither of the French manufacturers has yet entered the SUV fray, but Renault is to use its Renault Samsung Motors subsidiary to make up for lost time.
Ford has contracted to acquire the Jardine Motors Group's 51% stake in Polar Motor Group, for an undisclosed sum - subject to EU approval – a process which Ford expects to take at least a month.
The average new car sold in 2003 emitted 9.3% less CO2 than models registered in 1997, according to the third and latest SMMT report on Uk registrations by C02 output. Based on data from 2003 new registrations, the figures also show a 1.2% year-on-year drop from 174.2 g/km in 2002 to 172.1 g/km in 2003.
RMI chief executive Matthew Carrington, speaking at the Garage Equipment Association (GEA) annual dinner last week, said “We are contacting all manufacturers, and although they have agreed to provide the information in principle, most have not said how this information will be delivered.
Although warranties provided by dealers as part of the sale of goods may not be considered to be insurance products, the RMI is advising dealers to register with the FSA anyway.
Ford and other dealers whose manufacturers' approved used car warranties were underwritten through Warranty Holdings have been prevented from completing deals pending new underwriting arrangements, following Ford's decision last week to put WH into administration last week.
Tata Motors has now signed a contract confirming its 100% takeover of Daewoo Commercial Vehicle, reports the Korea Times.
Minor, last-minute changes to the CarWise code requested by the OFT will delay its launch, RMI tells members.
The MOT test system is under extreme pressure, and could become severely stretched if MOT testers do not receive more frequent re-training, says the RMI.
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd has confirmed a series of senior management and organisational changes, effective from 1 April. The company is also preparing its organisation for the launch of its next three-year business plan, highlights of which Nissan will unveil on 26 April.
A report on a Spanish industry web site, autoindustria.com, says Ford has joined other ACEA members in asking for a special commission, independent of the EC Competition Directorate, to evaluate the costs of the industry of the new block exemption regulation.
The percentage of US new-vehicle buyers who owe more on their trade-in than it's worth has risen from 25% in 2001 to 38% now, according to JD Power.
First it was books and records; now it's holidays and cars. Consumers' attitudes towards buying products online is becoming more relaxed due largely to familiarity – more than half the UK's 25m homes have internet access, while many more people are online at work – which makes them more confident about the new breed of web traders.
Grants to motorists who convert their cars to LPG will end after the Government slashed by 30% funding for cleaner fuel vehicles.
