The latest cool products that aim to click with you

Feature p40

Expansion

Genesis to open site in Edinburgh

Snows buys two firms from J Davy

GENESIS is to open a dealership in Edinburgh over the summer. The EV manufacturer said the premises will create new jobs and recruiting retail and support teams will get under way soon.

The Hyundai-owned luxury brand opened its first UK retail site at London’s Westfield in the summer of 2021. Then last year, it opened its second site in this country at Battersea Power Station. Talks for it to take over a Ted Baker store in Manchester are ongoing.

TALKS

Lithia Motors poised to buy Jardine chain

SNOWS Motor Group has expanded its operations by adding Vauxhall and Citroen dealerships to its portfolio.

The two Basingstoke businesses have been bought from J Davy, and the deal means Snows now has three Vauxhall dealerships, with Citroen rejoining it. Snows Motor Group chief operating officer Neil McCue, pictured, said: ‘We are delighted by this acquisition.’

The current workforce of some 40 people will be kept on.

Alliance

Renault and Nissan patch up differences

SHELBOURNE Motors is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a £3m capital investment programme across its multi-franchise sites.

The business – one of Northern Ireland’s largest family-owned vehicle retailers – was founded in 1973 by Fred Ward. It is carrying out major renovations and upgrades at its dealerships in Portadown and Newry. Pictured from left are sibling directors Paul Ward, Richard Ward and Caroline Willis with their father, Fred Ward

Proposal

Hendy Group plans £5m ‘motor village

LAUNCH: Citygate Automotive has opened its second Kia outlet after buying the Perry’s Ford site in High Wycombe that closed last October with the loss of half its workforce. The showroom is opposite the group’s Volkswagen operation in London Road.

RESTRUCTURE: Toyota boss Akio Toyoda is standing down as president and CEO to become the automotive giant’s chairman. It’s part of a major restructure at the top of the firm and will come into effect on April 1. The new leader of Toyota will be Koji Sato.

INDEX: Suzuki has been named the best car manufacturer for customer satisfaction in the UK again – with Land Rover at the bottom of the league table. The Japanese firm came top out of 27 car makers in the Institute of Customer Service’s latest index.

JARDINE Motors could be bought by US dealer group Lithia in an acquisition worth some £300m. The franchised dealership is said to be in advanced talks with Lithia Motors, which tried to buy Pendragon last summer but was blocked by the Hedin Group.

According to Sky News, Lithia is within weeks of inking the deal.

Jardine has some 50 showrooms. Lithia – the US’s second-largest auto retailer – has more than 250 sites.

RENAULT and Nissan have equalised their shareholdings at 15 per cent in an attempt to repair their alliance and have agreed greater cooperation on EVs.

Renault Group will transfer 28.4 per cent of the Nissan shares it owns into a French trust, so its stake will be the same 15 per cent that Nissan has in the French vehicle maker. The disparity was a cause of friction, especially after Nissan became far more profitable than Renault.

HENDY Group has applied for planning permission to build a £5m ‘motor village car dealership’ in Tunbridge Wells.

The proposals don’t seek to demolish the former John Lewis at Home store, which closed in April 2021. Instead, the site will be developed around it.

Bosses want to build five new showrooms, an 18-bay service workshop, 15 car wash spaces, a sales office, and parking for 110 cars.

WITHDRAWAL: Falling sales in the estate and saloon sector have led Mazda to take the ‘6’ model off its UK range. The manufacturer will concentrate on its CX-60 and CX-5 SUVs instead, as SUVs are where the demand is, it says, according to reports.

DELIVERY: Lookers Braintree has handed over one of the first GWM Ora Funky Cats of the year. Gridserve received one of the EVs to be used for test drives at its Electric Forecourt in Braintree. It boasts an EV showroom plus brand-agnostic ‘EV gurus’.