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Motor 1997
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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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Independent Parts Group, the vehicle components company, is in advanced negotiations which could lead to a £33m takeover offer being made for the company. 30-Dec-1997 Toyota is said to be planning to announce a £240m investment at its Deeside plant in north Wales to produce engines for the new car that will be built in France, creating a substantial number of jobs. 22-Dec-1997 UK car production reached 1,568,840 in the first 11 months of 1997, up 0.2% on last year, but production of commercial vehicles was down 0.4% at 219,662, according to the SMMT. 19-Dec-1997 National Parking Corporation is planning to demerge its Green Flag breakdown recovery business next year as it no longer fits well with the car parks side of the business. 18-Dec-1997 Culver Holdings is to spin off its motor franchises into a new company called Wyndham Motor, in response to the concerns of motor manufacturers about the motor business being mixed in with the financial services side of the business. 16-Dec-1997 Honda is to increase car production at its Swindon plant to 150,000 units next year, creating an additional 400 jobs. 16-Dec-1997 Razorback Vehicles of Australia is to raise £2.3m through a flotation on Aim to enable it to develop its conversion for Volkswagen Transporter vehicles that lowers the tailgate to the ground using an electro hydraulic mechanism. 15-Dec-1997 Land Rover is planning a $150m project to assemble its Defender vehicle in Brazil, with an initial output of 2,000 units a year from late 1998. 11-Dec-1997 Nissan has forecast that car output at its Sunderland plant will remain unchanged at about 271,000 units next year, due to stagnation in the market in mainland Europe, but there will be a big increase when the Almera's replacement goes into production in a few years time. 11-Dec-1997 Ryobi of Japan is planning a £28m expansion to its Northern Ireland factory that makes aluminium transmission and clutch cases, increasing the workforce to 155. 11-Dec-1997 Tomkins has raised £14.9m by placing its 5.7% stake in Finelist, the automotive parts distributor. 09-Dec-1997 Lex Service has acquired the remaining 49.9% stake in the UK import franchise for Hyundai cars from IM for £20m. 09-Dec-1997 Sales of trucks over 3.5 tonnes were up 38% at 4,360 in November, compared to last year's artificially-deflated figure, but sales in the first 11 months were down 11%, according to the SMMT. 09-Dec-1997 LDV is in discussions with Daewoo of South Korea about building a replacement for LDV's current range of vans, which could result in Daewoo buying a stake in LDV. 08-Dec-1997 Autologic, the car distributor, has raised £15.3m in a placing, which will be used to cut borrowings and redeem preference shares. 05-Dec-1997 Ford is to build a £1.5m solar power generator to provide all the lighting at its engine plant in Bridgend. 05-Dec-1997 New car sales were up 12.5% at 153,323 in November compared to last year, with year-to-date sales up 7.1%, according to the SMMT. 05-Dec-1997 Rover is planning a £200m investment to produce the R40 executive car at its Cowley plant near Oxford. 28-Nov-1997 Jaguar is said to be considering plans to build the proposed X400 small car from kits in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific, although the main production site will be one of the following - Halewood, Cologne, Ohio or Michigan. 27-Nov-1997 Harpur UK is to acquire a 50% stake in Fleet Cost Management and Automanagement from Evans Halshaw for £12m, conditional on Harpur's sale to HFS Incorporated of the US. 26-Nov-1997 Courtaulds Textiles is forming a joint venture with Collins & Aikman, the US supplier of automotive interior systems. 25-Nov-1997 Continental of Germany is planning a 25% increase in output at its Newbridge tyre plant near Edinburgh, creating 170 jobs. 24-Nov-1997 Car Group is planning to open "nearly new" vehicle outlets in London and Manchester next year, which will be followed by the roll out of a national branding programme. 21-Nov-1997 IBC, the Luton based van maker owned by General Motors, could increase employment by 40% over the next few years due to a new medium van being developed with Renault. 21-Nov-1997 Car production fell by 7.1% in October due to a high level of imports, according to the SMMT. 21-Nov-1997 Sytner Group, the prestige car dealership, is to raise £24m in a flotation in order to reduce debt and provide funds for expansion. 18-Nov-1997 Ford has reached agreement with unions that could pave the way for the new Jaguar X400 to be built at its Halewood plant, but a decision is not expected until next year. 14-Nov-1997 Volkswagen has expressed interest in the acquisition of Rolls-Royce from Vickers, and other potential bidders include Ford, BMW, General Motors, Fiat and Daimler-Benz. 13-Nov-1997 New car registrations in October were up 1.3% on last year at 156,706, but this represents a slowdown on recent months when year-on-year increases were significantly higher, according to the SMMT. 07-Nov-1997 Vickers has announced that it is expecting a hostile takeover bid from Mayflower, the car parts company that is about half its size. 06-Nov-1997 Intercare Group is to close its Booster Electric Vehicles scooter factory in Huddersfield and transfer production to its Dutch subsidiary. 04-Nov-1997 Antonov, the automatic gearbox developer, has agreed contracts for the development of transmissions for four car manufacturers - Hyundai, Daewoo, Kia and Mahindra. 29-Oct-1997 The Welsh Development Agency is co-ordinating a project that could result in the development of a new concept low-cost car that would be designed and built entirely in Wales. 28-Oct-1997 Honda is said to have chosen Swindon as the site to build a compact hatchback model, a move which will increase output at the plant to 250,000 cars a year, and official confirmation is expected in early 1998. 27-Oct-1997 Autologic, the holding company for the car distributor Walon, is planning to raise about £30m in a flotation in order to fund expansion into mainland Europe. 27-Oct-1997 Vickers is looking to sell its Rolls-Royce Motor Cars business in order to focus on core activities such as armoured vehicles and propulsion technology. 27-Oct-1997 LucasVarity is discussing the acquisition of the remaining 66% of Freios Varga, the Brazilian automotive brakes company, for up to £110m, in order to benefit from the anticipated 10% annual growth in the Brazilian car market. 24-Oct-1997 The Office of Fair Trading has published a report on the used car trade which recommends the introduction of legislation that will give trading standards officers the power to make on-the-spot investigations of vehicles for sale. 23-Oct-1997 BCH Group, the vehicle management company, is planning a flotation next month which will value it at around £40m. 22-Oct-1997 UK car production was up 1.6% at 1,247,299 in the first 9 months of 1997 compared to last year, with September output up 3.6% year-on-year at 145,202, and the full year is expected to reach 1.7m for the first time in over 20 years. 21-Oct-1997 Unipart is set to take over the management of Daihatsu's UK parts and accessories business, which will include distribution to its dealers, warehousing, stock management and administration. 21-Oct-1997 General Motors has indicated that it may consider moving car production from its UK Vauxhall factories to mainland Europe if the UK does not sign up to European monetary union. 15-Oct-1997 Ford is planning to invest £66m in emissions testing facilities at its Dunton engineering centre in Essex. 14-Oct-1997 BSM is acquiring Verkeersoefencentrum Zuid-Nederland, the Dutch driving school, for £1.8m in its first expansion into continental Europe. 14-Oct-1997 Peek, the traffic management group, has received a £98m takeover offer from Thermo Power of the US. 11-Oct-1997 Commercial vehicle registrations fell 9% to 24,443 in October compared to September, but year-to-date figures are up 3.4% compared to last year, according to the SMMT. 10-Oct-1997 BCH, the vehicle management company, is to raise £7m in a flotation in order to pay off debt and invest in Motormart, the seller of unwanted company cars. 09-Oct-1997 New car sales were up by 16% to 160,739 in September compared to last year, with sales in the first 9 months up 7%, according to the SMMT. 08-Oct-1997 National Parking Corporation is planning to expand into mainland Europe by acquisition, and is in discussions with private carpark groups in France, Spain and Germany. 06-Oct-1997 Ford's assembly plant in Dagenham has been hit by an unofficial strike because of a dispute over the latest pay offer. 04-Oct-1997 BTR Automotive has won a £43m annual contract to supply sealing and anti-vibration systems for a General Motors car. 03-Oct-1997 Land Rover is taking on an additional 300 workers at Solihull to cope with higher than expected demand for its new Freelander vehicle. 03-Oct-1997 T&N, the car parts company, is facing a £1.3bn hostile bid approach from Federal-Mogul of the US, prompting speculation that T&N may seek friendly counter-bids. 27-Sep-1997 Toad is acquiring Laserline and Sigma, two vehicle security companies, as well as distribution rights to a satellite vehicle tracking system developed by Spacetrac. 27-Sep-1997 HR Owen, the car dealer, is to focus on higher-margin franchises by disposing of its Nissan and Peugeot dealerships and taking on Jaguar, Land Rover and Mercedes. 26-Sep-1997 Kwik-Fit is planning to expand its car repair business into Germany and Scandinavia, possibly by acquisition. 19-Sep-1997 Tracker Network, the stolen-vehicle recovery company, and Trafficmaster have called off their merger discussions due to a failure to agree terms. 18-Sep-1997 Jaguar has decided not to build its new small car in the Midlands and is looking elsewhere for a suitable location, with a decision expected by early next year. 16-Sep-1997 Finelist is planning to double the number of garage supply outlets to 400 over the next three years and increase the number of car parts retail outlets from 387 to 500. 11-Sep-1997 Trafficmaster, the provider of traffic information, is in merger discussions with Tracker Network, the designer of stolen vehicle recovery systems. 09-Sep-1997 BMW has unveiled details of the new Mini, which will be made by Rover, and announced plans to return to Formula One motor racing in partnership with the UK's Williams team. 09-Sep-1997 Morgan Motor Company is planning to cut the waiting list for its sports cars from five years to two years with an expansion and modernisation programme. 06-Sep-1997 Sales of commercial vehicles reached 43,779 in August, up 22% on last year, with sales in the first eight months up 5.4%, according to the SMMT. 06-Sep-1997 Car Group is said to be discussing the acquisition of Empress Car Co, the Welsh car retailer with three sites and net assets of £9m. 06-Sep-1997 New car sales in August reached a record 525,539 units, up 10% compared to last year, while sales in the first eight months were up 6.4% on last year, according to the SMMT. 05-Sep-1997 Vauxhall is to introduce the Cadillac luxury car into the UK next spring, which will be sold through a network of specialist dealers. 01-Sep-1997 Car Group, the car supermarket chain, is linking up with Lloyds TSB to set up a joint venture called National Used Car Arbitration, which will offer warranties to people who buy used cars from private sellers. 27-Aug-1997 Nissan's plant in Sunderland increased productivity from 56.7 vehicles per employee in 1995 to 73.2 last year, making it the most productive car factory in Europe, according to a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit. 27-Aug-1997 Sanderson Bramall has announced that it is looking for suitable acquisitions, and its targets are thought to be some of the many smaller car distributors. 27-Aug-1997 Hansom Group, the operator of black taxi cabs in London, is planning to sell its Datacab radio taxi circuit and its Richmond Road Cab Centre business. 27-Aug-1997 Car production rose by 3.1% to 159,640 in July compared to last year, with output for the UK market up 7% at 90,210, but output for export down 1.5% at 69,430. 23-Aug-1997 Appleyard, the car distributor, has decided to end its quest to find a buyer for the group, following two months of takeover talks. 23-Aug-1997 Jaguar is considering plans to develop a small car, codenamed X400, which would be built in large volumes of at least 100,000 units a year. 19-Aug-1997 Inchcape is setting up a new car retailing venture with Daihatsu of Japan which will involve selling Daihatsu cars to UK customers by visiting them at their homes and offices, eliminating the need for showrooms. 18-Aug-1997 Ascot Holdings is selling Clearplus France, its plastic motor components subsidiary, to Key Plastics of the US for £8.6m. 12-Aug-1997 Siemens has bought out Ford's 49% share of their Siemens Automotive Systems joint venture in the UK, which makes plastic composite engine parts, for undisclosed terms. 08-Aug-1997 New car registrations fell by 7.8% in July to 36,069 compared to last year, but sales in the first seven months were up 4.9%, according to the SMMT. 07-Aug-1997 Ryland Group has become the sole Ford dealer in Northampton and Daventry following the acquisition of assets from Airflow Streamlines for £1.4m. 05-Aug-1997 Rover's car sales rose by 5% to 250,382 in the first-half of 1997, with exports up 10% and accounting for 55% of sales, while UK sales were down 2.4%. 29-Jul-1997 Pendragon is acquiring 17 car franchises from Lex Service for £44m, making it the largest car dealer in the UK. 26-Jul-1997 Rover has announced that its Longbridge plant in Birmingham will be used to assemble the new Mini car, which is due for launch in 2000. 25-Jul-1997 Nissan is to start making a third model, a replacement for the Almera, at its Sunderland plant, with launch due in 2000. 23-Jul-1997 Car production for export rose by 8.8% in June to 71,681 compared to last year, but output for the UK market fell by 3.6% to 83,293. 22-Jul-1997 Mitsubishi Motors is setting up a £2m import centre at Portbury Docks in Bristol in anticipation of an expected doubling in imports to 40,000 cars a year, creating about 80 jobs. 22-Jul-1997 Halfords is to introduce a range of own-brand replacement car parts, having agreed contracts with a number of component makers. 14-Jul-1997 New car sales rose by 7.3% to 151,620 in June compared to last year, resulting in first half sales being up 5.3% at 1.05m, according to the SMMT. 05-Jul-1997 Eurosil, the maker of synthetic rubber components for cars, is planning a £2.6m expansion of its plant in County Durham, creating 111 jobs. 03-Jul-1997 Car Group has formally unveiled its £5.5m used car supermarket at Northampton, and now plans to open another in south Wales later this year followed by at least another two next year. 28-Jun-1997 Hawtal Whiting is developing a range of vehicle emission control devices through a new unit called Hawtal Whiting Environmental. 25-Jun-1997 United Technology Automotive is to close a Londonderry factory that makes electrical wiring systems for cars, with the loss of 600 jobs. 25-Jun-1997 Appleyard, the motor dealer, is in the early stages of takeover talks with an unnamed buyer thought to be Sanderson Bramall. 13-Jun-1997 Pressac Holdings has bought a controlling stake in EPB Industria Electronica, the Brazilian automotive component supplier, for £900,000. 12-Jun-1997 Sales of new panel vans were up 22% in May compared to last year, but sales of trucks over 3.5 tonnes were down 9%, according to the SMMT. 10-Jun-1997 Sales of motorcycles, scooters and mopeds were up 34% in the first five months of 1997 at 32,288 according to the Motorcycle Retailers Association. 10-Jun-1997 New car sales rose by 2.5% in May to 169,886 compared to last year, boosted by private buyers who offset a small decline in fleet buyers, according to the SMMT. 06-Jun-1997 European Motor Holdings is to set up Jaguar Cars dealerships in Leeds and Harrogate. 06-Jun-1997 Finelist has bought Silencer Distributors, which has six outlets, for £1.6m. 06-Jun-1997 TRW of the US and Toyoda Motor Works of Japan are setting up a joint venture called TRW Toyoda Automotive, to make pumps for power-assisted steering systems near Neath in Wales, creating 220 jobs. 31-May-1997 BTG is to raise £25m in a share placing in order to fund the development of Torotrak, its infinitely variable transmission system which has already been licensed to Toyota, Ford and Getrag. 30-May-1997 Car production was up 21% at 162,419 units in April compared to last year, with production for export up one third at 93,195, according to the SMMT. 23-May-1997 Independent Parts is planning to make acquisitions in the distribution or manufacture of car parts, particularly exhausts. 20-May-1997 Saab is recalling over 21,000 cars in the 900 series due to corrosion in the throttle housing. 15-May-1997 T&N is preparing to open negotiations with Rheinmetall of Germany in order to create a joint venture that would be the world's largest automotive pistons company. 15-May-1997 Finelist is acquiring Road User, the chain of 51 automotive parts shops, for up to £2.5m, and Regor, the distributor of vehicle parts, for £3m. 13-May-1997 Avon Rubber has announced its intention to double the size of its automotive components and technical products business over the next three years with new initiatives and selective acquisitions. 09-May-1997 New car registrations rose 12.3% last month to 182,747 compared to last year, with imports taking a 64% share compared to 61% last year, according to the SMMT. 08-May-1997 Toyota is considering various European sites, including the Burnaston plant in Derbyshire, to build a new type of small car designed specifically for the European market. 08-May-1997 T&N has sold Ferodo Caernarfon, the clutch facing and industrial friction products business, to US investors for £5m. 07-May-1997 Vauxhall is to start selling panel vans produced by Renault under its Arena badge this week. 01-May-1997 Hyundai of South Korea is said to be considering Bristol, Tyne and Wear, and Scotland as potential sites to build a major European car plant capable of making 100,000 cars a year, with the creation of over 2,000 jobs. 25-Apr-1997 Ford is changing its relationship with dealers by stopping sales incentives programmes and encouraging them to improve their long-term viability with customer loyalty campaigns. 18-Apr-1997 Peugeot has announced plans to build a new 206 hatchback car in Coventry, thus securing up to 3,000 jobs. 16-Apr-1997 UK truck registrations were down 25% in the first three months of 1997 at 9,643, according to the SMMT. 14-Apr-1997 Ascot Holdings is planning to sell four automotive companies in order to focus on specialist engineering and chemicals. 10-Apr-1997 New car registrations reached 179,863 in March, down 0.2% on last year, but first quarter registrations were up 3.5% according to the SMMT. 08-Apr-1997 John Hogg is acquiring the fuel oils division of Lookers' Charles Hurst subsidiary. 08-Apr-1997 Lonrho is said to be considering plans to float Dutton Forshaw Group, its motor distributor. 27-Mar-1997 TWR, the automotive engineering consultancy, is setting up a joint venture with Volvo to develop chassis for Volvo's buses and coaches. 26-Mar-1997 Appleyard, the motor distributor, is to close 10 dealerships, sell 6 others and cancel plans to invest at 8 more sites, in response to market conditions. 25-Mar-1997 UK car production rose 5.1% to 145,892 units in February, while production for export rose 20% to 89,424, according to the SMMT. 22-Mar-1997 New truck registrations in the UK fell 18.3% in February to 3,010 compared to last year, indicating that the expected recovery in the market has not yet started, according to the SMMT. 19-Mar-1997 Rover has announced that its new small 4-wheel-drive vehicle will be called the Freelander and will be launched at the Frankfurt motor show in September. 18-Mar-1997 New car sales in February were up 2.4% on last year at 162,887, with imports taking 65.4% of the market compared to 62.4% last year, according to the SMMT. 07-Mar-1997 Peugeot carworkers in Coventry are threatening strike action over a pay and working hours dispute. 07-Mar-1997 T&N is considering an alliance with Rheinmetall, the German owner of a 25% stake in Kolbenschmidt, in order to create the largest automotive pistons manufacturer in the world. 06-Mar-1997 Finelist is planning a major expansion of its vehicle components distribution networks, with the number of Ferraris branches rising from 17 to 25, Motor World branches rising from 330 to 500, and components distribution branches rising from 218 to 400. 06-Mar-1997 Iveco Ford Truck has confirmed that it is to end truck production at its Langley plant, with the loss of 450 jobs. 01-Mar-1997 Mitsubishi is to meet UK suppliers of motor components with a view to increasing the £75m worth of parts it buys each year. 26-Feb-1997 Ford is to invest £25m at its Swansea plant to manufacture wheel hubs, drums, and brake discs for the next-generation Escort. 25-Feb-1997 UK car output was 135,317 units in January, up 9.6% on last year, while commercial vehicle output was up 1.6%, according to the SMMT. 25-Feb-1997 Valeo is to reorganise its European production of automotive components, which will involve the closure of some plants but additional investment at Gorseinon in Wales and Blyth in England. 25-Feb-1997 Finelist has acquired First Line, the wholesale automotive distributor, for an initial £2m. 19-Feb-1997 Laird Group has bought Fergom, the Italian maker of automotive anti-vibration products, for £2.8m. 18-Feb-1997 Ford is to expand output of the luxury Aston Martin V8 and Vantage models by 25%. 15-Feb-1997 British Aerospace is linking up with the McLaren motor racing group to give a boost to its design and prototyping capabilities, and in return BAe will offer aerodynamic skills and development facilities to McLaren. 12-Feb-1997 Avis Europe is planning to raise £250m through a stock market listing and will use some of the funds for expanding its car hire business into eastern Europe and Asia. 11-Feb-1997 New car registrations reached 206,784 in January, up 7.8% on last year and the second-highest January on record, according to the SMMT. 07-Feb-1997 LucasVarity has sold its 50% stake in Lucas Yuasa, the Birmingham-based automotive battery business, to Yuasa of Japan. 06-Feb-1997 Tomkins is planning to expand in Europe, Asia and Latin America through bolt-on acquisitions at a cost of up to £300m, with the deals centred around its Gates automotive components business. 04-Feb-1997 Iveco, Fiat's commercial vehicles division, is said to be preparing to close its truck plant in Langley, with the loss of 500 jobs. 30-Jan-1997 Rover sold more vehicles abroad last year than in the UK, with exports at a record 54% of sales. 29-Jan-1997 Unipart has won a contract to run the logistics of Volkswagen's £200m a year motor parts business in the UK. 29-Jan-1997 LucasVarity is looking to sell two French businesses - Sasic, the light braking concern, and Lucas Aerospace Fuel and Mechanical Systems, which makes low-pressure fuel equipment. 28-Jan-1997 Renault is said to be looking to recruit more than 40 UK suppliers of car parts in order to reduce costs, and has cut the timetable for becoming a supplier from five to two years. 27-Jan-1997 Inchcape is to sell Kia Automobiles France, the French distributor of South Korean Kia vehicles, for a nominal sum. 24-Jan-1997 Ryland Group, the vehicle distributor, has terminated talks which could have resulted in its takeover by an unnamed company thought to be Sanderson Bramall. 24-Jan-1997 Lookers, the motor distributor, is selling its caravan parks for a profit of £1.5m, and its 49% stake in its contract hire operation to Woodchester Investments. 24-Jan-1997 Nissan is to manufacture a lower-mid-sized car at its Sunderland plant from the year 2000, creating 800 jobs. 22-Jan-1997 Ford has announced that its Halewood factory will not build the next Escort model, so it is seeking up to 1,300 voluntary redundancies. 17-Jan-1997 Ford had the UK's three bestselling cars in 1996 - the Fiesta, Escort and Mondeo - but its total market share has fallen from 30% in the 1980s to about 20%. 16-Jan-1997 Vauxhall is to fit the Trafficmaster driver information systems into more of its models. 16-Jan-1997 UK sales of new trucks fell from 52,261 in 1995 to 50,153 in 1996, although sales of light commercial vehicles rose by over 4%, according to the SMMT. 14-Jan-1997 Reg Vardy is planning to increase its number of car dealerships from 43 to 60, using funds from the £27m rights issue last July. 10-Jan-1997 United Industries has sold Holden Hydroman, the automotive plastics business, to Polytec Kunststofftechnick for £4.7m. 09-Jan-1997 Ford Motor is devising plans to stem huge losses in Europe, and it may decide to cut capacity by closing a plant. 08-Jan-1997 New car sales in the UK rose 4.1% to 2,025,450 in 1996, the third highest annual total, with December sales up 9% on the previous year, according to the SMMT. 08-Jan-1997 LucasVarity has acquired Autospeciality, the US maker of replacement components, for undisclosed terms. 06-Jan-1997 Express Group is investing £3.2m in Express 2 Automotive, a new company based in County Durham to make machined parts for the automotive sector, in a move which will create an initial 61 jobs, rising to 300 jobs later. 03-Jan-1997 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. 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