F&I Management & Training

Soaring road fuel prices have finally stalled after three months of constant increases that saw the cost of petrol rise 7% and diesel 11%, says the AA. However, strikes in French refineries and military action on the Turkish-Iraq border suggest that prices could remain volatile in the short-term. But, says the AA, with trade union Unison threatening strike action over employee mileage allowance reimbursements, volunteer ambulance car drivers in Wales downing their keys over petrol costs and hauliers attempting a fuel duty protest, the tolerance of high prices by some motorists has begun to reach breaking point. The AA's latest fuel price report shows average UK petrol prices have reached 102.81p per litre, up 1.3p on last month, and diesel 107.95, up 2.51p. This is marginally below the all-time peaks of 102.87p per litre for petrol and 108p for diesel recorded on December 6.

DATED: 21.12.07

FEED: AW

Inchcape has completed its acquisition of a 75.1% shareholding in Audi and Peugeot retail businesses in St Petersburg, Russia.
Further to an announcement on October 4 2007, Inchcape has confirmed its 75.1% shareholding in OOO Concord, a Peugeot retail business, and OOO Orgtekhstroy, an Audi retail business.
Inchcape is also investing £13m in the expansion of its Toyota Rustavelli site and the relocation of its current Lexus retail centre to a new flagship site in St Petersburg.
Andre Lacroix, Inchcape group chief executive, said: “We are excited about this further expansion into the fast growing Russian market as well as the opportunity to work with brand partners Toyota, Lexus, Audi and Peugeot in St Petersburg.”

DATED: 21.12.07

FEED: AM

Nissan is poised to take legal action against several businesses for illegally importing its forthcoming GT-R sportscar into the UK.
The businesses in question are accused of sourcing the grey imports from Japan for sale in Europe, which infringes the carmaker’s trademark rights.

Nissan said its lawyers had contacted the companies concerned requesting them to stop and would take legal action in the English courts should the warning be ignored.

DATED: 21.12.07

FEED: MT

Honda predicts that hybrid cars will account for 10 per cent of its global sales within two years.
The Japanese carmaker plans on bringing two new hybrid models to market alongside the existing Civic to help meet the 2010 target.
The Global Hybrid will be the first car to launch in 2009 followed by a sports hybrid based on the CR-Z concept revealed at this year's Tokyo Motor Show.

DATED: 21.12.07

FEED: MT

Irish police have uncovered a suspected scam involving cars being shipped in from the UK and sold cut price in Dublin dealerships.
In Operation Tie gardai raided a series of dealerships in south west Dublin which they believed were selling cars bought for cash from dealers in Britain.

The Criminal Assets Bureau in Dublin is investigating the records of thousands of cars imported from Britain and sold below market value possibly as a result of the fraudulent avoidance of Vehicle Registration Tax.
Cab suspects the cars slip through the VRT net by being registered as commercial vehicles, which have a tax rating of 50 Euro (£35) instead of the 30 per cent of Irish list price liable on passenger cars.
An official of the tax office has been questioned in connection with the investigation and customs officers have impounded 40 luxury cars, including Bentleys, Range Rovers and Mercedes from five Dublin showrooms.

DATED: 21.12.07

FEED: MT

BMW has issued the first official pictures of its new X6 model.
The German carmaker claims the new “sports activity coupe” breaks new ground in the automotive sector by combining the body of a coupe with a four-wheel drive option.

Closely related to the X5, the X6 is the third car released in the series and follows on from the X3. Available in four versions, prices start at £41,995 for the entry-level xDrive 30d model but prices are yet to be confirmed for the flagship xDrive50i.

The Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) has presented The Certificate of Specialist Automotive Finance (SAF) Competence to its 2,000th recipient.
The dealer competence test, launched in October, was developed by the FLA to raise standards and improve skills for those involved in the sale of motor finance.
Glenn Trew, of Blue Motor Finance, has become the 2,000th individual to gain the certificate.
He said: “The SAF competence test has really helped my understanding of the different finance products available to our customers.”
Lookers was one of the first dealer groups to get involved.
Paul Bentley, Lookers group F&I director said: “The SAF test enables us to confirm that our teams have the knowledge, skills and competence required to offer out customers a professional and concise understanding of all matters relating to the sale of finance.”

DATED: 21.12.07

FEED: AM

Bristol & London, the credit hire business, has announced it will withdraw from the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange later this month.
At an EGM this week, a special resolution was passed to approve the company’s share buy-back offer of 15.7p per share and cancel its listing.
The cancellation will become effective by December 28.
In September its directors proposed the de-listing, citing below-expected revenues, lack of growth in its specialist vehicle credit hire operation and difficult trading conditions.
That month it posted a half-year loss of £670,000.

DATED: 21.12.07

FEED: AM

BIRMINGHAM, Steve Young, who was appointed as Chief Executive and a Director of the Company when GAZ acquired the Birmingham based light commercial vehicle specialist in July 2006, and has led the turnaround, has resigned to pursue other opportunities in the industry. His replacement as a Director of the Company will be Eugeny Vereschagin, the Chief Financial Officer of GAZ Power Train Division. An announcement related to the appointment of a new Chief Executive will follow in due course. Martin Leach, Executive Chairman of LDV, will act as interim Chief Executive. He said: "The business has gone through enormous change over the last 18 months, with new products, new markets and significant improvements across the board in all aspects of performance. Steve provided invaluable leadership in these changes, whilst building confidence in LDV and the MAXUS product as a real alternative to the major players in the light commercial vehicle market." LDV was awarded the UK Company of the Year by the Institute of Transport Management in August 2007 this year for an "outstanding achievement in business turnaround". MAXUS has launched in Belgium, France, Holland, Malaysia and Spain with over 100 dealers added in those countries, and was launched in Russia by GAZ. Bus and chassis cab products have been added to the range, with over 200 new jobs created on the Birmingham site to support the growth. Commenting on his decision, Steve Young said: "This was not an easy choice for me, but LDV is a great company with a loyal and dedicated workforce, and a highly competitive award-winning product. I am confident that LDV will continue to develop and satisfy an increasing number of informed customers around the world. I wish both GAZ and LDV well for the future."

DATED: 21.12.07

FEED: AW

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned that the economy will decelerate next year as a result of the credit squeeze and continued oil price rises.
Its latest quarterly forecast, published today, predicts next year’s annual rate of GDP growth to be 2%, down 0.2% on September’s figure and the third consecutive reduction this year.
Consumer spending, which grew 3.1% this year, is expected to slow to 1.9% for 2008.
The news isn’t all bad, though.
Growth of emerging economies and the expected depreciation of the pound should help to support export markets and, in turn, aid the UK’s economic prospects.
Inflation, meanwhile, is set to rise to around 2.6% by the end of 2008, before falling back to the target of 2% by the end of 2009.
CBI chief economic adviser Ian McCafferty said: “Whilst the 2008 slowdown may appear dramatic set against this year’s strong growth, the fundamentals of our economy remain sound and talk of a full blown recession is overstated.

DATED: 21.12.07

FEED: AM

Inchcape has said business “continues to be in line with expectations” in a pre-close trading update for the calendar year.
Total sales for the 11 months to 30 November 2007 were up 27% on a constant currency basis (26% in sterling terms).
Like for like sales were up 3.8% for the same period on a constant currency basis.
It said the performance of its businesses in Europe and the emerging markets continues to be strong, offsetting anticipated weakness in Singapore.
In the UK, it added, it has benefited from the successful integration of recent acquisitions.
Last month AM revealed it had acquired Porsche Centre Bournemouth, its first franchise with the German sports car brand.
“We continue to look at expansion opportunities across all of our target markets and remain confident in our prospects for the full year,” concluded the statement.


DATED: 21.12.07

FEED: AM

Dealers will be able to offer free annual insurance to new and used car buyers, thanks to an additional sales tool called Free-Insure, provided by HPI.
Free-Insure enables dealers to offer 12 months fully comprehensive insurance to their customers as an alternative to other marketing promotions. Dealers will pay HPI for the insurance.
Insurance is offered selectively when securing a sale, as a promotional tool to solve ageing stock problems or adding value to certain cars.
Daniel Burgess, HPI automotive director, said: “It gives dealers flexibility and encourages people to come in to buy the cars.
“Our role is to provide relevant insurance products to the dealer market. Things which help sell cars and keep customers happy.”
Once a sale is complete, buyers will deal directly with a broker, with insurance cover being provided by Norwich Union Insurance, HPI’s sister company.
The policy is for cars up to group 14, and cover on up to four additional drivers on vehicles of any value. Customers must be between 25 and 65 and have a relatively clean license.
Burgess expects a take-up of more than 3000 customers in the next year

DATED: 21.12.07

FEED: AM

Group Lotus PLC, the National Skills Academy for Manufacturing, City College Norwich and the Learning and Skills Council’s Train to Gain service have joined forces to provide a Level 2 NVQ training course in Business Improvement Techniques (B-IT).
The course is taught internally by Lotus employees, all of whom are qualified to the required standards.
Since the initiative was launched earlier this year, the company has received more than 280 enrolment requests, and the first 150 of these have completed their classroom training.
The company has set a goal of achieving 300 City and Guilds NVQ Level 2 certificates by July 2008.
Last week, Group Lotus CEO Mike Kimberley presented certificates to the first 17 employees to complete the course.
“Improvements in performance and quality will directly benefit the production of our multi-award winning sports cars currently in production, our future models and our high technology client vehicles that we manufacture,” he said

DATED: 21.12.07

FEED: AM