News

November 2011 Everyone's a winner with my top winter tyres idea

The newspapers are full of the winter weather forecasts and it seems we’re in for a full repeat of last year’s snow, but given the prediction for a barbeque summer I won’t be holding my breath. What is more certain, though, is my Dragon’s Den idea for dealers.

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October 2011 Why would any dealer try to intimidate customers?

A couple of research reports have been published recently that look into the car-buying and servicing processes and the conclusion in both is that female motorists said they were more likely to be ripped off by dealers because of their gender.

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September 2011 Let’s all cheer up! There are some top cars around

Maybe it’s seasonal but the press seems to be full of doom and gloom on just about any topic you care to mention; the car industry’s no different. Even in the coverage of Jaguar Land Rover’s outstanding investment in UK manufacturing, there was still room to poke at a depressed market and lower new car registrations.

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August 2011 Service plans can build margin and relationships

September is a great time for our industry. Once the initial clamour for 61-plate cars dies down, the used car market will pick up the pace as the part-exchanges hit the forecourts mid-month and a new set of buyers come through the doors.

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July 2011 Code of practice is good for us and for buyers

It sometimes feels as though the car industry is a bit of a soft target for Watchdog-style reports on occasional lapses in standards and while there’s always room for improvement, with over 7m cars changing hands every year I’d say we do a pretty good collective job of keeping customers happy.

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June 2011 Finest minds are taking our industry forward

Time to test your knowledge of motoring history: guess when the first hybrid car was produced. 2000? Wrong century. 1990? Miles out? 1960? Not even halfway there. No, it was 1899. Incredible, isn’t it - over 110 years ago there was a petrol-electric hybrid bought by a paying customer.

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May 2011 Let's hope for a speedy and strong bounce-back

The effects of the terrible earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan are being felt in a myriad of ways. None of them compare to the local impact, of course, and I’d urge everyone to donate to the relief support provided by the British Red Cross or Save the Children, but the repercussions on our market are starting to ripple through.

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April 2011 The whole market will suffer insurance ruling

The news that the European Court of Justice has ruled that motor insurers can no longer differentiate between men and women for their car insurance beggars belief. I sometimes wonder what planet those who pass our legislation live on, because it obviously isn't the one you or I are from.

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March 2011 Learners are all future buyers

We’ve got some new neighbours at the office with the opening of a Driving Test Centre over the road. It’s great to see the range of cars being used – we’ve had everything from the usual Fiesta and Yaris fare through to BMWs and open-top roadsters.

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