NEWS

ALPHERA Financial Services has honoured Inchcape Retail and Jigsaw Finance in its 2009 awards. The pair won the top prize through being the best quality, most efficient and highest-volume partners of 2009. Awards were handed out by BMW Group’s multi-make finance arm at the ultra-posh Grove hotel in Watford. Alphera Director Spencer Halil said the [...]

CAR dealer group JCT600 is the latest retailer to be given the valued FLA SAF Approved seal of approval. All 36 of the car dealer group’s outlets have completed the free online survey, which aims to raise standards and improve knowledge of retailing motor finance. This, in turn, will boost customer confidence, says the firm. [...]

DEALER finance sales grew last month for the first time since July 2008, says the Finance & Leasing Association. The rise represents a 4 percent increase on the number of cars sold through dealer finance in September 2008. A relieved FLA chief economist, Geraldine Kilkelly, said ‘this is the first increase in dealer finance provided [...]

MAZDA’S 2009 move to give car dealers access to a team of finance whizz-kids is paying dividends. The firm says that the Mazda Europe initiative has already aided a business where ‘cash is king’. ‘We believe the automotive industry has not focused enough on helping dealers with cash-flow and balance-sheet management,’ said Philip Waring, Mazda’s [...]

CAR buyers taking up car dealer finance stemmed a trend of increasing declines in uptake last month. The number of buyers using car dealer finance still fell by 6 percent compared to July 2008. This was, however, the smallest fall in private car buyers taking up car dealer finance since September 2008. It will hopefully [...]

IMPARTIAL advice on using finance at car dealerships is now available on a new website from the FLA. Through www.financingyourcar.org.uk, buyers of the 53 percent of new cars purchased using car dealer finance will find top tips. This should help make buyers better clued up when they visit car dealers. It supports the recently-launched Specialist [...]

HPI is promising a ‘radical’ boost in finance sales and profitability, with its latest trick new web development. Finance Gateway, it says, gives car dealers instant access to the best rates from top finance houses, such as Santander and Fortis – free of charge. It’s also a completely different way of approaching car finance sales, [...]

HPI has charged ex-Sytner finance and insurance whizz James Edwards with a crucial launch. Edwards is to drive forward the launch of HPI Finance’s Gateway product, in the role of sales operations manager. Gateway is a finance proposition for car dealers, to which Edwards’ 14 years of finance and insurance experience will be a big [...]

GROWING numbers of new car buyers are choosing car dealer finance to fund their next new motor. The FLA has just released latest figures, showing that 52.9 per cent of car buyers are choosing car dealer finance. This is nearly a 3 percent rise on May 2008 figures. What’s more, a turnaround in overall car [...]

CAR dealers report that new car finance business volume remains down in 2009, as the recession continues. April showed a fall of 32 percent in new car dealer finance, compared with 2008. It continues a trend seen throughout 2009; the year-to-date decline stands at 28 percent, reports the Finance and Leasing Association. Rare good news, [...]

CAR owners signing up for scrappage finance deals need to make sure they have a good credit rating. This is because those with a poor credit history will not only fail the standard credit history check… … But they’ll receive a further black mark against their credit score. Even those who pass the credit check [...]

BLACK Horse is to get a new top boss team, as it absorbs a leading dealer motor finance house. Bank of Scotland Dealer Finance will close by the end of September. Thus, Black Horse has been busy appointing a new management team. So, who’s in? •    Tim Smith – head of motor, North •    Paul [...]

FINANCE acceptance data has shown the used market remains resilient, despite the new car sectors’ decline. 3 percent more cars were bought using car dealer finance in March 2009, reveals the Finance and Leasing Association. Compare this to purchases of new cars on dealer finance – they were down 27 percent, reflecting the decline in [...]

FINANCE for UK retail cars has fallen by nearly 60 percent in just five years, reveal new findings. Trend Tracker has discovered the dramatic decline has been led by direct lending, which has plunged much faster than dealer finance. In its annual UK retail car finance market study, the organisation has discovered that £22.8 billion [...]

FLA chief Stephen Sklaroff says the car finance industry hopes the new car scrap scheme will work. A much-needed increase in demand for new cars is vital, he said. However, he added, if it does work, ‘the increased demand for finance – perhaps as much as £1 billion – will reinforce the need for urgent [...]

GMAC has extended the recent trend towards offering free unemployment cover to USED schemes, too. What’s more, the Vauxhall, Saab and Chevrolet financier is to offer the deal on ALL new and used car finance packages, too! All GMAC finance products issued between now and the end of June will be covered, for 24 months’ [...]

HONDA has launched an innovative new promotion to make buying a new car more secure for worried customers. Free payment protection is now available on Civics and CR-Vs bought using Honda’s finance. This means buyers will be covered for a year against payments on their car if they lose their job. That is not the [...]

SALES can be won by car dealers using retailer finance schemes to adapt to individual customers. SEAT MD Peter Wyhinny told Car Dealer Magazine that the strong liquidity of car maker finance divisions means big gains are there to be had. ‘We can be completely adaptable to a customers’ individual needs, in a way that [...]

VOLSKWAGEN is to launch an interesting new seven-seat people carrier, based on the Caravelle. The Caravelle Startline will be sold through the brand’s Commercial Vehicles dealers, with a headline-grabbing list price of £23,950. It will also debut with a £299 a month PCP finance deal. Volkswagen has introduced the model to appeal to large families [...]