A collection of the latest showroom news from around the
UK
Hartwell
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Multi-marque dealer group Hartwell has sold
two of its Norfolk Vauxhall outlets to Thurlow Nunn. The deal
follows Hartwell’s sale of a Southampton Vauxhall dealership to
Cambria Automobiles in September, though it continues to trade 10
different brands across 28 sites from the south coast to
Grimsby.
The deal also consolidates Thurlow Nunn’s
presence in East Anglia, with nine Vauxhall dealers in Norfolk,
Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
Peoples
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By GlobalDataNew and used dealer group Peoples has reported
turnover of £144.3m in 2011, a rise of 2.2% on 2010. Pre-tax
profit, however, was down 47.4% to £1.6m, year-on-year.
Peoples attributed the figures to expansion in
fleet and B2B operations, while at the same time absorbing the rise
in VAT, high fuel prices and the finishing of the scrappage
scheme.
Chairman Brian Gilda also said that the used
car market was recovering from a dip in summer last year and said
the group, which employs 400 staff across six sites in Scotland and
Merseyside, was analysing costs in a tentative marketplace for the
year ahead.
Citroën
Family-run dealer group Richard Sanders has
added Citroën to its roster of Honda, Peugeot, Nissan and
Renault.
The group recently acquired a site in
Northampton to offer sales, services and parts for the French
marque, and will continue to operate on behalf of its other brands
across three sites around Kettering.
Citroën is currently looking for further
franchise outlets in Scotland, the Midlands and London.
Škoda
Volkswagen subsidiary Škoda expects to open
new outlets and to improve its sites this year, following the
opening of 12 franchised dealerships in 2011, and beginning
new operations with Arnold Clark and Vindis since the New
Year.
Improvements to Škoda’s UK dealer network will
include new showroom designs, with the Czech manufacturer banking
on the continued popularity of its Yeti and Superb models, which
helped bring in more than
45,000 sales in 2011 and secure a 2.3% market share.
January new car sales for Škoda have already
given the carmaker a healthy start to 2012, up 21.5% on January
2010, with a market share of 2.9%.
MG
British manufacturer MG Motors has joined
Toyota and Lexus in the new 2,500 sq ft showroom of Stoke-on-Trent
dealership Pinkstones, and is the sixth brand to be represented at
new and used dealership Rivervale Cars in Brighton.
Pinkstones will sell and arrange finance for both the GT and
Magnette models of the MG6,
the first new MG since the buyout of the company’s parent by
the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation.
Rivervale, the largest Mazda dealership in East and West Sussex,
will also offer the GT and Magnette with a full service and parts
operation from its showroom in Portslade.
Chevrolet
One of the relatively better-faring US
carmakers in 2011, Chevrolet, has begun taking orders for its
electric model, the Volt, which will be available through two
dedicated outlets at Cambridge Chevrolet, Cambridgeshire, and
Phoneix Chevrolet, Wimbledon.
The Volt, originally backed with heavy product
placement in the 2009 film Transformers: Revenge of the
Fallen, and available in the US since December 2010, has been
a long time coming to the UK.
The vehicle has some attractive
specifications, such as heated leather seats and touch-sensitive
controls, but costs just shy of £30,000
even after qualifying for the government’s plug-in car
grant.
Although Chevrolet lost 1,154 new
registrations in 2011, down 8.4% on 2010, the brand achieved 2,064
new sales in January, up 120% on the same month in 2011, giving the
marque a market share of 1.6%.
richard.brown@vrlfinancialnews.com
