NEWS

SERVICE plans were one of THE hit revenue streams for car dealers in 2009 with sales booming by 250 percent.
What’s more, says The Warranty Group, a similar rate of increase is expected for 2010, too.
Director Ian Simpson said service plans were fast gaining momentum. ‘Our view is that 2010 could be the year of the [...]

CASTROL has confirmed it will be a major sponsor of the FIFA 2010 football World Cup in South Africa.
Not only that, it will also sponsor the 2014 World Cup – and has signed up three of the biggest names in football as brand ambassadors, too!
Christiano Ronaldo, Alan Shearer and Arsene Wenger have all been recruited [...]

CAR owners are ignorant about the service safety of many major mechanical components warns a big charity.
Brake carried out a survey that showed 2 in 5 motorists owned up to driving with at least one ‘dangerous’ defect in the past year.
Worn tyres, broken lights and incorrect oil or water levels were among the servicing and [...]

SHOCK figures reveal that 1 in 5 3-year-old cars fail their very first MOT test with vans leading the listings.
The information was revealed under the Freedom of Information Act by a BBC journalist.
Cars made in 2004 are the focus of the data, which had their first MOT back in 2007.
It revealed the Ford [...]

MERCEDES reports that 40 percent of approved used customers are choosing a flexible pay-monthly deal.
This big uptake rate comes just 4 months after the new Mercedes Online Warranty was launched.
Car dealers are winning big as a consequence. The firm says that a high proportion of upsales are occurring to customers whose new car 3-year warranty [...]

MAZDA is responding to warnings 2010 could be a tough year by helping car dealers maximise profits.
Aftersales director Steve Jellis says his area of operation is a strong candidate to make money for dealers.
Up to HALF a dealer’s profit can come from aftersales, he says!
‘Mazda has a relatively high proportion of sales to private owners, [...]

TURBO engines are more likely to break down than non turbo engines, according to shock findings.
Warranty Direct has discovered turbo engines have a failure rate of 27.8 percent.
Non turbo engines, in comparison, have a failure rate of 11.3 percent. What’s more, turbo engines cost more to fix – the average repair cost is £874, compared [...]

300 Service Plan champions have been trained by The Warranty Group in quarter 3 alone.
The scheme follows a similar programme ran last year – which saw a sales increase of 400 percent!
Champions are specially trained to fully explain Service Plan benefits to customers. This approach gives car dealers the ability to fully explain the benefits, [...]

FORD is launching an initiative that will help car dealers boost aftersales business from older-car owners.
Blue oval dealers can now offer a special £99 Ford Value Service, to owners of car 3 years old or more.
As an added bonus, the maker is also including a year’s European breakdown recover package, from Ford Assistance, with the [...]

CAR Dealer Magazine has full results from the 2009 Motor Trade Insider Main Dealer franchise Survey.
This, says the firm, is the first such independent test of its kind.
And it’s no surprise to discover that, yes, Lexus tops the listings!
Based on the same CSI methodology that franchised main dealers have to follow, it flags up [...]