Private US-based investors have purchased clutch systems manufacturer Automotive Products UK, formerly AP Borg & Beck, in a multi-million pound deal.
Carlyle Finance has launched a plan aimed at homeowners aged above 55 as it bids to fill a perceived gap in the market place.
Saab expects more than a third of its UK dealer network to gain Unlimited partner status in time for the launch of its crucial 9-3 saloon at the end of September. The new retail concept has been pioneered in Britain and is expected to provide a benchmark for Vauxhall and other General Motors' brands.
The current Vauxhall Corsa and Fiat Punto compete on equal terms in the value stakes. On 00X, a Corsa 1.2 16v Club three-door with 30,000 miles starts at around £4,500; a better-equipped 1.2 16v GLS five-door is £5,500 at 15,000 miles.
Hyundai's curvy Coupe from 1996 was its first car with attractive styling. It's a value alternative to the Fiat Coupe and Ford Cougar.
TRW Automotive's European aftermarket division is to clarify future development plans at September's Automechanika in the wake of its US parent company's sale to rival Northrop Grumman Corporation, maker of the Stealth bomber.
Parts distributor Camberley Auto Factors has expanded its network to 28 outlets with the acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, of Capital Motor Supplies, in Crawley, Sussex.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders is urging carmakers to focus on interactive activities to draw more visitors to this year's British International motor show at the NEC, Birmingham, October 23-November 3. It hopes to exceed the 600,000 visitors that visited the past two events.
A Liverpool-based tyre retailer has been given a one-year conditional discharge and fined £1399 for illegal fly-tipping after a year-long investigation by the Environment Agency, police and rival tyre outlets.
The UK is still one of the most attractive places to build cars, despite remaining outside the Eurozone, new research suggests.
Franchised dealers face growing competition from independent garages for service and repair work on newer cars as leading supplier Delphi Automotive Systems steps up its support for the aftermarket.
With early Rover 25 1.4i models fetching around £5k, what price for a cheap pre-facelift Rover 200?
Even though Ford's Ka has been on sale for over six years, it's still hard to believe it looks so modern. It's a fun-to-drive alternative to the Fiat Seicento, Daewoo Matiz and Hyundai Amica.
A new battery importer is looking to shake up the sector by offering workshops more choice and quicker delivery.
Japanese car manufacturers are pooling resources to crack down on Chinese companies caught churning out fake car parts.
It would seem that the threats to the automotive industry's way of life just keep mounting, but the oldest challenge of creating a relationship with the customer is the greatest, says Alan Pennington, managing director, Critical Contact Consulting
A sweeping behind-the-scenes re-organisation has merged Jaguar and Land Rover's senior management functions under single directors, effectively making a single operating company.
A second company, thought to be Reg Vardy, has entered the bidding for Ryland Group just days after Guinness Peat Group tabled its initial offer.
Dealers will be able to recover millions of pounds in overpaid VAT on sales of demonstrator vehicles after a landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice removed legislation that capped claims to three years.
Dealers say they are willing to continue supporting Jensen Motors, despite doubts over its future after receivers were appointed.
Ebbon-Dacs has added an automated follow-up service to its Integrated Showroom system which, it says, will boost sales for dealers.
Fiat Auto chief executive Giancarlo Boschetti has two years to turn the company into a profitable part of the larger Fiat Group. His strategy, outlined to analysts last month, is effectively the last throw of the dice - failure would force Fiat Group to invoke the put option negotiated with General Motors when it took a 20 per cent stake in the auto division.
Shares in Reg Vardy slumped last week just days after the Sunderland-based dealer group reported a robust set of financial results.
Customers refuse to travel long distances to source aftersales services, preferring instead to take their vehicles to a local garages for repairs.
As the hay fever and holiday season hots up, Mahle Filter Systems is preparing for a cabin filters field day - because more than 90 per cent of all new European-made cars are now equipped with a cabin filter as original equipment, the company expects aftermarket demand for replacements from franchised networks and the independent service sector to rise sharply.
Tyrespot, the Newcastle-based tyre wholesale and fast-fit business, has added two new retail centres to its network in the North-east. The first is a 10,000 sq ft shop on the Team Valley Trading Estate in Gateshead, one of the largest business parks in the UK.
Moves by carmakers to buy up urban dealerships have been criticised by the Consumers' Association as anti-competitive and likely to push up new car prices. Mercedes-Benz has been at the forefront of the trend with plans to own all its retail outlets in London, Manchester and Birmingham.
Gowrings, the Ford dealer to fast food group, is withdrawing from the motor retail sector after agreeing terms to sell three showrooms. The company will use profits to expand its Burger King business, which currently has 43 outlets.
AM's autumn conference is to be staged at the British International Motor Show on October 24 in association with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. A line-up of influential speakers will focus on key topics relating to new cars produced in the future by manufacturers working under competitive, legislative and financial pressures.
Dealers with showrooms in high-cost city centres are looking to off-load their sites to property developers and transfer the business to out-of-town retail parks. Manufacturers, who want to secure major freeholds in key markets, are trying to step in, but property developers are offering inflated prices for premium land as they look to exploit the continuing boom in the housing sector.
