Friday, December 11, 2009
Irish car dealer freed for giving information
A car dealer jailed last week for contempt of court orders arising from a judgment obtained by the Revenue over €10 million in unpaid taxes has been freed after promising to provide information on his assets to the Revenue.
After John Kane, also known as Alex Kane, gave the undertaking yesterday, his brother Pauraig, who also faced jail, gave a similar promise.
The court accepted the undertakings and expressions of remorse from the brothers, who operate SUV dealerships in Country Longford, but warned them their “cross-border car racket” was at an end and any further breach of the court’s orders would lead to considerably longer jail periods.
DATED: 11.12.09
FEED: AM
Interest rates kept at 0.5%
The Bank of England has kept interest rates at 0.5%.
Interest rates have been kept at 0.5% since March in an attempt to help stimulate the UK’s economy.
The UK is the only major economy not to have broken free from the recession and Alistair Darling is expecting growth of 1.5% in the New Year.
DATED: 11.12.09
FEED: AM
Satellite site closures give opportunuties to independent garages
The emergence of franchise dealer “ghost towns” where even major manufacturers have no little or representation are creating new service and repair opportunities for independent garages.
Many franchise dealer groups have closed satellite sites in the last couple of years, leaving many medium sized towns with few or no franchise dealers, said motor industry consultancy Network Automotive.
Managing director Colin Bruder said: “Closing satellite sites has been an easy way for dealer groups to make economies during the recession and many have gone down this route, intending to continue operating in these areas with collection and delivery services from their nearest remaining location.
“However, this kind of remote operation is often not easy to implement successfully however good the dealer’s CRM. The fact that the local site has disappeared means that customers often start to look elsewhere for servicing and repair, especially for vehicles outside of the warranty period.”
High quality independent garages with visible local sites often stood to gain business in these situations, Bruder added, and the best were busy exploiting the vacuum created by departing franchisees.
Parfitt stays on at GMUK
Bill Parfitt has postponed his retirement from GM UK and will stay on as chairman to support Duncan Aldred’s recent appointment as Vauxhall managing director.
Parfitt was due to retire at the end of this year and was originally planning to stay on as a non-executive chairman.
With Aldred managing all Vauxhall’s operational activity and performance with particular focus on sales, marketing and aftersales, Parfitt’s strategic role will be to prepare the UK business for future growth.
Nick Reilly, new GM Europe president, said: "With Bill’s strategic vision and a strong operational grip from Duncan, together they will drive the growth of the Vauxhall brand in the UK."
Motor industry disappointed at no deferment of showroom tax and scrappage deadline
The RMIF has welcomed several measures in the Pre-Budget Report however said it is "disappointed" with inaction to extend scrappage and defer the first year VED tax.
Sur Robinson, RMIF director, said: "The RMI is disappointed that there has been no extension announced to the car scrappage scheme. The current scheme is self-financing and has stimulated the new car market.
"By 29 November, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) had received notification of 282,898 orders for new vehicles under the scrappage scheme.
"The industry would have welcomed a further extension to off-set some of the negative market forces that could occur in 2010, particularly with the rise in VAT rate."
She added: "The motor industry has serious concerns regarding the impact on consumers that an introduction of first year registration fee for new vehicles would cause that was announced in the budget, April 2009.
"This introduction will lead to increased costs to the public of buying a vehicle and will directly stifle demand during a time of recovery for the automotive sector.
"We would strongly urge the Government to review the introduction of this tax."
DATED: 11.12.09
FEED: AM
Pre-Budget Report: VAT confirmed to return to 17.5%
Alistair Darling has confirmed in his Pre-Budget Report that the rate of VAT will return to 17.5% from 15%.
Some believed VAT could be increased above the 17.5% rate but Darling said there were no other announcements planned in relation to VAT.
Dealers that have not already prepared for the switch back will have to adjust all systems to cater for the change in VAT.
Other measures announced in the Pre-Budget Report include:
- A 1p rise in corporation tax has been postponed.
- The Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme to encourage banks to lend to small businesses has been extended for 12 months, guaranteeing a further £500m of loans.
- The Time To Pay scheme, allowing companies to spread tax payments, will be extended.
- Electric cars have also been made exempt from company car tax for the first five years, with a 100% first year capital allowance for electric vans.
Darling said he was confident the UK's econonmy would return to growth at the turn of the year.
He said: "I'm confident the economy will recover but we cannot be complacent.
"I have targetted growth of up to 1.5% in Q4 and up to 3% in 2011."
DATED: 11.12.09
FEED: AM
Automotive Council meets for the first time
The Automotive Council, co-chaired by Lord Mandelson and Professor Richard Parry-Jones CBE, met for the first time today to discuss the future of the automotive industry.
The council does not have representation from the automotive retailing industry and an AM poll shows that an overwhelming 93% of dealers believe that it will not be effective in shaping the future of the industry as a result.
One AM user commented on the poll: "You need the new Automotive Council to drive the business forward. And without dealer group representation, it will be like trying to drive a car without an engine."
Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive and council member, said: “This first meeting marks a significant development in the relationship between the motor industry and the Government.
“It signals a new and more collaborative approach, which will help sustain industrial capability and place the UK as a leader in the development and exploitation of low carbon vehicle technologies.
“I am delighted that one of the first results is the commitment by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles and the Technology Strategy Board to provide an additional £19 million to fund supply chain projects for ultra-low carbon vehicles.”
The Automotive Council was formed to “oversee the development of a co-ordinated and strategic approach to the automotive sector, with a supply chain council and technology council leading specific areas of work”.
DATED: 11.12.09
FEED: AM
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Ford chief says 2010 will be a 'difficult' year
Ford of Europe chief John Fleming has said vehicle sales should recover at some point in 2010 or 2011 but added that an underlying weak economy made forecasting for next year difficult.
Speaking during the Goldman Sachs Global Autos Conference in London, Mr Fleming said the phase-out of various scrapping incentive schemes in a number of European countries also made it difficult to estimate demand for new vehicles next year
Additionally, he added, that he expected General Motors' Opel/Vauxhall brand to remain an 'important and strong competitor'.
Vauxhall gives workers job security boost
Vauxhall's 5,000 UK workers have been given a pre-Christmas boost in the form of job safeguards from General Motors' European chief Nick Reilly.
He has said that there will be no new job cuts at the motor manufacturer's two plants at Ellesmere Port and Luton.
"There will be no forced redundancies at Ellesmere Port and at Luton it is similar," said Mr Reilly, who previously headed Vauxhall in the late 1990s. "There is a strong future for both plants."
The statement came after General Motors recently announced that 350 jobs would go at Luton as part of a 9,000 job cull across Europe as the company restructures.
With Ellesmere Port building the new Vauxhall Astra, Mr Reilly said he saw the move as a 'long term recovery plan for GM in the UK'.
Any changes at Vauxhall's Luton plant would not occur until 2013 when production of the Vauxhall Vivaro, which is rebadged by Renault, comes to an end. Mr Reilly is hoping to introduce a new model to replace the Vivaro at that date.
He said: "We are in discussions for the next generation vehicle, but this is not complete. We can't say if it will be at the Luton plant until negotiations are finished."
Mr Reilly does not expect GM's European operations to return to profitability until 2010, when it expects a pre-tax profit of $1 billion.
AA wants wider police effort to target 'cash for crash' scams
A new initiative by the Metropolitan Police to target 'cash for crash' insurance scams should be copied by other police forces, according to AA Insurance.
The Metropolitan Police has established a specialist unit to train officers to watch out for signs of suspicious collisions that could be staged accidents designed to defraud insurance companies for bogus personal injury claims.
Welcoming the initiatives Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, said: "Only recently a man from the north-west of England was jailed for causing more than 90 'crash for cash' collisions resulting in £1.9 million in fraudulent insurance claims. I'm certain that with better surveillance and co-ordination between insurers and police, that orgy of crime could have been stopped earlier.
"Similar specialist units in other police forces could better protect drivers throughout the UK from such activity. Initiatives such as that from the Metropolitan Police are to be applauded and I hope it is taken up by all police forces."
Staged accidents are usually at relatively low speed at complex junctions such as roundabouts or intersections and often the tail lights of the vehicle have been disabled, to increase the likelihood of a rear-end collision.
The fraudster subsequently makes claims for personal injury (usually whiplash) from his passengers who may not have been in the vehicle at all. The hapless victim, meanwhile, has to suffer the inconvenience of getting their car repaired and is likely to lose their excess and no-claim bonus."
According to Association of British Insurers' figures, detected fraudulent claims amounted to £730m last year with up to £1.9 billion slipping through the net, adding around £44 to the average cost of every insurance policy.
Insurers to access DVLA records to combat drivers' offence dishonesty
Motorists could face bans for minor traffic offences if they fail to disclose fixed penalties and points on their licence.
The Government plans to allow insurers to access DVLA computer records on every driver in Britain.
Insurers will effectively keep thousands of drivers who 'lie' to keep their premiums low, off the road by denying them cover.
Insurers already have access to all insurance records, but not to details on Britain's 33 million licence holders.
The Association of British Insurers says it is not operating a blacklist, but aims to prevent 'honest customers subsidising the dishonest'.
VW head of retail is new Skoda marketing boss
Volkswagen head of retail operations Chris Newitt will take over as Skoda UK’s new head of marketing on February 1, 2010 following Mary Newcombes appointment as Volkswagen Group UK’s head of learning services.
Newcombe will now be responsible for delivering training for all the brands in the Volkswagen Group.
Newitt joins from Volkswagen passenger cars, where he is currently head of retail operations. He joined Volkswagen in 1996 as fleet development manager.
Since then he has been brand manager, planning manager and head of parts operations.
DATED: 09.12.09
FEED: AM
Reilly confirmed permanent head of GM Europe
Nick Reilly, who was named as president of GM Europe last Friday, says the plan to restructure Vauxhall and Opel is almost finished.
He has pledged to safeguard the jobs of the company’s 5,500 workers in the UK until at least 2013.
Reilly, former head of the car group’s Asia business, was last week named as president of GM Europe in a company-wide management shake-up.
Reilly said a restructuring plan for the group, which includes Vauxhall in the UK and Opel in Germany, was “95% finalised”.
About 8,300 jobs would go, but he said virtually all would come in Europe, not the UK. “There will be relatively little effect on the UK plants,” he said. “I don’t foresee any forced redundancies.”
DATED: 09.12.09
FEED: AM
Dealer ordered to pay back £40ok proceeds of crime
An independent motor trader committed fraud and sold counterfeit porn DVDs while running a used car lot in Hull.
Andrew Holland, of east Hull, made nearly £400,000 through counterfeiting and defrauding mortgage companies while operating the Cars R Us site.
He has now been given six months to pay back £393,387.53, classed as proceeds of crime, or face three years in prison.
Holland was found guilty of fraud and money laundering by a jury at Hull Crown Court in January.
DATED: 09.12.09
FEED: AM
Chinese car sales exceed 12 million units
China has revealed that its new car sales exceeded 12 million units from January to November.
Chinese car production and new car sales are expected to reach 13 million at the end of December.
The size of the Chinese market in 2009 shows the emergence of the market as China has never produced more than 10 million cars in its automotive manufacturing history.
DATED: 09.12.09
FEED: AM
VW to take 19.9% stake in Suzuki
