NEWS

MCLAREN F1 designer Gordon Murray is to become deputy chairman of the new Automotive Council. The announcement by Lord Mandelson sees him sit alongside fellow deputy David Smith of Jaguar Land Rover. Both will report to joint chairmen Lord Mandelson and Richard Parry Jones. Other Council members include: Joe Greenwell: Ford Bill Parfitt: GM Kenneth [...]

VAUXHALL Opel head Nick Reilly will today meet with Lord Mandelson to discuss job cuts and Government aid. It will be the first face-to-face meeting between Mandelson, Vauxhall and the Unite union since GM US decided not to sell its European arm. The BBC reports that the meeting comes prior to GM Europe revealing the [...]

LORD Mandelson has today unveiled a new Government-backed Automotive Council to support industry. It has been set up to help everyone in the industry look at long-term challenges. The announcement is proof of the high importance Government is placing on the UK’s car industry, to help future economic growth. Mandelson sees the switch to green [...]

GOVERNMENT support is on the table for any new plans to restructure Vauxhall and GM Europe. Lord Mandelson has today confirmed that he is ‘keen for very early discussions with GM over their plans for the business and how they will affect British plants and workers. ‘I have always said that if the right long [...]

MINI workers in Oxford welcomed both two future production models and Business secretary Lord Mandelson. BMW Board member Ian Robertson presented the models to Lord Mandelson, to show the BMW arm’s commitment to the UK. ‘The UK and Oxford remain at the heart of MINI and we are delighted to confirm that these new cars [...]

THE scrappage scheme has been extended – with the government today putting in another £100m. Business secretary Lord Mandelson, announcing the move, said: ‘The sector has been strongly affected by the recession, but the scrappage scheme has delivered a boost to manufacturers and the supply chain. ‘We have listened to the concerns of manufacturers and [...]

CAR dealers are meeting with Lord Mandelson TODAY – with a scrappage extension high on their demands. The crunch summit with the SMMT will see car dealers plea for an addition to the cash-neutral scheme. Scrappage funds are expected to run out by the end of the year. Many car dealers would like to see [...]

SCRAPPAGE extensions have reportedly now been rejected by Lord Mandelson, reports the NFDA. This has ‘bitterly disappointed’ RMI NFDA chairman Paul Williams. Particularly as it came ‘without even the courtesy of a meeting with the industry to discuss the issue.’ Car dealers have been calling for a meeting with Government for some time now, to [...]

RETAIL Automotive Alliance chiefs are the latest to call for an extension to the scrappage scheme. The joint venture of 22 shareholders has written to Lord Mandelson, appealing for the scheme to be lengthened. These top bosses represent more than 200 car dealers in the UK… with a combined turnover of £2.5 billion a year. [...]

GM’s impending announcement, over the future of Vauxhall and Opel, has been keeping me busy. An announcement was expected Friday. Indeed, an announcement DID COME on Friday. But it was not the announcement key parties were hoping for. The GM Board decides, well, not to make a decision. That was the gist of it. Cue [...]

SCRAPPAGE orders have now topped the half-way mark; the Government says total sales stand at 154,927. Indeed, it’s probably already far higher still. These figures date from 23 April to 2 August. It’s chuffed chief proponent of the scheme, Lord Mandelson, no end. ‘I’m pleased that we have already achieved over 150,000 new car orders. [...]

GENERAL Motors has so far failed to reach a decision on to whom it’s going to sell its European operations. But it has confirmed that the future owners of Vauxhall should either be Magna International or RHJ. ‘We have agreed to continue detailed talks with both Magna and RHJ to secure Opel’s future,’ said GM [...]

LORD Mandelson is certainly working hard for the automotive industry in the UK. Last week he was at Toyota, following an announcement the maker is to build the first European-made hybrids there. Then, it was off to Nissan Sunderland, after confirmation it will begin building electric car batteries there (a move many see as a [...]

NISSAN has said that, without support from the Government, today’s UK jobs boost would have gone abroad. The UK, along with Portugal, are both to produce batteries for Renault-Nissan’s massive electric car plans. ‘The two Governments have offered to extend financial assistance and other support to ensure that Nissan locates the proposed plants within their [...]

NISSAN’S £380m European Investment Bank loan is to create 350 new jobs at the Sunderland factory. The jobs will be to produce batteries for Nissan’s future range of electric cars. This means the very real possibility of producing volume electric cars at the huge UK plant – securing its long-term future. The European loan was [...]

LORD Mandelson has told top Tata bosses to respond NOW to the Government’s latest aid offer. ‘Having been told that there was great urgency in responding to the needs of Jaguar Land Rover,’ he said on Sky News, ‘we have made our proposals, we have made our offers, and now we are waiting for a [...]

LORD Mandelson used today’s visit to Toyota’s Burnaston Derby car plant to attack MPs and critics. The business secretary said they ‘don’t know what they are talking about.’ Press Association reports reveal Mandelson said critics of the Automotive Assistance Programme were ‘out of touch. ‘I’m equally astounded that these MPs don’t have an idea of [...]

TOYOTA is to build a green hybrid version of the Auris here in the UK, at its Derby production facility. Business secretary Lord Mandelson was on hand to announce the shock news, in what is a significant advance for the hi-tech factory. Until now, hybrid Toyota Prius have had to be imported across from Japan. [...]

OFFICIAL sales figures today show the big positive effect scrappage is having on new car sales. More than 60,000 orders have been placed so far – despite the scheme being ‘live’ for less than a month. ‘These figures speak for themselves,’ business secretary Lord Mandelson told the BBC. ‘Consumers know a good deal when they [...]

VAUXHALL representatives are holding a series of meetings with Lord Mandelson all this week. The meetings are being conducted to discuss the future of Vauxhall, given the takeover of GM Europe by Magna International. Local MPs and senior trade representatives are among those putting the case for car dealers to the business secretary. Lord Mandelson [...]