Daewoo Motor, Korea, has reported its first operating profit for nearly three years.
Inchcape Retail has acquired the Nissan franchise in Shrewsbury. It becomes only the third Inchcape Retail dealership to trade under the Inchcape banner and is the company's first Nissan outlet.
BMC, the Milton Keynes car dealer, has created an hourly car rental scheme for students at Cranfield University.
Skoda achieved record sales in April, selling 2,819 cars. Sales were up 43.1% compared to April 2000.
The number of car showrooms has fallen year on year, according to the annual survey of suppliers to the UK car market, by the Institute of the Motor Industry.
Preliminary calculations have revealed an unexpected trend in the 2001 AM100 which will be published in the issue of Automotive Management which reaches readers on May 25.
Partners in Training & Consultancy has launched a telephone sales monitoring service that it believes will help dealers boost customer appointment rates.
Jaguar is revamping its dealer network ready for the launch of X-type, which is expected to attract a younger customer base. It is the third carmaker to announce network changes this year, following Toyota and Peugeot.
Fiat and Alfa Romeo Financial Services has launched two motor finance web sites allowing potential customers to configure their choice of Fiat or Alfa Romeo on-line, assess the value of their current vehicle, and find out how much the new vehicle could cost per month.
Reg Vardy has appointed Nick Page and Andy Davies to its operational board.
Used car sales locator Auto Online has joined forces with On-Market.net to give industry buyers access to vehicle information from their mobile phone. On-Market was founded last year by Lindsay Levin, chairman of South-east dealer Whites Group.
Buyers of prestige cars are happy to use the web for research but prefer to talk to specialist staff about a potential purchase, said Sytner Group chief executive Laurence Vaughan.
More than 70% of website visitors would buy a car online, according to a March internet poll conducted by web portal company Uknetguide.co.uk.
A boom in demand for paintless dent removal services in the UK is being predicted by Dentwizard which expects the worldwide market to be worth more than £250m over the next four years.
Audi UK forecasts that new tax rules would generate around 2,000 extra corporate car sales for the company this year.
Lookers' profits for the first quarter of the year are well ahead of last year with the company predicting a “strong” performance in 2001.
Mercedes-Benz dealers are to be given a rallying call tomorrow at the second meeting held by those campaigning against the MB-UK decision to issue its 156-strong network with early termination notices.
A campaign in brand awareness is set to double sales of Subaru cars over the next five years. But the target of 20,000 annual registrations means the Japanese company's cars will remain a relative rarity on British roads.
Proton has launched a new initiative to help its dealers maximise the potential of sub-prime finance business, developed by John Hayes, managing director of Proton Finance.
Tourists boycotting Britain because of foot and mouth could hit residual values as rental companies defleet unwanted cars. Fears are mounting that the fragile but hardening second-hand market could go into reverse if car rental business is hit.
BMW has reported record profits for the first quarter of 2001.
Channel 4 has acquired the exclusive rights to broadcast on television and via the internet the 24 hour Le Mans race on June 16-17.
Lotus has cancelled next year's launch of a new sports car, codenamed the M250.
Royal & SunAlliance has denied claims that it is negotiating to acquire its fifth wholly-owned accident repair centre, as part of the Project Storm initiative.
PPG has this month extended its bodyshop performance programme MVP to include a Paint Shop Performance (PSP) initiative.
Bill Sunderland, founder of the Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association, has died at the age of 84 after long suffering Alzheimer's disease.
The RMI has warned repairers to be wary when providing industry consultants with sensitive financial information about their businesses.
Smart repair companies have been accused of supplying non-compliant materials and encouraging bodyshops to operate below the law by carrying out paint chip repairs on the shop floor.
Fleet accident management companies have been accused of pressuring repairers into giving 10% invoice discounts to enable them to dupe fleet operators into believing they are receiving the most cost-effective service.
Zurich Insurance has dismissed speculation that it plans to introduce solus bodyshop agreements with guaranteed work volumes under Project Herald, its development programme.
