NEWS

CHEVROLET is launching the futuristic Volt right now with a headline-grabbing leasing deal for early adopters. The list price is $41,000 (around £26,000) but it can also be leased in the US for just $350 a month. This is the equivalent of £222, and buys a Chevrolet Volt EREV (extended-range electric vehicle) on a 3-year, [...]

USED car finance sales were up by more than a fifth in August, says the Finance & Leasing Association. Latest statistics from the FLA reveal that sales of used cars using dealer finance rose by 21 per cent in August when compared to the same month in 2009. However, sales of new cars to consumers [...]

BRIDFORD Motor Finance is continuing its national growth by welcoming a Ferrari Financial Services man. Barry Hyde has joined the firm to use his contacts with key decision makers at the UK’s top 200 car dealer groups. He will talk with them and explain the benefits of working with Bridford, he said, and how it [...]

BLACK Horse has said it will help dealers prepare for important finance changes coming next year. The finance provider is set to provide training to dealers across the UK to prepare them for changes to the way finance can be sold and processed. The changes are the result of the Consumer Credit Directive (CCD) which [...]

FLA experts have improved the Specialist Automotive Finance test to comply with new CCD regulations. The new sales processes required by the Consumer Credit Directive came into force this month. Extra questions have been incorporated into the SAF test to cover these; the test has been extended to 60 questions, with 20 questions dedicated to [...]

CAR dealers are being advised to look at service plans to help profits uncertainty from fluctuating used sales. Market ructions in the used car sector means used car sales are down on 2009 levels, which is putting dealer profits at risk. The Warranty Group says this gap can be managed if car dealers look to [...]

BRIDFORD Financial Solutions has announced a partnership with Nowell & Richards Insurance Services. The new collaboration aims to provide premium car buyers with a ‘one stop shop’ for financing and insuring posh cars – that will save cash. Bridford owner Tim Marlow said: ‘The natural synergy between the two companies means we are able to [...]

HPI has supported an FLA and ACPOS initiative to get back cars snared after being illegally driven without insurance. The Finance & Leasing Association will now work with Police forces in Scotland to retrieve vehicles impounded by the Police when the driver is caught for insurance evasion. Any vehicle seized by police will have a [...]

VERTU says the first half of 2010 has seen an encouraging business performance with profit up. The revelations in the report will make interesting reading for all those in the car dealer trade. Vertu reports, overall, acquisitions are progressing, newly acquired businesses are performing well and ‘pre exceptional profit’ is marginally ahead of last year. [...]

CAR dealers are enjoying a continuation of record profitability but are warned not to be complacent. ASE has looked at car dealer profitability stats, and discovered first half 2010 net profit averages at 1.4 percent. As an average per car dealer, that equates to a profit of £76,645; that’s a £12k improvement on the same [...]

CAR dealers have until 31 January 2011 to implement the new Consumer Credit Directive – CCD. For those who haven’t the first idea where to start, the FLA has come to the rescue. It has revised its Specialist Automotive Finance test to include all the latest knowledge – and also updated all the SAF Reference [...]

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 [...]

MOTORPOINT has become the first car supermarket to offer a money saving customer car insurance deal. Autonet Insurance has developed a search engine just for Motorpoint. This allows customers to search from a range of car insurers, ‘Comparethemarket’ style, through a new section on the Motorpoint website. Paul Winfield, ops director at Motorpoint, said the [...]

Profits from the first half of 2010 have been dizzyingly high for one premium luxury car finance specialist. The Yorkshire-based Bridford Financial Solutions secured £14.5m of funding for car dealers in the first six months of 2010, and is on course to beat last year’s record total of more than £25m of finance underwritten. March [...]

CAR industry business failure rates have continued to fall in June 2010 reports information firm Experian. However, the number of late payments has actually RISEN to the highest point since December 2008. This is stemming the improving financial health of the car industry, says Experian’s Joe Myers. ‘Although the insolvency rate is much better than [...]

CAR dealers who do not implement the European Consumer Credit Directive risk losing their credit licenses. Car industry consultant rts says the deadline was due to be enforced last month. It has now been extended to February 2011 – but car dealers who are not already working on implementing it could be putting their credit [...]

FLA chiefs are promoting the advantages of dealer finance with a new online Dealer Directory contact guide. Made up of all car dealers who meet the SAF Approved accreditation system, the Dealer Directory is aimed at helping car buyers seek out the best type of finance deal for them. The flash new web aid does [...]

ACF Car Finance is the latest big firm to sign up for the Dealers Backing BEN charity fundraiser scheme. Already a strong BEN supporter, the sub-prime car dealer will now further formalise donations to BEN under the scheme. ACF’s Norman Beaumont said the simplicity of the scheme was a key reason why he’d signed up. [...]

FINANCE best practice dealers have another member as Greenhous Group achieves SAF Approved status. It now means more than HALF of the UK’s top 10 dealer groups are SAF Approved. The SAF kitemark has been designed, said FLA head of motor finance Paul Harrison, ‘to give consumers confidence about the motor finance information they receive. [...]

VERTU Motors chairman Paul Williams has said at the firm’s AGM that it is meeting its 2010 expectations. The UK’s 8th-largest car dealer now boasts 66 outlets, he said, after a year of targeted growth. ‘Whilst the board recognises the weakness of the current economic environment,’ said Williams, ‘it anticipates the Group’s results for the [...]