Renault and Nissan could be preparing to cement their relationship with a merger that would see the French and Japanese car manufacturers form a single corporation, reports have claimed.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has set out its priorities to assure the UK automotive industry’s future success – a year ahead of Brexit.
The average franchised car dealer missed out on £429 million of aftersales income by selling just 53% of urgently required work, according to the findings of autoVHC’s annual aftersales report.
Drivers in the West Midlands are paying £177 more to run their cars than any other region in the UK, prompting them to buy smaller, more efficient cars.
A partnership between Shell and ITM Power has resulted in the opening of the UK’s first hydrogen filling station to share a forecourt with petrol and diesel fuel pumps.
Cap HPI has reported that used car prices have risen an “eye-opening” 1.2% since the start of the year, following a 0.4% increase so far in March.
Government has granted local authorities an additional £100 million to help repair potholes caused by ice and snow.
Buyacar has highlighted car dealers’ “dash to pre-register cars” by identifying the top 18-plate used car bargains for potential customers – just weeks after the March plate-change got underway.
Europe’s continued growth in new car registrations “could become dependent on a select few markets” after 13 of the region’s 27 markets register sales declines, Jato Dynamics has revealed.
The point of sale (POS) consumer car finance market increased 7% by volume and 13% by value in January, according to the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA).
The average price of a used car sold at auction rose by 16.7% year-on-year in February, according to The National Association of Motor Auctions (NAMA) car auction data.
Diesel vehicles accounted for 53% of online used car searches via Auto Trader but the fuel type failed to keep pace with petrol powered alternatives 10% year-on-year price rise in February.
The average price of a used car reached its second-highest level on record for remarketing specialist BCA as demand remained high across its 24 auctions centres and online platform during February.
Used car sales grew 5.2% in February, says enquiryMAX Car dealers increased their used car sales by 5.4% during February as new sales faltered, enquiryMAX has found. Analysis of data from over 700 dealers showed new sales dropped by 14.5% during the month, despite a 30% jump in the number of sales leads delivered via manufacturers and a nominal 1% increase in enquiries via the web. The number of leads generated from the service department dropped by 1%, meanwhile. David Boyce, managing director of enquiryMAX, said: “Our latest analysis shows that 2018 is set to be the year of the used car. “Dealers with strong used car operations are maintaining sales momentum in a traditionally profitable area of business. “Cross-selling from the service department to sales is a low cost and efficient route to generating business, and this should be a focus for every dealer.” PCP penetration continued to grow with an increase from 65.8% in February 2017 to 69.5% in February 2018, according to enquiryMAX’s data. The number of sales completed on the first day showed a marginal decline of 1% and the average price of a part exchange increased from £7,727 to £8,659.
Cox Automotive has said that sales of used diesel vehicles have continued to contrast those of new diesel cars, despite a year-on-year price rise less than a third of those attracted by petrol counterparts.
Car dealers’ relationships with their manufacturer partners have suffered “further deterioration” amid the current uncertainty of the retail market, according to the latest results of the NFDA’s biannual Dealer Attitude Survey.
Auto Trader has insisted that the car “finance bubble” is not about to burst, claiming that the affordability it delivers is key to social mobility and cleaner motoring in the UK.
A landmark ruling that could see cities across Germany ban older diesel-fuelled vehicles from their streets could be set to impact manufacturing and used car residual values in the country.
UK car manufacturing a "stable" outlook with a year-on-year decline of just 0.05% after record exports drove the sector during January, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
Cap HPI has revealed the average price of a new car has risen 38% over the last decade, with a PCP-fuelled push towards SUVs and premium cars the main driver of change.
