EVANS Halshaw in Harrogate, north Yorkshire has opened a new Seat dealership. The franchise joins Renault and Dacia at the Evans Halshaw site, part of the Pendragon group. Six new jobs will be created within the dealership, which has space for 80 used cars in addition to the full array of new Seat models. It [...]
BMW announces ‘i’ dealers
BMW has revealed the dealers that will be supplying and supporting the firm’s ‘i’ brand. The new ‘i’ sub-brand represents BMW’s electric drive systems and ‘premium mobility services’, and 46 dealers will be offer the range. Each dealer will have specialist technical capabilities allowing them to carry out repairs to the vehicles’ high voltage batteries. [...]
Editor’s Blog: The week that was May 13-17
Cars are becoming awfully complicated. Gone are the days when a car was basically a metal box and some wires lovingly put together by a Brummie. These days you can preheat a car to a temperature that takes your fancy, or you can get one to read out your text messages in Latvian. It’s mind [...]
BCA poised to purchase WeBuyAnyCar
VEHICLE auction company BCA has moved to buy the used car purchaser We Buy Any Car, according to a statement from BCA. ‘BCA has signed a deal to purchase WBAC although the transaction is still subject to clearance and not yet finalised. Given this situation we are unable to comment further.’ Neither party were willing [...]
Lookers buys Glasgow Land Rover
LOOKERS MOTOR GROUP has expanded its operations in Scotland with the purchase of the Land Rover dealership Shields Automotive. The move comes shortly after Lookers announced an ‘excellent’ first quarter result. The expansion into Scotland with the £8.75m purchase in cash of the Glasgow Land Rover franchise adds to the groups Lomand Audi site, which [...]
Ford showcases new dealership look
FORD will begin rolling out its new look and feel for its retail areas across its dealerships this year, after showcasing the look at Essex Autogroup’s Basildon dealership. The new design features brightly coloured stands and displays guiding customers through the dealership. Clair Hepworth, Ford Service Marketing Manager said the UK was the first market [...]
Ford announces new ‘BlueService’ maintenance scheme for ‘all vehicles’
FORD has announced a fundamental change in its customer service strategy with the launch of its new service pack, Ford BlueService. Ford BlueService is a coming together of Ford services – and the launch of some new ones – aimed at helping dealerships retain loyal customers through improved aftersales care. The package is open to [...]
Lookers report ‘excellent trading performance’ in Q1
LOOKERS reported an excellent trading performance in the first quarter of 2013, with strong results ahead of expectations. Investors were told the dealer group had posted profits representing a significant improvement on the same period last year. This growth was driven by new car retails increasing by 13 per cent, ahead of the UK market [...]
BMW rolls out ‘genius’ staff to assist with in-car tech
BMW is rolling out its BMW Genius staff programme across UK dealerships after a successful pilot scheme in 2012. Last year 14 staff at 10 dealerships took part in the programme, which aims to help customers understand some of the complex technology available in its range of cars. BMW say feedback on the pilot scheme [...]
HPI joins forces with AUTOi for paperless appraisals
HPI has joined forces with vehicle appraisal experts AUTOi to create the industries first all in one, digital vehicle appraisal system. Powered by HPI, the AUTOi system allows dealerships to appraise, store, provenance check, value and send highly detailed vehicle appraisals anywhere, anytime via smartphones, tablets and PC. Information is entered through the use of [...]
