Author: Tom Seymour

Tom Seymour is an experienced freelance journalist specialising within the automotive and business sectors, with greater than 20 years’ experience reporting and analysing industry developments. As a daily contributor to Bauer Media’s B2B titles Fleet News and Automotive Management (AM), he covers topics starting from fleet operations and electrification to dealership performance, manufacturer strategy and the broader mobility landscape. Along with his writing, Tom presents and hosts webinars for AM, leading discussions with senior industry figures on key trends and challenges affecting the UK automotive retail sector. He also plays a central role in shaping and delivering content for the…

Cox Automotive Europe has secured its largest European contract so far, an extended term deal to construct a brand new digital remarketing platform for Stellantis. The agreement expands the firms’ 12 12 months relationship and can see Cox Automotive develop an intelligent software solution to administer buying and selling across the Stellantis used automotive portfolio in a consolidated digital marketplace. The system will handle vehicles across nine markets including France, Germany and Spain. Cox Automotive said the platform will use data from its European operations and expertise from its US parent to optimise remarketing performance and strategy. James Weston, senior vice…

The Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) has warned that the Finance Conducty Authority’s (FCA) proposed motor finance redress scheme cannot meet its stated goals and is looking for a more targeted and workable approach. The association has submitted its response to the FCA’s consultation, which officially ended on December 12, with an expected announcement on the shape of the redress scheme before March next yr. The form of this latest scheme may be subjected to an extra legal challenge before any implementation. While lenders support a reputable programme for compensating customers who suffered loss from an unfair relationship under the…

Tom Seymour is an experienced freelance journalist specialising within the automotive and business sectors, with greater than 20 years’ experience reporting and analysing industry developments. As a daily contributor to Bauer Media’s B2B titles Fleet News and Automotive Management (AM), he covers topics starting from fleet operations and electrification to dealership performance, manufacturer strategy and the broader mobility landscape. Along with his writing, Tom presents and hosts webinars for AM, leading discussions with senior industry figures on key trends and challenges affecting the UK automotive retail sector. He also plays a central role in shaping and delivering content for the…

Vauxhall managing director Steve Catlin has left the business for private reasons after eight months within the role, prompting a restructure that can see Stellantis UK group managing director Eurig Druce take direct leadership of the brand. Druce had stepped in to steer Vauxhall before earlier this yr on an interim basis after James Taylor left to go up Nissan. As a part of the changes, Michael Auliar will join Vauxhall as business director early in the brand new yr, reporting to Druce. Stellantis said the shift reflects the importance of Vauxhall to its overall UK performance. Catlin (pictured left) had been…

JLR’s global design boss Gerry McGovern has made a sudden exit from the business, in keeping with widespread media reports.  McGovern, who was appointed to the JLR board in January 2021 in his role as chief creative officer, has been intrinsically linked to the brands for over 20 years, leading the teams liable for the modern Defender, the present Range Rover line-up and Jaguar’s re-launch and shift towards luxury electric models. It has been almost a 12 months to the day that the controversial and crowd pleasing Jaguar relaunch campaign went live. 7 McGovern’s widely reported exit from JLR has not been confirmed by the carmaker…

Mild hybrid used automobile sales reached a record share in October as a drop in prices because the summer boosted demand, in line with Indicata’s latest Market Watch report. Indicata reports that mild hybrids accounted for 10.5% of all used automobile sales in October, supported by strong performers resembling the Ford Puma. The fuel type now sells at almost double the speed of plug in hybrids, which took a 5.5% share, and one third greater than full hybrids at 7.1%. Despite the record sales, stock levels of mild hybrids continued to rise. In the beginning of November they accounted for…

Van Mossel Automotive Group has now broken into the AM100 after acquiring Breeze Motor Group and Ocean Automotive for an undisclosed sum. The deal covers nine dealership locations, two body repair centres and a parts distribution warehouse across Portsmouth, Southampton, Bournemouth, Poole, Wimborne and Yeovil. The expansion follows the Dutch group’s entry into the UK with its acquisition of Jacksons Group in 2023. That deal gave the group a foothold within the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Isle of Wight. This latest take care of Breeze and Ocean is a component of Van Mossel’s European expansion plans to construct…

CarGurus has announced a limited-time dealer promotion offering free access to its premium listings packages. The promotion comes as market leader Autotrader faces criticism from sections of the dealer community following the introduction of its Deal Builder tool, which allows buyers so as to add a component exchange, apply for finance and reserve vehicles online. Autotrader said at the top of last week that fewer than 100 of its 14,000 UK dealer customers have cancelled because of this. While there may be obviously no direct reference to the present situation with Autotrader, the timing of the CarGurus’ offer might be trying to…

Consumer automobile finance recent business volumes rose by 5% in September 2025 compared with the identical month last yr, in accordance with recent figures from the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA). The worth of latest business increased by 9% over the identical period. Within the nine months to September 2025, total recent business volumes were 1% higher than in the identical period in 2024. The buyer recent automobile finance market saw each the worth and volume of latest business rise 11% year-on-year in September. Over the primary nine months of 2025, recent business volumes on this sector were 7% higher…