Emma Stanley joins the Honda UK public relations team this week as new PR operations manager for cars
Budget Rent a Car has added four new locations to its UK network following the appointment of Regal Vehicle Rentals as a franchise in the North West. The four new locations are Chester, Manchester South, Warrington and Workington. Budget now operates 80 locations in the UK and is actively seeking to expand its network further.
An RAC Warranty team is on the lookout for dealers who are displaying the RAC brand incorrectly.
Romans Motor Company, the MG Rover dealership in Wetherby Road, Harrogate has appointed Michael Harrison as its new dealer principal.
General Motors yesterday announced its plans to continue the growth of its business in China. Pending government approval, the total amount of new investment is expected to exceed US$3 bn (£1.63bn) over the next three years.
The largest ever gathering of Longbridge-built motor vehicles will take place for a weekend of celebrations beginning on July 8, 2004 to celebrate the founding of the Austin Motor Company and 100 years of continuous motor vehicle production at the plant.
Jaguar sales in Britain and Europe further strengthened during May, driven by wider availability of the new Jaguar diesels and X-Type Estate, to record a 31% improvement over May 2003 and to maintain the overall growth trend seen through the year so far.
Flying the flag for England could cost motorists a £2,500 fine or three penalty points on their licence.
Fiat has introduced its new Multipla, which it first showed at this year's Geneva Motor Show.
Fiat Auto's Barchetta sportscar has become available again in the UK.
A new Freelander derivative, the 1.8 XEi Special Edition, is now on sale, available from £16,995 for the 3 door, and £18,995 for the 5 door.
Logistics, aftersales, marketing and sales specialist Andrew Lester has been appointed to the new post of country manager for Alfa Romeo in the UK. He replaces managing director Glyn Owen, who has left the company after two years in the job.
Mitsubishi Motors has negotiated a $4bn (£2.17bn) rescue package with Japanese and US investors, following the decision by DaimlerChrysler not to invest more turnaround money.
HM Customs has agreed to repay Lookers Group for VAT overpaid on demonstrator vehicles between 1997 and 1996. The total amount receivable, net of expenses, will be at least £15m.
The headline will provoke a collective groan from proprietors of the UK’s 18,500 vehicle test stations, but it’s a fact: the national implementation of computerised MoT that should have happened in 2002, then 2003 and then earlier this year has been put back until at least November.
After lying dormant for decades, Maserati is being re-invented as a proper sports-luxury brand to compete with Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Jaguar.
Volkswagen retailer Gilders has reported a significant increase in the percentage of its service customers who say they would recommend its dealership at Banner Cross in Sheffield.
Jennings has taken on the Subaru franchise for Middlesbrough, spending £800,000 – including some TV advertising – on adding the marque to its existing Ford, Mazda and Seat dealerships there. It is also the first dealership in the country to get the new Subaru corporate ID.
Revisions to the Audi retail network have seen around 38 of the 120 outlets change hands over the past 12 months. The process is part of a strategy that will see the company cut the number of partners from 90 in 2000 to 40. At the end of this year it expects to have 50.
Gowrings is to quit the motor business to focus entirely on its chain of Burger King outlets. Having sold its Ford dealerships some 18 months ago, the comp-any is now selling its three bodyshop in Oxford, Swindon and Wokingham to Nationwide Accident Repair Services.
Whitehouse Group is battling to save 80 jobs after losing the Volks-wagen franchises in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells in Kent.
TVR has fired six dealers over the past 18 months while fellow specialist sports car maker Noble has scrapped its retailer network.
Mitsubishi dealerships are to get a new corporate look – starting with the company’s own dealership at the head office in Cirencester, Gloucestershire. Until now, dealers have had a degree of freedom to choose their own branding.
Zurich Insurance has axed a number of approved repairers in the North-west and Midlands, and is now likely to target Scotland.
Seven out of 10 body repairers think none of the bodyshop trade associations meet the needs of the industry, according to a poll conducted on the Auto Body Projects website.
Kia Motors UK is close to signing contracts with two major quoted UK dealer groups as the crucial next phase of its sales growth.
Renrod Motor Group is developing a four-franchise motor park at the Meridian Business Park in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. When completed this autumn, it will include Vauxhall, Toyota, Renault and Nissan dealerships, and is believed to be the first development of its kind in the area.
The prospect of renewed fuel protests in the UK beginning this weekend threatens to damage residual values, claims Glass's
