Paragon Car Finance made £162.4m (2001 = £138.5m) in advances in the year to 30 September 2002 – a rise of 17.3 per cent. The value of the loan book rose 28.7 per cent from £188.7m to £242.8m.
The Chinese car finance market is to be opened up to foreign motor finance companies with major WTO liberalisation of its financial markets next year. And with sales of 1.1m cars this year – an increase of more than 50 per cent on 2001 – the foreign car manufacturers in the Chinese market are ahead of the game in seeking motor finance provider status.
If the man tipped to replace Fiat's chief executive Gabriele Galateri gets the nod from the company's board on Friday, the appointment could mean the prompt resignation of Fiat chairman Paulo Fresco.
BMW's Mini is subject to another recall. This time, 26,000 owners of right hand drive models built before June have been contacted. The recall is for a handbrake problem and follows instances of vehicles rolling away after being parked.
Volkswagen is to modify and get “better value” out of its platform strategy as a means of cutting costs. Group chairman Berndt Pischetsrieder says he intends to extend each platform's longevity to 12 years from the current eight year average.
Yorkshire car importers Motor Vehicle Industries are sueing MG Rover for £58m for allegedly reneging on a deal to sell imported Indian Tata and Russian Avtogaz cars and pick-ups through the UK carmaker's dealer network.
GM is set to sign a £69m deal with its long-standing partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Group to invest in a new car plant in China. The new Yantai Bodyshop plant, which will be joint-owned by GM and SAIG, will effectively increase GM's car production by 50 per cent.
TRW Inc, the parent company of Lucas brand owner TRW Automotive, and defence contractor Northrop Grumman have merged after both sets of shareholders yesterday voted unanimously in favour of the deal. This clears the way for Northrop Grumman to then sell on TRW Automotive to New York Equity House Blackstone Group for £2.99bn.
DaimlerChrysler UK has now submitted a planning application for its Heritage and Technology Centre for Mercedes-Benz at the historic Brooklands racetrack site at Weybridge in Surrey.
The alternative fuel debate powers on, with liquefied petroleum gas conversions at the fore. The problem with LPG (and compressed natural gas) vehicles is that they fit into two different categories – manufacturer conversions from the likes of Vauxhall and Volvo, offering factory-produced cars and then the aftermarket conversions. One of CAP's most frequently asked questions is what the effect these conversions have on used values.
The possibility of a luxury car maker “supergroup” emerging from the ashes of Fiat Auto – with VW involvement – may be the preferred option of the bank which the Italian Government had hoped would take over the ailing carmaker. But that plan, increasingly gaining media attention, was overshadowed by yesterday's shock resignation of Fiat Group chief executive Gabriele Galateri.
It looks as if Direct Line founder Peter Wood has thrown in the towel in his bid to buy Cox Insurance. He says that the company's refusal to give him access to information had left him “unable to move forward” after his recent bid valuing the company at around £250m was rejected.
The difficulty in obtaining Daewoo parts which had developed since the GM merger should be a thing of the past, a company spokesman said today. GM Daewoo has invested over £2m in new stock at its Northampton warehouse.
The first batch of the first car developed under the GM Daewoo banner, the Kalos, have now arrived in the UK. A shipment of 500 of the new supermini arrived this week at Bristol's Portbury Docks after several weeks in transit from Korea.
MG Rover's L series turbo diesel engine has been upgraded to give 11 per cent more power and 8 per cent more torque – but with no penalty in CO2 emissions. Power increases from 101 to 113Ps and torque from 240 to 260Nm.
Honda has 3 per cent of UK market share for 2002 firmly in its sites. And with a solid platform of new model launches in 2003, the company says it is set to increase its UK market penetration next year.
BMW is giving Internet users a fly-on-the-wall view of the Mini production process at Oxford via its www.mini.co.uk website. The 12-minute time-lapse video covers the entire production process.
Toyota has hinted at the ambitious plans now in place to give the carmaker a more active role in Europe's diesel market. And the production of more than 120,000 of its new low-particulate D-CAT diesel engine at its new Polish engine plant will be the trump card, Toyota Motor Corporation chairman Tsutomu Tomita has revealed.
Volvo has launched a pilot car rental scheme targeted at local businesses. Volvo Rental's main market will be to deliver a short term fleet “top-up” service for companies - but the scheme will also be used to attract company car opt-out drivers to the marque
Porsche has pre-sold 25,000 of its new SUV the Cayenne – and the carmaker is already talking of boosting its planned production run of 25,000 to 40,000 per year. Retailing at between £38,000 and £64,000 and with a profit margin of in excess of 20 per cent, dealers in Germany are already hailing the new model as a trump car for the already-profitable sportscar maker.
The pay talks between Peugeot and T&G union leaders broke down yesterday and more than 4000 Ryton plant workers are now to be balloted for strike action. Although unions are alleging that the 7.3 per cent pay offer is worth considerably less over its two-year term, yesterday's talks broke down over company plans to raise employee pension contributions.
Direct Line founder Peter Wood has hit out at Cox Insurance yesterday after the eighth-ranked UK motor insurance company rejected his purchase offer worth between 85 and 100p a share. The insurance magnate, who is currently involved in the Esure insurance business with the Halifax and Bank of Scotland Group, alleges that Cox had “actively encouraged” his bid.
Motor World has seen its fortunes rise since the MBO from the Finelist Group. Grahame Steed speaks to chairman John Mousell about the dramatic turnaround.
It is ironic that in recent editions of the AM business briefings that we have centred on good cash management and housekeeping in order to run your business in the most efficient manner.
With the onset of the new block exemption rules it has never been more important to recognise that the route to a successful motor retailing business is directly through creating happy customers.
The founder of Direct Line Peter Wood has bid £200m for the UK's eighth largest motor insurer Cox Insurance. His bid is backed by HBOS with which he has a joint venture through the Esure online insurance business.
Renault is understood to be sponsoring Channel 4's drama series next year in a deal worth more than £3m. The sponsorship will comprise a wrap-around presentation to such series as <i>The West Wing</i>, <i>The Sopranos</i> and a new series of <i>Teachers.</i>
Negotiations are underway today to avert a strike at Peugeot's Ryton plant near Coventry. This follows an overwhelming workforce vote to reject the company's latest pay deal worth 7.3 per cent over two years.
The VBRA is urging bodyshops to renegotiate their contracts with the insurance companies so that the knock-on environmental costs of the repair process are not carried by the garage. The move follows the Chancellor Gordon Brown's announcement in his Pre-Budget Statement of an increase in the Landfill Tax.
GM is set to market two new cars in India next year to take advantage of a projected 9 per cent per year growth in the subcontinent's car market. Currently taking just 1.6 per cent of the Indian market, GM expects to sell around 9000 cars in 2002.
