All articles by Verdict Staff

Fleets stung by auction cost rises

Captive continues to grow penetration in Q2

Positive 2008 results for fleet company

Where no broker has gone before

Black Horse ‘achieved H1 objectives’

Black Horse achieved H1 objectives The consumer auto financing arm of Lloyds TSB, Black Horse Motor Finance, has achieved its H1 objectives, said business development manager Nigel Williams.

View from the US

Auto financiers have shifted their 12-month outlooks into reverse, as they predict lower loan and lease origination volume, deteriorating performance, and declining net interest margins.

The Arranger

I was just getting back into positive mode, believing that whilst customers are facing swingeing increases in their outgoings, there is an opportunity for us brokers to make a nice little profit by offering business and personal contract hire to customers, thereby reducing their outgoings considerably and removing much of the uncertainty that is causing businesses and consumers great concern. And then another bloody complaint came in about a certain finance company, whose name Im not allowed to mention, which has now taken to sending out inspectors who list every conceivable blemish on contract hire cars prior to their return

The Arranger

OK, who mentioned the R word I mean, we all knew it was coming as long ago as the summer of last year, then some bright spark came up with credit crunch to describe the economic state of the UK, which sounds like a Rich Tea, the best tea-dunking biscuit on the planet As a result we all had a great 2007 and my January, along with that of many other brokers, was brilliant, but disaster of all disasters someone worked out that credit crunch was nothing but the R word re-branded as something far more user-friendly.

Motor month

New car demand slowed for a second successive month in February. In each of the past three years February has been the lowest volume month and since 1999 has accounted for only 3.4 per cent of annual registrations. New car demand over the first two months of the year has fallen by 3.1 per cent. However, over a rolling six and 12 month period registrations stay up.

On the move

Klaus Kibsgaard had been appointed managing director of BMW UK with effect from March 1 2008 He will succeed Jim ODonnell who takes up a new role as president and chief operating officer of BMW North America.