Author: Tim Rose

Automobile buyers’ alternative is expanding further within the UK as a brand new electric vehicle brand, Skywell, begins sales here.Skywell is one in all the brands of China’s Seres Group, which also produces DFSK light industrial vehicles, and its UK licenced distributor Innovation Automotive in Cirencester is constructing a footprint for each.DFSK had been offered through direct sales since Innovation Automotive’s creation in 2021 by Samir Hmicho, a businessman from the Middle East with trading relationships with some Chinese OEMs. Login to proceed reading Or register with AM-online to maintain up up to now with the most recent UK automotive…

Today is World Mental Health Day and this yr’s theme is ‘workplace mental health’, which is why the automotive charity Ben is raising awareness about mental health inside this industry in order that automotive people get the support they need. Earlier this yr Ben published research showing one in 4 automotive employees (27%) reported issues managing their mental health. It was concerned that overwhelming 99.6% of automotive people have been affected by a health and wellbeing issue over the previous 12 months. Stress stays essentially the most common health & wellbeing issue that automotive employees face, at 56%, followed by poor sleep (51%). Other…

The arrival of the second generation Toyota C-HR in 2023 was clearly welcomed by the industry, as this compact crossover SUV scooped each the dealer-voted Hybrid Automotive of the Yr trophy and the Recent Automotive of the Yr trophy on the AM Awards in May this 12 months. Now AM will probably be spending a number of months with probably the most popular and well-equipped versions of the C-HR, a plug-in hybrid in Excel trim. Already known for its striking design and nimble city driving for the reason that first automobile arrived in 2016, the Toyota C-HR is now even higher and the expansion of…

Carsa, the used automotive dealership group founded by former Imperial Automobile Supermarkets executives, has signed up with automotive service and MOT franchise HiQ.Carsa sought to create a brand new business model that integrates automotive sales, vehicle maintenance, tyre fitting, and MOT testing under one roof, and it has already opened HiQ branded workshops at Halesowen and Cannock within the West Midlands, with plans for a broader national expansion.It said this partnership represents a key growth milestone for each corporations, allowing them to leverage one another’s strengths – HiQ advantages from access to prime retail locations, boosting its market reach, while Carsa gains…

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…