The national expansion of the sales network for Smart continues with the appointment of five new sales centres.
Bentley has confirmed it will be competing in the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 2002.
Inchcape Motors Retail is set to expand its fleet business with the appointment of Alan Waldie as corporate sales director.
Welcome to a new feature of AM-online, the Grant Thornton Motor Retail's motor share watch. Each month Grant Thornton Motor Retail will plot the movement in share price of the 15 quoted motor retail distributors.
VW Group has confirmed plans to restructure its seven car brands into two divisions centred on the Volkswagen and Audi marques.
Two years ago, Mini was Automotive Management's car of the century - now BMW's charismatic reborn model is the editorial team's car of the year.
Daewoo Motor has been forced to shut down all three of its South Korean plants due to a lack of parts as 200 suppliers refuse to make deliveries until debts totalling $1.17 billion (£816m)are paid.
Land Rover is to invest £2.5 billion in the next five years in developing and building new vehicles and has announced it will build its next model, a new Land Rover Discovery due in 2005, at Solihull.
Fiat has announced a major restructuring plan involving 6,000 job losses, production cutbacks at 18 plants and the departure of Roberto Testore, Fiat Auto chief executive since 1996.
MG Rover is recalling 7,010 MGFs, produced between September 2000 and September 2001, because of a possible fault with the seatbelt pre-tensioners.
Automotive services group Inchcape plc has announced two new deals, one the acquisition from the management of the remaining 51% stake in Eurofleet Limited and the second an agreement to handle remarketing and fleet management activities for Fiat Auto UK's fleet of used vehicles for the next three years.
The European Commission has published the final report on the economic impact of a series of possible scenarios resulting from changes to Block Exemption, which expires in its current form in September 2002.
Car prices could be forced up as a result of European proposals which would force manufacturers to fit ABS brakes and infra-red 'night vision' systems to new cars.
Mazda president Mark Fields has insisted the company will continue to work towards the goals of its 'turnaround' strategy, the so-called Millennium Plan, with the backing of parent company Fords' new management team.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders' aftermarket committee has launched a campaign to try to make the media more aware of the importance of the sector.
MG Rover is hoping to boost parts revenue to £250m after setting up a new division.
Repairers, insurers, system houses and trade association representatives have set up an estimating forum in a bid to raise standards and create an accreditation benchmark.
Gemini Accident Repair Centre is poised to acquire Scuffs Cosmetic Repairs after the business collapsed last month.
Accident Assistance, the GE Capital-owned non-fault accident management firm, has from this month stopped taking new business.
The future of Chris Swan's Bulldog Express network has been thrown into doubt after the business disposed of key outlets and closed several others.
Ford is said to be reviewing its ownership of its fast-fit operation Kwik-Fit.
Alfa Romeo and Skoda are celebrating record sales for the year in the UK.
Three more Mercedes-Benz dealers have been awarded the Smart franchise. They are Derwent Vehicles in Holbeck, Leeds, Mercedes-Benz of Gatwick, in Crawley, and Western Automobile Company, in Edinburgh.
Auctions have got busier in the past few weeks as dealers look to stock their forecourts in advance of a predicted lift in values next year. Most anticipate a busy market in January. Last year saw a number of dealers disposing of cars during November and December in order to make the year-end books look good, but with the excitement of the New Year and a fresh start, values subsequently rose.
This year residuals finally began to stabilise following more than 12 months of plummeting values. The recovery was rapid during the first six months of the year but then slowed in the second half. Although values have fallen in the past two months, leading to speculation that the marketplace is weakening, the drop is within the normal seasonal movement for this time of year.
HPI has redesigned its HPI Check enquiry service as part of a £4m investment programme, making it more comprehensive and easier for dealers to use.
Lumley Insurance Consultants has addressed dealers' fears over the growth in three-year new car warranties, which have eroded margins on used car cover, by launching a top-up product.
The British Independent Motor Trade Association has moved to dampen fears over stolen grey imports by launching a guarantee scheme.
Used car prices are beginning to fall across Europe especially for diesels, according to the latest fleet index published by EurotaxGlass's.
The difficulties a used car buyer has in servicing a diesel on their drive could be a key factor in deciding the future of these cars, says Martin Ward, Cap Motor Research national research manager.
