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The shortage of any tick box approach will remain a key challenge for dealerships providing financing and insurance products because the impact of latest consumer duty laws starts making itself felt. The Consumer Duty regulations which got here into effect in July are geared toward creating more stringent standards for consumers and improving competition within the retail financial services market. Speaking on the Financing & Leasing Association (FLA) Financing the Future conference on September 12, Roma Pearson, director of consumer finance supervision on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), told delegates: “We don’t need a tick box approach to the buyer,”…

Hendy Group has appointed Natasha Mead as its recent head of individuals to assist develop future talent throughout the company. Sarah Martyn, director of people and organisational development, said: “Her wealth of experience working in a big customer-facing company means Natasha is well-placed to be an integral a part of the senior leadership team and he or she has quickly turn into a crucial a part of the business.” Natasha who joins Hendy Group from DIY giant B&Q takes over the role as head of individuals from Clare Hendy who’s now project lead for the group’s HR information system. “Hendy Group has…

Automotive retailers are calling for swift intervention, claiming that the autumn in value of used electric cars might be putting the UK’s plans to phase out fossil-fuel models in peril. Speaking at a September 6 House of Lords inquiry into barriers hindering the general public’s uptake of passenger electric vehicles (EVs), a motor industry panel spelled out that there should be support for the used EV automobile market. Marc Palmer, brand director at Autotrader, explained that there had been some progress over recent years within the sale of latest EVs which now make up about 16 to 17% of latest registrations, but that that…

Shareholders in Lookers voted on the 130p per share takeover offer by Global Auto Holdings this week and an enormous majority gave it their backing. The offer was approved by investors accounting for 91% of Lookers share, meaning that publicly-listed Lookers may very well be taken private by the top of the yr, subject to approval by regulatory bodies and other conditions. Its buyer, Global Auto Holdings, is owned by Kuldeep Billan, founder and executive chairman of Alpha Auto Group, a motor retail group in Canada.  Its inital offer of 120p per share was raised to 130p in July after pushback from…

Data for the August latest automotive market shows that Tesla was the ninth most in-demand automotive brand, ahead of the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, MG Motor and Volvo. Nonetheless Volkswagen topped the table, outselling Tesla by two cars to 1, in a month that overall ended 24.4% ahead of August 2022 with 85,657 latest automotive registrations. The rise was fuelled by a surge in registrations by large fleets, rising 58.4% to 51,951 units, while business registrations grew 39.4% to 1,635 units. Conversely, upfront of the September plate-change private demand softened by -8.1% in August, compared with a supply-constrained 2022 market.…

Mark Bridgland, who recently left the managing director’s post at Group 1 Automotive UK after 10 years with the motor retailer, has joined truck and bus firm Scania. He has grow to be Scania’s UK sales director and can guide its truck, bus and power solutions sales teams while the corporate adapts to industry-wide powertrain transitions in a bid to cut back carbon emissions. Bridgland had been with Group 1 since 2013, initially overseeing its finance and insurance function, then becoming operations director and eventually managing director in 2022, before he left eight months later. At Scania UK, its managing…

Arden Motors, which operates BMW and Mini dealerships in Kent, has been acquired by US-based dealer group Lithia And Driveway. Lithia (LAD) will bolt on the brand new businesses, BMW/Mini Maidstone and BMW/Mini Tunbridge Wells, to Jardine Motors Group, the AM100 retailer which it acquired earlier this 12 months to start out to construct a big scale presence within the UK. It doubles the scale of Jardine’s relationship within the UK with BMW Group; Jardine already has BMW and Mini dealerships in Milton Keynes and in Bury St Edmunds. The Tunbridge Wells business had only been in Arden’s hands since 2020, when it…

5 BYD has launched its third automotive this yr, the Seal, which is a brand new electric saloon that may compete against the Tesla Model 3. Set to reach in showrooms in Q4, the Seal joins BYD’s existing Atto 3 and Dolphin models as a part of its growing UK line-up. The Seal is constructed using BYD’s Cell-to-Body technology, which means the battery is incorporated inside all the vehicle structure. BYD says the brand new automotive will comfortably seat five adults and offers a 400-litre boot capability. The Seal is supplied with an 82.5kWh battery. There’s alternative of two powertrains: a single-motor automotive,…

Toyota Open Labs is launching an innovation platform to match startups with its own experts to assist scale up and develop sustainability and mobility solutions. The business is targeting startups working across five categories: energy, circular economy, carbon-neutral technologies, smart communities, and mobility initiatives. Those chosen will give you the chance to tap right into a network of Toyota advisors and mentors to open recent growth pathways, enhance their product and business strategy and access investment opportunities to assist make a worldwide impact. Toyota Open Labs partners include Toyota Tsusho Europe, the trading and provide chain arm of the Toyota group; KINTO Europe, the group’s mobility brand; Woven Capital,…

A Fix Auto franchise business is to open its fourth repair centre in Yorkshire after receiving the keys to a ten,000 sq ft constructing near the M1 motorway with seamless access and ample secure parking. Fix Auto Leeds South will open by mid-September and can complement the Fix Auto Leeds North repair centre which was designed and built to the specification of the franchisees Stephen and Sam Smith (pictured) 18 months ago. The Smiths also operate Fix Auto Keighley and Fix Auto Bradford South. Explaining the move, Sam said: “It truly is all about progression. While our previous Leeds South site served us well,…