NEWS

August sales fall 17.5%

SMMT data has revealed a huge 17.5% decline in registrations as dealers are hit by not having scrappage. 55,305 new cars were registered in August 2010. The SMMT says this compares poorly to 2009, where sales were incentivised by the scrappage scheme – but actually also mark a return to usual patterns seen prior to [...]

	July Sales: 1st FALL in 1yr
SMMT July new car sales show a big FALL for the first time in a year with registrations down over 13 percent. Figures just released by the SMMT reveal the market declined 13.2 percent in July 2010 – although the year-to-date total is still up 15.1 percent. Further falls are expected over the rest of [...]

	MG dealers head to China
SELECTED MG car dealers have just got back from a big maker-organised fact-finding tour of China! The premise of the visit was to find out what MG is doing over there, as the Chinese-owned brand looks to step up its UK relaunch plans. China is the world’s LARGEST car market – 13.6 million cars are [...]

	Peugeot boss on new 508
PEUGEOT has unveiled its brand new 508 saloon which it says marks an all-new design look for the French brand. Set for launch at the start of 2011, the new saloon and SW estate will get their public debut at the Paris Motor Show in October. Peugeot says the new 508 carries design concepts first [...]

	Volvo unveils V60 estate
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 [...]

		May 2010 car sales up
		SMMT figures show May new car sales rose by 13.5 percent but the SMMT expects the market to now start declining. The May rise is the 11th successive one and saw the Ford Focus displace the Fiesta as the UK’s top car. However, now the scrappage boost has ended, the SMMT is predicting a modest [...]
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		March 2010 sales losers
		MARCH 2010 has been a successful month for many brands but what about those that didn’t do so well? Well, the top market share fall slots were dominated by beleaguered makers Corvette, Daihatsu and Hummer. Indeed, Hummer barely exists at all, and Car Dealer Magazine was first to report the woes of Daihatsu here in [...]
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		Showroom tax starts
		NEW car buyers will be hit today by big changes to the vehicle excise duty system that could cost them. The first-year rates of road tax come into force – which will mean a £545 RISE for the highest-emitting models. Yes, cars emitting more than 255g/km CO2 will be stung for a first-year tax bill [...]
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		10 plate reg out today
		10 series new car registrations have been rolling out of new car dealer showrooms today with a big drive from dealers. The new style of car registration continues the series of plate introduced in 2001. The DVLA has already indicated that the new plates offer many extra opportunities for personalisation – 9000 personal plates have [...]
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		November new car sales top 10
		FORD once again topped the November new car sales chart with the Fiesta easily beating the next-best. Which, as luck would have it, was also a Ford – the Focus! The November performance marks the 9th month in 2009 that the Fiesta has topped the charts. Total Fiesta sales stand at 109,420. Again, the Focus [...]
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		November car sales up 57%
		SMMT figures show November car registrations were up 57.6 percent on 2008 levels – in line with 2007 sales. This has led SMMT chief Paul Everitt to predict the market will exceed 1.975 million units. Could the 2009 UK new car market thus defy all odds and hit the magic 2 million mark? So far, [...]
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		Motorpoint new sales up
		MOTORPOINT new car sales have risen by over half since this time last year, setting a new record. The car supermarket’s new car delivery total is almost five times the national average, it says – a total that itself was up 11 percent in September. It’s all the more impressive, said MD David Shelton, when [...]
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		Code confusion clears
		MOTOR CODES has taken control of the New Car Code of Practice – creating a single ‘code’ for car dealers. It ties up the previously confusing situation for the car industry, of having TWO codes of practice, regulated by two bodies: • New Car Code of Practice – SMMT • Motor Industry Code of Practice [...]
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		SCRAP: Japan gets scrap
		JAPAN is the latest nation to get a new car scrappage scheme, as it seeks to boost its crunched car industry. Autobeat Europe reports that £2.4 billion is being invested, to encourage car buyers to scrap cars at least 13 years old. They will get just under £1700 off the purchase of a new car [...]
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		SCRAP: German BOOM!
		NEW car sales in Germany have spiraled – and it’s all thanks to the Government’s new car scrappage scheme. Figures just out show that sales for March were up by a staggering 40 PERCENT. And that’s compared with a year ago, before the impacts of the recession were fully felt. It comes on the back [...]
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		Honda buyer innovation
		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 [...]
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