Latest News

The Ford Fiesta is the most reliable used car, according to Warrantywise’s latest Reliability Index rating. Earlier this year, Warrantywise revealed that the Ford Fiesta was the most popular vehicle it had on cover. Lawrence Whittaker, CEO of Warrantywise, said: “It’s great to see not only the used car market at a five-year high, but also the Ford Fiesta to ...

Desira Group will represent Omoda and Jaecoo in Norwich, Lowestoft, and Bury St Edmunds, from July this year. The dealer group is in the process of creating neutral service departments in all three locations in order to retain all existing aftersales brands. Stuart Stone, MD of Desira Group, said “This is such an extremely exciting and huge opportunity for Desira ...

Mark Robinson has been appointed group managing director of Marshall Motor Group. The former chief executive and founder of Vantage Motor Group had been interim group managing director for four months until his position was made permanent. “After four months in the interim role of Group Managing Director at Marshall Motor Group, I am delighted to announce that my position ...

The deadline for independent dealers to enter the Motor Trader Independent Dealer awards is Friday, 17 May. Now in their 6th year, the Motor Trader Independent Dealer awards are returning on 11 July at the Eastside Rooms, Birmingham. The Motor Trader Independent Dealer Awards are aimed at non-franchised, independent dealers, single or multiple sites. They are not for Franchised dealers, ...

Two Lookers dealerships have won Ford President’s Awards in recognition of their customer experience and functional expertise. Lookers Ford Gateshead and Lookers Ford Leeds have received the accolade, with judges ranking dealerships on areas including surpassing sales goals, high levels of customer satisfaction and overall experience. Lookers Ford Leeds also won the award in 2022. Rob Dier, franchise director at ...

Dealer law firm Motor Industry Legal Services (MILS) is advising dealers to check that claims management companies raising complaints or subject access requests on motor finance are authorised to do so by their client. It said if a solicitor or claims management company cannot provide a letter of authority, then there is no obligation to respond. Earlier this month the ...

The UK used car market could see up to 7.7 million transactions by the end of the year, says Cox Automotive. In a full year used market forecast, Cox Automotive predicts 1,896,630 transactions in Q2 (versus an upside scenario of 1,966,972 transactions), and 7,350,205 for the full year (versus 7,669,814). Cox Automotive’s upside forecast for Q1 was 99.5% accurate to ...

The majority of dealers are finding it “challenging” to source stock at the right price. More than two thirds (68%) of dealers said they were finding it rough to source stock at an affordable price, according to the latest Forecourt Foresight research from Close Brothers Motor Finance. Over half (53%) of dealers list a lack of availability as a key ...

Peugeot secures top spot for second consecutive month as the Peugeot 208 leaves UK dealer forecourts in an average of just 11 days, according to Auto Trader’s latest data. The vehicle is selling more than two and a half times faster than the national average. In April the 208’s larger counterpart, the 3008, took an average of 12 days to ...

Automotive specialists Rhino Group have launched Oceros, an immersive marketing agency providing full-service, bespoke marketing services for retailer groups and OEMs. Kieran Nizzer (pictured), Managing Director at Oceros, said: “As the consumer purchasing landscape evolves, Oceros is perfectly placed to apply fresh thinking to industry-wide challenges, leading a new generation of automotive marketing strategies with results at the heart of ...