Van registrations declined for the first time in 2021 as supply shortages resulted in a 14.8% year-on-year dip in July, according to SMMT data.

Swansway Group has broke ground in its development of a new £9 million Volkswagen car and commercial vehicle dealership in Oldham.  

Skoda is introducing new power hubs across its dealer network that use old electric vehicle (EV) batteries to provide sustainable power.

Dealers are being urged to address the lack of financial education among their youngest employees, as a new study reveals its impact on mental wellbeing.

Car buyers have been faced with a 14.1% increase in the price of the average car advertised on Auto Trader during July.

The automotive world has been profoundly affected by COVID-19, but even before the pandemic hit the sector was undergoing a transformation in how, where, and what cars consumers wanted to buy.

Motorpoint and Peter Vardy's recently expanded Carz used car division have both launched new TV advertising campaigns focussing on the ease of their omnichannel car retail offering.

Automotive charity, Ben, has announced the launch of its ‘Big Breakfast’ fundraiser in October.

BMW has launched the BMW Points scheme, which rewards plug-in hybrid drivers with free charging credits for each electric mile driven.

A group of 13 MPs and Lord Lilley have condemned the Government’s plan to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030.

Vertu Motors' Bristol Street Motors division has continued its multi-franchising push with the addition of Hyundai in Sunderland and its first MG Motor UK dealership in Carlisle.

Ssangyong Motors UK has welcomed a second franchise for the city of Hull with the opening of Livingston Motor Group’s new dealership facility.

MG Motor UK’s growing franchised car retail network continued to grow the brand’s new car registrations despite July’s vehicle supply and COVID-prompted sector headwinds.

Supply issues resulting from global semiconductor shortages and the ongoing impact of the UK’s COVID-19 ‘pingdemic’ have been blamed for the lowest July new car registrations total since 1998.

Autovia has appointed ex-Amazon, Moneysupermarket and Microsoft product expert Dan Cohen as its new chief product officer.

MotoNovo has promoted Karl Werner to managing director after its chief executive Mark Standish left the business as part of a restructure of the business.

Used car values have risen by an average of £2,125 (16.6%) in each of the last four months, according to data published by Cap HPI.

The majority of electric vehicle (EV) drivers (90%) say they’ll never buy another petrol or diesel car.

Car retailer Parks Motor Group is at the centre of an £8 million Scottish Football sponsorship spat involving Rangers FC and cinch.

Hyundai Motor UK has launched a new Mocean all-inclusive vehicle subscription model offers motorists a fully taxed, insured and maintained car for a single monthly payment.

Drive Motor Retail has appointed Rygor Mercedes-Benz group marketing manager Emily Mead as its new head of marketing.

Marshall Motor Holdings has upgraded June’s forecast of record profits for 2021 in a trading update predicting an underlying pre-tax profit of “not less than £40 million” for the year.

Cazoo has reported an £8 million gross profit in Q2 after its online used car retail volumes surged by 429% a year on from the first COVID-19 lockdown period.

Heycar has extended its Trade Up cashback scheme for dealers until September.

Stellantis has reported an “outstanding” 9.5ppt year-on-year improvement in operating income margin, to 11.4%, in the first half of 2021.

Citroen UK has introduced a sign language video service across its sales and aftersales network, to support deaf and hard of hearing customers.

Car retailers have been urged to embrace every opportunity presented by an MOT and wider aftersales "Tsunami" in the remainder of 2021.

Car buyers boosted the consumer motor finance sector’s volumes by 12% in June – a year on from the 2020’s easing of the UK’s first coronavirus lockdown.

The car retail sector’s well-considered the acceptance of Government’s COVID-19 support have left many businesses on a sound footing to deliver a successful 2021.

V12 Vehicle Finance (V12VF) and Moneyway have partnered with Codeweavers, to launch a new digital finance calculator to support dealers and their customers.