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Motor 1996
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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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General Motors is to expand its IBC Vehicles plant in Luton to build 60,000 vans a year, creating about 900 jobs. 20-Dec-1996 The government is to propose scrapping the annual change to the number plate prefix in order to remove the surge in vehicle sales that takes place each August. 16-Dec-1996 Truck registrations fell 35% to 3,155 units in November, compared to last year, mainly due to the surge in registrations in September as hauliers beat the October deadline for tougher exhaust emissions legislation. 12-Dec-1996 Bertrand Faure Seating of France is to set up a £12m factory to make frames for car seats in Tredegar, south Wales, creating 290 jobs. 12-Dec-1996 Benteler of Germany is to set up a £14m plant to make automotive chassis assemblies in Corby, creating 120 jobs. 12-Dec-1996 Rover Group is to recruit a further 100 specialist engineers to develop new cars at its engineering centre in Gaydon. 05-Dec-1996 Honda is creating a further 250 production line jobs at its Swindon plant. 05-Dec-1996 TLC is acquiring F Halfpenny's car and light commercial vehicle rental business for about £1m. 05-Dec-1996 European Motor Holdings is in discussions with Perodua of Malaysia which could result in it becoming the sole UK importer of mini-cars from Malaysia. 29-Nov-1996 The European Commission is to continue with plans to open up the market for car spare parts such as mirrors and windscreens, against the wishes of most member governments. 28-Nov-1996 Car Group has raised £20m from an oversubscribed flotation in order to fund the development of a national network of used car supermarkets. 22-Nov-1996 Car output in October reached 179,963 vehicles, up 39% on last year, and representing the highest October figure in history, according to the Office for National Statistics. 21-Nov-1996 General Accident has axed plans to set up the UK's first multi-franchise car supermarket near Thurrock in Essex as it has only attracted one dealer. 20-Nov-1996 The Malaysian prime minister has said that the country plans to use Lotus, the UK company in which Proton has acquired a majority stake, to provide design and engineering expertise for a new car export drive into Europe. 18-Nov-1996 BMW has selected the Midlands as the location to build a £400m car engine plant, which will make a new generation of four-cylinder engines for Rover and BMW cars after the year 2000. 16-Nov-1996 Cummins Engine, Iveco, Fiat and New Holland have set up the headquarters for their £181m European Engine Alliance in High Wycombe, where about 60 engineers will design a new generation of cleaner and more economical diesel engines. 15-Nov-1996 The number of commercial vehicle over 3.5 tonnes that are operated on short-term rental has risen four-fold since 1991, demonstrating how vehicle operators have downsized their own fleets, according to the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association. 12-Nov-1996 The UK makes the best quality car parts in Europe with over two-thirds of manufacturers operating at above-average quality levels, according to a survey by McKinsey, the US consultants. 07-Nov-1996 UK car registrations were up 13% in October compared to last year at 154,733, the highest October ever, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. 07-Nov-1996 Pilkington is to invest £24m in Australia to reinforce its position in the supply of glass to the Asian automotive market, and is abandoning plans to float a 49% stake in Pilkington Australasia. 07-Nov-1996 Toyo Seal Industries of Japan is to set up a £2.4m factory to make rubber seals for automotive bearings in Wrexham, creating about 40 jobs. 01-Nov-1996 Proton of Malaysia is buying an 80% stake in Lotus Cars for £51m, and plans to start making Lotus cars in Malaysia as an element in its ambitious expansion programme. 31-Oct-1996 Evans Halshaw is to sell or close 19 of its motor dealerships in order to concentrate on larger cities and prepare itself for the market changes that lie ahead. 31-Oct-1996 Denso Manufacturing is planning a £31m expansion of its car air conditioning plant in Telford, creating over 300 jobs. 24-Oct-1996 Rover has agreed a 3.5% pay deal plus improved employment conditions with trade unions that represent 40,000 workers. 18-Oct-1996 Rover has announced plans for a new Land Rover model, probably called the Highlander, in a move expected to secure 10,000 UK motor industry jobs. 16-Oct-1996 Vauxhall has announced plans to spend £300m expanding its Ellesmere Port plant, increasing production of the Astra hatchback by over 10%. 16-Oct-1996 TVR, the maker of high-performance sports cars, has launched 6 and 12-cylinder engines, and expects output to rise 50% this year to 1,500 cars. 16-Oct-1996 British Steel is to set up an automotive engineering group in Coventry, employing 30 engineers and boosting the company's links with the motor industry. 16-Oct-1996 Moss International Holdings, a new company set up by management, has bought Knox D'Arcy Trust's investment in Ingham Motor, the classic car parts distributor, for £7.8m. 11-Oct-1996 BMW is to invest £3bn in Rover, boosting output by 50% to 750,000 vehicles a year, with the Rover 800, 600, 400 and 200 ranges being replaced by front-wheel drive cars using just two body platforms. 10-Oct-1996 Truck registrations rose 121% year-on-year to 8,688 in September, as operators rushed to obtain new vehicles before the new exhaust and noise regulations are introduced on October 1. 09-Oct-1996 Rolls-Royce Motor Cars sold 1,278 vehicles worldwide in the first nine months, up 18% on last year with a 34% increase in the UK. 09-Oct-1996 LucasVarity, the new company formed by the recent merger of Lucas and Varity, is looking to combine its braking operations by focusing its European output of anti-lock brakes at Varity's Dutch plant. 09-Oct-1996 Car Supermarkets has begun setting up a national network of large used car sales sites, with the aim of selling 250,000 vehicles a year at fixed prices. 08-Oct-1996 Siebe is creating a new automotive division as part of its temperature and appliance controls operation, in order to take advantage of the increasing number of carmakers that are demanding component manufacturers to supply complete subsystems ready for assembly. 07-Oct-1996 BTR is setting up three new joint ventures in Asia: a move into automotive sealing systems in China, a new agreement in the Chinese packaging sector, and an expansion in the Indian power drives sector. 07-Oct-1996 Ford is planning a £34m expansion of its Belfast motor components plant to produce plastic components for both European and North American vehicles, a move which will create 55 jobs. 05-Oct-1996 Honda Motor Europe is setting up Honda Motor Finance to provide finance to dealers from next year and to customers from 1998. 05-Oct-1996 Lex Service is to set up a £50m national network of 50 vehicle accident repair centres that will work on a production line basis, in a move that will create 3,000 jobs. 03-Oct-1996 Lookers' Charles Hurst subsidiary has bought Baird Cars of Belfast for £2.7m, and will transfer the Peugeot franchise to its nearby Hurst business. 03-Oct-1996 Daewoo Motor of South Korea has withdrawn from talks to acquire the Lotus sports car and engineering business due to failure to reach agreement on terms and conditions. 03-Oct-1996 Nissan is to invest £70m on the manufacture of a Primera estate car at its Sunderland plant, a move which will create 150 jobs and increase output to 20,000 cars a year in 1998. 02-Oct-1996 Rover is to spend £400m on the development of a replacement for the Mini small car, and expects to launch it in 2001. 02-Oct-1996 T&N is setting up a joint venture with Daido Metal of Japan to make bearings in Ohio to supply to Japanese car makers in the US. 02-Oct-1996 Rover is seeking government aid of £60m in order to set up a £400m engine plant at Hams Hill in the west Midlands, which would be used to help it increase vehicle output from 500,000 per year to at least 750,000 over the next five years. 30-Sep-1996 Ford is to cut 1,000 of its 30,000 UK workforce by the end of the year through early retirement and voluntary redundancy, as part of a worldwide effort to improve efficiency. 26-Sep-1996 BTR has bought a majority stake in Wuxi CSH, the Chinese maker of anti-vibration components for VW Audi. 26-Sep-1996 Registrations of motorcycles, mopeds and scooters were up 19% in the first eight months of this year to 48,591, with Honda on a market share of about 26%, Yamaha and Suzuki on about 16% and Kawasaki 13%. 20-Sep-1996 BSG International is looking to spin-off its Bristol Street Motors car dealership, either via a trade sale or a flotation. 18-Sep-1996 Automotive Products has won a £17m a year contract to supply speed-sensitive flywheels to BMW, underlining the increased competitiveness of the UK motor components industry. 18-Sep-1996 TLS, the vehicle recovery concern, is to acquire Commercial Recovery and Repairs for up to £6.8m. 13-Sep-1996 TT Group is planning to set up a sensors plant in the US to supply Mercedes and BMW car assembly plants in South Carolina. 10-Sep-1996 New commercial vehicle registrations were down 5.8% year-on-year at 35,791 in August, although registrations in the first 8 months were down just 0.1%. 07-Sep-1996 New car registrations were up 2.2% year-on-year in August at 479,407, but this was one of the lowest percentage increases in recent months. 06-Sep-1996 LucasVarity, the motor components maker, is planning a £115m cost-cutting exercise, including the loss of 50 senior managers. 04-Sep-1996 Dixon Motors has predicted that the number of UK car dealerships will fall from 7,000 to 4,000 by the year 2000, but it is still committed to an expansion strategy. 04-Sep-1996 Honda is planning a £50m press plant at Wantage to supply metal panels for UK-built cars, with 100 employees. 31-Aug-1996 Daewoo is planning to introduce controversial zero-hour contracts for some of its UK employees, particularly those involved in its commitment to service cars free for the first 3 years. 28-Aug-1996 Car output rose 19% in July to 152,231 compared to last year, with output for export up 35% to 67,553, according to the Office for National Statistics. 24-Aug-1996 Peugeot plans to double its sales of vans by setting up 100 light commercial vehicle centres throughout the country. 19-Aug-1996 Pivco of Norway is considering Gartcosh near Glasgow as a possible site to manufacture a light-weight battery powered car. 16-Aug-1996 GKN Automotive is acquiring a further 15% stake in Shanghai GKN Drive Shaft of China for £6m from DEG, giving it a 40% stake. 15-Aug-1996 Mayflower and TWR, the two engineering companies, have expressed an interest in the acquisition of Lotus, the sports car and engineering consultancy. 12-Aug-1996 Jacks International, the distributor of luxury cars, is delisting its UK subsidiary William Jacks in a £12m deal. 09-Aug-1996 New car registrations rose 17% year-on-year in July, which is traditionally a low month, to 39,150, with sales to private buyers up 20%, according to the SMMT. 07-Aug-1996 Nissan has said it is unlikely to start building a third model at its Sunderland plant unless there is a big improvement in the European market. 06-Aug-1996 GKN has won a major contract to supply Fiat with parts for its new world car, which is expected to be built in at least six countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Poland and India. 22-Jul-1996 A report commissioned by the Department of Transport and the Retail Motor Industry Federation warns that there will need to be a cut in the number of franchised car dealers in order to maintain viability in the sector. 16-Jul-1996 The British Racing Drivers Club is planning to create a technology village at Silverstone motor racing circuit, which will work on behalf of the UK's motor sport industry as well as the motor industry in general, and provide hundreds of high technology jobs. 12-Jul-1996 Honda and Unipart are to jointly form three component manufacturing companies, involving investment of over £80m and the creation of up to 500 jobs in Coventry and Kent. 11-Jul-1996 New commercial vehicle registrations were up just 0.9% to 130,907 in the first half of 1996 according to the SMMT, causing concern among truck makers about their prospects for the full year. 10-Jul-1996 New car registrations rose 4.7% to 141,266 in June compared to last year, giving first-half sales of over 1m for the first time since 1990, according to the SMMT. 05-Jul-1996 Nissan Motor is planning to restructure its production plants in the UK and Spain following strong competition and the announcement of group losses in the year to March 1996. 05-Jul-1996 Reg Vardy, the motor dealer, plans to raise £27m in a rights issue to help increase its number of dealerships from 41 to 60. 05-Jul-1996 Trico of the US is planning a £5m expansion of its motor components factory in Pontypool, south Wales, creating 150 jobs. 03-Jul-1996 Nissan Motor is considering plans to make a third model - a small saloon - at its Sunderland plant, which would give a major boost to the UK auto parts sector. 02-Jul-1996 GKN is to set up a $30m project in Poland to make constant velocity joints and driveshafts for the expanding motor sector. 28-Jun-1996 Ford is to reduce output of Fiesta cars and vans at Dagenham by 8,500 per week after August, due to slowing demand from southern Europe. 28-Jun-1996 UK car production rose 0.5% to 141,393 in May compared to last year, with output for export up 10.6%. 24-Jun-1996 GKN has acquired the remaining 34% of two Spanish car parts businesses - GKN Transmissiones Espaqa and GKN Ayra Durex - for £52m. 18-Jun-1996 New car registrations were up 8.5% at 165,685 in May compared to last year, with private buyers taking 44%, according to the SMMT. 07-Jun-1996 Showa Corp of Japan is planning a £10m plant to make car parts in Cynon Valley, Wales, creating 200 jobs. 07-Jun-1996 Siemens Automotive Systems is planning a £20m expansion at its plastic engine parts factory in Telford, thus creating 200 jobs. 28-May-1996 Chrysler Jeep Imports UK is launching a US-built family car called the Chrysler Neon, at a price that undercuts rivals by up to £2,000 - a move seen as a challenge to the UK's pricing structure for new cars. 28-May-1996 BSG International has set up a UK-based joint venture with Koito Manufacturing of Japan to sell external automotive lighting products to European vehicle makers. 22-May-1996 Hella of Germany is to spend £27m building a new factory in Banbury to make car headlamps, creating 300 jobs. 13-May-1996 New truck sales fell 14.6% to 4,257 vehicles in April compared to last year, apparently confirming an end to the two year recovery in the market, according to the SMMT. 09-May-1996 New car registrations were up 17% in April compared to last year, with private motorists up 15.9% and business purchases up 18.4%, according to the SMMT. 08-May-1996 Lucas Industries is discussing a possible alliance with Varity Corp., the US motor parts company, to strenghten Lucas' global position. 06-May-1996 Independent Car Auctions Holdings has launched a £11.9m bid for Central Motor Auctions. 02-May-1996 Citroen is aiming to increase its UK car sales by 60,000 units a year to 140,000 by the year 2000, thus increasing its market share from 4.1% to 7%. 29-Apr-1996 Peugeot could be about to announce a major expansion in the UK following a big improvement in productivity at its Ryton plant. 26-Apr-1996 Group Lotus has told Daewoo of South Korea that it has not been successful in its attempt to buy the company, and instead Lotus will continue looking for suitable partners to co-operate in engineering and funding. 24-Apr-1996 Rover plans to increase its presence in South America, South East Asia and Eastern Europe, having just reported a 6% rise in world sales in the first quarter. 24-Apr-1996 Car output in the first quarter was up a seasonally-adjusted 5.3% compared to the previous quarter, and 2.1% compared to last year, with export sales up 11.3%. 19-Apr-1996 LDV, the commercial vehicles concern, is looking for partners, probably from south east Asia, to help fund the development of a new van. 18-Apr-1996 Leyland Trucks is launching a major new model into the UK, the 55 Series, which includes a new 18-tonne vehicle. 16-Apr-1996 Iveco-Ford has forecast a stagnation in the UK truck market, with sales at about 52,000 this year, which will prompt a potentially-damaging price war. 11-Apr-1996 Fiat and Alfa Romeo have appointed Pendragon, the motor retailer, as their representatives in the area surrounded by London's M25 motorway. 10-Apr-1996 Daewoo has opened its first permanent car showroom in a hypermarket - at SavaCentre in London Colney - and it will open in other SavaCentres if it proves successful. 07-Apr-1996 Reliant Motors has been rescued from insolvency for the third time, and the Robin three-wheeler will continue to be made at Tamworth. 06-Apr-1996 Rover is to cut back 20% of its dealer network, with the loss of over 100 dealers, as it continues to see market share fall as it goes upmarket. 05-Apr-1996 Car sales fell 1% in March compared to last year to 180,275 with fleet buyers accounting for a larger share at 57%, according to the SMMT. 05-Apr-1996 The National Franchised Dealers Association is urging European car makers to cut prices by at least 20% by simplifying production methods and reducing the number of models, in order to boost the new car market. 01-Apr-1996 The major car dealers are said to be withdrawing plans to take market share from smaller dealers due to poor profitability in new car sales, according to separate research by Sewells International and by Automotive Management. 01-Apr-1996 LDV, the commerical vehicle maker, plans to increase production to 17,000 units this year with more emphasis on private buyers rather than fleet buyers. 29-Mar-1996 The European Commission has approved a £71m aid package for Jaguar to build the X200 small sports saloon at Castle Bromwich, creating 1,360 jobs. 28-Mar-1996 VarityPerkins is expanding its Peterborough plant to make 50,000 new low-polluting diesel engines a year. 28-Mar-1996 Bristol, the maker of high performance sports cars, is now open to takeover offers as it is not able to fund the development of a new car by itself. 26-Mar-1996 Lucas Industries is to supply new car diesel fuel injection pumps to Ford, Renault and Fiat in a £650m 5-year deal. 26-Mar-1996 BMW is to invest about £500m a year in Rover for the next five years, with new models including a small Land Rover and replacements for the Rover 600 and the Mini, creating an unspecified number of new jobs. 22-Mar-1996 Ingham, the car parts maker with a troubled history, is to convert into an investment trust and call itself Knox D'Arcy Trust. 21-Mar-1996 Kwik-Fit Holdings, the car parts fitter, plans to open a further 90 outlets in the UK this year, and 20 in the Netherlands. 21-Mar-1996 Evans Halshaw, the motor distributor, expects to benefit from the structural changes in distribution networks as the big car makers reduce the number of distributors they use. 21-Mar-1996 Lucas Industries plans to strengthen its alliance with Sumitomo of Japan in order to become one of the world's top 10 auto component suppliers. 20-Mar-1996 BSG International is in discussions to form a joint venture which will provide it with headlamp production technology, while separately it is looking to sell off its motor dealership subsidiary. 20-Mar-1996 The government is expecting EC approval next week to allow it to provide £72m of aid to Jaguar for a new car plant in the Midlands, which will employ 1,300. 19-Mar-1996 Perry Group, the vehicle distributor, has reported growth in its used vehicle sales, after-sales, and crash repair centres, resulting in a 29% profit rise. 16-Mar-1996 Ten councils have approved a new type of taxi, modified from the Volkswagen Sharan by Automotive Group of Newcastle, and due for introduction in Leeds this week. 12-Mar-1996 Suter has decided against closing Clearplas, the plastic auto components concern, following the promise of financial help from its major customers, Rover and Ford. 12-Mar-1996 Perkins, the diesel engine maker, is looking for makers of executive and luxury cars to use a 2.5 litre-plus engine, which it believes it can manufacture profitably at volumes of only 50,000 units a year. 11-Mar-1996 Vauxhall is to spend £650m on modernising its UK plants and on building new models over the next five years, and there is to be a 20% capacity increase at Ellesmere Port, creating 200 jobs. 08-Mar-1996 Simula Automotive Safety Devices of the US is to set up a factory in Ashington to make side-impact head protection air bags, creating 180 jobs. 08-Mar-1996 Ford is planning to invest £2.6bn at its UK plants up to the year 2000 in order to build replacements for the Fiesta and Escort, a move that reflects increased confidence in the flexibility of the UK workforce. 08-Mar-1996 Fenner is to build a motor components factory in the Rhondda valley, creating 540 jobs, but the move has caused controversy as it is receiving grant aid despite the fact it will close two plants in England. 08-Mar-1996 New car registrations rose 4.4% to 159,013 in February compared to last year, but this was mainly due to fleet buyers according to SMMT statistics. 07-Mar-1996 Jaguar has unveiled its new XK8 sports car at the Geneva Motor Show, which is due to go on sale in October. 06-Mar-1996 Finelist, the vehicle parts distributor, plans to spend £10m growing from 199 sites to 250, and will then move into continental Europe and the US. 06-Mar-1996 Ford is recalling about 200,000 Fiestas built between March 1989 and September 1990 due to possible problems with the seat belts. 02-Mar-1996 Antonov has agreed a production licence with an Asian manufacturer which should enable production of its Antonov transmission automatic gearbox to start for use in a small car in 1998. 27-Feb-1996 The Automobile Association is considering ending the membership of the 4% of customers that are responsible for 28% of call-outs, or alternatively giving them the option of paying for additional callouts. 26-Feb-1996 Lex Service plans to expand its Autocentres car servicing business as well as its body repair chain. 23-Feb-1996 Draft legislation is being proposed by the European Commission to force suppliers of motor spare parts to pay royalties to car makers when they copy the design of visible components such as mirrors and bumpers. 21-Feb-1996 There was a 13% rise in car production in January to 135,428 compared to last year, the highest January since the mid-1970s. 21-Feb-1996 Ford UK workers have voted to accept a two-year pay deal, averting the possibility of strikes. 20-Feb-1996 FF Ricardo is developing a constant velocity joint for Transmission Systems of Jersey, which could rival GKN's world-leading device. 16-Feb-1996 Non-franchised car dealers have won a European Court of Justice ruling to allow them to buy cars in the cheapest European country to sell in their home markets. 16-Feb-1996 European Motor Holdings, the motor distributor, is to increase its marketing efforts in order to regain customers that have been lost in the recent cold weather. 14-Feb-1996 GKN Automotive has announced a joint venture with Hanwha of Korea to manufacture constant velocity joints and driveshafts for the Korean motor industry. 13-Feb-1996 Daewoo is moving into Northern Ireland with a showroom due to open in Belfast in April. 12-Feb-1996 The UK used car market will be up by almost 1m cars a year by the year 2000 according to Market Facts and Business Information, offering margins to dealers better than those on new cars. 09-Feb-1996 Jaguar has laid off 2,200 production workers for a few days following a sudden slowdown in sales. 07-Feb-1996 New car sales in January were up just 0.3% on last year, at 191,761, prompting fears that manufacturers may not be able to continue with their efforts to restrict supply to the short-term rental market. 07-Feb-1996 New car sales in Europe are likely to rise by just 1% in 1996 and the overcapacity will cause major problems for manufacturers, according to the chairman of Mercedes-Benz. 06-Feb-1996 Itochu of Japan is to set up a distribution centre in the west Midlands to distribute steel to the UK motor industry. 05-Feb-1996 The Department of Trade and Industry is signing an inter-governmental agreement to enable UK motor component companies to benefit from the planned growth in the Chinese motor industry. 05-Feb-1996 Vauxhall has discovered exhaust and other problems on some Frontera four-wheel drive vehicles, and is recalling 32,000 of them. 03-Feb-1996 Rover plans to move up to 150 workers from Cowley to its Swindon pressings plant, and is offering them £4,000 each to move. 02-Feb-1996 Valeo of France and Hella of Germany are to co-operate on the supply of replacement car headlamps to the UK in a move which will squeeze out smaller companies. 02-Feb-1996 Caverdale Group has bought M&P Motorcycle Accessories for £500k. 02-Feb-1996 Rover is to quadruple output of the 200 series at Longbridge, while cutting back on the 400 model. 26-Jan-1996 General Motors has appointed Peter Chadwick, the UK management consultancy, to introduce a quality programme for its European component suppliers. 25-Jan-1996 Jaguar has regained its position as the top car for chief executives, followed by Mercedes and BMW, according to Cowie Interleasing. 24-Jan-1996 UK car output rose 4.5% in 1995 to reach 1.5m, with a 20% rise in demand for export and a 7% fall in domestic demand, according to the CSO. 20-Jan-1996 LDV is raising output by 10% to 440 vans a week following good demand from domestic and foreign markets. 18-Jan-1996 The AA were called out to a record 4.85m breakdowns in 1995. 12-Jan-1996 Commercial vehicle registrations rose 9.6% in 1995 to 249,928, with heavy trucks up over 20%, according to the SMMT. 12-Jan-1996 Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, which saw a 10% rise in unit sales in 1995, plans to launch new models more often - every 8-10 years - to level out its sales cycle. 10-Jan-1996 BTR is in discussions with GenCorp of the US about the possible acquisition of GenCorp's automotive vibration control business. 10-Jan-1996 New-car registrations are forecast to rise 1.3% in 1996 to 1.97m, with the 1997 figure reaching 2.0m, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. 09-Jan-1996 New guidelines on how courts settle claims for personal injury are likely to increase insurance charges for some drivers. 08-Jan-1996 New car sales rose 1.8% in 1995 to 1.95m units, with private-owner sales down 3% and company-car sales up 6.3%. 06-Jan-1996 Shimizu Industry is planning a £5m factory in Newtown, Powys, to make plastic products for the motor industry, creating 45 jobs. 05-Jan-1996 GKN is planning a catalytic converter plant in South Carolina, run by its Emitec German subsidiary. 05-Jan-1996 Ford's US chairman has said that he expects European operations to be profitable this year following recent losses. 04-Jan-1996 Nissan has opened a £10m European Data Centre at its Sunderland plant to control production and distribution. 04-Jan-1996 Aston Martin Lagonda is moving back into the US market with plans to sell 200 cars in 1996. 04-Jan-1996 Fiat Auto UK is launching the Bravo and Brava models, as well as expanding its Alfa Romeo dealerships by 25% and reorganising its 220 dealers. 02-Jan-1996 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. Click here for further details Copyright UK Business Park 1995-2007