News - Page 1323

Car manufacturers reckon they’ll have sold petrol-electric vehicles in the hundreds of thousands in Europe by the end of this decade.

Every day, large numbers of potential buyers enter showrooms looking for used vehicles, or other products and services, and yet only small percentage actually purchase something from their first visit.

One of the challenges for every dealer selling used cars is ensuring their stock gets maximum exposure.

Hyundai Automotive Group executives have been arrested in the ongoing investigation of bribery charges, following two other arrests late last month.

Ian Rendle has been appointed as CAP’s new client service director.

A Carcraft car salesman was ambushed by a knifeman and dragged from a £16,000 Audi during a test drive at a Darlaston warehouse.

Scientists have devised a way to replace spark plugs with laser beams to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

The new BMW 3-series has been named ‘2006 World Car of the Year’ at a presentation during the New York International Auto Show, which started last week.

The British International Motor Show will feature a ‘Careers Village’ this year at the ExCel London, which runs from July 20-30.

Motorpoint Car Supermarket is supporting Welsh Snooker Open winner, Stephen Lee, at the World Snooker Championships, which started last week in Sheffield.

West London Nissan has acquired the Nissan dealership in Mill Hill, north London, for an undisclosed sum from Lookers.

Hyundai’s new Santa Fe SUV is on sale now and prices range from £20,995 to £25,240.

Caledonia Fiat and Alfa Romeo on Port Way, Ashdon on Ribble, has been named the UK’s Aftersales Distinction Dealer of the Year by Fiat Auto UK, at an awards ceremony held in Rome last week.

Peugeot has planted two million trees in an area of deforestation in Brazil to create a forestry ‘carbon sink’, which it started in 1999.

A new 3.6-litre V8 engine is now being produced at Ford's Dagenham diesel centre.

Lexus has unveiled its new LS 600h at the New York International Auto Show today, with the world’s first full hybrid V8 engine.

Mitsubishi Motors UK’s sales are down from 11,274 sales in Q1 2005 to 10,498 in the first quarter of this year.

Lind BMW has successfully moved to a new four and a half acre dealership in Norwich.

Last year, Volvo UK was budgeting to sell 43,000 new cars, a rise on 2004 of 12%. It ended up at 38,400, down 4%, but managing director Hugh Reid is not despondent about the apparent setback.

DaimlerChrysler expects profitability to improve this year after its new management model was put in place in January, cutting 6,000 administrative jobs.

Lookers is warning its shareholders that franchise agreements with manufacturers will be terminated if they sell their shares to Pendragon.

European Kia sales totalled 65,179 in the first quarter of this year, a 3% gain over 2005.

Total Western European car sales reached 1.7 million units in March, an increase of 4.1% in comparison with the same month last year.

The Continental GTC, Bentley’s new luxury 2+2 convertible, will be officially unveiled at the New York International Automobile Show, which starts on Friday.

Jaguar’s new XK now has a stolen vehicle tracking device titled ‘JaguarWatch’ available as an added option.

Smart is being pared back to a single model, the ForTwo. In a shock announcement, DaimlerChrysler admitted it was in negotiation with manufacturing partner Mitsubishi to terminate production of the ForFour.

The Automotive Trade Show will run at the NEC in Birmingham from April 25-27, featuring garage and body-shop equipment makers, as well as manufacturers.

The strengths and weaknesses in the relationship between dealers and manufacturers will be analysed in the latest survey from AM sister title Sewells.

SAIC subsidiary Shanghai Motor Manufacturing, will export vehicles to Europe under its own brand next year, some of them incorporating the designs of MG Rover cars, the FT has reported.

Mercedes-Benz had its most successful month ever in March, registering 16,596 new cars.