CarsDirect Europe boss Kevin Gaskell has questioned the wisdom of Microsoft's sponsorship of the Paris motor show which opens this weekend.
Vauxhall Finance's new national marketing manager Andy Savage is planning to arm retailers with the tools to compete against direct lenders and high street operators for finance business.
Peter Rogers has been given the responsibility of shaping HR Owen's training policy after being appointed director of its new Academy.
Carmakers and franchised dealers have attacked an SMMT decision to allow internet-based Virgin Cars to have a high-profile presence at next month's Birmingham motor show. Dealers are not allowed to exhibit.
Honda UK boss Ken Keir predicts that the new Civic, unveiled at the Paris motor show, will raise its new car sales in the UK to “around 90,000” next year.
Vauxhall and Renault took the wraps off their latest joint venture at the Frankfurt commercial vehicle show. The Vauxhall Vivaro and Renault Trafic (same name but all-new for Renault) will be built at IBC Vehicles in Luton.
BSM, the UK's largest driving school franchise, has reconfirmed its fleet deal with Vauxhall for the new Corsa. It will take 2,500 cars in various specifications every seven months.
BMW has accepted that it should have invested more money on marketing the C1 in the UK after it returned disappointing sales figures.
William Jacks has announced losses of £513,000 on its Chiswick, west London, retail outlet designed to represent Rover, MG and new Mini. Its profit was halved.
September registrations after 20 days' trading were down 9.1% to 230,249 units on the corresponding period last year.
The first evidence of a strong fightback by franchised dealers in the face of internet-related competition comes in a survey by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (CGEY).
Volkswagen has given the Passat, launched in 1996, a mid-term makeover to compete with the new Ford Mondeo and Renault Laguna.
Parallel imports in the refinish sector are becoming as big a problem to paint manufacturers as they are to carmakers. Many paint companies remain tight-lipped about just how much these imports affect their business, but one or two company insiders are beginning to raise the alarm that the problem is growing – and dramatically.
Daewoo has enhanced its used car operation with extended warranties and an improved vehicle exchange policy to offer customers a new car buying experience.
Franchised and used car dealers posted significant growth in sales of older models last year, tightening their stranglehold over the private sector.
Auto Trader Interactive is overhauling its core database to handle growing demand from dealers and third party sources wanting to place used cars on the website.
Glass's Information Services has extended its Trader Desk vehicle marketing service for dealers by providing a link to Autopig.com, the online buying/selling service.
Paint manufacturers are beginning to take steps to catch up with the explosion in online trading.
HPI has teamed up with Orange, the mobile phone operator, to launch M-Check, which gives customers access to vehicle information via their phone handset.
Paint companies are offering body repairers backhanders as high as £500,000 in order to secure business, according to industry insiders.
Paint companies are split over whether refinish prices in the UK will have to rise by 7% or more as a result of recent oil price rises.
Vauxhall chairman and managing director Nick Reilly believes Virgin Cars' recent announcement that it is to start selling used cars through its internet site is due to the company's poor sales of new cars.<p>
Autobytel UK is terminating the contracts of all dealers in its network as a prelude to big changes. Exclusive territories are expected to be scrapped because of pressure from carmakers.
Renault UK has pledged dealers will make an average £1,000 profit on each nearly-new car as its To Go programme moves online to reach retail buyers direct.
A project team is believed to be making the final refinements to an online car sales programme to be launched soon by Tesco. An executive of an existing motor retailing online company said: “Tesco is close to an announcement”.
Online sales are already accounting for more than 2% of the UK car market, claims OneSwoop boss Hugh Morris: “We have seen the proportion rise and expect it to reach at least 4-5% by the end of next year.”
Manufacturers have been criticised for confusing X-plate customers with “a mixed bag of reductions, cashbacks and spec changes”. The Consumers' Association welcomed new Government rules which it said should lead to price cuts within a few months.
Small family-owned dealerships are better placed than large groups to react to market changes, said Ian Owen, managing director at Moss Pit Garage, Stafford. “We are playing the same game as larger groups, just not on the same scale,” said Mr Owen, whose business holds the Renault franchise.
Profits at Quicks Group have recovered now that major restructuring costs and other exceptional charges have been eliminated. In the first six months the company made £2.9m, up 64% from £1.8m year-on-year year. Turnover was down from £317.8m to £305.9m.
Rover franchising manager James Daulton has left under a voluntary redundancy scheme and will not be directly replaced. Regional directors Simon Gow (north) and Terry Hunt (south) assume day-to-day responsibility.
