Author: Tim Rose
An award-winning journalist and editor, with 20 years of experience covering the motor retail industry, and accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) plus the National Council for the Training of Journalist (NCTJ)As editor of AM since 2016, Tim is answerable for its media content, planning and production across AM’s multiple channels, including the web site, digital reports, webinars, social media and the editorial content of AM’s events, Automotive Management Live and the AM Awards. His focus is on interviewing senior leaders of franchised dealer groups and motor manufacturer national sales corporations to look at latest developments in UK motor retail. This Article…
Group 1 Automotive has accomplished its £346 million takeover of Inchcape Retail, adding 54 automotive and van dealerships in a “monumental transaction” that can put it into the highest five of the AM100 rankings of UK’s largest motor retailers. Doing so expands Group 1 Automotive UK’s trading area into the Midlands and the North West of England, and into Wales, plus adds more sites in its existing geographic footprint within the East and South East of England. It also broadens its brand portfolio with Audi, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Porsche, Smart, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volkswagen Business Vehicles. Group 1…
Peugeot dealer group Simon Bailes has hired a brand new head of operations for the three-site company. Sheldon Cockburn has rejoined the dealer group he left in 2021 after two and a half years with Lookers, as a divisional performance manager, and JCT600, as head of its Newcastle Ferrari and Bentley dealerships. Simon Bailes Peugeot said Cockburn brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of delivering exceptional results. His latest role returns him to overseeing the three Peugeot retail locations and a big body shop operation. He’ll proceed to oversee the 4 businesses with an increased deal with constructing…
The Seat Leon has now been on the brand’s front line for 25 years in various forms, and the present fourth generation automotive is probably the most technologically advanced Leon yet. Ever for the reason that first Seat Leon arrived, the motoring media and enlightened motorists have agreed that this can be a hatchback that provides superb value and is a reputable alternative to the mainstream Golf, Astra etc. The truth is the fourth generation Seat Leon has won five awards within the UK, including 2024’s Best Family Automobile for Value from What Automobile? Magazine. It’s an ideal proposition because…
Efforts to get the owners of British sports automobile brand TVR to base a brand new factory in Wales could have wasted hundreds of thousands of kilos. In 2021 the Welsh Government spent £4.75 million buying a brownfield site, home to an abandoned Techboard factory, plus one other £7.6m on refurbishment able to welcome TVR Automotive’s automobile production facility, and it also gave TVR a £2m loan and invested £500,000 in a stake within the business. The aim was for the automobile factory to create 150 jobs locally and produce as much as 2,000 sports cars. But TVR Automotive has…
Investors including Peter Vardy have pumped 10 million euros (£8.4m) into AI video tech firm Phyron in its latest fundraising round. Austria-based Round2 Capital, which made an initial revenue-based financing investment in Phyron in June 2023, has expanded its relationship by becoming a Phyron shareholder. And Phyron has also secured the financial backing of other investors, including AM100 motor retailer Peter Vardy, an investment which Phyron says demonstrates its strategic give attention to the UK automobile market. The Series B funding will enable Phyron, which has grown its revenue rapidly and recently opened a UK head office, to speed up development of its AI and…
BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK and Arval UK have won a competitive tender process to assist Britain’s drivers with their purchases from the Chinese automotive brands Omoda and Jaecoo. Their agreement with Chery International, the owner of the Omoda and Jaecoo brands, will support UK franchised dealers with a full range of finance solutions for the purpose of sale. Chery International is the most important automotive exporter in China, and collectively Jaecoo and Omoda are considered one of the fastest growing automotive brands on this planet. The collaboration will support their further expansion into Europe, launching within the UK automotive market, with each…
A brand new Highlight digital report for automobile dealers, focused on developments and best practice within the used automobile market, has just been launched by AM. The Highlight on Used Automotive Retailing is free to read here, and the 27-page issue includes features on used automobile market trends, vehicle sourcing advice, improving stock turn and the most popular used cars to stock. It recognises the shift within the used automobile market to more usual dynamics after the high margins and restricted supply characteristics that emerged within the aftermath of the 2020 and 2021 pandemic. Contained in the report are insights and expertise…
Stellantis has appointed a brand new managing director for Peugeot UK as Adam Wood has resigned after nearly two years within the role.Wood, who was previously Vauxhall’s marketing director before he was promoted to go Peugeot in January 2023, thanked his Stellantis UK colleagues and said “a brand new adventure awaits” while mentioning that Peugeot has grow to be the UK’s leader in electric LCVs in 2024.Eurig Druce is the brand new face at the top of Peugeot UK. Druce has worked inside Stellantis since 2001, and commenced his profession with Peugeot as a trainee.He’ll report into Stellantis UK managing director…
DM Keith’s humble beginnings belie the proven fact that the controlled increase in scale this dealer group has achieved is nothing wanting miraculous.Headed by managing director Dougal Keith and his brother Angus, the Škoda retailer has steadily expanded over the past decade through very selective acquisitions and latest brand relationships to now represent Seat, Honda, Ford, Kia and latest Chinese entrants corresponding to BYD.With its owners’ strong control of the financials, the business has been prudent yet progressive. Because of the support of its ‘Team Tartan’ workforce, the Keith brothers look set to go further still.It has managed to grow and gain…
