NEWS

BRITAIN’S newest MG dealers have reported selling new 12-plate MGs on the first day they opened. Pinkstones MG in Stoke-on-Trent took two orders for the award-winning MG6 on Saturday and Rivervale in Brighton sold a car to a a customer who only popped along to the opening day out of curiosity. Steve Wild, sales manager [...]

AUDI has acknowledged that car buyers might find the huge number of variants in its new A4 range ‘a bit daunting’. The first drivers will be taking delivery of Audi’s new-generation B-segment best-seller this week and can look forward to driving a car with a fresh new look and much-improved efficiency. With a reprofiled bonnet [...]

CHEVROLET has announced order banks are now open for its Volt, and has named the first two dealers who will sell the car. Initially, the Extended Range Electric Vehicle (E-REV) will be available through two dedicated Volt centres – Cambridge Chevrolet in Cambridgeshire, and Phoenix Chevrolet in Wimbledon, SW London. ‘We chose these two dealerships to [...]

NEW ’12-plate’ vehicles will go on sale tomorrow and the SMMT believes buyers will spend £5bn on new cars in March. As the automotive industry gears-up for its busiest month of the year, the SMMT expects around 350,000 new cars to be registered during March, with motorists spending in the region of £5bn on the latest [...]

VERTU’S order take for the March private retail market is 10.3 per cent ahead of last year, it has been announced. The good news comes in the dealer group’s trading update which was published ahead of its preliminary results for the year ended February 29, 2012. ‘While there is clearly significant work to do during the [...]

HYUNDAI has announced that the 500,000th car has driven out of its import centre in the Port of Tilbury, Essex. The facility was opened on March 1, 1999 and in 13 years has received and delivered half a million Hyundai vehicles to dealerships and customers around the UK. Every Hyundai that arrives at Tilbury’s docks [...]

JAGUAR has revealed its most versatile car ever and the latest addition to the successful XF family – the Sportbrake. Ahead of its debut at next week’s Geneva Motor Show, Jaguar has released these pictures and are keen to point out the estate version is only 5mm shorter and 70kg heavier than its saloon sibling. [...]

VOLKSWAGEN has lifted the lid on the most powerful production Golf Cabriolet – the all-new GTI droptop. Reviving a classic model, the Golf GTI cabriolet shares its look with the GTI hatchback. So the radiator grille has a honeycomb structure with red edging and the GTI badge, and the standard wheels are 17-inch ‘Monza’ alloys. Inside [...]

AFTER weeks of photos being leaked onto the internet, Volvo has finally revealed official imagery of its all-new V40. The new car replaces the S40 and V50 models in one fell swoop and has the ‘premium hatchback class’ firmly in its sights when production begins in May. Volvo’s president and CEO, Stefan Jacoby, said: ’The all-new V40 [...]

THE number of franchised dealers attending Manheim’s open auctions has doubled in the past 12 months. The auction firm says franchised dealers are attending open auctions in their droves in an effort to source used cars for their customers. However, dealers are having to adjust their normal ‘age’ and ‘mileage policies’ to justify attending auctions [...]

DEALER group Thurlow Nunn Vauxhall has announced its acquired two new sites in Norwich from Hatwell. The family-owned group, which currently boasts eight sites across east Anglia, will take over two Norwich-based outlets, which previously traded as Hartwell, making Thurlow Nunn one of the largest Vauxhall retailers in the UK. Simon Bottomley, group managing director [...]

PORSCHE Cars Great Britain has announced Chris Craft has been appointed as their new managing director. Craft takes over from Geoff Turral, who leaves the company at the end of March. Following responsibilities at Rover, 52-year old Craft has held various senior management positions at Volkswagen Group UK including his current role since 2008, as [...]

SOARING depreciation levels of a range of luxury vehicles has led to a spike in finance deals, says finance firm Bridford. With some prestige cars losing up to half their value in less than a year of leaving the forecourt, more consumers are now choosing short to mid-term finance packages to negate the losses. Specialist [...]

DEALER group Peter Vardy has sold more than 500 vehicles in just three days with the help of a car event solution firm. The Rhino VIP Event is an off-the-shelf car sales event where customers are invited to an exclusive, appointment only VIP event complete with red carpet. Peter Vardy Ltd staged Rhino VIP Events, simultaneously [...]

HERE ARE the most interesting and talked-about stories over the past five days, collated and summarised by us. Monday, February 20 MINI will reveal its Clubvan Concept at the Geneva Motor Show. If it goes into production, it’ll be the modern interpretation of the 1960 Morris Mini Van. CAR Dealer launches Car Dealer Power 2012 [...]

SKODA has told Car Dealer to take a hard look at the brand now, because in two years’ time it will be ‘unrecognisable’. The firm’s UK brand director exclusively told Car Dealer that thanks to new product and a bold corporate strategy, consumers will see Skoda as a totally different proposition by 2014. ‘You will [...]

HR OWEN has announced its main Ferrari showroom on Old Brompton Road, South Kensington has now reopened. Following a 24 week refurbishment programme and £1.4m revamp, the showroom now meets Ferrari’s new global corporate identity standards. The showroom has two floors totalling over 800m² which incorporate the new Ferrari concept developed directly by Ferrari in collaboration with [...]

ONE of Honda’s first-ever dealerships in the UK has been honoured by the Japanese firm with a special award. Locally-based, family owned car and motorcycle dealership Lings has enjoyed a unique 50-year association with Honda. And that relationship has been marked  with a specially commissioned award presented by Honda UK managing director Dave Hodgetts. The [...]

CONSUMER voting for Motor Codes’ 2012 Garage of the Year accolade – in association with Havoline – is now open. New for 2012, the addition of award categories reflecting large and small garages means that entrants can benchmark performance with comparable businesses. Now in its third year of running, Motor Codes has also gained support [...]

HPI has announced the death of its industry relations director, Alan Bishop, at the age of 57. Bishop joined HPI in 2004 and became a well-known and respected figure across the motor, finance and leisure markets forging relationships with leading figures in the industry and the Government. In doing so, he was able to influence best [...]