NEWS

GOVERNMENT officials have confirmed Car Dealer reports that the scrappage scheme was to be extended.
The scheme will now run for an extra month and finish at the end of March.
Lord Mandelson said this was to allow car dealers ‘more time to prepare for and operate the exit phase of the scheme.’
It will still finish early [...]

CAR DEALER has learnt the UK car scrappage scheme is likely to be EXTENDED tomorrow.
A number of sources close to the magazine have confirmed the announcement is likely to be made by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills at 9am.
Car Dealer understands there will be no extra money pumped into the scheme – only [...]

SCRAPPAGE shock will be eased if car dealers turn their attentions to profitable opportunities in Motability sales.
Car industry consultancy Network Automotive says car dealers are currently underexploiting Motability sales.
There is no doubt the end of the scrappage scheme will cause a sudden drop in new car sales, said MD Colin Bruder. However, focusing on Motability [...]

RENAULT car dealers can look forward to better returns in 2010 says a director of the firm.
Commercial operations boss Len Curran said that, although there will be a retail market decline, Renault dealers will still see an upturn.
‘Renault has targeted a 40 percent sales increase on cars and vans over 2009,’ he told Car Dealer [...]

I WAS just putting the finishing touches to the i10 Banger Race feature when this video popped into my inbox.
It’s an early preview of some of the footage we shot for a documentary style film to accompany our feature on the scary event. This was shot on the smaller of our two cameras by two students [...]

SCRAPPAGE has been a great success in broadening car dealer opportunities says Peugeot MD Jon Goodman.
However, he says that when it comes to an end, Peugeot will look to other creative plans to incentivise cars, rather than launch a self-financed copycat scheme.
‘The scheme has brought people into car showrooms who would not normally be buying [...]

KIA is still on the hunt for new dealers in metro areas including Liverpool, Birmingham and Croydon.
Michael Cole, the marque’s UK MD exclusively told Car Dealer, that these inner city areas are proving the hardest to fill – despite interest in the brand blossoming.
‘These locations typically require a large investment,’ he said. ‘But the real [...]

MAZDA UK MD Jeremy Thomson has praised the official Exit Strategy for handling the end of the scrappage scheme.
He said it will guarantee the Japanese brand will get sufficient and fair funding from what’s left of the scrappage pot.
What’s more, the Japanese brand has also been planning for the end of scrappage, and won’t be [...]

CAR Dealer Magazine has sourced official information on how the final stages of scrappage will operate.
Car makers have already agreed they will take part in a 2-phase quota system, to fairly allocate remaining subsidies.
Today, BIS has finally revealed the logistics of how this will all work. It points out, too, that it’s a decision reached [...]

KIA managing director Michael Cole has said scrappage funds for dealers will have to be rationed.
With the last portion of funds due to be divvied up between manufacturers in the dying days of the scheme, carmakers’ next hurdle is to work out how to divide those funds up between their network.
Cole said: ‘It is clear [...]