F&I Management & Training

Pendragon directors snapped up shares yesterday amid investor concern as the value of the UK’s largest dealer group was slashed by almost a third.
In the wake of Tuesday’s fourth profit warning in little over a year, Pendragon's share price plummeted by more than 30 per cent to a yearly low of 37.75 pence – handing the company a market value of £265m compared to £500m in July.

Pendragon’s executive board have all been quick to increase their stake in the struggling company.

DATED: 30.11.07

FEED: MT

The RMIF has made record-breaking profits for 2007 but without the multi-million pound sale of its training arm Remit the trade body’s earnings would still be in the red.
The federation went so far as to shift its accounting period to the year to 9 May 2007 in order to include the sale of Remit in May 2006 that was eventually worth £22m.

Previously, it measured accounts for the year to January.

DATED: 30.11.07

FEED: MT

Nissan has abandoned plans to appoint a single UK dealer group for its Lexus-rivalling Infiniti luxury car brand.
This could slow down right hand drive sales.

Infiniti, which sells in the USA against Toyota’s Lexus and Honda’s Acura brands, will begin mainland European sales next October, and should be in all its target markets by 2010.

DATED: 30.11.07

FEED: MT

Pendragon, the UK’s largest car dealer group, has warned its current year operating profit will miss market forecasts by millions and has reduced its expectations for next year.
The group, which has a turnover of more than £5bn, blamed a weaker used car market in the UK and sluggish US sales, brought about by the south Californian fires, for the poor trading update.

Operating profits for the company are expected to be £12m behind market expectations this year and profit expectations for next year have been reduced by £18m.

DATED: 30.11.07

FEED: MT

HR Owen has sold its loss making London BMW and Mini outlets to Marsh Wall.
A deal is likely to be completed by the middle of next month.

HR Owen said that some £2.8m was being paid for its Chiswick and Heathrow-based BMW and Mini facilities, which posted a pre-tax loss of £2m to December 2006.
The deal needs shareholder approval before it is signed off.

DATED: 30.11.07

FEED: MT

Volvo, the Swedish carmaker, is recalling more than 7,000 vehicles in Britain.
The move is part of a global recall of 56,000 vehicles that are suffering from two separate problems.

Models including the S60, V70, XC70 and XC90 have been affected by either an engine problem or faulty airbags.
In total 5,560 diesel versions of the above models made last year have been recalled in the UK because of faulty fuel injectors that could cause the engine to catch fire.

DATED: 30.11.07

FEED: MT

Angus Gray has joined Infiniti Europe as regional director covering the UK, Eire, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
Gray will be responsible for dealer network development and sales and marketing, across the region as the new premium, automotive brand prepares to launch across Europe starting from October 2008.
Gray has nearly 25 years of automotive industry experience most recently as franchising director for Nissan Motor (GB).
At Infiniti Europe, Gray will report to vice president, Jim Wright and will be based at the company’s new headquarters near Geneva in Switzerland.

DATED: 27.11.07

FEED: AM

Britain's most prolific car dealer, Pendragon, slumped to a value of less than £250m today (Nov 27) after disclosing for the fourth time in a little over a year that it would miss the stock market’s profit targets.
The shares promptly fell from 55p to 38p having been at 125p as recently as April. The collapse was despite the fact that the company’s statement promised it would pay the forecast final dividend for the year end of 2p a share.
That means that sellers of the shares at 38p were preferring to kiss goodbye to a dividend yield of 12%.
Pendragon’s new market value of £265m compares with £500m in July and compares with the £680m that Pendragon spent buying Reg Vardy and CD Bramall.
It is now expected that the 2007 pre-tax profit from Pendragon will be below £40m. The brief statement from the company to the London Stock Exchange said that they would be short of the market forecasts by £12m.

DATED: 27.11.07

FEED: AM

Annual UK sales by Mitsubishi have fallen from 35,500 units last year to an estimated 32,000 for 2007.
According to the company’s managing director Jim Tyrell, the reason is easy to spot – the run-out of the hugely popular MkI L200 pick-up – but short supply on the critically acclaimed all-new Outlander hasn’t helped.
Tyrell said: "Outlander has been sold out all year, and we only got half of what we wanted, but the decline is all due to the L200. And it’s sticky hard work selling cars at the moment because of the consumer confidence issue."

DATED: 27.11.07

FEED: AM

Fiat is returning to central London for the first time since 1995. The carmaker will open a flagship dealership in Marylebone in early 2008. The 1,000m2 experience centre on Wigmore Street will sell Fiat’s range of cars in a “non showroom environment”, include digital interactive features and be a venue for fashion shows, receptions and marketing activity.

Tony Dittli, formerly the fleet director of Fiat Auto UK is managing director at the new site.
He says: “This is all about the life and character of London, brought together into our new location. “We expect people to come from around the country to see us. They will be able to enjoy the friendly atmosphere and experience the whole new approach to displaying our brand. And if they like what they see, they can contact their local dealers when they return home. That’s the idea of it.”

DATED: 27.11.07

FEED: AM

Credit hire company Accident Exchange said it does not expect to replace chief operating officer Daksh Gupta, who resigned last month after less than a year with the business.
Instead, founder and chief executive Steve Evans plans to devote more time to operational and cash management aspects of the business.

Gupta joined the company in January, having moved from Inchcape, where he was director of its Mercedes-Benz franchise.

In its pre-close statement, the company said the first six months trading this financial year were “broadly in line with expectations”. Rental days have increased to 510,000 from 290,000 in the same period in 2006, and it has secured a contract with a second insurer to provide prestige credit hire services to its customers.

DATED: 25.11.07

FEED: AM

Aston Martin is considering building its Rapide four-door saloon outside the UK for the first time in its 93-year history.

The Warwickshire based company is believed to be in the advanced stages of a feasibility study to see if the new model, due to be launched in 2009, could be built abroad. Ford sold Aston Martin to a UK consortium for £479m in March.

DATED: 25.11.07

FEED: AM

Caffyns has reported an operating profit of £1.4 million in the six months to September 2007, compared to £1.2 million over the same period last year.
Turnover increased from £85.5m to £95m. Profit before tax and exceptional items are also ahead of last year at £759,000 against £643,000. Profit before tax after exceptional items is up to £3,585,000 from £829,000 last year. This substantial increase was largely the result of a £3m repayment for overpaid VAT from HM Revenue and Customs. The amount received comprised the claim of £1.4m and interest of £1.6m.

Brian Carte, chairman of Caffyns, said: “We are now half way into our three year recovery programme and considering the inflationary pressures on consumers of higher interest rates and fuel costs, it is encouraging to see a substantial increase in turnover.

DATED: 25.11.07

FEED: AM

NAC establishes 50-strong network ahead of first model launch
NAC MG UK, the Chinese-owned carmaker, has signed up 50 dealerships to its network ahead of the launch of the MG TF in February 2008.
ARD Howden in west Yorkshire and Dundee-based Autoecosse were issued letters of intent by the brand last week to notch up the half century.

MG's coverage now stretches from Scotland to Cornwall, where it will be represented by RC Harding in Penzance, and from Howards in Llanelli in west Wales to the east of England where Holden Group will sell the brand in Norwich.

DATED: 25.11.07

FEED: MT

Car dealers are moving away from their traditional dependence on local newspaper advertising and are channelling more of their promotional spend on online and direct marketing campaigns.
These are among the findings of the Motor Trader Dealer Marketing Survey, sponsored by Experian.

The survey polled the views of franchised and independent dealers, including car supermarkets, to see which marketing channels are working best for dealers.

DATED: 25.11.07

FEED: MT

Honda has launched an internet TV channel to broadcast its own films, video clips and adverts.
The company hopes this venture will bring the brand closer to its customers in meeting the demand for video content online.

“Our TV advertising campaigns and our involvement in F1, motorbike and powerboat racing, means we produce a lot of compelling programming which the public actually wants to see,” said Ian Armstrong, manager of customer communications at Honda UK.
The four main areas available on the channel are adverts, a section about cars, an area about driving tips, and films centred on Honda’s F1 involvement.

DATED: 25.11.07

FEED: MT

Trade unions have announced their backing for Indian carmaker Tata over rival bidder One Equity in the race to acquire Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford.
The unions have made it clear their preference is for the luxury brands to remain with Ford but in a surprise move backed Tata, despite the possibility that the Indian carmaker could move production abroad.

A statement from Unite, the UK’s largest trade union, said that if a sale must be made, workers felt their best interests would be served by finding a partner with an established presence and background in manufacturing.

DATED: 25.11.07

FEED: MT