Aston Martin is extending by a week production stoppages at its St Athan DBX plant until 27 April. Production will be suspended from today when it planned to restart because of the current global and local position concerning suppliers and employees, Aston Martin confirmed and Britain's biggest automaker, Jaguar Land Rover, has not set a date for restarting while Nissan said that the production … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: On the road and in the news
With the motoring media world in lockdown, the supply of new models and new model test driving events are all cancelled so instead of road test reviews we are keeping the wheels turning by covering some news items you might just have missed, says David Miles. Adversity is driving innovation at Skoda Virtual showrooms in the car sales industry is not a new thing, its click and view, tick a few … [Read more...]
Dangers lurking on empty roads
Empty roads over the last few weeks have been used as race-tracks by some drivers, police have reported. Opportunist thieves and drug running gangs have also desperately used them to quickly move about, despite the risk of being caught by routine police patrols stopping to check on Coronavirus compliant trips. Now company car and van drivers have be warned to take extra care on the roads as … [Read more...]
Kia Kidwelly cares for community
Staff at Gravells Kia Kidwelly have been supporting the local community by delivering groceries to those vulnerable or self-isolating in the area. Charlotte Gravell, staff member and volunteer for the Community Action Group for Kidwelly and Mynydd-y-Garreg, has partnered with ‘Burns Parc y Bocs Farm Shop’ to allow those affected to place an order for their groceries over the phone. Gravells … [Read more...]
Challenging times ahead for trade, says analyst
It has been a month of halves with two weeks of unexpected silence in the showrooms resulting in many staff being furloughed in the absence of customers. Service departments and smaller garages are working to keep key workers mobile and safe with their transportation needs and the insurance industry is still largely active. Dealers still have a shop window and many eyes browsing vehicles on … [Read more...]
Women drivers face greater risks than men
Women drivers are 47% more likely to fall victim to serious injury or death than men, according to a new analysis by Select Car Leasing. The study of accident data also showed the likelihood of a female sustaining a serious injury is 71% higher than a man. Research from the University of Virginia reported these stats in 2011 and reassessed them again in 2019. Shockingly, they found … [Read more...]
AFVs demand likely to soar
Over half of UK dealers (53%) plan to stock alternative fuel vehicles in the next five years, according to research from Close Brothers Motor Finance’s Dealer Satisfaction Survey. Positively, almost three in ten (29%) car dealers already stock AFVs. And for those who already have stock, two thirds (64%) plan to increase it and a quarter (24%) plan to maintain their current level. Just 2% of … [Read more...]
Tradelines 15 April
Ford is preparing for a $600M loss in the first three months of 2020 due to sales slowdown in the shadow of the global coronavirus. It’s already secured credit facilities and has a $30B reserve to cover most eventualities. New service and maintenance procedures at Arval UK have been adapted in a matter of days to keep essential fleets available 24/7 during the coronavirus crisis. Corrine … [Read more...]
Lockdown legalities for fleets & users
The handing back of company car and van keys or fobs to employers in order to avoid benefit-in-kind taxation during the coronavirus lockdown needs careful management, the Association of Fleet Professionals has warned. There remained both pertinent questions for HMRC around the issue and a range of potential practical problems to resolve, explained co-chair Caroline Sandall. She said, “During … [Read more...]
Call for rip off insurance renewals to be outlawed
Drivers want legal steps to be taken to put the brakes on rip-off car insurance renewal pricing. According to the GoCompare Car Insurance study, 4.7 million drivers3 were caught out by the auto-renewal trap - where their insurer auto-renews their policy for another year if they haven’t checked for a better deal. The practice costs motorists £1.2bn a year in higher … [Read more...]