The average price of a new car rose to £28,928 in March, a year on year increase of £201 (0.7%), according to figures produced by Driven Data, the independent price analysis specialist. The average rise for the new 14-plate also marked an increase of £136, or 0.5%, over February. Driven Data managing director Martin Keighley said the increase reflected improvements in the wider economy. “The motor industry has long been regarded as a key indicator for the state of the economy, so this may signify the start of the recovery. Many volume manufacturers have had to cut prices or rely on selling lower specification models during the recession, but these figures may indicate the start of a reversal in fortune,” he said. Meanwhile, the average year on year price of new vans rose by £1,860 (8.8%) in March to £27,989, although this marked a…

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today took responsibility for regulating the £200bn consumer credit market. Car finance providers said, for dealers, the new regime will focus on clear customer communications, affordability assessments and more uniform commission for car finance sold through brokers and dealers. “The accompanying Consumer Credit sourcebook (CONC), which also comes into effect today, requires that lenders, brokers and dealers put treating customers fairly firmly centre stage and specifically cautions lenders against using differential commission schemes that are structured solely around volume and profitability incentives,” said Paragon Car Finance. Julian Rance, head of Paragon Car Finance, said:  “As a lender, it is important that we develop products that are easy to understand, retain visibility and control over the pricing of our products to the end customer and ensure robust checks are in place within our application systems to assess affordability.” Martin Parr,…

Maserati has added another site to its expanding UK network with the official opening of Park’s Motor Group’s new showroom in Hamilton, south of Glasgow. Park’s Maserati’s five car showroom features the luxury sports brand’s new corporate identity. The centre, which covers will cover Glasgow and West Scotland, offers a full aftersales facility for service and repair and will retail used cars. This latest opening follows the recent additions to the Maserati dealer network in  Oxford, Peterborough, Cardiff, Blackburn, Colchester, Maidstone and Peterborough as the brand moves to double its network to 26 sites. “With their local understanding, Park’s new Maserati showroom will be a highly effective presence for the Maserati brand in West Scotland – an important area for us – and they will be vital to achieving our joint goals as a strong and fully supportive partner,” said Peter Denton, region manager for…

Seat dealers will have their first SUV to sell in 2016. The car, currently in development at Seat’s Martorell facility, will go up against cars like the Nissan Qashqai. “This is an excellent piece of news, since it takes Seat into a new territory, in one of the largest and fastest growing segments in the world,” said Seat chairman Jürgen Stackmann today at its annual results. “The SUV is an important pillar in the future corporate strategy and is a major step forward on the road to reaching sustainable profitability for the company,” he added. Seat made operating losses of Euro 152m in 2013. “The SUV is an important pillar in the future corporate strategy and is a major step forward on the road to reaching sustainable profitability for the company,” he added. The new model will give Seat an entry into a fast…

The shift to online car sales is altering the skills mix needed by dealer sales staff. Derek Webb, sales director at the online recruitment business Jobco-op Automotive said the skills needed by dealer sales people had not changed much with an emphasis on people skills. “However, if your dealership is completing 50% of its used car sales online, as might be the case within a few years, then these skills will be of little use – you may never speak to or meet the customer. “Instead, your approach must be very structured and efficient in order to fulfil the sale as efficiently as possible. Also, your ability to communicate in writing must also be strong as you interact with the customer through e-mail and other online channels. “Additionally, of course, you must have excellent IT skills and be able to work closely with your…

Kia plans to grow its dealer network to 195 sites to achieve its target of selling 100,000 units by 2020 and is already holding capacity planning sessions with its partners. The brand currently has 177 dealers and has identified geographical locations it will need to fill as its volumes grow. “We have done a review of the country based on our long term plan to get to 100,000 sales and believe the optimum number is 195. As we grow our volume more of those territories that currently don’t have representation will become viable as standalone points,” said Paul Philpott, Kia’s UK CEO and president. “Typically the first people we’ll talk to are the neighbouring dealers. We have a lot of dealers who would like to go from one point to two, or two points to three and we have a number of good quality…

Hyundai’s i40 is this month’s fastest selling used car in the UK, spending an average of 28 days on dealer forecourts, according to research conducted by Glass’s. Other quick sellers include the Audi Qs (31.1 days) and Audi S3 (31.2 days). The slowest sellers was led by the Mercedes R-Class (104.7 days), Ford Street Ka (97.8 days) and Nissan Leaf (95.5 days). “The i40 is incredibly good value for money and it seems that retail promotions have created quite a demand for the car – this has led to stock levels dropping, demand increasing and days to sale improving quickly,” said Rupert Pontin, Glass’s chief car editor. “Audi takes three of the top 10 spots, which isn’t unexpected – it just confirms the popularity of the brand in the new and used markets. What is interesting is that Audi’s main rivals, Mercedes and BMW,…

Trader Media Group has rebranded as Auto Trader following a strategic move to simplify its operations. The initiative was introduced last year by new managing director Trevor Mather and has already seen the company, the UK’s biggest digital automotive marketplace, drop the Razor branding from its dealer marketing operations and bring Bike Trader, Van Trader and Motorhome & Caravan Trader under the Auto Trader banner. Until recently the group operated 41 brands. As part of the change the company has been trialling a new dealer service with one Auto Trader representative assigned to all aspects of their business. “We spend over £15m a year on the Auto Trader brand, so it makes absolute sense for this to be our primary focus,” said Mather. “Over 37 years we have built in too much complexity with acquisitions and new products and we need to make things…