Bosses at the Honda factory in Swindon, which produces the Honda Jazz supermini and the Honda Civic, say there will be no more job cuts in 2010, despite them expecting a tough year. About 1,300 jobs were lost in 2009 through the associate release programme and the South Marston plant, which currently employs over 3,000 workers, shut for four … [Read more...]
No more job cuts at Honda despite the prediction of a tough year ahead
December 31, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Analysts predict a 15 percent increase in December for US new car sales
December 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Industry forecasts by J.D. Power predict a 15 percent rise in US new vehicle sales, powered by a retail surge in December. That would amount to the strongest ever year on year sales increase and only the third month of sales growth in what’s been a pretty dismal 2009. The others, in August (thanks to the cash-for-clunkers incentive) and in … [Read more...]
China’s Great Wall cars coming to UK
December 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment
UK distributor I.M. Group has revealed that it will begin importing cars made by China's Great Wall Motor Co. into the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia commencing in 2011 after first launching distribution in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 2010. I.M. Group did not state which Great Wall models it will distribute but said the Chinese carmaker has … [Read more...]
Ford agree sale of Volvo to China’s Geely
December 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Ford has agreed the terms of the sale of its Swedish business, Volvo Cars, to China's Geely. Ford said "some work still remains to be completed" but the deal will be finalised early next year ahead of completion soon after Easter. Ford put Volvo up for sale a year ago to help pay off its debt and make its business more focused. Geely was … [Read more...]
Government looking to outlaw “logbook loans”
December 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The department for business innovation and skills (BIS) is consulting on plans to ban a form of secured borrowing known as “logbook loans” calling it an "archaic" and expensive method of borrowing. The loans are usually secured against the value of cars and allow the lender to repossess without a court order and more than 1,000 people have … [Read more...]
Spyker back in the frame for Saab
December 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Shares in the Dutch luxury car firm, Spyker, have soared after it renewed a bid for General Motor's Swedish car business Saab. By mid-morning Spyker shares were up 27% at 2.17 euros in Amsterdam. GM has until 1700 US Eastern time (2200 GMT) on Monday to respond to Spyker's bid. The new offer follows GM's statement last Friday that it would … [Read more...]
GM to wind down Saab
December 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
GM has said it will “wind down” Saab, which employs around 3,000 people, after talks to sell the brand to Dutch manufacturer Spyker Cars collapsed and the Swedish government said it would not step in to save the carmaker. GM had also been in talks to sell Saab to niche luxury carmaker Koenigsegg, with the backing of China's BAIC but the deal … [Read more...]
Top 5 scrappage cars that didn’t deserve the crusher
December 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
With the scrappage scheme coming to an end soon, we've scoured the country and asked our fellow traders to find out if there were any part-exchanges that just seemed too good for the jaws of the crusher. The results were surprising to say the least. It's not a bad thing getting an old-ruster of the roads for good but as we found out there were … [Read more...]
UK car production rises 15.7% in November
December 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment
UK car production rose by 15.7% in November compared with a year earlier, the first increase in more than a year, industry figures have shown. There were 112,948 cars made last month, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. It put the rise down to the continuing impact of the car scrappage scheme and increased stability in … [Read more...]
Finance the key for many smaller dealers
December 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment
If you ask anyone’s opinion on almost anything they will generally start by looking at the subject of conversation totally from their own perspective. However once you ask them to look at the bigger picture they will invariably soften their stance and concede that maybe there is a different way of looking at things. In the motor trade, like many … [Read more...]
Experian reports used car sales down in Q3
December 17, 2009 By 1 Comment
Used car sales fell by 4.9 per cent during the period July - September (Q3) this year, according to the latest statistics from Experian®, the global information services company. The biggest casualties in the used car market during Q3 were the mini and lower medium segments, which saw sales fall by 5.2 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively … [Read more...]
Survival of the fittest in a car retailing shakedown
December 17, 2009 By 3 Comments
This year has been a surprising one for the trade in many ways. Even the most optimistic of car dealers could never have predicted the rapid uplift in used car prices between late 2008 and most of 2009. Even though the scrappage scheme was in effect a government subsidy for an ailing business sector and kick started demand for certain new cars, … [Read more...]
Ford Focus named CAP Used Car of the Decade
December 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The Ford Focus 1998 – 2005 has been voted ‘Used Car of the Decade’ by CAP – the UK’s independent used car pricing experts. A panel of judges comprising of used car market and vehicle valuation experts at CAP voted unanimously for the Focus, declaring it as the vehicle which set new standards of quality in the volume car market during … [Read more...]
Look out for offers as dealers chase servicing profits
December 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment
It is widely accepted that in many car showrooms used car sales have provided the vast majority of the profit opportunities in 2009. From almost the first week of January this car dealers quickly learned to expect the unexpected and when the cash for bangers scheme was announced new car sales joined the profit party. This made dealers and … [Read more...]
Still no payout from the Automotive Assistance Programme
December 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The much trumpeted £2.3bn government scheme set up in January to provide funding for UK carmakers has yet to help a single firm, a committee of MPs has discovered. The Automotive Assistance Programme (AAP) was established to provide loans for investment in future technologies but the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee described … [Read more...]
King customer will reign supreme in 2010
December 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment
There is absolutely no doubt that, at the sharp end of retailing, businesses will need to up their game more than ever next year. Most companies have a robust system in place for checking that precious customers are being given a first class experience and importantly will come back again and tell others of the positives. This is graphically … [Read more...]
The mystery shop, car dealers and cherry picking
December 11, 2009 By 2 Comments
There is a major issue in car sales today, which dealers and manufacturers continue to wrestle with, and that’s “burning leads” or “cherry picking”. Although most manufacturers now incentivise their dealer network to ensure compliance, there is still a reliance on people which often leads to failure and therefore financial … [Read more...]
Pre-budget report 2009 motoring round-up
December 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment
VAT As we know VAT will return to 17.5% as from 01 January 2010 and this will obviously impact on buyers of new (and some used) cars from the start of next year. Fuel Duty As already announced by the Chancellor in his 2009 Budget, fuel duty will continue to rise by 1p a litre above inflation each year from 2010 to 2013. Vehicle Excise … [Read more...]
Jaguar top in U.S. sales satisfaction survey
December 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Top spot in the latest annual J.D. Power Sales Satisfaction Index has gone to Jaguar, the fifth time in six years that they have taken the top honours in the influential survey. The index measures how satisfied customers in the United States are with their buying experience based on five sales-process factors. Jaguar, which Ford sold along … [Read more...]
VW to buy 20% stake in Suzuki Motor
December 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Volkswagen, Europe’s largest car maker, is to buy a 20% stake in Japan's Suzuki Motor by February 2010 for 222.5bn yen ($2.5bn; £1.5bn) and Suzuki said it would acquire a stake in VW in return, spending "up to one half" of the funds it receives on VW shares. In a joint statement the two carmakers said that they had "reached a common … [Read more...]
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