All articles by Charles Wheeldon
Charles Wheeldon
Harrison judgement “huge blow” for CMCs
The Court of Appeal yesterday upheld the High Court decision in the much documented case of Harrison v Black Horse. Black Horse lent the Harrisons £60,000 and sold them PPI for £10,200, the commission on which was 87% of the premium
Motor finance reaches new high
The number of new cars bought by consumers on finance was up by 17% in August, and the number of used cars was up by 8%, compared to August last year.
People on the move at Manheim
The general managers at Bristol, Leeds, Colchester and Bruntingthorpe will report Cush, while Manheims other auction centres will report to two regional directors.
Difficult decisions ahead for UK dealers
Evidence that the UK car park is getting older, and that fewer newer used cars are entering the market, mean some tricky decisions ahead for dealers faced with difficulties concerning the availability and quality of used stock, according to Tim Naylor of BCA. Naylor was reacting to a recent report by Professor Peter Cooke into the used car market that showed that despite the market for used car growing by an extra 270,000 in 2010 compared to 2009, the average value slipped by £90 to £5,332. Retailers, says Naylor, must decide whether to move to selling higher-mileage older vehicles, reducing their profit from motor finance, or to compete for the diminishing pool of lower-mileage vehicles which are likely to become much more expensive.
Desperate dealers boost used car values for the first time since April
Overall values in the fleet sector were up 3.5% (£209) to £6,154, dealer part exchange values rose 3.5% (£77) to £2,289, while manufacturer stock values increased by 7.8% (£890) to £12,276, partly due to a decrease in average age and mileage..
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Dealers invited to clear shelves to support BEN
Ford dealership The National Clearance Centre if offering to collect, market and sell obsolete parts from dealers and other UK suppliers, donating 25% of the net profit to automotive industry charity BEN. The National Clearance Centre will collect from anywhere in the UK and all dealers need to do is make a phone call to arrange for the parts to be collected Parts director Howard Jenkins said: These are parts which have sat on the shelf, gathering dust and taking up space and which in most cases have long since been written off
Close’s profits boosted by strong banking division performance
Close Brothers Group has announced an operating profit of £131m (150.5m) for the year ending 31 July, up 13% on the same period a year before. Its performance was mainly boosted by a good showing from its banking division, which includes asset and motor finance, which increased its adjusted operating profit to £106m, a 34% rise on 2009-10 The asset management division, however, recorded an adjusted operating loss of £9m (10.3m) and its securities division delivered a reduced adjusted operating profit, down 8% to £55m.
Mid-month valuations for dealers
HPI is has launched a new mid-month valuations tool for dealers, which it has developed in partnership with CAP. HPI managing director Daniel Burgess said: With overstocking fears a real issue for most dealers, a month can seem like a lifetime when assessing the value of their used car supply But with HPI mid-month valuations, dealers can get a realistic current valuation on vehicles based around the trends in the market.
Close launches manufacturer division
Close Motor Finance has launched a new manufacturer division under the leadership of Chris Reid to help it strengthen its partnerships with manufacturers and to enable it to develop new business relationships. Being the fastest growing UK independent point of sale finance provider and with the support and stability of Close Brothers Group plc, means we are in a favourable position to actively pursue manufacturer relationships whilst maintaining our unique proposition in the motor finance market.
Recovery on the way, says SMMT
Car manufacturing rose by 10.7% in August and is up by 4.4% over the first eight months of 2011, statistics from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reveal