With more and more ‘normal’ electric cars joining the market, following the launch of Nissan Leaf almost a year ago, the manufacturers are thinking more about how they market them. And one...

With the Frankfurt Motor Show now in full swing it was interesting to see there’s no shortage of money earmarked for ‘showing off’ by the home teams of Audi, BMW and Mercedes. This...

Renault’s clearly got the right idea with its push to improve quality and all the indications are that both its products and services are making significant leaps forward, but I have to take...

I try not to get involved in arguments about electric vehicles because I’m still open-minded on the subject. And this is how I suspect many retailers are on the matter; after all, if they are...

Car companies that are on a roll give off an air of confidence. I can remember going to a technical briefing at Ford where they let engineers talk openly to the press for the first time. It was about...

Despite interviewing the management of Tesco Cars in an exclusive interview for Auto Retail Bulletin, I’m still none the wiser as to why the retailing giant actually went into used rather than...

Here’s a bold statement from David Raistrick, automotive partner and head of manufacturing at Deloitte UK: “There is no doubt that electric vehicles are the future of the automotive...

Geneva Motor Show is the only trade show worth going to, in my opinion, though Paris runs it a close second; the show is not as ‘visitor-friendly’ but the restaurants are better. Both can...

No doubt about what the hot topic in the industry is going to be for the next few months – used cars. Or rather, the lack of good quality, retailable used cars available for stock. The auction...

It’s not often I feel sorry for a car manufacturer. My default position is that they are quite capable of looking after themselves and can be ruthless, if necessary, about fighting their way out...

After seven straight days of WikiLeaks nobody should be surprised by the global power of the internet. But here’s a cautionary tale from rather closer to home. What can you do if somebody is...

Some anxious shuffling on bums on seats during the after-dinner speech by broadcaster, John Humphrys, at the SMMT dinner last week. This probably wasn’t the best venue to start discussing Tony...

Auto retailers of a certain age will recall the days when no business plan would be approved unless it assumed an overhead absorption of at least 100%. In essence, the workshop was paying the fixed...

Another week; another chance to take a pop at franchised workshop labour rates. The Warranty Direct annual labour rate survey is easy meat for those magazines and newspapers (and even some trade...

Think of a high street retailer with a good reputation for customer service and Carphone Warehouse would likely come near the top of the list. It ticks all the boxes: wide product range, well trained...