F&I Management & Training

The financial turmoil in America is creating a two-tier system among US car dealers, according to a report in Automotive News Europe.
Dealers that represent imported brands are finding it far easier to raise the collateral to acquire inventory and fund car loans.
In contrast, retailers that are associated with the Detroit carmakers, which have leveraged dealerships and weaker balance sheets, are struggling to find credit and are paying more for it.David Cosper, vice chairman of the public retailer Sonic Automotive, told the paper that dealers with an imported franchise were in a far stronger position.
"BMW, Honda, Daimler and Toyota have a huge competitive advantage over their domestic-brand rivals," said Cosper.
"The captives of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler LLC have lower corporate debt ratings and rely more heavily on the asset-backed securities markets to raise money to make loans. Their cost of funds has skyrocketed."
GM and Chrysler have both already raised the floor plan rates they charge dealers for holding the franchise and Ford is expected to follow suite, adding to the disparity between the car brands.

DATED: 19.09.08

FEED: MT

The economic downturn is hitting the resilience of the van market with August sales tumbling 24.7 per cent, according to the SMMT.Sales for the month fell to 11,508 pushing year to date sales down 4.1 per cent to 203,117 units.Sales in the LCV sector, vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes, have grown each year since 2005 with 337,741 vans registered last year. Sales have been falling this year since April.The SMMT's chief executive said the shortfall continues a trend which the trade body warned would continue."August is traditionally a month for low registrations. That, and the economic situation which is slowing spending, means a big drop in van figures," he said."In the short term van registrations will continue to struggle, though the truck sector is holding total CV figures close to the three-year average. In the longer term we expect an overall and marked downward trend."The downturn has hit Northgate, one of the UK's biggest van rental companies, who said trading conditions are the worst they have been since the early 1990s.As a result it said it has been forced to cut its fleet size this year.The slowdown is also hitting the used sector although Alex Wright, sales director of commercial vehicles at Manheim Auctions, expects the market to stabilise in the short term"The somewhat volatile market we are seeing at the moment will settle down as both vendors and buyers become more familiar and comfortable with the changing trading conditions," he said."Does this mean the worst is over? Not necessarily, but I am convinced the market will settle down in the next few months and we may then begin to see the first signs of stability towards the end of the year."

DATED: 19.09.08

FEED: MT

Nissan has appointed Danny Griffiths as its new human resources director for its UK operations.
Griffiths who is currently personnel director at Nissan’s Sunderland plant will now oversee all HR functions for Nissan in the UK, encompassing responsibility for Nissan’s Sunderland manufacturing plant, research and development function in Cranfield, Design Studio in Paddington and the sales and marketing function in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire.
As part of his new role, Griffiths will also oversee management of Nissan’s global training centre in Sunderland, the only facility of its kind outside Japan.

DATED: 19.09.08

FEED: AM

Porsche has increased its stake in Volkswagen by a further 4.89% taking its total share to 35.14%, officially making VW a subsidiary of Porsche under German law.
By going above 35% of the voting rights, Porsche will acquire de facto control of the Wolfsburg-based group.
Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking, chief executive of Porsche, said: “Our goal continues to be to increase our stake in Volkswagen to more than 50%.”
This step also ensures that Porsche has a lasting majority at the VW annual general meeting. As a result of Porsche increasing its stake in VW, it is now forced to make a formal offer for Audi under German law.
Porsche will only be offering the minimum price for Audi required by law and VW has already said it will not be accepting the offer. Porsche said it does not intend to acquire Audi shares outside the mandatory offer.
Wiedeking said: “We regard Audi as an integral part of the Volkswagen group and have no interest in removing the company from the group structure.”
Porsche intends to keep increasing its stake in VW over the coming months.

DATED: 19.09.08

FEED: AM

SsangYong distributor Koelliker UK has teamed up with specialist commercial vehicle dealer, F&G Commercials, to represent the brand in west and south Yorkshire.
F&G Commercials is best known for DAF Trucks and LDV Maxus sales on the Bradley Junction Industrial Estate, Leeds Road, Huddersfield and in Barkston Road, Barnsley.
David Foster, SsangYong dealer development manager, said: “Although this is their first move into passenger cars, their focus on customer service is exactly what we need.”
“We’ve been doing things differently at SsangYong, and that includes our approach to dealers. We are much more interested in professionalism and the right attitude, than million pound investments in facilities, and we are keen to meet other ‘non-traditional’ dealers so they can learn about the SsangYong franchise and what it can do for their businesses.”
As well as sales of new and used vehicles, F&G’s Commercials will be offering 24 hour servicing and repairs.

DATED: 19.09.08

FEED: AM

Van registrations were down almost a quarter in August compared to the same period last year.
Robin Dickeson, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ manager of commercial vehicle affairs, said that van registrations were expected to drop with the present credit difficulties.
“Many small businesses are quite large-scale buyers of vans and they’re the first to feel the pinch,” Dickeson said.
“But the market has been growing enormously for the past few years, well above an average market by a substantial degree. So it’s not a story of wail and woe.”
Pick-ups hardest hit
He added: “Up to the end of the year will give us a better picture of what’s going on. It’s about in line with where we expected it to go.”
Year-to-date, light commercial vehicle sales are down 4.1% to 203,117 units. In August, 11,508 LCVs were registered, a 24.7% drop on the same month in 2007.
Car type pick-ups have taken the greatest hit, with a 42.2% drop year-to-date. Heavy vans are least impacted, with only a 1.3% drop since the start of the year.
A less volatile market
From a dealer’s point of view, said Dickeson, their businesses will still be supported as vehicles will be brought back to workshops for maintenance rather than being replaced.
It is also a good opportunity for dealers to financially engineer deals: “Dealer can control the terms of deals that they do.”
The used market for vans is also down, because people are keeping vehicles longer.
Dickeson said the van market is more realistic than car sales: “There are entirely different reasons for buying.
"Van sales are from business necessity, whereas cars are more or less a lifestyle choice, so the market is likely to be more volatile.”

DATED: 19.09.08

FEED: AM

Inchcape plc has completed the sale of five of its six Volvo franchised retail businesses to Mill Garages North East Limited for £3 million cash.
Inchcape will still own the relevant properties which will be subject to a market rent.
André Lacroix, group chief executive of Inchcape, said: "This disposal is in line with the group's strategy of streamlining the UK business.
"We will re-allocate the proceeds into our fast growing emerging markets businesses."

DATED: 19.09.08

FEED: AM

Lookers is shutting a Dutton Forshaw business in Maidstone.
The site's Skoda and Chevrolet dealerships will cease trading at the end of October with the loss of 60 jobs.
A Citroen franchise is being sold to another operator and will move to a new site in Maidstone.
Ongoing employment for Mercedes staff
Lookers is keeping and redeveloping the profitable Mercedes-Benz/Smart operation, along with a bodyshop.
Lookers said the Dutton-Forshaw multi-franchise operation was on an ageing site which needed substantial redevelopment.
"It is with sincere regret that the company is taking actions to close elements of the Maidstone business.
"However, the actions taken will secure ongoing employment for all staff within the Mercedes, Smart and bodyshop businesses, offering state of the art facilities to our customers.
"At the same time, Lookers will work closely with affected staff to protect as many ongoing jobs as possible."

DATED: 19.09.08

FEED: AM

Personal finance provider Barclays announced a first-half pre-tax profit down from £4.1 billion to £2.75bn.
HSBC’s profits dropped by £2.12bn to £5.2bn and nationalised Northern Rock (now out of personal loans) made a £585m loss, but repaid £9.4bn of a loan from the Bank of England, reducing the amount owed to £17.5bn.

DATED: 19.09.08

FEED: AM

Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Stuttgart, acquired a further 4.89 per cent of the Volkswagen ordinary shares on Tuesday, 16 September. As a result, the total stake in the Wolfsburg-based car manufacturer now amounts to 35.14 per cent of the voting rights. This step ensures that Porsche has a lasting majority at the VW annual general meeting. Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking, Chief Executive Officer of Porsche, said: "Our goal continues to be to increase our stake in Volkswagen to more than 50 per cent. Today's step is a further milestone along this road." He added: "We look forward to continuing and intensifying our cooperation with the Managing Board of Volkswagen, which is based on a spirit of mutual trust, and are hoping for a quick resolution of the conflict between the employee representatives of Porsche and VW." By going above 35 per cent of the voting rights, Porsche will acquire de facto control of the Wolfsburg-based group. As a result, employee representatives of Volkswagen will now take seats in the Works Council of Porsche SE and the Supervisory Board of Porsche SE. The Works Council of Porsche SE will be informed about the increase of the stake and will be asked to reconstitute itself. Dr. Wiedeking was confident that the co-operation between the employee representatives of Porsche and Volkswagen in both bodies - Works Council and Supervisory Board - would help them develop a better understanding of each other's positions and would lead to a constructive and forward-looking co-existence. As a result of the new shareholder structure, Porsche is required by law to submit a formal mandatory offer for the VW subsidiary Audi AG, Ingolstadt. The relevant offer documents must be filed with the German Federal Agency for Financial Services Supervision (BaFin) within the next four weeks and, once cleared, can be found on the website of Porsche SE at http://www.Porsche-SE.com. This formality is a statutory requirement and has no effect whatsoever on the intentions of Porsche. Dr. Wiedeking commented: "We regard Audi as an integral part of the Volkswagen group and have no interest in removing the company from the group structure." In light of this, Porsche will only offer the minimum price prescribed by law for the shares, which is expected to be about 487 Euro per Audi share. Volkswagen has stated that it will not be accepting the offer for its 99.14 per cent of the Audi shares. In practice, therefore, the mandatory offer only relates to a freefloat of 0.86 per cent, representing approximately 370,000 Audi shares. Based on last Monday's closing price, these are valued at approximately 170 million Euro. Porsche does not intend to acquire Audi shares outside the mandatory offer. On 3 March 2008 the Supervisory Board of Porsche SE had given the go-ahead for an increase of the VW stake to more than 50 per cent. All steps needed under regulatory and anti-trust laws in order to acquire a majority stake in Volkswagen were then initiated. Following discussions with the EU Commission, Porsche extended its filing with the European anti-trust authorities to cover agreements for the acquisition of 4.89 per cent of the VW ordinary shares, delivery of which took place today. Porsche expects the anti-trust and regulatory proceedings that are still pending to be completed in the coming weeks. The further increase of the stake in Volkswagen is expected to take place in the next months.

DATED: 19.09.08

FEED: AW

Civil liberties groups have voiced concern over plans to increase the length of time police store information on millions of UK car journeys. Up until now data collected by the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) has been kept for two years. Information obtained by the Guardian newspaper indicates the data will now be kept for five years. Privacy International said the database offered the police "extraordinary powers of surveillance". About 10m journeys per day are currently being recorded using ANPR, but this is set to rise to 50m. Tracking criminalsThe Guardian has also obtained an ANPR strategy document for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), which advised officers to "fully and strategically exploit" the data gathered. Police can access the database to locate uninsured cars, illegal licence plates and track criminals. Simon Davies, director of human rights group Privacy International, said the powers afforded to the police by the database were "unnecessary and disproportionate". He added: "This is possibly one of the most valuable reserves of data imaginable." Privacy International said it has complained to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) over the plans. The ICO said that "prolonged retention would need to be clearly justified based on continuing value not on the mere chance it may come in useful". Merseyside Police's Assistant Chief Constable, Simon Byrne, who leads Acpo's ANPR policy, said: "Experience has shown there are very strong links between illegal use of motor vehicles on the road and other types of serious crime."

DATED: 19.09.08

FEED: AW