F&I Management & Training

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to reduce the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves by 0.25 percentage points to 5.0%.
CPI inflation rose to 2.5% in February. The Committee expects inflation to rise further this year, reflecting the continuing impact of higher energy and food prices, as well as the recent depreciation of sterling on import costs. Such pressures are already evident in producer input costs and pricing intentions.
Even if commodity prices remain at their current high levels, inflation should fall back. But to ensure that inflation meets the 2% target in the medium term, the Committee needs to balance two risks. On the upside, above-target inflation this year could raise inflation expectations so that, in the absence of some margin of spare capacity, inflation would remain above the target. On the downside, the disruption in financial markets could lead to a slowdown in the economy that was sufficiently sharp to pull inflation below the target.
In the Committee’s judgement, the balance of these risks to the inflation outlook in the medium term justifies a cut in Bank Rate this month. Credit conditions have tightened and the availability of credit appears to be worsening. While the recent depreciation in sterling will support net exports, the prospects for output growth abroad have deteriorated. In the United Kingdom, business surveys suggest that growth has begun to moderate and that a margin of spare capacity will emerge during this year. This should help to keep domestic inflationary pressures in check in the medium term.
Against that background, the Committee judged that a reduction in Bank Rate of 0.25 percentage points to 5.0% was necessary to meet the 2% target for CPI inflation in the medium term.

DATED: 10.04.08

FEED: BoE

Peter Jones, co-founder of the Bramall & Jones dealer group is quitting three years after it was formed to join Lookers. He has been appointed to the newly-created position of operations director for Lookers’ Motor Division.

“I retain a share ownership of Bramall & Jones but it’s quite a mature business and is self sustaining with its current management structure,” said Jones.
“It’s very well managed, and doesn’t need me running round it day by day.”
Jones played down press reports that Bramall & Jones were actively seeking to sell some of its showrooms and had been courted by rival businesses.
“We’ve never put anything openly on the market,” said Jones, who added that the last sale was its Derby-based VW operation, which was bought by Sytner in December.
At Lookers he will oversee English franchises for Smart, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge and PSA outlets.
He will also be accountable for Lookers’ ‘stand alone’ Hyundai, Chevrolet, Skoda and Alfa Romeo operations.

DATED: 10.04.08

FEED: MT

Deal for training arm is completed for undisclosed sum
The RMIF has completed the acquisition of part of its former training arm Remit for an undisclosed sum.
The trade association has purchased the Apprentice Learning Division from the Carter & Carter Group, which has been placed into administration.

The acquisition comes less than two years after the RMIF sold Remit to Carter & Carter for £25.5m in May 2006. The new company – ReMIT Ltd – will take over the running of Carter & Carter's former non-manufacturer apprenticeship programmes, with the endorsement of the Learning and Skills Council, the SMMT and the Institute of the Motor Industry. Former managing director of Deutsche Bank's distressed debt division Rob Foulston has been appointed as ReMIT chief executive, while former Carter & Carter operations director Steve Yardley, and RMIF finance director Kevin Waterman have also joined the company.“The provision of motor vehicle apprenticeships is so vital for the future of the retail motor sector,” said RMIF chairman Alec Murray. “This was under threat following the collapse of Carter & Carter. More pressingly, there was a possibility that many current motor vehicle apprentices would be unable to complete their training.

DATED: 10.04.08

FEED: MT

HPI survey finds 70 per cent of consumers feel "vulnerable"
Almost 70 per cent of secondhand car buyers who use the internet feel they are "more vulnerable to buying risks," according to a survey by the HPI vehicle checking organisation.
Some 62 per cent were put off by the risk of fraud and two out of three said they were unhappy at not being able to see a vehicle first.

“Our survey reveals that car buyers are wary when buying online,” said HIP director Nick Lindsay. However, the survey respondents identified some positive aspects of online buying, with 71 per cent suggesting that it offered wider choice, and 63 per cent identifying convenience.

DATED: 10.04.08

FEED: MT

Industry rumours suggest the European Commission may ditch regulations
As media rumours spread that the European Commission’s car industry competition mandarin wants to ditch block exemption regulations, a top UK academic is predicting that the system is doomed. Paolo Cesarini, the Commission’s car industry competition mandarin, is said to have written in internal documents that ‘there is no valid reason’ to replace them.

The BER governing car sales may be scrapped
“I reckon that by 2010 it (block exemption) will be so minimal that it will have gone away,” said Peter Cooke, the University of Buckingham’s professor of automotive management.

DATED: 10.04.08

FEED: MT

Ridgeway Group, the Berkshire and Oxfordshire motor retailer, has appointed Daksh Gupta as group managing director.
For Gupta, previously a Mercedes-Benz franchise director at Inchcape, it means a return to motor retail after a short period as chief operating officer of credit hire business Accident Exchange. He quit that role in November.

AM100 26th place Ridgeway has dealerships representing Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Smart, Chrysler and Skoda.

DATED: 10.04.08

FEED: AM

Bramall & Jones co-founder Peter Jones has quit the Lincolnshire dealer group in order to join top 10 AM100 group Lookers.
We understand that some of Bramall & Jones's Volkswagen dealerships are currently in the process of being sold. Gilders Group, which represents Volkswagen and Audi in Yorkshire and Derbyshire, had made an approach for the businesses, but negotiations stalled.
Former CD Bramall chief executive Jones and chairman Tony Bramall had founded Bramall & Jones in 2005 after selling CD Bramall to Pendragon. Jones' acceptance of the role of operations director at Manchester-based Lookers keeps the duo together, as Bramall has a non-executive director position on Lookers' board.
Both have retained a stake in Bramall & Jones, but are not involved in day-to-day operations, which have been delegated to a strong management team, said Jones.
In his new role, Jones will be responsible for Lookers' franchises in England including Mercedes-Benz, Smart, Volkswagen, PSA, Chrysler Jeep Dodge and will also have accountability for standalone Hyundai, Chevrolet, Skoda and Alfa Romeo dealerships.

DATED: 10.04.08

FEED: AM

As from 6th April 2008, the requirement for a company secretary is abolished.
The role can remain as a voluntary position, ie it is up to those running the company whether to have one (and most will), but it is no longer enshrined in law to maintain the position.
This applies to all private companies, no matter their size, even those owned by public Companies.
The work of the company secretary of course remains, so if anyone was thinking of making the company secretary redundant, using the change in law as an excuse, they should need to show that the work she/he was doing was no longer required.
However it will not be possible to achieve this, so caution will have to be exercised.
Remember, among the many duties of a company secretary, are the need to keep the company honest, by authenticating company documents, counter-signing instruments in the company name and keeping abreast of legislation and filing deadlines.

DATED: 10.04.08

FEED: AM

Before 6 April 2006 more than half a million small business should receive a letter and booklet from the Government giving basic guidance on the new regulations.
The regulations are essentially a ‘catch-all’ type of legislation to theoretically stop unfair practices including prize draw scams, bogus sales and making persistent unwanted phone calls to pressure people to part with money.
The regulations are the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPR’s).
The regulations are designed to simplify consumer protection law by banning 31 types of unfair commercial practice.

DATED: 10.04.08

FEED: AM

Cardif Pinnacle, the Gap insurance and warranty provider, has announced the acquisition of Warranty Direct for an undisclosed sum.
Part of global banking group BNP Paribas, Cardif Pinnacle employs 650 staff in the UK and Ireland, and also provides a claims management service.
Both companies operate through affinity partners and car retailers through dealer warranty programmes.Based in Reading with a workforce of 40 employees, Warranty Direct will continue to operate as a stand-alone business.“Our ability to accelerate the expansion of our warranty business is significantly enhanced by this acquisition,” said Paul Glen, CEO of Cardif Pinnacle. Duncan McClure Fisher, managing director of Warranty Direct, added: “I’m convinced that Cardif Pinnacle’s dealer and underwriting knowledge will complement Warranty Direct’s system and service capability.”

DATED: 08.04.08

FEED: MT

Daihatsu, the Japanese small carmaker, has extended its new vehicle warranty to five years for all models in its current range.
The offer follows a successful trial that launched at the start of the year with the Terios mini-SUV and Sirion five-door supermini.

Now, both the Copen sportscar and Materia mini-MPV will also come with five years' unlimited mileage warranty plus five years' UK roadside recovery.
The extended warranty package relates to retail sales, and will run to the end of 2008, at which point it will be reviewed.

DATED: 08.04.08

FEED: MT

In a real coup for the motor industry Chris Humphries, chief executive of the new UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), made the BMW Academy at Wokefield Park the venue for his first employer visit. Ahead of the commission’s official launch, Humphries learned why Ofsted, the schools inspection body, awarded the facility near Reading its highest possible grade for the provision of training and development.

BMW UK invested £17 million in building the academy and it runs a wide variety of technical and management courses for the 150 BMW, Mini and motorcycle dealer-ships around the UK.
UKCES is charged with advising Government on the strategies and policies needed to increase employment, skills and productivity. Humphries said: “The falling birth rate is a big challenge for companies. Competition for young people is going to get tougher and tougher so companies need a good training offer.”

Steve Nash, aftersales director for BMW Group UK, and chairman of the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), said: “When you offer someone a career rather than just a job they are five times more likely to stay with you.”

DATED: 07.04.08

FEED: AM

Renault UK expects its relationship with Pendragon to "go from strength to strength", said commercial operations director Len Curran, responding to industry speculation.
AM has received a number of tip-offs from dealers in the Renault network, saying that the manufacturer was planning to terminate Pendragon’s 11 Renault sites.
Some dealers said they had received information giving this impression from within Renault UK but Curran is insistent there is no truth in the rumours.
By mutual agreement last year, he said, Renault UK and Pendragon agreed to close two “non-profit making sites” in Scotland: at Livingston, West Lothian, and Edinburgh east.

DATED: 07.04.08

FEED: AM

Alfa Romeo wants to double its UK sales by 2010 to 15,000 units.
Christopher Nicoll, Alfa Romeo UK managing director, said there are three reasons why it is achievable: the arrival of its B segment car, Mito, in early 2009; continued momentum of the brand; and confidence being regained by buyers, retailers and Alfa itself.
“The B segment car will have a big impact,” said Nicoll. “We will be a different operation to what we were three years ago. We were a mess back then. Now we are raring to go.”
Back in January 2006 the network was in disarray, with the sales structure the worst in Europe. Alfa Romeo reduced its dealer network by 60%. It now has 48 sites and expects to have 55 by year-end.

DATED: 07.04.08

FEED: AM

Finance and insurance supplier Cardif Pinnacle has acquired a majority shareholding in web-based provider Warranty Direct for an undisclosed sum.
The company continue will act as a stand-alone business from its existing headquarters in Reading, and sell products separately from Cardif Pinnacle.
Cardif Pinnacle declined to comment on values, or whether there were any further acquisitions planned, but AM understands the company is considering other opportunities.
Paul Glen, chief executive of Cardif Pinnacle, said: "The acquisition of Warranty Direct will significantly improve the service and product proposition we can offer to our dealer customers and direct to consumers.
"Our ability to accelerate the expansion of our warranty business is significantly enhanced by this acquisition."

DATED: 07.04.08

FEED: AM

Dealers need to be ready for new consumer protection rules coming into force in May, according to the RMIF's National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA).
The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD), passes into law on May 26 and will harmonise unfair trading laws across all EU Member States. It introduces a general prohibition on traders not to treat consumers unfairly to act as a safety-net for consumer protection legislation.
Unfair commercial practices as defined by the directive include:
Conduct below a level which may be expected towards consumers
Misleading practices, false or deceptive messages, and the omission of important information
Aggressive sales techniques that use harassment, coercion or undue influence
Sue Robinson, NFDA director, said: "Existing rules on consumer protection do not provide a full safeguard for customers, as there are some remaining grey areas which can be exploited by unscrupulous traders.
"The implementation of the directive will enable car dealers to focus their internal consumer relations monitoring. However, the new rules will also mean more administration for dealers to deal with, and will add more work to the existing heavy load borne by Trading Standards officers. There are also some questions on where the burden of proof will lie in disputes."

DATED: 07.04.08

FEED: AM

SsangYong UK is rebuilding its network of dealers in the UK following the gradual reduction of dealers from 50 to 29. Ian Nicholson, SsangYong UK group finance and operations director, told AM that the dealers wanted to leave because "they’ve been through relaunch after relaunch and they can’t go through it again".

Koelliker UK, the newly appointed importer of SsangYong's into the UK, is now embarking on a dealer redevelopment process. Nicholson said: "We’re all grown ups and we're not going to fall out about it, if they want out, we'll shake hands and move on. But they won't get parts, they won’t get warranty work and they won't get any cars." SsangYong UK is looking to recruit new dealers with the right attitude and not necessarily franchised dealers.

DATED: 07.04.08

FEED: AM