NEWS

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.
We can also [...]

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 time [...]

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 Material to [...]

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 this year.
Paul [...]

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 partnership with Autopoint [...]

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 saw the [...]

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 this time last [...]

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 licenses [...]

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 this by [...]

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.
‘This is [...]