F&I Management & Training

FAST-GROWING Vertu Motors has added four Honda car outlets and one Honda motorcycle dealership.
Yesterday it paid £4.6m for Grantham Motor Company 's outlets in Grantham, Lincoln, Boston and Retford.
The acquisition includes two freeholds, one long leasehold and one leasehold property. The net asset value as at 31 December 2006 was £1.4m, which included £1.6m of property assets.
In the year to 31 December 2006, Grantham Motor Company made £0.8m of profit before taxation with turnover of £50m.
Vertu now has 45 outlets but these are the first Honda outlets in the group which, by turnover, is now the tenth largest motor retailer in the United Kingdom.

DATED: 29.06.07

FEED: AW

THE ARNOLD Clark retail motor empire, with sales last year of almost £1.9bn, has become Scotland's largest private company.
Perhaps more significantly, it has reached 11th position in Britain's top 100 private companies.
Created by Sir Arnold Clark in 1954, the group now has 140 nationwide outlets and last year recorded its best sales year.
Currently, the group is planning to open one of Britain's biggest car showrooms, a £10m dealership in Staffordshire, covering 10-acres.
Other private automotive companies in the list (compiled by accountancy firm KPMG and Oxford research company, Fast Track) include;

17th - TI Automotive (£1.6bn)
24th - Camden Motor Group (£1.2bn)
27th - Unipart (£1.1bn)
42nd - Kwik-Fit - (£798m)
66th - Casparo Group ((£587m)
68th - Lister Group (£575m)
70th - The Marshall Group (£574m)
71st - Bloor Group (Triumph motorcycles) (£567m)
73rd - Greenhouse Group (£555m)
77th - JCT600 (£538m)
98th - Formula One Administration (£433m)

DATED: 29.06.07

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ALFA ROMEO dealers in the UK could be selling Fiat's Lancia brand by the year 2009.
Probably around a third of Alfa's 60+ UK dealerships will be signed-up for the brand which was last sold in the UK 15-years ago.
The car to spearhead Lancia's UK return will be a right-hand drive version of the Delta, a hatch built on the platform of the Fiat Bravo which is being launched in the UK this month.
Steve Norman, Fiat Auto's worldwide marketing director showed some caution over the exact timing, saying the final decision has not yet been taken. "The Delta will be the perfect car to re-launch the brand in the UK," he said.

DATED: 29.06.07

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Group to wait for best buyer for Ford-owned brands.

Inchcape will not be rushed into a sale of its Jaguar and Land Rover franchises despite the uncertainty created by Ford’s decision to dispose of the brands.


“They are all good performing operations. We will sell at the right time and the right price,” said Ken Lee, group communications director.
Inchcape is currently seeking buyers for 47 outlets as it moves to cut down its portfolio from 21 to eight brands.
Lee said the group’s target was to be the “number one or number two” franchise partner for Mercedes, Smart, Audi, VW, BMW, Mini, Toyota, Lexus and Honda across the UK.

DATED: 29.06.07

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Motor insurance quotes have reached their highest point in two years, according to Experian, the global information solutions company.

The average quote for a private, comprehensive motor insurance rose by 7.9 per cent since May 2006 from £519 to £560.
The intermediary market also saw premium rises with the average reaching £529, although it was still 0.6 per cent lower than the same time last year.
Third party, fire and theft motor insurance premiums continued to emerge as significantly higher than comprehensive motor insurance premiums. This was mainly due to its association with younger drivers with low or no voluntary excess.

DATED: 29.06.07

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Slump in used car values has hit group's performance

Pendragon has insisted the profit warning issued this week did not result from difficulties with integrating the Reg Vardy network into its operation but from economic conditions affecting UK motor retailing as a whole.

“It's not at all to do with Reg Vardy,” Trevor Finn, chief executive of the UK's largest dealer group, told Motor Trader.
“Everyone is bemoaning the state of the job, dealer composites are at their lowest for a long time.”
He said the trade downturn was not a geographic issue and not specific to particular brands but caused by interest rate rises hitting consumer spending and an oversupply of heavily incentivised new cars putting pressure on the used market.

DATED: 29.06.07

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NANJING MG promised this morning that it will announce its retail network shortly.
It is currently reviewing what it says is an 'overwhelming response' from dealers wishing to become an MG franchised dealer.
Enthusiasm has come not only from retailers within the UK but, also, from dealers in Greece and South Africa.
The majority of applicants in the UK, a key market for MG cars, are former MG franchise dealers, confirmed Nanjing MG.

DATED: 29.06.07

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UK RETAILER, Lookers, has been crowned with the title of Best Shareholder Value in Europe.
The Manchester retailer won the Price Waterhouse Cooper's award amongst European retailers for its share performance over both 1-year and 3-year.
Over 1-year to the end of April, Lookers' shares produced a 49.4% return. In the past 3-year period, the return was 2923.3%.
In the 1-year time-frame, HR Owen was second ( 31.3%) and Inchcape was third (30.7%)
Pendragon, the only other UK retailer in the top 6, was 5th (2.7%)PWC said that Lookers' mix of new and used car sales and its range of aftermarket activities showed it could deliver strong earnings growth.

DATED: 29.06.07

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PEUGEOT'S new 308 five-door hatchback will be launched in the UK in September.
It is the first of the company's '8' generation and will be available with 5 petrol (1.4 to 1.6-litres) and 5 petrol engines (1.6 litre HDi 90 bhp to 2.0 litre HDi 136 bhp),
A bio Flex engine is also on the way and there is the possibility of Peugeot's HDi Hybrid technology being introduced much later.A number of different body shapes will be introduced over the coming months.

DATED: 29.06.07

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FOLLOWING PENDRAGON'S profits warning this week, Inchcape, today, reports that like-for-like sales in its first 5-months are only 3.1% ahead on a constant currency basis.
The picture looks rosier when acquisitions are factored into the equation as total sales for the first five months of 2007 were up 31% in local currencies.
But 16.3% of that gain comes from the acquisition of European Motor Holdings in the UK and a further 11.6% from other acquisitions.

DATED: 29.06.07

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FORMER HEAD of driver and fleet solutions at ROSPA, Charles Davies, has been appointed director of fundraising and communications at the automotive charity, BEN.
He plans an awareness campaign directed at both existing supporters and to those companies who still need to understand how BEN can help staff within the automotive industry.
"We must broaden our donor base across all sectors and this involves corporate donations and donations through payroll giving," he said.
"If every company did something for BEN, this would solve our financial problems overnight."

DATED: 29.06.07

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TOYOTA has been named Best Car Manufacturer in Which's first presentations to the best products and services in the UK.
The winners were announced yesterday afternoon at a ceremony held at the British Museum.
Compered by broadcaster Fiona Bruce, there was a presentation from Richard Lambert, director general of the CBI, and Gordon Brown - who was elsewhere engaged at the time - also provided a special recorded message of support for the event.
The Consumer Association was formed 50-years ago

DATED: 29.06.07

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FLEET OWNERS are looking forward to improved residual values as a result of the UK smoking ban coming into force this week-end.
With the new legislation in force from 1 July, many company vehicles will be classified as being primarily used for business purposes and smoking will not be allowed in them. This means many fewer ex-fleet cars should be offered for sale with 'smokers' damage'.
"Research we have carried out with buyers shows they place presentation on a par with, if not above, a service history or details of previous ownership," commented BCA's network operations director, Simon Henstock. "And presentation is not just about how the vehicle looks, but how it smells," he added.
"Smoking in a vehicle reduces its value and now fleet managers have an effective means to combat that practice."

DATED: 29.06.07

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JCT 600 is to re-instate its former headquarters building in Bradford as a dealership.
The building will be converted back into a showroom for Saab and Chevrolet.
JCT 600 moved into its new £3m headquarters at Apperley Bridge, Rawdon in late December 2006.

The Yorkshire independent retailer has also acquired the Vauxhall franchise in Castleford. The franchise was previously operated by Pendragon.

DATED: 25.06.07

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CONTRACT HIRE companies, end users and emergency services have been testing Skoda's Octavia Scout and Roomster Scout at the Langdale Quest Off-Road Centre, Yorkshire.
"The 4x4 Octavia Scout is clearly a great fit for any police fleet thanks to its new off-road ability," said Gary Mallett, fleet specification manager at West Midlands Police.
"Skodas already constitute a large part of our fleet and we are impressed with their performance and reliability. With such great vehicles and great relationship we have with the business team at Skoda, we will be back for more."

Martin Burke, head of business sales at Skoda, said the feedback from the event was very good. "Both vehicles will do well in the fleet market," he said.

DATED: 25.06.07

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Chrysler Group
DaimlerChrysler

Cerberus takeover causes network unrest
Chrysler UK management will spend next week on a six-venue roadshow to reassure dealers unsettled by the recent sale of the manufacturer to private equity company Cerberus.

Dealers have expressed fears of asset-stripping by Cerberus after the company acquired 81 per cent of Chrysler from Daimler-Benz, which merged with the US maker seven years ago.
Chrysler UK managing director Peter Lambert will miss the UK media launch of the Jeep Patriot and Dodge Nitro to head up the dealer meetings.

DATED: 25.06.07

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Sytner
William Jacks

Sytner claims to have doubled margins in the struggling William Jacks dealerships it took on board last year.

The prestige brand group, ranked two in the Motor Trader Top 200, snapped up the home counties-based business, which consisted of 16 outlets, for £10.4m in March 2006.
Having off loaded the four Volvo dealerships that came as part of the deal, Sytner set about turning around the BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce franchises in Sunningdale, the Redhill Honda business and the Jaguar and Land Rover sites that comprised the rest of the William Jacks portfolio.

DATED: 25.06.07

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Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander has launched a consultation aimed at boosting the use of biofuels.

This is part of the government’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, which requires 5 per cent of all the fuel sold on UK forecourts to come from biofuels by 2010.

DATED: 25.06.07

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Pendragon UK's biggest car dealer stung by market slowdown

Pendragon, the UK’s largest car dealer, has warned that a slowdown in consumer spending is set to blow a £20m hole in profits this year.

Finn: Profits warning -->
In a statement to the stock exchange, Pendragon chief executive Trevor Finn said spending had been hit by uncertainty over interest rate rises, which would also affect profits in 2008.
“We believe the slowdown in consumer spending will continue into next year and will adversely affect our operating profits this year by £20m and by £10m in 2008,” said Finn.
“Of the £20m reduction this year, approximately £5m is due to a reduction of 4 per cent in the number of new and used vehicle unit sales and the remainder is due to a reduction in vehicle operating margin of approximately £50 per unit.”
Share price fall
Following the disclosure this morning Pendragon’s shares plummeted 16.75p - 17 per cent - to 81.25p.
Finn said there would be little respite for the group as the used car market was highly pressurised due to a slowdown in consumer spending and manufacturers forcing new cars into the market through pre- registrations.
“The negative effect of manufacturers seeking to protect volumes in the new car market is that consumers switch away from used cars as they see greater value in new cars,” Finn said.
“We expect this consumer switching to reduce our used car margins and unit sales this year compared to last year.”
Acquisition possibilities
Despite the market downturn, Pendragon, which acquired Reg Vardy for £500m last year, did not rule out further expansion.
Finn said in previous downturns the group had been successful in identifying opportunities for further consolidation.
“We expect to be able to continue to do so as smaller dealers seek to exit this difficult trading environment,” he added.

DATED: 25.06.07

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The British Insurance Brokers’ Association has welcomed the DTI’s moves to allow intermediaries and insurer’s to email motor insurance certificates to customers.
BIBA said it believed the move could save up to £11m in savings for the intermediary sector.
Electronic delivery would reduce delivery time as well as crating better adherence to FSA contract certainty requirements, it maintained.
Additionally, the environmental impact could be significant, with a significant reduction in the 30m letters printed annually to arrange insurance policies.
BIBA technical services manager Graeme Trudgill said: “The insurance industry has been forced to stay in the dark ages for too long, and we are eager to start providing up-to-date services to our customers.
“We believe that allowing the insurance industry to issue electronic certificates would have a positive effect for consumers, the industry and the environment.

DATED: 24.06.07

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Luxury brand picks up top honours in car security awards
Audi was yesterday named as the best manufacturer for car security in the 2007 British Insurance Car Security Awards.

The award is given to the carmaker that produces the safest model ranges over the 12 months to the end April.
Volvo took second place overall, boosted by its new Personal Car Communicator, which alerts a driver returning to their car if someone is hiding in the vehicle.
The PCC, which sends a signal to the driver's key fob, also received the innovation award.

DATED: 24.06.07

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Warranty Direct, the mechanical breakdown insurance provider, claims motorists will pay a total of £177m to fix in-car air conditioning systems this year.
The number of air conditioning claims handled by the firm has jumped by over 300 per cent year-on-year as people switch their systems on after the long winter.
While air conditioning represents only 3.73 percent of all mechanical failure on a modern car, it is the third most expensive item to repair after the engine and transmission.
High labour charges
This is often due to the high labour charges stemming from long jobs fixing the system.
“People continue to be amazed at how expensive it is to fix air-con,” said Duncan McClure Fisher of Warranty Direct.
“To help prevent failure, it’s advisable to use the air-con for at least ten mins every week and get it serviced every couple of years.”


DATED: 24.06.07

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Renault has named the sticker price for the new Twingo which is set to hit UK showrooms for the first time in September.

In the UK the Twingo will be available in two engines and trims and goes on sale on 7 September.
The Dynamique trim, with a 1.2 16V 75 petrol engine, is priced at £8,375 and the GT version is £9,995.
The small car is the first vehicle in an extensive range renewal programme under the Renault Commitment 2009 plan.
The Twingo first went on sale 14 years ago and Renault claims the car has achieved worldwide sales of 2.4 million units.

DATED: 24.06.07

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Careless advertising patter can cost used car sales, according to a study for the Craigslist free classified ads website.

'Careful Lady Owner' tops buyer's hate list followed by unexplained technical abbreviations like 'ABS' and 'PAS'.
Terms including 'Fully Loaded, 'No Time-Wasters,' 'Lovely Runner,' 'First to see will buy,' 'genuine reason for sale,' 'priced to sell,' and finally 'Baby Forces sale,' were also loathed.
“Certain phrases turn up so often in used car ads that they have almost become clichés,” said Craigslist boss Jim Buckmaster.
“We're not sure what people have against careful lady owners but it sounds like such owners should consider another approach, especially if they're hoping to sell to men.”
The company employed the YouGov polling organisation to carry out the survey and questioned 2,000 buyers.

DATED: 24.06.07

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VOLVO is looking at sales of 5,000 unit's a year for its small C30.
"The C30 is beginning to work for us. We are still just a very small player in this segment of the market but what we can bring to it is all the Volvo core values," said managing director, Stuart Kerr.
"We will just have to learn how to play in the segment and that goes for the dealers as well. If we can get up to 5,000 sales a year then we will be happy."
He admitted to a fairly late start in terms of UK sales - "We wanted to make sure we had a stable supply of vehicles.
"Historically our customers are not C30 buyers but if you look at the way the market is going, with people downsizing, we do have a very broad, over-50s customer base with a lot of disposable income.

DATED: 24.06.07

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THE CHINESE-built BS6 model from Brilliance China, developed for Europe, has failed miserably in German tests.
The mid-size saloon scored only one out of a possible five stars in a crash test by the auto association ADAC.
The car is already on sale in Germany.
"In the event of a side crash, the strain on the driver's chest and abdominal area would be so high that a person would have little chance of surviving in a real accident," said the association.
The car is distributed by HSO S.a.r.l.
After the results, Brilliance informed AutoWired that product improvements will be implemented efficiently with ADAC support.

DATED: 24.06.07

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CITROEN is set to continue its series of Fleet Open Day Driving Extravaganzas this July, offering company car drivers and their families a great fun-filled day.
Prodrive's purpose-built test track in Warwick will play host to the event on 7th July with a further day planned on 14th July at Top Gear's Dunsfold facility in Surrey.

DATED: 24.06.07

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SCRAP SPEED CAMERAS WEEK' in the UK will be launched today, Sunday 24th June.
"We're launching the Week for one reason and one reason only. Speed cameras are making road safety worse," says organiser, Paul Smith of SafeSpeed.org.uk. "We absolutely must get rid of them to refocus road safety efforts on the things that matter - not the things that are easy to measure."
"Speed cameras have only been supported by dodgy statistics, wishful thinking and false assumptions. They have failed to make our roads safer and now they must go."
Petition
The site has a petition which closes on 26 June and which will then be handed to 10 Downing Street.
Since setting up Safe Speed in 2001, Paul Smith (52) an advanced driver and road safety enthusiast, and a professional engineer of 25-years UK experience, has carried out over 22,000-hours working on the campaign. Well over 6,000 of those hours have been spent researching the overall effects of speed camera policy on UK road safety.
In addition to those 22,000 hours, Paul has funded to campaign to the tune of £10,000.
"We believe that this is more work in more detail than anything carried out by any other organisation."
His conclusion is that overall speed cameras make our roads more dangerous.
He has identified and reported a number of major flaws and false assumptions in the claims made for speed cameras, and the whole "speed kills" system of road safety.
"The inescapable conclusion is that we should urgently return to the excellent road safety policies that gave us in the UK the safest roads in the World in the first place. Far from saving lives, speed cameras are a dangerous distraction."
Safe Speed does not campaign against speed limits or appropriate enforcement of motoring laws, but argues vigorously that automated speed enforcement is neither safe nor appropriate.
Safe Speed is very slimly funded by voluntary contributions to the web site.

DATED: 24.06.07

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CLIVE ATTHOWE, of Atthowe Tuning in Norwich has been named 'Top Technician' .
He collected his prize at the GEA/Aftermarket Technical Workshop in Warwickshire.
David Wagstaff, from DC Mardles Motor Engineer in Exeter, and Elliot Waters, from Dick Lovett Ferrari/Maserati in Swindon, were joint runners-up.
The trio won through to the finals at last month's ATS Show.
They received their prizes from IMI judge Ian Gillgrass.

DATED: 24.06.07

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TELFORD MOTOR Auctions and Queensferry Motor Auctions have both been bought by Wilsons Auctions of N. Ireland from Inchcape.
No financial details are being disclosed but Peter Johnston, Wilson's group operations director, confirmed that the company had been searching for acquisitions on the mainland for some time.
"These facilities met with all our criteria," he said. "From a strategic perspective, this is an excellent acquisition."

DATED: 24.06.07

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SYTNER-OWNED, Mercedes-Benz of Bristol, claimed that around 1,000 people turned-up for the double launch of the new-look dealership and the latest-generation C-Class Saloon, last week.
Traffic jams were caused around the main route to the Cribbs Causeway retailer.
The Sytner outlet is now one of the biggest Mercedes-Benz outlets in the UK following its multi-million pound development.

DATED: 24.06.07

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ROGER PUTNAM, former chairman of Ford of Britain and president of the Society of Motor Manufacturers, was included in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

He was awarded the CBE for service to the Automotive Industry.

DATED: 24.06.07

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ROLLS-ROYCE opened its second showroom in Russia on Friday.
And it went off with a bang. The grand opening was marked by a cannon shot from the Petropavlovskaya fortress; in Petersburg, a tradition to signal the most important events which take place in the city.
"We are delighted to open for business in St Petersburg, with this outstanding new showroom," said R-R chairman and CEO, Ian Robertson.

DATED: 24.06.07

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NEW MARKETING and sales directors have been appointed at Nissan UK.
Vincent Wijnen becomes marketing director and Kevin Butler takes on the role of sales director.

Wijnen, who was sales director, takes on the marketing top-spot from Justin Elias who has returned to Renault UK after an 18-month stint with Nissan.
Butler steps-up as sales director having been general manager of re-marketing and fleet management.

DATED: 24.06.07

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MEMBERS OF Nissan's board of directors will not take bonuses, this year, because the Japanese company had failed to meet its targets.
"In 2006, we did not meet our fiscal-year performance objectives, and we are taking that responsibility seriously," chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, told a shareholders meeting.

DATED: 24.06.07

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USED CAR dealership, Cannock Automobiles, in Staffordshire, has suddenly closed.
All cars have disappeared from the premises which are now locked and empty.
The company had been trading for 32-years.

DATED: 24.06.07

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WILLIAM RILEY'S plans to revive his old automotive family name has shot further forward this week.As reported in AutoWired in March, he is coming-out of retirement to build sports cars in Blackpool.
He is to rent the former TVR factory at Bristol Avenue, Bispham as a short-term measure and hopes to receive the first chassis from Italy by July 1.
He said he has already hired a number of former TVR staff. "We will start work as soon as we have the chassis," he said.
In the long-term, however, he has paid Blackpool Council £400,000 for land at the Technology Park and will be investing around £1.5m on a new factory on the site.
"For the time being, however, I will be producing two cars from the former TVR factory at Bristol Avenue.

DATED: 24.06.07

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GARY SHEARER, general manager of Evans Halshaw Vauxhall, Nottingham, has joined Vertu Motors as general manager of the Bristol Street Citroen dealership in Derby. The dealership was relocated in February to the former Inchcape Toyota site on Sir Frank Whittle Way.

DATED: 24.06.07

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ANALYST, Mike Allen of Panmure Gordon downgrades Pendragon from "buy" to "hold".

He said that the company's trading performance continues to be under pressure on account of rising interest rates and company-specific issues due to the ongoing disposal programme.
"The purchase of the Jaguar and Land Rover brands by private equity could lead to downsizing," he said, "which would exert pressure on dealer's margins.
Pendragon is scheduled to issue a trading up-date this Friday.

DATED: 24.06.07

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UK CAR production in May showed a 2.9% decline to 128,483 units, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Production of cars for export (103,045 units) was down by 2.3% and production for the home market dropped 5.4% (25,438 units).
"The car production figures continue to reflect the loss of Peugeot, with over 9,000 units missing compared to May last year," said Christopher Macgowan, SMMT chief executive. "However, this month was just 3,833 down and so we remain optimistic that production in 2007 will hit, at the very least, the same volume as last year."
Year-to-date production figures show a decline of 5.1% to 626,777 units.
Commercial Vehicles
It was better news for UK production of commercial vehicles.
A total of 16,955 commercial vehicles was produced - a 12.3% rise. Production for the home market (6,415 units) showed a 34% rise in the month. Year-to-date, figures show a 2% increase at 90,853 units.
"It is the sheer diversity of the British automotive sector that helps keep it on an even keel," said Macgowan. "Trucks and vans - diverse products themselves - continue to add value to UK plc, with 60.8% of production so far this year heading for export markets."

DATED: 24.06.07

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A SALESMAN at a Yorkshire Ford dealership has been jailed for 18-months for theft and false accounting.
During a 4-year period, Mohammed Ashraf (45) pocketed nearly £50,000 by hiding the true details of his sales at Otley Motors.
The offences were committed between 2000 to 2004. No customers had lost money but the company loss totalled £49,535.
The court heard that it was the third time he had breached the trust of employers.
He asked for 222 other offences to be considered.
He was also given a further two months consecutive jail for jumping bail.

DATED: 24.06.07

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A NEW study of C02 emissions by the SMMT, due out next month, will show a positive move by UK motorists into cars with lower C02 emissions.
By comparing road tax bands, which are based on tailpipe CO2, the report will show 60.7% of new cars sold last year fell within the cleanest bands A-D (under 165 g/km) compared with just 43.1% in 2000.
How much the drift into cars with lower emissions is due to buyers' green aspirations or because more cars, today, are incorporating lower emissions technology is not clear.

DATED: 24.06.07

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MASERATI has just completed a 2-day spectacle of glamour and glitz in London.
Model and racing driver, Jodi Kidd, provided the glamour while the new Gran Turismo supplied the glitz.
Even the sheet draped over the Pininfarina designed vehicle was pure silk.
"I am extremely proud of hosting this UK premiere of the Gran Turismo," said Andrea Antonnicola, managing director of Maserati UK. "It is a car which has been enthusiastically received worldwide, after its debut at the Geneva Show earlier this year. It continues a tradition of great Maserati grand touring cars, which stretches back to 1946.

DATED: 24.06.07

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