Manufacturer insight - Page 31

British sports car manufacturer Caterham will relocate to a new site in Kent later this year to increase its manufacturing capacity by 50%.

Carmakers aiming to switch to direct-to-consumer new car sales through agency agreements with their dealers are expected to defer or even abandon their plans by three-in four AM-online poll respondents.

JCB Group has replaced its Honda franchise in Ashford with a new dual-brand Renault and Dacia car dealership for the Kent town.

Suzuki GB director of automobile Dale Wyatt has asserted that Parkinson’s “does not define me” after taking to social media to share his approach to living with the disease more than four years after diagnosis.

Ocean Automotive has celebrated a hat-trick of Audi Q Power Awards successes after securing the German premium carmaker’s UK Centre of the Year title for a third consecutive year.

Steven Eagell could be about to secure the acquisition of 13 Toyota and Lexus car dealerships from Marshall Motor Group.

Kia has outlined its plan to grow its profit contribution from electric vehicle (EV) sales more than 10-fold as annual zero emissions vehicle volumes grow to 1.6 million by 2030.

New car registrations ended Q1 2023 on a high after demand from large fleets drove year-on-year volume growth of 18.2%.

Stellantis has set its sights on becoming the automotive sector’s “European leasing leader” after restructuring its finance and leasing operations.

Johnsons Cars Mazda general manager and former AM awards GM/DP of the Year winner Helen Price has taken a new job with British supercar maker McLaren Automotive.

Spencer Clayton-Jones, director of network development and customer quality at Nissan GB, was the latest subject of AM's regular '8 Questions To' feature.

Jobs losses are expected to result from Marshall Motor Group’s closure of its Honda Scarborough dealership and the end of trading from Underwoods Skoda in Colchester.

Stellantis and Ford remain bullish about their electrified future despite the UK Government’s threat of £15,000 per car fines for OEMs who breach its proposed electric vehicle (EV) sales mandate.

Waylands Automotive has officially opened the doors to its new Polestar Space at Cribbs Mall in Cribbs Causeway, Bristol.

Suzuki GB has followed the lead of Toyota in offering a service-activated warranty to the owners of vehicles aged up to seven years or 100,000 miles.

The Government has pledged to stick to its plan to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 as it revealed its Powering Up Britain strategy to transform the UK’s energy infrastructure.

Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) chief executive Mike Hawes has said the UK’s car manufacturing sector is “on the road to recovery” following a 13.1% growth in production volumes in February.

Drayton Motors is set to continue to drive improvements to its car dealership portfolio with plans to create a new-build Kia showroom in Boston, Lincolnshire.

Speculation is growing that the UK could ease back on plans for an all-out ban on the sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 after the EU drafted legislation to allow vehicles powered by e-fuels.

Rainworth Motor Group is on the lookout for “sleepy” car retailers in need of operational improvement as it targets growth through acquisition after winning Skoda UK’s Retailer of the Year award.

Harwoods Group’s McLaren New Forest will represent the British supercar brand’s UK retail network at the McLaren Global Retailer of the Year 2022 awards.

Volkswagen has gathered 13,000 car retailers in Hamburg to showcase its latest electric vehicles (EV) “shifting future perspectives of the dealerships” at a global retail conference.

Wessex Garages has completed the redevelopment of its Nissan and Kia dealerships in Gloucester.

Swansway Group’s Volkswagen dealership in Wrexham has been awarded the German carmaker’s retailer of the year award for 2022.

Plug-in vehicles accounted for almost a quarter of all new car sales in February, with year-on-year growth achieved by both pure battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs).