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.
Audi says it is considering taking legal action against Showroom4cars.com over allegations that the manufacturer is obstructing the supply of cars to its European dealers, ordered by UK customers through its website.
A committee of MPs has sought to calm fears raised by some manufacturers warning of the debilitating costs of implementing the End of Life Vehicles Directive.
The new managing director of Renault UK is Philippe Talou-Derible, succeeding Benoit Marzloff who takes up the role of Renault group senior vice president for strategy and marketing this month.
Technology will be one of the main battlefields for motor retailing in 2002, giving new entrants a foothold in the market and dealers a way to fend off competition.
Mazda Motor Corporation has announced the appointment of Stephen Odell as senior adviser of the company and president of its Mazda Motor Europe subsidiary, succeeding Jan Brentebråten who will return to a new role with Ford of Europe.
With one month to go 2001 has become a record year for new car registrations. A total of 2,332,303 new cars were registered by the end of November, beating the 1989 full-year record of 2,300,944 units.
Ford Motor Company announced today it expects fourth quarter results to be worse than it had previously forecast.
Patterson Ford, with four dealerships in Newcastle, Shiremoor and Hexham, has achieved treble success in the 2001 Autoteam Competition Awards, held in Monte Carlo.
Online business-to-business platform provider Ecom Auto Auctions has enhanced its web offering for dealers.
Jaguar has been awarded a National Training Award.
Preston-based car dealership Bowker is opening its new £250,000 Mini showroom in the new year, almost doubling the number of Minis on show at its centre on Riversway. The development has created six new jobs.
Benfield Motor Group has launched an on-line advice service for company car drivers to calculate how much tax they can expect to pay when the new CO2-based benefit-in-kind tax legislation is introduced in April 2002.
Directly praising and indirectly offering sharp criticism of his company's former CEO, Jacques Nasser, Ford Motor Company's new boss made it clear “we lost our focus,” leaving the number-two automaker with plenty of problems that need to be fixed.
Joachim Milberg is stepping down from his position as chairman of the BMW board of management.
A two-year apprenticeship programme has just been launched, aimed at training young people to become customer advisers for the Peugeot dealer network.
Brooklyn Motors has been given the Citroen franchise for the Kidderminster territory, with effect from December 1.
