Ford is expected to announce today the creation of a single management board controlling Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin.
"Vendors are certainly enjoying a much better market than we had during the last two weeks of September and the first two weeks of October and certainly the present "upbeat" market should continue through to Christmas" - Andrew Shepherd, Manheim's senior group auctioneer.
A Labour MP is calling for a ban on drivers using mobile phones behind the wheel.
Citroen has set a distance record for electric vehicles, with two Saxo Electrics covering 1,712km (1,064 miles) in 24 hours and 58 seconds on a closed track in France.
European automotive pricing analysis service, eurocarprice.com has just launched its redesigned web site with new features including an Index of fleet (three-year-old) residual values for passenger cars and a European taxation section.
Simon Frith, Lexus GB's general manager of operations, is to leave the company to join the RRG dealer group as operations director, based at Salford Quays.
The 2002 Retail Motor Industry Pay Guide, produced jointly by the RMI and Sewells Information and Research and published at the end of this month, shows a 'headline' increase in basic pay across all sectors was 3% between 2000 and 2001.
International Motors Limited has appointed a new national franchise development manager to look after its network of UK Subaru and Isuzu dealerships.
Mitsubishi plans to extend its dealer network to 150 by the end of 2003 ready for the launch of the CZ2 revealed at the Tokyo show.
BMW will not be at next year's Birmingham motor show, believing it can use the £1.5m-plus cost more effectively as it sets a 100,000 sales target, combined with Mini.
Scotland's leading Ford dealer has attacked the “discount-led” success of manufacturers such as Renault and Citroen, claiming they do not honour the “gentlemen's agreement” which followed last year's price changes.
CD Bramall chairman Tony Bramall, who made a fortune from motor retailing and returned to head a major group, is one of five motor industry personalities nominated for the 2001 Castrol IMI Gold Medal.
Vauxhall and Opel are to produce a new large car which General Motors' European engineers believe will offer a radical alternative to Mercedes' E-class and BMW's 5 Series.
Sung-Kee Kim, UK managing director of Daewoo Cars, is confident of attracting at least one dealer a week during 2002. The company, which jettisoned its pioneering direct-deal approach earlier this year, wants to rapidly build up the dealer network to stem falling sales.
Fleetlease is developing a personal leasing package for dealers through its Nova Vehicle Finance operation. The scheme, designed to attract ex-company car drivers who have taken the cash option, is being piloted with a national dealer group with a possible launch early next year.
Almost half of Britain's motor retailers expect their businesses to grow over the next 12 months, even though most anticipate a decline in the economy.
Nearly half of used cars sold via Lookers' internet business are in areas where the group has no dealership representation.
HR Owen is the first dealer group to sign up to Experian's new online consumer information service, which is launched next month.
Vauxhall has teamed up with systems specialist Bott Ltd to offer a range of storage and protection accessories for the Astravan, Combo, Movano and the new Vivaro.
Brecon Ford, which went into receivership on October 5, has been sold to Cwmbran Ford for an undisclosed sum.
Volkswagen has officially launched an online parts procurement operation, branded the 'VW Group Supply.Com'.
Desira Group has made a number of appointments following a recent restructuring programme of its aftersales departments.
Tesco's plans to sell cars at its stores look set to be opposed by its customers.
Derek Cook is making a comeback in the motor industry with the resurrection of his Motor Solutions internet-based discount motoring service.
The MG Owners' Club has awarded MG Rover Group with its annual 'MG Enthusiast' award for its contribution to the MG marque.
New car sales hit record levels in October and it now looks certain the year will end on an all-time high, beating 1989, the previous best year on record. The SMMT is predicting 2.38m new car registrations but, in the present bullish conditions, many people believe even that figure may prove conservative. At first glance, the continuing demand for new cars is difficult to explain given the underlying economic picture.
After several months of base rate cuts the banks have finally started to move on their personal loan rates but not always in the direction you might expect.
Carmakers have found a winning formula and are going to stick with it until the end of the year. A combination of low rate finance and heavy advertising of monthly payments has brought customers into new car showrooms in record numbers.
The past two months have seen a surprising change in dealer buying habits as the market dropped off at the end of September and beginning of October only to surge in November. Most dealers say that they are stocking up in anticipation of a shortage of good quality Cap Clean cars in December.
Smart has announced a further expansion of its sales network, with four more Mercedes-Benz dealers taking on the franchise.
