NEWS

I’m stressed out. Like a lot. But it’s stress in a good way. If that’s possible? It’s the sort of stress that comes with weight on your shoulders - £350,000 worth of weight to be exact.
Today the cars are arriving for our annual Road Test of the Year – our celebration of the best machines [...]

Welcome to the most important Audi for car dealers, ever. Bold claim – what leads us to make it? Well, Audi says this is going to be its best-selling car; better than the A3, better than the A4. You’ll quickly be seeing a lot of this little hatch…
Little? Indeed: The A1 is Audi’s Mini, with [...]

VOLVO has shown this autumn’s new V60 estate – and revealed the UK will be its 2nd-biggest market in the world.
9 in 10 of the new BMW 3 Series Touring and Audi A4 Avant rival will be sold in Europe.
UK buyers are second only to Swedes in expected take-up of the car’s 50,000-unit annual volume.
It’s [...]

AUDI is to fit headcams to its technicians that will allow car owners to watch what’s going on with their motor – live.
The Audi Direct Reception system means customers will be given a two-way link with the Audi technician.
This means they will be able to talk to them while they work!
Owners will watch the technicians [...]

MERCEDES is the latest firm to have a UK boardroom reshuffle with the appointment of Gary Savage as MD.
He will take over from the retiring Dermot Kelly at the end of the month.
Coming from the MD role at Citroen UK, Savage is a familiar face in the industry. He has also been a senior exec [...]

AUDI has launched a new ‘virtual reality’ tool that shows off the MINI-rivaling A1 hatchback in 3D.
This will be available on the firm’s website – and car dealers are being given added virtual A1 promotional tools, too.
Audi Centres countrywide are taking delivery of special ‘Augmented Reality’ kiosks. These use a webcam to display miniature 3D [...]

AUDI launched the famous Quattro 30 years ago this year. Gene Hunt, among others, is most grateful that it did. Thing is, since then, it’s not really had a model comparable with the dramatic icon.
The firm continued to develop the Quattro, but when it was dropped in the 1990s, there was nothing to take [...]

PREMIUM car dealers who are struggling with very long lead times should look into short-term lease solutions.
Audi, BMW and Mercedes car dealers are commonly quoting 3 or 6-month order times, says Equalese.
Short-term lease packages could be one way of keeping the customer happy in such situations, says MD Pal Ashton – helping overcome dissatisfaction, [...]

PREMIUM car values are continuing to thrive despite fuel prices hitting a record high across the country.
Glass’s reports values seem unaffected by posh luxury cars, supercars and SUVs being some of the least fuel efficient cars around.
What’s causing this odd trend? The ending of the feel-bad factor, combined with the slow rise of fuel prices [...]

BMW says more than 2 in 3 customers who currently own a BMW will buy another one from their dealer.
It is keeping the other 30 percent within the brand that is occupying the firm at the moment.
BMW has thus carried out studies to find out why people change. And the biggest reason? Not disappointment with [...]