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.
Volvo will reveal its all-new S40 at next month's Frankfurt Show. The new S40 will be the first Volvo built using Ford-based hardware and component sets since the Swedish carmaker was acquired by the American giant in early 1999.
A new online facility allowing drivers to book test drives at any time of the day or night goes live on September 1.
Retailers are set to claim more than £240m in overpaid VAT, according to financial experts.
David Callery, managing director of the Factoring Service Group, has resigned after 12 years to join Leyland Auto Electrical and Diesel as managing director.
Strict new rules aimed at cracking down on car finance frauds come into force next month, requiring dealers to run tight ID checks on all credit applicants.
Martin Leach, the British president of Ford of Europe, has quit the company just one year into the job and after the manufacturer revealed a second quarter loss of £326m.
Motorhouse 2000, one of the UK's largest car supermarkets, has opened a new site boosting next year's projected turnover to £150m.
Hyundai, South Korea's biggest carmaker, saw quarterly profits increase by 86 per cent thanks to strong European and US demand.
CD Bramall has consolidated its position among the top dealer groups in the UK with a strong set of results for the six months to June 30, 2003. Pre-tax profits rose 28 per cent to £17.1m and turnover soared 57 per cent to £905m following last year's acquisition of Quicks.
Garage owners could find themselves in the dock as part of a major negligence crackdown by police and the Health and Safety Executive.
Sunwin Motor Group, one of Yorkshire's largest traders, has bought the Renault franchise for Preston and Blackpool following Caledonia's decision to split with the marque.
Saab will take the wraps off a new sports hatch concept (pictured below) at next month's Frankfurt motor show as it prepares to launch the 9-3 estate next year.
Black Horse Motor Finance has been forced to speed up the introduction of its new approved dealer scheme after an unprecedented level of interest from retailers.
Aston Martin faces further industrial action this week after the Transport and General Workers Union announced strike dates.
