Magazine

Last month the motor trade’s finest met at the Derby Soccer Dome for the Motor Trader 5-a-side challenge TTL Consulting emerged triumphant from last month’s annual Motor Trader 5-a-side football tournament to pick up the Northridge Challenge Cup for the second year running. TTL defeated Alan Day 2-1 in a closely fought final having despatched two west London Mercedes-Benz dealership ...

Carmakers accused of putting style and cost before anti-whiplash safety The majority of new cars on the market are not providing enough protection against whiplash injuries caused during low speed rear end collisions, according to Euro Ncap. Whiplash, caused by a sudden distortion of the spine, can lead to painful and debilitating symptoms over many years. According to statistics, there ...

Falling sales in the automotive sector are set to force more dealership closures Commercial property values are down a staggering 28 per cent from their peak in June 2007, according to the Investment Property Databank, and the sector’s problems are set to continue. A major threat that has yet to play out fully is the affect of job losses on ...

David Wallington has transformed the performance of his Buckinghamshire-based Jaguar franchise This year’s Motor Trader Dealer Principal of the Year, David Wallington, is a proven innovator and business leader who has risen to the challenges of representing a manufacturer that has had a dramatic rollercoaster ride in recent years. As managing director of the family-owned Merritts Jaguar in Buckinghamshire, he ...

Meanwhile in Japan, the Toyota iQ walked away with the Car of the Year title. The 65 jurors for the Japanese Car of the Year gave Toyota’s clever new mini more than twice as many points as the second placed car. The surprise is that the runner-up was not a Japanese model but the same Citroen C5 which was placed ...

Economical models in demand as buyers downsize Mini has topped the table as the UK’s slowest depreciating used car for the second year in a row. The diesel-powered Mini 1.4TD currently has an average trade-in value of 63.2 per cent, according to EurotaxGlass’s That value is £600 less than a year ago, however, when its trade-in value was listed at ...

Chief executives from carmakers, suppliers and industry bodies last week urged Lord Mandelson, the secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform, to extend government support to the beleaguered car sector. Participants at the meeting included SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt, RMIF chairman Paul Williams, Roelent de Waard, the UK chairman and chief executive of Ford, and Bill Parfitt ...

Camden Car Store has focused on finance and aftersales to boost revenue in tough climate Camden Car Store is Camden Retail Group’s only foray into dedicated used car selling at a supermarket level. Having opened in Wolverton, Milton Keynes in 2006, the store recently expanded from stocking less than 100 cars to over 200. The business model is based on ...

US carmakers in turmoil as Germans push green agenda America’s Big Three car manufacturers are fighting for their lives. Instead of putting on the charm at the annual Los Angeles Auto Show, the bosses of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler were in Washington getting a roasting from a congressional committee considering their plea for bail-out funding. On the show preview ...

The economic downturn dominated discussions at the Motor Trader Autumn Forum attended by leading UK franchised dealer and automotive bosses In the three months since the last Motor Trader Forum, sentiment in the car retail sector has changed from anxiety to a belief that it faces one of the most challenging periods in its history. Dire economic news coupled with ...