News - Page 1525

David Coop, Citroen's new network development director, is looking to fill 37 open points this year, targeting retailers who are “good at new, used, private, fleet and LCVs”.

The pick-up to pep up the Isuzu network

Extending GM's competitive offerings and creating a new model for driver insurance, GMAC Insurance will use OnStar's vehicle use reporting capabilities to offer its US subscribers unique insurance products and premium discounts.

Renault is adding comprehensive car insurance to its range of services to customers in its home market, in partnership with Altima. It will be available from the Renault dealer network throughout France (where the latest statistics show insurance rates falling).

Instead of investing their £1.2m budget for promoting the Prius hybrid car in a standard press campaign across all national titles, Toyota GB and its media agency ZenithOptimedia have decided to concentrate all communication into the Daily & Sunday Telegraph and Guardian Newspapers Ltd.

The Department for Transport has today published national statistics on the use of privately owned vans. The survey was carried out over a 12-month period from October 2002 to September 2003, when around 2,500 van owners provided details of trips they made.

With 1,104,916 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motorcars sold, the BMW Group achieved a new sales volume record last year and surpassed the previous year's (2002) record of 1,057,344 units by 4.5%.

The European Commission has delayed indefinitely the threat of legal action in its attempt to get the German government to rescind the 1960 legislation which protects Volkswagen from hostile takeovers.

Alfa Romeo is offering five years' warranty to any retail customer who first registers a new Alfa 147 or 156 between 1 January and the end of March.

MG Rover Group has become the first major car manufacturer to adopt a new Internet-based customer support and management reporting service from Experian.

Unions representing workers at Land Rover announced yesterday that the next 24 hour stoppage will begin at 6 am on Monday 9th February.

CAP Black Book research has revealed an ongoing change in trade buying patterns, which indicates that the so-called 'concertina effect' of reduced value gaps between mileages is growing.

German BMW dealers' legal action over the company's decision to reduce their gross margins on sales of the new BMW 7 Series received a setback in the verdict of a Munich district court

An agreement between motor insurers and replacement vehicle providers is beneficial to consumers and satisfies the conditions for exemption under competition law provided that certain conditions are met, believes the Offfice of Fair Trading.

Toyota has overtaken Ford by achieving the world's second biggest vehicle sales volume – 6.78 million units, 10% up on 2002 – against Ford's 6.72m units last year. Toyota also displaced Chrysler in 2003 as the third largest supplier of vehicles to the US market.

The Consumer Federation of America has claimed retail finance rates negotiated by dealers cost consumers $1 billion a year, and that blacks and Hispanic car buyers are particularly disadvantaged.

Virgin has not yet commented in detail on a Sunday Times story of 25 January that Motor Solutions' Derek Cook is to take over the loss-making Virgin Cars operation. But the report confirms rumours circulating earlier in the month.

Amicus, TGWU and GMB members at Land Rover started their planned 24-hour strike action from 6 am today, Monday 26th January in rejection of the company's pay offer.

Owners of most Vauxhall vehicles up to eight years old and with less than 80,000 miles on the clock can now insure against repair and replacement of parts likely to cause MOT test failure with a £35 annual policy that can be transferred to a new owner.

Scion, Toyota's new youth-orientated car brand launched in California, has deployed an online chat room feature called LivePerson Service Edition, on www.scion.com.

German BMW dealers who had taken legal action over the company's decision to reduce their gross margins on sales of the new BMW 7 Series have received a setback in the verdict of a Munich district court, which last week confirmed on appeal a lower court's ruling of May 2003 that BMW had the right to amend its contract terms.

At Porsche's AGM, the company's President and CEO Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking has announced double-digit increases in both profit and revenue for the first half of the company's fiscal year, which began August 1, 2003.

The boards of Pendragon and CD Bramall announced their agreement today on the terms of a recommended cash offer to be made by KPMG Corporate Finance on behalf of Pendragon to acquire the whole of the share capital of CD Bramall.

Ford Motor Co. has reported a full year 2003 net profit of $495 million, representing a marked improvement on 2002 losses, and aided by a full-year pre-tax profit of $3.0 billion from Ford Motor Credit.

TRW Automotive Aftermarket has announced the move of its Luton manufacturing activity to its Frydlant plant in the Czech Republic. The decision involves a potential reduction of 71 jobs in the UK, and consultations have been started the employees and their representatives.

Figures released for UK car output by the ONS and SMMT show it rose 1.7 per cent to 1,657,558 million units in 2003.

The latest Alliance & Leicester New Car Price Index compiled by the Centre for Business & Economics Research says after three years, upper medium are worth 40.2% of their original price — 14.4 per cent lower than the average for all cars, and that the Laguna and Omega are the best three-year old bargains.

Nissan has announced several management appointments and changes in its sales and marketing operations in Europe, with effect from 1 March.

Helphire Group plc has informed the Stock Exchange that it has agreed to offer an ongoing replacement vehicle service to customers of Centrus Ltd and policy holders of its legal expense insurance product 'Safeguard'.

Mike O'Brien, Minister for International Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs told a CBI meeting on Wednesday that an EC discussion document on the possible introduction of a 'Made in the EU' label proposed by some Member States poses no threat to British businesses who wish to use 'Made in Britain'.