Trade and industry secretary, Patricia Hewitt, defended MG Rover directors at the Sunday Times Motor Show Live against claims that MG Rover executives are being over rewarded financially

Mazda, whose rapid UK sales growth should push sales of the brand up to nearly 3% of the market in 2007, is recruiting extra dealers

Workers at the Ryton Peugeot-Citroen plant should know by the end of this year what car will replace the successful Peugeot 206, which reaches the end of production in 2008

Vauxhall's focus on high-performance variants across its range will only generate around 5,000 sales a year, says the company's chairman Kevin Wale. But, speaking at the Sunday Times Motor Show Live yesterday, he said believed the brand's image would be boosted by the VXR

Michael Howard, the leader of the Conservative Party, claims there is a war being waged on the motorist

Daewoo has reduced its parts prices by up to 63% with immediate effect. The announcement was made today at The Sunday Times Motor Show Live at the NEC

Citroen, Ford, BMW, VW, Peugeot and DaimlerChrysler have agreed to lift servicing restrictions following a major inquiry into new car warranties by the Office of Fair Trading. However Which? magazine has been forced to apologise after claiming seven carmakers were still offering warranties in breach of EU law

Mercedes-Benz Direct has opened its eighth used car centre in the UK following a strong performance by the network last year. More than 10,000 used cars were sold by from Direct sites in 2003 and the group is hoping the new outlet on the North Circular in Park Royal, London, will continue this success

The latest 'league table' of Britain's biggest retail groups will be unveiled at the AM100 Annual Dinner at the Metropole Hotel on the evening of June 9

Gareth Gaston, a director of Hilton Hotels, is to speak at the annual AM Dealer Conference, on June 9 in the Metropole Hotel, Birmingham. His theme will be 'retaining more customers through e-commerce'

Retailers are missing out on a major revenue stream by not offering so-called “smart” repairs, according to a new survey. Despite using paintless dent removal techniques on their own stock to boost values, 41.5% of dealerships do not offer drivers the service in their aftersales departments, says the report

Manufacturer standards: good or bad for your business? They mean better facilities for customers, but at a hefty cost

Does your company have a vision? Most do, although few of their employees, when asked, know what that vision (or business objective) is. Many head offices have the company vision written on the wall; some dealerships also have plaques with the mission statement on: but it's not enough to have them framed – staff need to, first, be aware of them and, second, be committed to them

'Skills shortage in the motor industry'

In celebration of Rover's Official Car Supplier status to Team GB and the British Olympic Association, a commemorative Olympic Streetwise LE model has been produced to mark the team's participation in the Olympic games in Athens

Mitsubishi's British operation, which has avoided controversy surrounding the company's £2.35 billion Japanese bail out, is planning to boost sales by 50% within two years

If your company hasn't applied to the Financial Services Authority for authorisation to sell and advise on insurance-related products, you're running out of time. The deadline to guarantee that you become authorised from January 14, 2005, is July 13 – just weeks away

Whitehouse Group has been named Kent's largest private company in a survey by the media business Kent Messenger Group

Seven manufacturers will offer test drives at next week's Sunday Times Motor Show Live. Organisers say the line-up will appeal to prospective car buyers, who will be accompanied by a co-driver around an outdoor circuit

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has written to the Department of Trade and Industry pressing for a clause to restrict Voluntary Terminations under the revised Consumer Credit Act (CCA)

Virgin has launched its own car insurance product just three months after selling its internet-based car sales operation to Derek Cook's Motor Solutions group

Renault is planning to open more than 150 satellite service and repair sites during the next three years to accommodate its growing vehicle parc

Ford retailer Jennings has taken on the Subaru franchise at its Middlesbrough site, investing £800,000 in new facilities for the Japanese marque

No BMW, no Mercedes-Benz – but at least Porsche will be representing Germany at the Sunday Times Motor Show Live this week. And it has one of the few world premieres planned for the NEC, Birmingham, event – the new 911 Turbo S

Ailing car giant Mitsubishi Motors has negotiated a 450bn yen (£2.24bn) rescue package with Japanese and US investors

Nick Lancaster, chief executive of HR Owen, has dismissed industry speculation that he plans to pull out of motor retailing to concentrate on property dealing

Vehicle manufacturers are calling for urgent talks with the Royal Bank of Scotland following its decision to replace the entire management team at Dixon Motors, including father and son Paul and Simon

Toyota GB has signed its 10th retailer to be funded under a programme that backs entrepreneurs with an eight-year loan, and plans a total of 15 within two years

Volvo has outlined plans for new-look showrooms before all of its UK dealerships have completed the upgrades to a corporate style introduced in 1997

Trevor Finn, Pendragon chief executive, is confident manufacturers will refranchise most dealerships acquired in the acquisition of CD Bramall, despite the announcement that Tony Bramall has bought back two Audi sites