NEWS

WHEN you think of product placement successes in the automotive world most people think of Bond and his Astons.
But by far and away one of the best in recent times was BMW’s decision to support Jedi Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman on their trip around the world.
The pair rode the ‘Long Way Round’ the globe [...]

WHICH? has accused car garages of ‘shocking levels of incompetence’ following a recent secret survey.
The consumer association recently conducted a big undercover investigation – which found 9 in 10 garages assessed missed a potentially dangerous fault.
It also found 39 percent of garages are charging for something that WASN’T supplied.
This has led Which? to call [...]

BCA reports that posh motors continue to make good money at auction despite the economic uncertainty.
A 2008 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe has just sold for £195,000 at a sale for Lex Autolease.
It was the top draw in a 266-car posh motor auction, that saw more than £4m raised on the day. The average price [...]

MORGAN has snared the headlines in our podcast this week with the reveal of the dramatic new Eva GT.
We cover its surprise reveal at the Pebble Beach car show in the US, and show just what a headturner it actually is.
Closet to home, there’s news of Kia’s cool Paris Motor Show concept car, the [...]

MORE people in 2010 have used car dealer finance than personal loans or their own savings to buy a new car.
Nearly 50 percent of all new cars sold to buyers were bought through forecourt finance.
That equates to 264,377 people using car dealer finance – uptake of which has rocketed 26 percent so far this year.
Paul [...]

RENAULT Retail Group UK has a new MD following the promotion of previous incumbent Ian Plummer to Renault UK.
Stuart Walker is the new MD, stepping up from Retail Group deputy MD.
That’s not all he’s lined up to do, either: the firm also has him heading up the Nissan division, along with the used car Autoworld [...]

SMMT latest figures show the number of cars built in the UK has suffered an 8.9 percent drop.
This is the first fall since October 2009 and comes as European markets phase out scrappage incentive schemes.
Exports for July were down over 10 percent, accounting for 73 percent of homegrown cars. UK car consumption was also down, [...]

MG has joined the ranks of car firms on Twitter and Facebook in a new brand push of social media.
The Birmingham firm has started up a page on Facebook, and is also now Tweeting all the latest news.
It’s all to help gear up for the launch of the MG6, MG Motor UK’s marketing manager, Peter [...]

EXPERIAN has reported a big 33 percent reduction in business insolvencies for June 2010 compared to last year.
It means 0.08 percent of the UK business population failed, compared to 0.12 percent last year.
Business financial strength is also up, both on last month and last year. However, it still isn’t as high as the 12 month [...]

BCA has joined CAP in reporting a decrease in used car prices after analysing recent auction results.
The ‘real world’ fall shows dealers are willing to pay less for stock at car auction.
An average used car is now worth £5784: the fall is a modest quarter-percent, but it is a fall nonetheless.
Particularly as it affects [...]