5:14 pm, March 10, 2016
CATCH up with the news with our round-up of the top stories from the past seven days. Rebecca will be back every Wednesday with a new instalment.
Carwow in Germany
The new car sales platform has expanded into Germany, its first territory outside the UK since launch. Philipp Sayler von Amende, an automotive entrepreneur with 12 years experience, has been appointed CEO.
SMMT members say stay in the EU
Seventy-seven per cent of SMMT members surveyed said if a referendum took place tomorrow a ‘remain’ vote would be the best outcome. Eighty-eight per cent of large automotive companies who are SMMT members and 73 per cent of SME members agreed.
New car registrations remain positive in February
Registrations grew 8.4 per cent in February compared with the same month in 2015. A total of 83,395 new cars were registered, marking the biggest February since 2004.
Range Rover Evoque is most-successful Land Rover of all-time
Land Rover have celebrated hitting the landmark figure of 500,000 Evoques produced. This makes it not only the most-successful but also the fastest-selling car the brand has ever made.
Strong start for fourth-generation Sportage
Kia’s UK MD Paul Philpott said he was delighted that more than 5,000 Sportages have been ordered since its launch on February 5. He added that it was extremely encouraging after last year’s sales of the previous model hit 22,500.
CAP reveals used car values for February
According to CAP HPI, strong demand drove up used car values by an average of 0.4 per cent in February. However, it has seen some signs of weakness in the nearly-new sector.
Vertu Motors purchases three new premium dealerships
Vertu Motors now has three Mercedes-Benz dealerships under its wing, since buying Sigma Holdings and subsidiary Greenoaks for £21.9m.
HR Owen stops London traffic for car swap
The luxury dealer replaced a 2015 Ferrari F1 car with a Ferrari 488 GTB worth nearly £250,000 by taking out the windows in their dealership, in an operation costing £8,000.
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