Sytner BMW in Nottingham has opened a new £10m development that it claims is one of the largest dealerships for BMW in Europe.
Sussex dealer group Caffyns made pre-tax profits of £1.5m for the six months to September, a 12 per cent drop on the same period in 2002.
Euro NCAP has announced details of a new crash rating designed to measure the protection given to children in passenger cars, but the AA has questioned the relevance of the new ratings to most parents.
Manufacturers are embracing a new training initiative designed to improve sales standards in the dealership and encourage more people into the industry.
Peugeot is considering staging a special one-marque event for its dealers at next year's Sunday Times Motor Show Live in Birmingham.
Dealers left reeling from any negative impact of block exemption are being urged to complain to a more robust Office of Fair Trading. From May 1, 2004, the OFT will have greater power and resources to look at the issues arising from changes to the way new cars are sold.
This is BMW's new E60 5-series estate, caught on a photographic shoot in South Africa. This late pre-production car is being used for brochure and press photography in preparation for the E60 estate's public debut at the Geneva Show next March.
Manufacturing in the UK is facing unprecedented pressure and even a new report from the SMMT suggests survival is by no means guaranteed. Mark Catterall looks at the arguments
Nidd Vale Group, the Yorkshire-based motor retailer, is investing more than £1m in new facilities and drawing up a new internet sales strategy to help grow its business.
Carshock, the car supermarket, plans to quadruple its turnover in the next three years. The £20m-turnover firm, which is based in the north-east, aims to open a site every three months.
Richard Tomkins has resigned as head of Sun Diagnostics in the UK after more than 20 years in the job. His departure appears to have taken Sun by surprise – no official statement has been issued – although a spokesman confirms that the company has begun the process of recruiting a new director.
Accident solutions provider the Helphire Group increased turnover by 34 per cent in the third quarter of 2003, compared to the same period last year. Gross profit also increased by 44.6 per cent to £14.2m.
Bodyshops will now be able to source all their paint from the Morelli Group after the UK's largest independent distributor snapped up rival firm Car Paints Group for an undisclosed sum.
Independent vehicle inspection service, Used Car Checks is offering tailored packages for the motor trade as Used Car Checks Inspected. The firm is estimating it will check between 10,000 and 20,000 cars a year in its first two years, and eventually expects to be inspecting up to 1000 a week.
Fintrade Technologies, the alloy wheels specialist, is to stop UK production at its factory in Kent, making 180 workers redundant.
Only three per cent of independent garages have applied to manufacturers to become approved repairers, according to a new survey.
ReMIT, the RMI's technician training arm, has welcomed the Chancellor's pre-Budget announcement of the extension of skills training allowances for high skills training (allowances were previously only available for low skills training).
The Chancellor's pre-Budget statement confirmed that the Treasury has decided that the environmental benefits of LPG did not warrant the current level of fuel duty incentive. Duty on LPG will gradually rise during the next three years to a level “more consistent with its perceived benefits”.
On company car tax, the Government's pre-Budget statement on 10 December said that it will analyse the impact of recent changes to company car taxation before making decisions about further changes.
The Internet presence of U.S. franchised new car and truck dealers has reached an all-time high this year, according to new survey research from the National Automobile Dealers Association's (NADA) Industry Analysis Division.
Reg Vardy, one of the UK's biggest dealer group's, saw takings rocket on the back of record new car sales for the six months to October. Pre-tax profits were up 35.2 per cent to £24.6m on a turnover of £794.6m – up 18 per cent from £668.7 in 2002.
Vauxhall has launched a 'Complete Motoring Plan', a fixed cost servicing, repair and maintenance scheme costing from £15 per month. Vehicles up to five years old and 60,000 miles are eligible. A servicing-only plan is also on offer.
Nissan workers in the company's purchasing department have voted by 75% for strike action for the first time in the Sunderland plant's history.
Perodua UK, the subsidiary of dealer group European Motor Holdings, has signed a five-year extension to its current exclusive distributor agreement with Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd.
MMA Insurance plc (MMA), the intermediary-only insurer, has become the first insurer to recommend the ClaimWatch® system to its repairer network. The decision follows a six-month trial period when several MMA Approved Repairers used the system.
According to a file deposited in a US District Court by Ford Motor Co. yesterday, former Ford of Europe president Martin Leach, who has sued the company over a non-compete arrangement that cost him a job heading Fiat Auto, was secretly negotiating for a job at Fiat two months before he left Ford.
Korean 4x4 manufacturer Ssangyong, whose Korean creditors are awaiting bids for a controlling 55.4% stake tomorrow, has a further year to sort out its debts.
A Washington, DC consumer group Public Citizen has won extensive media coverage for its claim that millions of consumers are subjected to a wide range of unnecessary fees and charges when buying a new car or truck.
The revised Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) Code of Practice on Equal Pay came into force on 1 December 2003. It clarifies what employers have to do to comply with equal pay law, and as a result can be used as evidence in sex discrimination and equal pay cases.
Vauxhall's Zafira has topped the latest Warranty Direct Reliability Index for used seven-seater MPVs.
