Motor manufacturers are to have a quota system imposed by the Government for the remainder of the scrappage scheme after it was disclosed that more than three quarters of the £400 million budget has been used up. This means funding for fewer than 82,000 new vehicle orders is left, with the money due to run out by the end of February 2010 with … [Read more...]
Quota system to be introduced for “smooth closing” to scrappage scheme
January 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Oversell the add-ons and something is going to crack
January 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
We often highlight at Motor Trade Insider the fact that the actual selling of a car is only a very small part of how the modern car dealer attempts to gain a profit and apart from the aftersales route and traditional finance packages there are now masses of products which can be sold as 'bolt ons' but which can easily make the whole transaction … [Read more...]
GM gives Opel 650 million euro advance
January 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment
General Motors “gave” 650 million euros to its troubled European unit earlier this month, underlining the problems the new management team put in place by Opel boss Nick Reilly's faces. GM said it had advanced the cash to Opel for engineering work it otherwise would have paid them in April and July. "The payment accelerations serve as a … [Read more...]
Long lead times a turn off for the now generation
January 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment
We now live in a world where instant gratification is craved. We want everything and we want it all now, we simply don’t want to wait. Instant messages, email, fax, internet, fast food (the faster the better), Instant education, job, wealth, no waiting at the hospital; we want an instant diagnosis, and, of course, an instant cure. We want … [Read more...]
Fed up of being treated like an idiot?
January 16, 2010 By 10 Comments
Thank heavens the weather conditions have improved and the big thaw has almost completed. Now as everything becomes reassuringly damp again we can reflect on what a sorry state the UK get’s itself in when the weather moves anyway near an extreme. Following on from our article on the BBC’s Mr motoring ubiquity Quentin Wilson and his “top … [Read more...]
Europe wide car sales up 16 percent in December
January 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Various government backed scrappage schemes are continuing to distort the European new car market, inflating sales for car makers dominant in the UK and France while penalizing those dependent on demand in the German market. New-car registrations in the EU and European Free-Trade Association (EFTA) jumped 16 percent in December as figures got a … [Read more...]
Management shakeup and sales drop warning for Vauxhall / Opel
January 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
GM is poised to unveil a management shake-up at Vauxhall/Opel that will make its European executives more accountable for their operations' performance, according to the FT The change is aimed at making the carmaker's managers in the US and around the world more accountable and hold them to more “exacting” performance targets. Opel's … [Read more...]
BMW China sales up 36 percent
January 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
BMW has revealed that sales of BMW and Mini brands in China reached a record 90,536 units in 2009, which is up an astonishing 36 percent from 65,822 units a year earlier. In the Greater China area, including mainland China, Macau, Taiwan and Hong Kong, BMW sold 98,869 cars in 2009, up 31.2 percent from a year earlier, BMW said in a … [Read more...]
Quentin trouble at the BBC
January 13, 2010 By 3 Comments
I’d like to get one thing straight first off, MTI quite likes Quentin Willson. I won’t go as far as to say we’re best mates with him but some of our “people” met him (even though Quentin didn’t actually realise it) at the recent Automotive Management Used Car Conference at The Birmingham Motorcycle Museum and found him to be a … [Read more...]
GM hopes 2010 brings first profit in 6 years
January 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment
On the ropes car maker GM is hoping to move back into profit for the first time in six years in 2010. The company, which last made a full-year profit back in 2004, is hoping to do so after last year's restructuring which saw it enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for six weeks to cut its massive debt. Bob Lutz, GM’s optimistic … [Read more...]
Shakeup at Saab as wind down continues
January 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Saab Managing Director Jan Ake Jonsson and the carmaker's entire board will be replaced immediately as parent GM continues with the wind-down of the Swedish automaker. According to a statement the US carmaker, despite the management change, is continuing to assess bids for the money-losing brand. Stephen Taylor and Peter Torngren of … [Read more...]
China is now the number 1 market for VW
January 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Strong sales in their emerging markets has meant VW bucked the global automotive downturn in 2009, posting record sales and gaining more than one point of share in the global car market thanks to Volkswagen said that group deliveries to customers rose 1.1 percent to an all-time high of 6.29 million vehicles, driven by robust gains in China, … [Read more...]
VW aims to double US sales by 2012
January 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker, is aiming to more than double its sales in the US within the next 3 to 4 years, according to Stefan Jacoby VW’s head of business in the US. "We will sell 400,000 to 450,000 vehicles in 2012-2013," he said at an event in Washington, D.C., ahead of the Detroit auto show. VW Group, including Audi, sold … [Read more...]
Ecclestone bid for Saab takes shape
January 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment
F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and investment company Genii Capital will soon have the initial financing in place to show General Motors they have the necessary funds to purchase Saab, Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Industri revealed today. The paper said Ecclestone and Genii would have 500 million to 1 billion crowns (£55 million to £110 million) … [Read more...]
US car sales decline 35 percent in 2 years
January 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The parlous state of the US domestic car market has been revealed in the car sales statistics for 2009. It was good news in December as total light vehicle sales were up 135,131 units at 1,029,936 compared to 894,805 in December 2008. Passenger car sales in the month rose to 517,740 from 423,704 and light truck sales increased to 512,196 from … [Read more...]
China car sales up over 40 percent in 2009
January 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment
According to the official Xinhua news agency China sold more than 13.5 million vehicles in 2009 including 10.3 million passenger vehicles, overtaking the US to become the world's largest car market and a whopping 42 per cent increase on 2008. Industry observers attributed China's strong car sales largely to government policy initiatives, such … [Read more...]
Japanese new car sales plunge to 31 year low
January 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Sales of new vehicles in Japan declined 9.3 percent in 2009 to 4.61 million units which is the first time the figures have slipped below the 5 million mark in 31 years and the figure represents a plunge of 40.7 percent from a peak of 7.78 million cars sold in 1990. It was the 5th straight year of decline and it is thought that the trend for … [Read more...]
December 2009 new car registration figures
January 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The official figures are in for December 2009 and are they're up 38.9% on a very weak December 2008 (down 21.2% on 2007) with 168,942 units being registered. Obviously the scrappage scheme is still having a massive impact with 20.8% o December registrations being down to the scheme. The question everyone is asking is can the industry sustain itself … [Read more...]
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