Over 420,000 new cars will be registered in the UK this month, pushing the year-to-date total ever closer to the expected 2.52 million units forecast by SMMT. This will make 2003 the second highest total on record, just 40,000 units short of last year's figure.
On Thursday last week, MG Rover's German sales company completed negotiations with its German dealer council over their new BER-compliant contracts, but new-car margins have yet to be fixed.
EurotaxSchwacke, the German sister company of Glass's in the EurotaxGlass's group ( www.schwacke.de) is to launch an online whole life cost database at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
A campaign urging dealers to play a proactive role in whiplash injury prevention, by showing buyers how to position their head restraints properly, is launched today to coincide with the new September '53' plate registrations.
Even before its official UK launch on 19 September, Citroën has revealed prices for its three-door supermini, the C2. Launch offers, including free insurance on performance models, will make the C2 available from under £7,000.
Over the past nine months Volvo's pilot car rental programme has proven to be a success and is now going to be extended to more dealerships around the UK. Ten dealerships1were involved in the pilot stage and they are all continuing with the scheme.
The Board of William Jacks PLC has announced it intends to apply to cancel the listing of the Company's entire issued share capital from the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and simultaneously apply to be admitted to the AIM.
Rolls-Royce is narrowly the leader among premium automotive brands in latest Harris EquiTrend brand quality/brand equity rankings.
Ford's dealers in the US are to have their DMS integrated with broadband Internet connection by the year-end.
The latest generation of run-flat tyres is failing to capture the imagination of new car buyers, according to AA Tyre Fit.
Nationwide Autocentre is to adopt 1link Service Network across its 190 UK outlets, formerly Lex Auto Centres before Nationwide's MBO. The epyx e-commerce platform is already in use at 75 Autocentres.
Sainsbury's Bank's latest Car Buying Index indicates that some 6.44 million people plan to buy a car between now and next February 2004, and will spend an average of £7,167.
The SUV Owners of America group (SUVOA) is delivering a petition with 6,065 supporter names to activist Arianna Huffington and other anti-SUV 'zealots', urging they stop encouraging groups like the Earth Liberation Front.
The independent directors of Ryland plc headed by chairman Peter Whale have increased their offer for Ryland from 155p to 160p per share, having already acquired Pendragon plc's 29.9% stake in the Midlands dealer group.
Unipart has launched a stand-alone kit aimed at helping bodyshops keep smart repairs in-house.
Latest figures from the A&L Car Price Index indicate that new car prices fell by 1.5% between July 2002 and July 2003. The same data shows the rate of new car price falls has steadily increased over the past four months.
Ford Motor Company has announced that Lewis Booth has been named president and chief operating officer of Ford Europe and that John Parker has been named executive vice president and assistant to the president at Mazda Motor Corporation. Separately, Mazda's Board of Directors has elected Hisakazu Imaki as its president and chief executive officer.
Citigroup Venture Capital Equity Partners has expressed an interest in investing $350 million in a stake in Federal-Mogul – which the Federal-Mogul board has welcomed.
The cheap and cheerful Lada Niva off-roader could make a comeback on British roads, but wearing a very different badge.
According to Lex Vehicle Leasing, its website had 17,000 visitors in July of this year. And the month before, www.lvl.co.uk received more visitors than any other major UK contract hire website.
Jump jockey Richard Dunwoody is to take part in the World Cup Rally, from London to the Sahara Desert, in Rover's new Streetwise 'urban on-roader'.
Kia Motors has ended 38 days of strikes yesterday by agreeing to an 8.8%, 98,000 won (US$84) wage increase as well as new bonus and incentive pay awards equal to three months' salary, and a five-day working week.
The SMMT has released ONS data that shows car output by British-based manufacturers was up 4.6% year on year in July. The month's output puts growth at 1.2% for the year to July.
AUTOBACS SEVEN, Japan's largest automotive aftermarket parts and accessories retailer, has opened a new SUPER AUTOBACS store in Orange County California, its first US outlet, claiming customers' “car lifestyle will never be the same”.
Motorpoint, which claims to be the UK's top-selling car supermarket, is predicting record sales of over 750 diesel cars during September with the new '53' number plate – 25% of the total cars it expects to sell.
VW's fifth-generation Golf was shown off to media in Wolfsburg yesterday, 25 August. The town is being temporarily re-named 'Golfsburg' in honour of the new model.
As part of a strategy to reduce repair costs and help prevent damaged vehicles from being written off, Ford has introduced price reductions of up to 31% on selected front-end collision parts for older cars and Transit vans.
DaimlerChrysler has agreed to settle out of court a consolidated class action case relating to the 1998 Daimler-Benz/Chrysler merger that created DaimlerChrysler, subject to a definitive settlement agreement and to Court approval.
Nick Ratcliffe, Head of Corporate Sales for DaimlerChrysler, has been appointed Marketing Director for the Mercedes Car Group. Simon Oldfield, who held the role previously, becomes National Sales Director.
Major dealer groups are preparing to reposition themselves as 'superfactors', wholesaling all-makes replacement parts to the aftermarket.
