Editor’s Choice

Ford has extended its scrappage scheme for cars and commercial vehicles into the first quarter of 2018. The move could prompt similar moves from other carmakers as they strive to maintain market share in shrinking new car and van markets. The Ford original launch of the scrappage scheme in August in time for the September plate change prompted a raft ...

Mercedes-Benz Retail, the factory owned dealer group, saw pre-tax profits rocket in 2016 following the sale of its Birmingham and Manchester market areas during the year. Profit for the year was £67.8m compared to £9m in 2015 following the profit on disposal – revealed for the first time in results filed at Companies House – of £51.6m on the sale ...

Average monthly used car prices dipped in November for the first time in eight months, according to the Auto Trader Retail Price Index. According to the research the average price of a used car in November was £12,589, a fall of £50 since October. However Auto Trader said prices are 6% higher than last year on a like-for-like basis,  stripping ...

Steven Eagell Group has hit the acquisition with the purchase of Lexus Milton Keynes from Sytner Group. The number of branches now operated by the Milton Keynes based, privately-owned company is 22, taking in 18 Toyota and four Lexus businesses. In February this year the group completed the acquisition of six Toyota and two Lexus dealerships from Jardine Motors Group ...

Consumers spend more time researching holidays than cars, according to a study by Black Horse. The findings show 31% of buyers said they spend more time researching a holiday than any other major purchase, beating both houses (19%) and cars 16%. The online research, carried out by YouGov, polled the views of 2,030 adults. The research found 22% of consumers ...

A US based Volkswagen AG executive Oliver Schmidt who pleaded guilty for his role in the Volkswagen emission scandal, has been sentenced to seven years in prison by a Michigan federal court. Schmidt, a German national responsible for Volkswagen’s environmental and engineering office in Michigan, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of defrauding the US and another for ...

The average UK motor retailer made a loss in October of £2,000 compared to a break-even performance in October last year and a £7,400 profit two years ago. The overall return on sales for the rolling 12 months fell to 1.01% from 1.06% a year ago. Mike Jones, the chairman of dealer profitability specialist ASE, said he expected profits for ...

New car registrations fell -11.2% year-on-year in November to 163,541 units pushing down year-to-date registrations by -5%. The drop marks the eighth consecutive month of falling registrations in 2017. November saw significant falls across the board with fleet down -14.4%, business registrations, to companies operating fewer than 25 cars, down -33.6% and retail down -5.1%. Diesel registrations fell -30.6% in ...

Dealers have been urged to prepare now for the introduction of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules that come into play in July 2018. GDPR is a piece of European legislation that builds on the existing Data Protection Act. Speaking at the Motor Trader Summit last month Louise Wallis, head of business development at the NFDA , warned ...

Pendragon is to reduce the number of Stratstone premium brand outlets in the UK over the next three years following a review of the business. The dealer group today released an update on the strategic review it issued on 23 October and also said it was going to sell its US business for an estimated £100m as part of the ...