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OUR LATEST ISSUE Car Dealer Issue 40
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BLOG: How you can seize the opportunity of social media… like Skoda did

YESTERDAY I witnessed first hand some amazing use of social media – and it made me realise the opportunities in the virtual world are endless. Let me explain. Due to a perfect storm of events, yesterday I was left without a car to use. As you can imagine this is rather inconvenient for a petrol [...]

#B4B12: Join us to help two charities

It feels like only a few days since a knackered Batch and I were stuck in a lift at the end of the first day of Bangers4BEN 2011. But today we had to put that horrible memory behind us as we had our first meeting to plan for 2012’s event with BEN. This year, B4B [...]

Blog: People on our cover for the first time

BATCH hates it when I get ‘an idea’. It normally involves lots of emails, stress, and a headache. And this month’s cover story was the recipe for the perfect migraine-inducing storm. As a regular reader of Car Dealer you’ve probably guessed we like to do things a little differently. So when I floated the idea [...]

Guest Blog: The 4×4 party is over

THIS year’s prestige 4×4 market has failed to bring all it promised back in October and November. Dealers are well stocked and availability is better than in recent years, which all adds up to falling prices – it seems the 2012 four wheel drive scene is not going to be quite as hot is it [...]

Blog: Meeting the inspirational boss of Kahn Design

IN this line of work you meet a lot of motivating people – but not all of them are as inspirational as the man we met this week. Afzal Kahn, creator of Kahn Design – famed for its alloy wheels and bespoke Range Rover designs – took the time to show us around his business [...]



Big Mike: You didn't hear this from me, right?  

Big Mike: You didn’t hear this from me, right?

 

I’m going to tell you a story, but if anyone asks it wasn’t Big Mike you got it from… Much has been made in the past few months of the government-backed scrappage scheme, and its effect on both the new and used car markets. So much so that, like me, you’re probably sick to death [...]

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Big Mike: Scrap is crap for used car specialists  

Big Mike: Scrap is crap for used car specialists

 

Many a mention has been made here of the government’s cash-for-scrap scheme, and its effect on the new car industry, where sales are up and the Koreans are raking it in. But little has been made of what it means to the used car market – and specifically the murkier end of the trade, where £3k is top dollar, and most [...]

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When a retailer's not a retailer  

When a retailer’s not a retailer

 

When’s a Chevrolet retailer not a retailer? When they’re a dealer that’s when! That may sound rather like a confusing conundrum, but in fact it’s one of the latest changes Chevy UK chief Mark Terry, pictured, has decided on making. Chevrolet’s retail network is no longer referred to as that at the marque’s head quarters [...]

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Video: Our 911for2011 Mercedes CLK  

Video: Our 911for2011 Mercedes CLK

 

OUR latest purchase in our bid to turn £0 into a Porsche 911 has arrived – and it’s an absolute corker. Marshall Motor Group’s chief executive Daksh Gupta has done us, and in turn BEN, one huge favour by sourcing us this cracking Mercedes CLK. We picked up the convertible 240 model from Mercedes Benz [...]

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GALLERY: Volvo V60 meets its brother  

GALLERY: Volvo V60 meets its brother

 

At Car Dealer Magazine, we particularly like cars that have a bad badge on their noses but in actual fact are really very good cars. Take the new Kia Sportage for instance. If you hear someone say ‘Hey, the new Kia Sportage is a great car’ you probably wouldn’t believe them. Here is a car [...]

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Batchelor on: Ford Focus Zetec S  

Batchelor on: Ford Focus Zetec S

 

Over the past few weeks in the Car Dealer Mag office, I have been treated to a large dose of ‘leg pulling’. It turns out that my recently acquired HTC Legend mobile phone is ‘rubbish’ and that its unique feature of  a windscreen wiper sweeping the screen when its raining is also ‘rubbish’. To understand [...]

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Big Mike: Christmas is coming and I'm ready  

Big Mike: Christmas is coming and I’m ready

 

Soon, very soon in fact, it will be time to deck the halls with boughs of holly, wish goodwill to all men and indulge ourselves in our annual bout of false sentimentality and  overexposed commercialism  that represents what have now become known as the ‘Happy Holidays’.  I’ve never been a lover of Christmas (oops, I mean, the ‘Festive Season’) as my wife is of [...]

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Big Mike: Make a tidy profit with a tidy ad  

Big Mike: Make a tidy profit with a tidy ad

 

Here’s something for you to ponder: If ever something goes wrong at home, you call in the experts, yes? So, for example, if your computer breaks down, you get an IT expert to fix it. If a pipe springs a leak, you get a plumber to fix it, and if you can’t tell the difference between weeds and plants, you send the missus out with [...]

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We sold our MX-5 through Twitter!  

We sold our MX-5 through Twitter!

 

WHOEVER said you couldn’t sell a car via Twitter was lying. Because we’ve got proof that it can be done! On Saturday we sold the first of our Mazda MX-5 pairing after a conversation that started on the social networking website. Last Wednesday Golley Slater PR Suzanne Tennant – pictured right – tweeted that she [...]

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Want a Mazda MX-5?  

Want a Mazda MX-5?

 

FINALLY! We’ve managed to get our act together and put one of our Mazda MX-5s up for sale on eBay. Yes, I know, this one has dragged on a bit too long, but that’s what happens when you ‘buy’ recon work (as I’m sure you know). Unlike you guys I couldn’t moan at the service [...]

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Our MX-5s ready for sale!  

Our MX-5s ready for sale!

 

WE left you on Friday with news that our two MX-5s had passed their MOTs and all that was needed was a good polish. The cars have been bought as part of our 911 for 2011 quest – an attempt to turn £0 into a Porsche by (sometime in) 2011 in aid of automotive industry [...]

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Bangers4BEN BCA auction - the video  

Bangers4BEN BCA auction – the video

 

THIS week 11 of the cars that took part in Bangers4BEN 3 were sold at BCA Blackbushe – and here’s the video! The event in aid of motor industry charity BEN saw teams from all walks of the motor industry drive from Dover to Monaco and back. As well as raising sponsorship money the teams [...]

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Car Dealer at Paris Motor Show  

Car Dealer at Paris Motor Show

 

CAR Dealer has hot-footed it over to Paris to check out the glitz and the glamour of the car industry’s newest metal. We’re hitting the show floor tomorrow, to check out the latest cars – and speak to the business brains behind them. Join us through the day as we bring you news of what’s [...]

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The Ford designer that drives a Ferrari  

The Ford designer that drives a Ferrari

 

YOU’RE a high-flying Ford design director, created the Kinetic look, penned great cars like the latest Fiesta and Mondeo. You are responsible for the look of all cars that hit European and Asian roads. But now you’ve got to buy a car of your own – what on earth do you spend your money on? [...]

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Trader Tales: Playing devil's advocate  

Trader Tales: Playing devil’s advocate

 

Following on from my previous column, I would like to take the opportunity to don my horns and pitchfork and play devils advocate to those considering the benefits of retailing older cars. There are two routes you can follow to this perceived pot of plenty. You could utilise existing display space thus adding no additional [...]

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VIDEO: Making of Project Stealth  

VIDEO: Making of Project Stealth

 

THIS week the Car Dealer team has been to Monaco and back in a £250 banger – and we made a Making Of video! You may have read about our plan to turn our car – kindly supplied by Auction4cars.com – into an SR71 Blackbird, but we thought it would be a good idea to [...]

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Bangers4BEN: The long drive home back  

Bangers4BEN: The long drive home back

 

THE long drive home from Monaco was never going to be the most exciting – but our Bangers4BEN teams still had a laugh. Days three and four of our run to the playground of the rich and famous saw our mad cars head back from Nice to Dijon on Tuesday, then Dijon back home on [...]

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Dijon-Monaco: Bangers4BEN Day 2  

Dijon-Monaco: Bangers4BEN Day 2

 

OUR intrepid Bangers4BEN travellers have made it to Monaco – and driven the GP circuit legends have raced! At around 4pm today, 20 bangers – all costing less than £500 – rolled into the glitzy gold-leaf lined (probably) streets of the principality. Car Dealer’s Project Stealth led the convoy to the sound of the Top [...]

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Dover-Dijon: Bangers4BEN Day 1  

Dover-Dijon: Bangers4BEN Day 1

 

BANGERS4BEN3 is off – and this year has some of the best and wackiest cars ever taking part in the rally! Our trip from Dover to Monaco and back in cars costing less than £500 in aid of motor industry charity BEN has really brought the motor trade out of their shell. We thought our [...]

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Project Stealth: Tints are done  

Project Stealth: Tints are done

 

OUR Project Stealth team have been on the road since 5am Wednesday on their round-the-UK trip to get our car ready for Bangers4BEN. Commercial manager Dunc and worky James Batchelor arrived in Scotland Wednesday afternoon at Carwrapz.biz’s Edinburgh base. The wrapping wizards worked on our 1.4-litre Honda Civic late into the evening on Wednesday and [...]

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