NEWS

THREE new car dealerships, including flagship Volkswagen and Volvo showrooms, are to open in Solihull. The dealerships will be based on a former restaurant after it was acquired by Johnsons Cars. Colliers International acquired the four acre site which includes a 50,000 sq ft building, from Gallagher Developments on behalf of Johnsons Cars. The building [...]

VOLVO has announced that in the second quarter of 2011 its operating earnings before tax was £57.2m. That figure was up by more than £16m compared to 2010 – and higher volumes and an improved model mix are stated as the reasons for the rise in earnings. ‘We are gradually returning to sustainable profitability although [...]

PETER Rask is no longer the managing director of Volvo Cars UK, Car Dealer has been exclusively told. A source told us that Rask – who became Volvo UK’s managing director in 2008 – has been relieved of his position, and Volvo UK’s sales director Nick Connor has replaced him temporarily. Our source also told [...]

POLESTAR is already planning upgrades for Volvo’s forthcoming hybrid and electric models. Polestar marketing director Hans Baath said demand would always be there for performance upgrades, even on green cars. ‘Customers will want to upgrade their cars so it has to be considered,’ said Baath. Polestar modifies software to increase output by, on average, 20bhp [...]

EVER since they began in 1927, Volvo has been fascinated in keeping drivers safe in their cars. But, recently, Volvo has been going a little mad – and all with the help of its tuning arm. Based just outside of Gothenburg, Polestar resides in an unassuming brick-built factory with only a handful of Volvos parked [...]

VOLVO has considered building virtual reality games into its cars to keep bored drivers more alert. The Swedish manufacturer’s obsession with safety has stretched to investigating whether drivers’ concentration levels could be improved with fun elements to driving. Staffan Davidsson, senior Human Machine Interface engineer for the brand, said his team had ballooned from just [...]

YOU’D think a Volvo dealership would look the same wherever you went regardless of country. Wrong. On Monday, we visited Brabil, a Volvo dealership on the outskirts of Gothenburg which, apart from the Volvo badge bolted to the brickwork, couldn’t be more unlike any Volvo showroom in the UK. Let me tell you why… For [...]

How many Volvo XC70 owners actually realise just what their cars are capable of? At the launch of the refreshed model in Sweden, Volvo let us try what many buyers never will – tackle some seriously rough off roading. Seen by many as simply a jacked-up version of the V70, Volvo was keen to demonstrate [...]

YOU’LL probably know by now that at Car Dealer Magazine, we like to do things a little differently. Like features. We love to do mad features – and what we’re doing for Issue 41 is almost certainly up there in terms of mileage and for being just a little bit hair-brained. Next week we’re heading [...]

TWO car makers are using new social media campaigns to get customers to engage with their brands. Suzuki is making a grand entrance onto Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, flickr and Linkedin, while Volvo is giving away an S60 R-Design on Facebook. Friends of Suzuki will be able to read and respond to current and breaking [...]

VOLVO Cars East London (VCEL) has undergone a major refurbishment and process overhaul, it’s been announced. Along with the refurbishment programme, the business has been renamed and a new website has been launched. The £250k refurbishment was undertaken to bring the dealership in line with Volvo corporate standards after the business, which until January 2010 [...]

VOLVO has been hailed as the most improved car brand for reducing CO2 emissions a new report has revealed. The study, complied by automotive industry data provider JATO, put Volvo at the top of the twenty strong list of manufacturers due to the Swedish firm’s models producing average CO2 emissions of 157.5g/km. Volvo says the news [...]

VOLVO’S business development manager Kevin Meeks says the firm has not ruled out future Volvo ‘R cars’. Speaking exclusively to Car Dealer, Meeks agreed that while the firm is concentrating on DRIVe cars at the moment, the glory days of 850 T5-R, 850R, V70R and S60R could return in the future. ‘Undoubtedly part of our [...]

VOLVO Car Corporation has announced its strategy for growth in China and the Chinese market. The Swedish brand has decided, pending approval of Chinese authorities, to invest in a new plant in the city of Chengdu and continue investigations for a plant also in Daqing. ‘We regard the Chinese market as the second home market [...]

HARRATTS Motor Group is celebrating after being confirmed as Volvo’s second largest new car seller in 2010. The family-run motor group increased sales of the Swedish marque by 13 per cent during 2010, and nearly doubled the Volvo national average sales increase of eight per cent, selling 2,398 cars. Harratts, which began selling Volvo from just [...]

MARSHALL Motor Group’s Volvo dealership in Grantham has been named as the top Volvo dealership in the UK. The family-owned business’ Grantham Volvo showroom won the prestigious, beating 121 other dealers in the process. Daksh Gupta, chief executive of Marshall (pictured) said: ‘This is tremendous news for Marshall but especially for our great team at Grantham. [...]

Volvo Car UK has finished 2010 with an impressive set of figures due to a new business partnership with Magma Services. The car maker achieved a 19.7 per cent growth in company car sales in 2010 (19,934 units), a 3,283 sales increase over 2009 and a 1.9 per cent share of the fleet market, at [...]

A HUDDERSFIELD-based dealership is celebrating following news that 2010 had been its most successful year ever. 2010 saw Harratts Volvo Huddersfield smashing previous records and boosting overall sales of new and used by 50 per cent. Sales of used cars more than doubled 2009’s figures increasing by 116 per cent, while new car sales increased [...]

At Car Dealer Magazine, we particularly like cars that have a bad badge on their noses but in actual fact are really very good cars. Take the new Kia Sportage for instance. If you hear someone say ‘Hey, the new Kia Sportage is a great car’ you probably wouldn’t believe them. Here is a car [...]

VOLVO cars is now represented in Bishop’s Stortford by Regent Automotive Group with a one-acre new site. 24 new car dealer jobs have been created by the site’s opening, including sales, service, parts, administration and management jobs. Tracey Perry, MD of Regent Automotive Group, said: ‘We’ve been hard at work over the summer to bring [...]