NEWS

NOVEMBER’S figures showed that dealer motor finance remained UK consumers’ first choice for new cars, new figures suggest. The Finance & Leasing Association’s latest figures show that 61.5 per cent of consumers buying a new car in the year to November used motor finance provided through dealers, almost ten percentage points up from November 2010. [...]

JAPANESE firm Mitsubishi has announced it has appointed a new dealer in Doncaster and who opened its doors this week. Riverside Mitsubishi will provide sales, service and parts for the Doncaster area operating from Crompton Road, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN4 4PJ. Riverside Motor Group, established in 1982, is a successful motor retail group and has several [...]

TRADER Media Group has reorganised its digital marketing division to ‘enhance its market leading proposition’ through its Razsor brand. The business has announced it has been ‘re-geared to deliver a critical focus on new product and service development, as well as integrating more services from sister-company, Auto Trader’. As part of the restructure, managing director, [...]

ITALIAN car manufacturer Alfa Romeo has announced 2011′s registration figures were the highest since 2002. At the year’s end, Alfa had registered 11,563 cars – the highest yearly registration figure since 2002. The firm’s market share also rose in 2011 by 30.8 per cent. Alfa Romeo puts its success down to a combination of factors, [...]

VAUXHALL has announced pricing of its new Ampera and the dealers who are charged with selling the new car. Offered in three trim levels, the first Amperas will arrive in showrooms on May 1, 2012. Starting at £29,995 – inclusive of the £5k government plug-in car grant – prices will top out at £33,995 – [...]

AUCTION firm Aston Barclay has announced it has completed the purchase of a new car auction site. The multi-million pound investment by Aston Barclay Group will see the redevelopment of the former four and a half acre site previously occupied by Motor Auctions Leeds. Strategically placed, the acquisition of the Hillidge Road site, south of [...]

KIA has released the first image of its much anticipated all new five-door C’eed. The replacement for the C-segment model is due for its full public unveiling at Geneva with UK deliveries due to start in June. The model will be built in Zilina, Slovakia and bears a strong family resemblance to Kia’s other recent [...]

BORDER cars has acquired Ayr Mazda from Glen Henderson following the retirement of 79-year-old owner Mr. Henderson. The dealership took on the Mazda franchise in 2009 and has delivered strong volumes since its opening. Brett Hague, Mazda UK’s senior manager, franchising and network development said:  ’Glen Henderson has done a first class job for Mazda [...]

VERTU has bought the trade and certain assets of Vauxhall dealer W Grose Northampton Limited for £2m. The deal, which sees Vertu’s outlets grow to 80 franchised and three non-franchised sites around the UK, went through on January 9. Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu, said: ‘We are delighted to expand our operations in Northampton. This [...]

A NEW parts warehouse will be in the driving seat of Foray Motor Group’s 2012, pushing forward efficiency and profitability. The group, with 10 Ford dealerships in south west England, has opened the new facility at High Post on the A345 between Salisbury, where the group is based, and Amesbury. ‘This new storage and distribution [...]

FIAT has increased its interest in the Chrysler Group by a further five per cent bringing Fiat’s total interest to 58.5 per cent. To achieve this Chrysler was required to receive regulatory approval for a car based on a Fiat platform or vehicle technology having a fuel efficiency rating of at least 40 combined MPG, [...]

FORD has finally revealed pictures of its eagerly-anticipated next generation Mondeo. The Blue Oval has picked the Detroit Motor Show as the venue to reveal the new car which is called Fusion in the USA. Full details of the Fusion have been revealed for motor show goers, but the UK will have to wait to [...]

ROLLS-Royce has announced its 2011 sales figures – and they represent the best sales result in the firm’s 107-year history. During 2011, 3,538 cars were sold globally representing a 31 per cent increase on the 2010 total of 2,711 cars. The figure also beats the previous record of 3,347 cars having been set in 1978 [...]

A FAMILY owned business has just been awarded a Great Wall franchise – thanks to Car Dealer Magazine. Chepstow Car Sales has been given the opportunity to represent the Chinese maker – a process that started after the dealership’s director picked up a copy of Car Dealer. ‘I read the cover feature and learnt all [...]

DEMAND for new cars was down 4.4 per cent in 2011 compared to the year before but were ahead of predictions, the latest SMMT figures reveal. A total of 1,941,253 units were registered in 2011, down 4.4 per cent on 2010, but ahead of the SMMT’s prediction of 1.92 million units forecast. The 2011 figures [...]

NEW car information website carbuzz.co.uk has put together a bold graphic showing the 2011 new car market through statistics. It shows the UK’s best-selling cars in 2011, along with the best and worst selling brands, and the marques who grew the most and had the biggest declines in the year. The graphic neatly shows what [...]

NEW car registrations in December were down 3.7 per cent, the latest SMMT figures reveal. The month saw 119,188 units registered, and the market in quarter four was down 1.8 per cent. December was the 10th monthly decline in the year. December’s decline contributed towards 2011′s  fall of 4.4 per cent in total. Compared to [...]

AVERAGE used values increased by four per cent or £250 in December compared to November, says BCA. Their pulse report showed the rise which was due to increased demand over a shortened trading period with reduced volumes. Average values rose to £6,451, the highest figure on record since pulse began reporting in 2005. Some of [...]

MITSUBISHI has announced all its franchised dealers are to become fully functioning EV centres from this month. By the end of March 2012, the approved dealerships will have two fully trained EV sales personnel as well as aftersales technicians. The announcement comes ahead of the arrival of the firm’s first plug-in hybrid technologies within the [...]

NISSAN’S Sunderland plant have capped their 25th anniversary year in style with a string of new UK car industry records. In 2011 the plant made a total of 480,485 vehicles, beating the 2010 total of 423,262 vehicles, which itself was the first time any UK car plant had ever made more than 400,000 cars in one [...]