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Looking for a quick update on what’s happening in the auto world? Here, we highlight the key events.
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- A vehicle biofuel made from whisky by-products has been developed by scientists at Edinburgh Napier University.
- Average used car values are lower than the 12 months previously for the first time this year, according to CAP. It points out that de-fleeting three-year-old cars now could mean a 3% loss over de-fleeting at the same time last year.
CAP also reports that smaller cars have seen the largest year-on-year reductions in value. A typical supermini is now almost 10% less valuable than the exact equivalent vehicle in 2009. - Customers who bought new cars on dealer finance rose by 26% in the first half of this year. The total was 264,377, representing 49.4% of all new cars sold.
- The number of Skodas delivered year-to-date has increased to 437,260, up 13.4% from 2009.
- The bubble car is back...Dragon's Den contestant Gary Hillman successfully pitched the idea to James Caan after spotting one of the only 20 remaining Peel cars at auction. He wants to reinvent the 1960s' icon with an electric motor.
- Growing demand for luxury cars has put Jaguar and Land Rover owner Tata Motors into the black, as well as driving a 48% rise in first-half profits at car dealer Pendragon.
- The Retail Motor Industry is urging its members to take part in an online survey to gauge opinion on a cut in the frequency of MoT tests.
- Kia has launched a graduate training programme, recruiting five individuals on 12-month contracts. "We have a growing brand and consequently growing opportunities both for our existing staff and for potential new recruits," said head of human resources Gary Tomlinson.
- Glass's is predicting that hybrid cars will represent the dominant 'green' powertrain technology until 2019, after which they will be overtaken by electric vehicle sales.
- BMW's profits accelerated in the first half of 2010, aided by a sharp uptake in demand for the car maker's Mini and Rolls Royce brands. The company posted pre-tax profits for the six months to June 30 of d1.81bn, compared to a loss of d47m last year.
- An accountant who stole more than £1.3m from her employer, dealer group Inchcape, has been jailed for four years. Tracey Laws, 46, from Pennyfine Road, Newcastle, worked at Inchcape Preston Hall BMW in Stockton.
- The Peugeot Bipper, Partner, Expert and Boxer range of light commercial vehicles now feature a 100,000-mile warranty.
- A brochure setting out the new framework of rules governing the aftermarket has been published by the Right to Repair Campaign (R2RC). It explains the implications for the trade when dealing with spare parts, servicing and repairing vehicles, plus accessing technical information.
- Britain now has the safest roads in the EU, with fewer deaths than in all the other 27 countries. There are 38 deaths per million of the population, one below Holland and Sweden. That is a 35pc reduction since 2001 - and 31 deaths below the average of 69.
- Franchised dealers who made major cuts to training budgets in the downturn will be poorly equipped to benefit from changing practices in the recovery, according to Peter Cooke, professor of automotive management at Buckingham University.
© The Institute of the Motor Industry, Fanshaws,
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Registered in England No: 225180.
Tel 01992 511521
A company limited by guarantee.
Registered in England No: 225180.
Tel 01992 511521
