All articles by Richard Irvine-Brown
Richard Irvine-Brown
Market balance sees traders and CAP on the road
Although used car prices tend to drop approximately 3% at this time of year, the latest edition of CAP Black Book has recorded a drop of only 1.5% (for a typical three-year-old or 60,000-mile car) on the back of reduced consumer demand and available vehicles. Poor sales of new cars in recent years has meant a lack of retail-worthy part exchanges and franchised dealers of both used cars and vans are buying in vehicles hundreds of miles apart according to Ken Brown, editor of CAP Red Book, the light commercial vehicle equivalent of the Black Book.
Kerr appointed head of Ford Retail
Volvo Car Corporations European regional president Stuart Kerr has replaced Chris Hayden as CEO of Ford Retail, Ford of Britains dealership group, with acting CEO Angus Brown returning to his role as parts operational director Kerr takes charge of one of the largest UK dealer groups and the largest Ford dealer group in the world, comprising 60 sites including regional groups such as Dagenham Motors around London, Lindsay Ford of Northern Ireland, Heartlands Ford in the Midlands, Polar Ford along the M62 corridor, and Brunel Ford in the South West.
Honda restructure cars and dealer management
Phil Crossman has moved from head of dealer development at Honda UK to general manager of cars, while Nick Campolucci moves up from head of sales at Honda Motorcycles to take over Crossmans brief for cars, motorcycles and power equipment. Campolucci was at Honda Motorcycles for less than a year since moving from manager of their Retail Experience sector in March, although began his Honda career as an area sales manager, then retail operations manager, for motorcycles in 2000.
Renault sales financing up 9.7% in Q3
RCI Banque, the captive finance partner of the Renault Group (also responsible for Nissan, Dacia and Infiniti), has reported a successful third quarter, though finance sale revenue has grown more slowly than car sales revenue for the Group as a whole. Financing revenue by RCI Banque is up 9.7% on the third quarter of 2010, contributing 486m (£428m) to global Group revenues, which have risen 11.9% (9,745m (£8,574m)) on the back of a 12% rise in automotive sales.
MG Motors ally with GMAC to supply finance
GMAC UK, formerly the financial arm of General Motors and now a subsidiary of Ally Financial, has been selected as the retail financing partner of MG Motor UK. Both the companys standard rate customer financing, under the MG Financial Services brand, and manufacturer programmes will receive funding from GMAC, and both parties have begun a multi-year agreement to finance new and used car sales. The deal follows a busy summer for MG, owned by the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, launching their first all-new car in 16 years, the MG6 Magnette saloon, and unveiling the MG5 concept model.
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Portfolio manager HML could bring new lenders to sector
Financial outsourcer HML, a subsidiary of the Skipton building society, believes it is in a position to enable the entrance of new lenders to the UK motor market through white label partnerships. The company operates a totally outsourced model whereby a funder would provide capital, but HML would supply people, infrastructure and portfolio management for a market entry. The company has recently started exploring possibilities with overseas finance providers, as well as venture capitalists and private equity providers in the UK.
WCG system reaches eight new markets
White Clarke Groups (WCG) CALMS2 dealer front end system has been chosen by a leading US-based automotive finance company to be used in eight countries. The SAP-compliant contract management system, which works with existing underwriting and payout and activation systems and already supports 300,000 contracts, will be launched in the UK by the end of 2011 and is already in use in Brazil.
Sanders, Meridian and Edwards scoop Alphera accolades
Specialist motor finance company Alphera Financial Services announced the winners of its 2011 Dealer and Broker Forum awards on Tuesday. Richard Sanders was awarded Dealer Partner of the Year, Meridian Finance took Broker Partner of the Year, while Business Development Manager of the Year went to Nick Edwards.
Former HBOS chief Crosby joins Moneybarn
Sir James Crosby, former head of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and chief executive at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), has joined non-prime lender Moneybarn (formerly Duncton Group) as chairman. The lender, which has spoken of the need to remove the stigma of the non-prime market, is looking to expand in the car finance industry and Sir James chairmanship is a part of that ambition
The Car Finance Company to put £66m into market in next two years
A new car finance company with a unique business model focused on physical branch sales has recently announced major growth plans, after four years of keeping a low profile in the industry. Subprime specialist The Car Finance Company plans to inject £66m into the motor finance market in the next 24 months as part of a planned expansion drive. The company, which won the Lender of the Year award at the recent F&I Awards held by Frontline Solutions, operates out of three physical premises on British high streets but hopes to expand to 20 locations over the next two years.