F&I Management & Training

A new battleground has been established in the seemingly never-ending war between electric car company Tesla and franchised dealers representing other brands across the US.

Retailers in the state of Connecticut have launched a new web site, Tesla Crash.  As its title suggests, it is highly critical of the Tesla’s direct-sales methods, which circumvent  the model that franchised dealers traditionally work to.

Using the tagline, ‘Don’t let Tesla crash into Connecticut’s consumer laws,’ the site features prominently a picture of a Tesla car driven into a forecourt sign by its owner moments after collection. It also carries a news story about an unhappy Tesla owner in Wisconsin using the state’s consumer protection laws for redress.

On the site, Connecticut Auto Retailers Association President Jim Fleming has this to say: “We want the public to know that local Connecticut dealers are ready and willing to sell Tesla immediately. We currently offer many electric vehicles through our dealerships and we are strong supporters of growing that market. We additionally have worked with the State of Connecticut to expand electric charging stations and promote incentives.

“We don’t understand why Elon Musk (Tesla’s founder) wants to introduce legislation that would circumvent the auto laws and rules that we all follow, particularly since this past week Musk said at the Automotive News World Congress he is open to working with franchise dealers.”

DATED: 16.02.15

FEED: ARN

The Peter Vardy retail chain has given £18,000 towards feeding the needy in Scotland. The Peter Vardy Foundation, which co-ordinates the company’s charitable activities, allocated £1500 to each of the firm’s 12 retail outlets, allowing them to choose where locally the money should go.

Peter Vardy Vauxhall in Motherwell, for example, gave its cash to a food bank run by the Salvation Army in the town. The company gives 10% of profits to local community enterprises.

DATED: 16.02.15

FEED: ARN

Skoda is using eye-scanning technology in its latest digital campaign, for the Fabia. A new interactive online site for the car tracks the movement via webcam of eye-pupil movement to determine which model sparks the most interest.

Software generates viewing statistics that include data drawn from eye movements.Marketingmagazine.co.uk reports that this is the first time a brand has used such tracking in this way.

A further phase of the online campaign begins today (Monday), allowing would-be buyers to create their own films using an on-site editing platform. These can then compete for viewing attention against those of other users.

Soho-based agency 18 feet and rising created the campaign.

DATED: 16.02.15

FEED: ARN

Penton Motor Group has just opened a new £4.5m Citroen outlet in Poole, Dorset. The new 12,000sq ft showroom occupies part of a two-acre dealership site that also has space for 200 used cars, plus a workshop and parts department.

Penton bought the site, which totals 3.25 acres in September 2013. The 1.25 acres remaining is set aside for expansion by Penton or use by a third party. The development is the third new build since 2013 for the company, which is owned by its managing director Robert Wilson and his sons, Stephen and Charlie.

Penton already operates a Citroen retail outlet in Christchurch and others for Citroen and Vauxhall in Salisbury.

DATED: 16.02.15

FEED: ARN

Honda has indicated that it will cut trim and engine variants by a fifth across its model range, in an attempt to improve product quality. The company’s head of research and development, Yoshiharu Yamamoto, made the announcement on Saturday as the Honda emerges from a spell of product recalls and quality problems.

Mr Yamamoto said the work in developing model variants for all its markets and face-lifting them currently put a ‘big burden’ on its engineers. "In the end, with so many different specs you lose the essence of what a Honda car should be. It also puts a big burden on (engineers) and it's inefficient," he said.

Honda’s Jazz hybrid had to undergo five recalls within a year of launch. The company has also been badly affected by a recall (which also hit Toyota and other auto makers) to replace faulty airbags made by a third-party supplier, Takata Corp.

US authorities fined Honda a record $70m for withholding information about the scale and seriousness of the airbag faults.

Honda currently sells the Jazz, Civic and CR-V in the UK, having announced last month that it would discontinue the Accord saloon and estate because of poor sales of those cars across Europe. However, a new version of the HR-V is scheduled for the UK this year, along with an updated CR-V. There will also be a new Type-R Civic on sale from the summer.

Honda says the reduction is under way, although it wouldn’t give a deadline for completing the exercise.

Globally, Honda’s income has fallen even though sales for 2014 rose by just over 6%. Production at its UK factory at Swindon has been cut, although the company says it remains important as a producer of CR-Vs and Civics.

DATED: 16.02.15

FEED: ARN

Pollution is one reason why the diesel engine has perhaps peaked at 50 percent of new-car sales in most of Europe.

Politicians are criticizing diesels. Gasoline-electric hybrids are gaining momentum as a way to reduce CO2 instead of diesels, particularly at the Germany luxury brands. Three-cylinder engines are emerging as another method. Diesel-electric hybrids are feasible, but they are expensive.

In parts of London, the air quality is so poor, The Independent reported, that children's lungs are being stunted. In Paris, the mayor wants diesel banned from the city by 2020.

Because diesel fuel burns at a higher temperature than gasoline, the exhaust has more soot, which contains carbon combined with sulfate, nitrate and metals.

Electrification may be the next step in cleaning up diesel. Using an electric motor to reduce the load on a diesel engine could indeed reduce emissions, says Tom Watson, the former chief engineer for the Ford Escape hybrid who now works for Johnson Controls as a technical fellow in powertrains and vehicle systems.

He said diesels produce more pollution during acceleration. An electric motor can reduce these loads.

The Peugeot 3008 uses an electric motor to drive the rear wheels while a diesel powers the front wheels. But all those extra parts add cost.

Smaller, turbocharged gasoline engines are also drawing people out of diesel-powered cars. Ford's 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine has been drawing customers out of diesel cars, despite the fact that gasoline is far more expensive than diesel fuel in Europe.

Alternatives to diesel are getting better each year. It looks like diesel has peaked in Europe.

DATED: 16.02.15

FEED: AN