F&I Management & Training

June UK car registrations show solid 1.5% growth.

NEW CAR registrations in the UK, during June, grew 1.5% compared with the same month last year.
According to figures this morning from the SMMT, a total of 222,863 new cars were registered in the month.
The solid performance keeps the year-to-date figure 2% ahead of this time last year with a total of 1,267,299 units.
"At the half point of the year, June is traditionally the time to take stock of one's performance - and so far in 2007, things look encouraging," said Christopher Macgowan, chief executive of SMMT.
"However, while total new car registrations for the first six months are up on the previous year, they are still below the average since we moved to the twice-yearly plate change.

DATED: 06.07.07

FEED: AW

THE BANK of England yesterday raised interest rates to 5.75% - the fifth rise in the space of 11-months.
The move will make life tougher for many homeowners. It will also have an impact on the retail motor industry as mortgage repayments swallow-up more of householders' disposable income. The Moneyfacts website estimates that monthly payments on a £200,000 repayment mortgage will rise by £30.04.
The rise of 25 basis points puts interest rates at its highest level for 6-years.

DATED: 06.07.07

FEED: AW

PRIVATE sales of cars by UK dealers in June rose 2% to 94,717 units.
Private demand has risen in four of the first six months of the year, although net growth has only been marginal at 0.9%. Demand in June rose by over double that rate but at 2% was still modest.
Fleet registrations in June suffered marginally, dropping just 0.1% to 110,907 units.

DATED: 06.07.07

FEED: AW

THE FAMILY-OWNED, London Group, is today opening its Lotus dealership in London's Park Lane.
"We are looking forward to exhibiting the Lotus brand to the discerning customers of central London," said Geoff Hodge, managing director of London Lotus . "The Park Lane location provides a great 'shop window' with which to display the multi-award winning, high-tech Lotus products and show the unique Lotus brand of style, performance and technology."

DATED: 06.07.07

FEED: AW

PENDRAGON HAS confirmed that the proceeds from the sale of its four German retail outlets, amounted to approximately £6m.
It was confirmed that German retailer, Emil Frey Gruppe, bought Pendragon's remaining German dealerships.
Over the past two years Pendragon has gradually reduced the number of its loss-making dealerships operated in Germany.

DATED: 06.07.07

FEED: AW

TRADING STANDARDS and police have uncovered 15 unsafe cars on dealers' and traders' forecourts in Stoke on Trent.
The blitz revealed that the cars' tinted windows were too dark.
The windows now have to be changed before they can be sold.

DATED: 06.07.07

FEED: AW

DARING THIEVES have literally hoisted ten presses out of the Bristol Cars factory in Filton Bristol.
The presses, used to manufacture the roof, wing and door panels of the company's Blenheim range, were stolen in an elaborate raid last weekend.
Police think the gang used a crane to hoist the heavy-duty presses and at least two lorries to transport then from the site.
The theft will not affect the production of the firm's Fighter range, or the 'order-only' Blenheim Speedster. But, as the presses cannot be replaced quickly, production of the £150,000 Blenheim will be affected once the stock of panels has been used.

DATED: 06.07.07

FEED: AW

GLASS' GUIDE is warning that the used car market will be directly affected by the shift towards greener motoring.
"The main casualties are most likely to be large-engined executive saloons," said EurotaxGlass' managing editor, Adrian Rushmore. "Whilst diesel versions will suffer less they will not be immune.
"In more general terms we believe that most cars - including MPVs and SUVs - with engines over 2500cc and of more than 4 cylinders will be affected.

DATED: 06.07.07

FEED: AW

SCOTTISH DEALERS enjoyed an even better month than those in England in June.
Figures from the Scottish Motor Trade Association show 19,682 new car registrations in June, a 4.7% increase on the same month last year.
SMTA officials said the figures were encouraging, but warned that, with interest rates on the rise, "we will wait and see how this affects sales for the coming months".

DATED: 06.07.07

FEED: AW

PHIL SIMMONS, chief designer at Ford Europe, is switching Land Rover.
From 1 August he will be studio director responsible for future design direction of all Range Rover products.
"This new position will help Land Rover to achieve even higher levels of creativity and design leadership in the luxury automotive market," said Land Rover's design director, Gerry McGovern.

DATED: 06.07.07

FEED: AW

PENDRAGON has pulled-out of its retail operations in Germany.
AutoWired understands that it has sold its five remaining Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin outlets in Frankfurt and Munich to the Emil Frey Gruppe. No financial details are available but in 2006, Pendragon's German retail operation lost £0.3m. The German operation was a small part of the Pendragon Group, contributing just 1% of revenues.

DATED: 04.07.07

FEED: AW

EUROTAXGLASS'S is forecasting a more pronounced fall in values of used commercial vehicles.
Whilst a modest decline in values is expected during the summer months, this year there is also pressure in many sectors of the market for values to move down towards more sustainable levels after a period when limited supply has kept prices high.

DATED: 04.07.07

FEED: AW

THE JOHN Martin Group has sold its Seafield Road BMW and Mini businesses in Edinburgh for an undisclosed sum to Peter Vardy Ltd.
The Martin group will retain the property, and Peter Vardy Ltd is leasing the 5-acre site from the group.
The group's previous Kia showroom will be redeveloped to offer a new Mini dealership, and both operations will trade under the Peter Vardy name. The central part of the site will become a 150 car used car forecourt.
Chief executive, Peter Vardy said it is a 'hugely important and significant step forward' for Peter Vardy Ltd.
"It represents not only our first move into the specialist car market but, also, our arrival in Edinburgh.

DATED: 04.07.07

FEED: AW

CHRYSLER GROUP, last night, said it had signed a deal with China's car-maker, Chery, to produce cars for export to the United States and Europe.
It is the first attempt by a US car-maker to use China as a manufacturing base for world markets and will give Chrysler its much-needed small car.
Under the agreement, Chery, based in Wuhu, Anhui Province, China and Chrysler, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA will work together to develop, manufacture and distribute Chery-made small and sub-compact cars in North America, Europe and other major automotive markets under the Chrysler Group brands.

DATED: 04.07.07

FEED: AW

LUFFIELD CARS and the Merritts' Motor Group have been appointed the UK's first official MG franchise dealers.
Nanjing Auto MG (NAC) revealed the news this morning, saying it will eventually have a network of 80 dealers nationwide..
Luffield will sell the new MG TF from Loghborough where it already has a Citroen outlet.
Two of the Merritts Motor Group's Buckinghamshire-based premises - in Amersham and Aylesbury - have also been appointed. Merritts has existing outlets for Jaguar and Lotus in Amersham and Hyundai and Skoda in Aylesbury.
The two dealers will each have dedicated showroom space adhering to the MG's new corporate identity guidelines. Showrooms and workshops will both have dedicated MG personnel.

DATED: 04.07.07

FEED: AW

VOSPERS has acquired Sidwell Motors, the Fiat dealer in Exeter. Sidwell is also an authorised repairer for Alfa Romeo.
The acquisition increases Vospers south west coverage, having existing Fiat dealerships in Plymouth, St Austell and Pool.
No financial information concerning the deal is available but Vospers said the business will continue to operate under the Sidwell name in the short term.
"Fiat has some exciting new products on the way with Bravo and 500 and are now recognised as a quality range," said Peter Vosper. "Their new Scudo and Ducato vans are making a great impact and we look forward to the future with confidence".

DATED: 04.07.07

FEED: AW

MOTOR TRADE property specialists, Gilbran, has acquired a site in Leicester which will eventually become a new Porsche outlet for the Nick Whale Group.
Construction on the 2-acre site is now underway. Once completed in September it will be leased to the dealer group.

DATED: 04.07.07

FEED: AW

TODAY'S ISSUE of Which Car, published by the Consumer Association, publishes its lists of the most reliable and least reliable cars in the UK.
The results come from 93,365 responses to a survey of its members in January this year.
The magazine lists as the most reliable:
SUPERMINIS- Honda Jazz (96%)
MEDIUM - Honda Civic (previous generation), Mazda 3 (94%)
LARGE - BMW 3-Series, Honda Accord, Toyota Avensis (94%
LUXURY - Audi A6 (91%)
MINI MPV - Nissan Note (91%)
MPVs - Honda FR-V (91%)
SPORTS/COUPE - Mazda MX-5 (94%)
OFF ROADER - Honda CR-V (previous generation), Toyota RAV4 (94%)
Least Reliable:
SUPERMINIS - Fiat Grande Punto (85%)
MEDIUM - Citroen C4, Honda Civic, Peugeot 307, Renault Megane (82%)
LARGE - Peugeot 407, Skoda Octavia, VW Passat, Volvo S40/V50, (82%)
LUXURY - BMW 5-Series, Jaguar S-Type, Saab 9-5, Volvo V70 (85%)
MINI MPV - Ford Fusion, Vauxhall Meriva (88%)
MPV - Chrysler Grand Voyager, Ford C-Max, Renault Scenic (82%)
SPORTS/COUPES - Mazda RX-8 (82%)
OFF ROAD - Land Rover Discovery (79%)
"Honda is setting the benchmark in car reliability and it is up to other manufacturers to raise their standards to match," said editor, Richard Headland. "Several far eastern car makers are hot on its heels, but European manufacturers still have some catching-up to do."

DATED: 04.07.07

FEED: AW

EURO NCAP says its new secretary general will be Michiel van Ratingen.
He will take up his post in the autumn, when the current secretary, Adrian Hobbs retires.
Van Ratingen is a mechanical engineer with experience in the field of vehicle safety. He worked at TNO, as head of automotive safety, and later at First Technology Safety Systems.

DATED: 02.07.07

FEED: AW

FIAT AUTO UK) Limited changed its name on Friday to Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd.
The change, and the introduction of a new logo were announced earlier this year.
The new logo appeared on the company's latest product, the new Bravo, which went on sale in the UK on Saturday.
Improved brand name recognition will promote better relations with the sales network, customers, and partners, says the car-maker.

DATED: 02.07.07

FEED: AW

Honda (UK) welcomed Friday's acquisition of Grantham Motor Company by Vertu Motors.
"The expansion of Vertu Motors, with its financial strength, combined experience and driving ambition, is great news for Honda's dealership network in the UK," said Honda general manager, Ewan Ramsay. "It builds on the many years of hard work by David Beswick and his team who have created a strong customer base for the Honda brand.

DATED: 02.07.07

FEED: AW

FORD declined to comment on Friday about any interest it had received from possible purchasers of its Jaguar and Land Rover operations.
"We are continuing to evaluate everything said the US car-maker.
Yesterday's Observer newspaper reported that Mubadala Development, owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, had briefed bankers to prepare bids for one or both of the Ford units. But this morning, Mubadala's chief operating officer, Waleed al-Mokarrab al-Muhairi, scotched the report. "We are not considering either," he said.

DATED: 02.07.07

FEED: AW

VERTU MOTORS has added another Ford outlet to its network.
On Friday, it purchased the Northumberland outlet in Morpeth from the Jennings Group for £2.6m including the freehold property valued at £2.05m.
The dealership is to be re-branded Bristol Street Motors.
In the year ended 31 December 2006 the dealership had turnover of £8.2m.

DATED: 02.07.07

FEED: AW