After last week’s blog from Rupert Saunders about his ‘mixed’ car buying experience, I think our Digital Marketing and Website Report Conference this week may have one possible explanation for the...

Here’s an interesting thought: if you’d invested £100 in the FTSE 100 index at the start of 2013, it would now be worth £114.40. If you invested the same amount is the general retail sector, it...

New car registrations in September topped the psychological 400,000 barrier, up 12.1% and retail sales were up 17.9%. It’s the best performance since March 2008. Are you surprised? Probably not....

News that the May new car registration figures were up by 13.5% was seized upon by headline writers as evidence that the industry is on the road to recovery. But auto retailers we spoke to, and...

Perhaps not surprisingly, the excitement (if that is the right word) over the General Election overshadowed the announcement of new car registration figures for April, which were announced just about...

At a time when some well established families are looking to get out of the auto retail business, the Shokar family is buying in. Just over two years ago they took over Romford Mazda, a...

There is uncertainty over the future of Chrysler franchised auto retailers in the UK after reports from Italy that future models are going to be sold in Europe under the Fiat or Lancia badges....

When Bill Ward and his team completed the management buyout of Mill Garages from Inchcape late last year they took out full page local newspaper ads proclaiming: ‘Now north-east owned’....

News that the government is going to extend the current scrappage incentive with an extra £100m came at exactly the right moment to rekindle interest in September new car sales. Auto retailers...

The full effect of the government’s scrappage is revealed in the official new car registration figures for July – up by 2.4%, the first increase in sales for 15 months. The success of...

What to make of the June new car registrations? The introduction of the government’s scrappage incentive is boosting volumes and footfall – but it is also making it increasingly difficult...

A renewed focus on tight management, including cost cutting and strong aftersales programmes, is helping GM franchised retailers boost profit margins despite pressure on new car sales, according to...

There are early signs of the success of the government’s scrappage scheme emerging, despite new car sales in May being down by 24.8%. Figures released by BERR (the Department for Business...

The government’s scrappage scheme is predicted to add around 100,000 new vehicle sales this year, according to industry analysts. Arthur Maher, of JD Power Automotive Forecasting, said that the...

Speculation and customer eagerness to take part in the government’s scrappage scheme, announced in the Budget in late April, has increased footfall in dealerships but did nothing to boost new...

Falling new car sales continue to hit the headlines – new car registrations in March were down by 30.5% and the first three months of the year have seen a similar percentage drop in sales. But...

New tax rules governing the capital allowances on company cars come into force from April 1. They will affect the way in which the money spent on cars can be ‘written down’ and ultimately,...

Auto retailers we have spoken to are reasonably confident about business prospects for March, a critical month in the annual trading cycle. They say consumer demand is beginning to pick up, even in...

NADA delegates gave a spontaneous standing ovation to their outgoing chairman, Annette Sykora, when she appeared on stage at the official Convention opening. The warmth of her welcome was in marked...

New car registrations in January were down by 30% but, as far as we can tell, it would be wrong to suggest the UK auto retail industry is on its knees. While the headline focus, naturally, is on the...