Corporate Business

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has announced that a record number of places are available for the company’s 2017 Apprenticeship Programme. Since the program was launched in 2006, numbers have progressively increased, with 2017 offering a record 20 candidates the opportunity to join the team at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex.

According to a recent article on CNN, American drivers are growing increasingly fond of British-made automobiles. They purchased nearly 50% more British cars in 2016 compare to the previous year, helping British automakers hike their annual production to a 17-year high. The U.K. Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said nearly 200,000 British-made cars were shipped to the U.S. last year. Meanwhile, just 40,000 U.S. cars were registered in the U.K. in 2016. The U.S. is the largest national market for U.K auto exports.

Jaguar Land Rover has once again been named the largest automotive manufacturer in Britain, accounting for more than 30% of all domestic car production last year. The news follows today’s announcement from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) that UK car manufacturers set a new record in 2016, producing 1,727,471 vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover’s three vehicle manufacturing plants in Liverpool and the West Midlands increased the company’s UK production output 8% over the previous year to 544,401. Jaguar Land Rover vehicles account for five of the top ten British best-sellers globally.

BMW of North America is proud to offer customers and enthusiasts the opportunity to experience newly enhanced driver training courses for both the BMW and MINI Driving Experiences. The BMW Performance Center West in southern California and the BMW Performance Center East in Spartanburg, South Carolina now bear the seal of quality “BMW Driving Experience, Official Partner of BMW M.” The basis for this is the successful certification by a team of inspectors from the BMW and MINI Driving Experiences in Germany. The first international location to be awarded this status was the BMW and MINI Driving Experience in the Netherlands in 2015.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is issuing this statement in order to clarify confusion and misreporting that has arisen in certain media around the world, following recent statements issued by Rolls‑Royce plc. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is a completely separate company from Rolls-Royce plc which manufactures power systems for aircraft, ships and land applications. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BMW Group (Munich), based at Goodwood near Chichester in West Sussex, United Kingdom. It commenced business on 1 January 2003 at its new global production facility. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars manufactures and sells the world’s pinnacle super-luxury automobiles, including the Phantom, Ghost, Wraith and Dawn range of models. As an entirely separate company, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has no involvement whatsoever in issues relating to alleged bribery and subsequent legal settlements reached by Rolls-Royce plc with authorities in various jurisdictions, including the […]

Land Rover has issued a recall for 797 of its 2017 model-year Discovery Sport and 2016-17 model-year Range Rover Evoque SUVs fitted with the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine and automatic transmission, over concerns a wiring fault could cause several issues including loss of electric steering, engine cut-out, or even a fire. The British manufacturer reports the engine harness may have been routed incorrectly and as a result could contact the water charge air cooler bracket.

The UK’s largest automotive manufacturer is pioneering a new way of buying cars across its global network, using Virtual Reality so that customers won’t need to wait for newly launched vehicles to arrive in their local showroom. Jaguar Land Rover’s world-leading Virtual Reality Experience packs will be introduced across retailers by the end of this month to immerse customers in each new vehicle the company launches.

Norfolk-based Zenos Cars has gone into administration, it was revealed on Wednesday. The British manufacturer behind the bonkers lightweight E10 range announced it had ceased operating after hitting financial troubles due to a raft of order cancellations last year. Administrators are looking to speak to potential suitors who may want to buy the business and keep the sports cars with a niche following in production , the official statement from the car maker said.

MG Motor UK has announced the winners of its 2017 Annual Dealer Awards. The event, which took place on 12 January as part of the company’s national conference, celebrated outstanding achievement from across the network. Nathaniel MG took home the prestigious Dealer of the Year accolade, alongside being named Top MG3 Selling Dealer. Part of the network since 2015, the Bridgend-based business was recognised for delivering exceptional service for customers across South Wales. 

Addressing the annual Automotive News World Congress in Detroit, USA, Bentley Chairman and CEO, Mr Wolfgang Dürheimer, has outlined his vision for the future of luxury mobility and Bentley’s role in defining it. Speaking on the subject of changing customer types and tastes, Mr Dürheimer highlighted the seismic changes that face luxury car makers in the near future.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has today announced its second highest ever annual sales result in the marque’s 113-year history, up 6% on its 2015 results. A total of 4,011 cars were delivered to customers in more than 50 countries, affirming the brand’s strength and resilience in a year of challenging market conditions for luxury goods worldwide.

Jaguar Land Rover, the UK’s leading manufacturer of premium luxury vehicles achieved its best ever full-year global sales in 2016, selling more than one car every minute with retails of 583,313 vehicles, up 20% on the prior year. This is the company’s seventh successive year of growth in sales, with retails in 2016 almost triple the 2009 figure. Sales in December were up 12% compared to the same month last year, with retails of 55,375. Retail volumes were up 36% for the month in China – its strongest monthly performance on record. Jaguar Land Rover’s global performance for the full year 2016 shows a balanced regional portfolio with record retail sales in the UK, North America and Europe.

Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) is celebrating a ground-breaking 2016, as the Liverpool-based manufacturer has enjoyed an incredibly fruitful year on all four corners of the globe. BAC is the company behind the One-of-a-Kind Mono supercar, which has risen from strength to strength since it launched in 2011. And over the past 12 months, it’s truly taken off with a series of world firsts.

Great British Sports Cars (GBS), on Maun Way, Boughton, manufacture and sell factory-built or kit versions of sports cars. The majority of the parts are developed in workshops on the site. Their most popular design is the Zero, which takes design inspiration from the Lotus Seven sports car, with more than 600 sales of the car worldwide. GBS received a £125,000 grant from funding body Niche Vehicle Network, to help expand their service. The money will allow them to collaborate with Nottingham-based manufacturers Far-UK on car-related designs and projects in the future. Mr Ben Bird, the general manager of GBS, said the extra funding would also allow them to bring in more young staff to learn the trade. “The further support enables us to have apprentices which will help us progress as a manufacturer,” he said. We had one join […]

McLaren Automotive, the British manufacturer of luxury sports and supercars, has recorded another record year of sales growth with a near-doubling of its sales volume year-over-year, selling a total of 3,286 cars in 2016 compared to 1,654 in 2015. The 99.3 per cent improvement in sales performance also follows the company’s announcement of a third consecutive year of profitability in 2015 and the production milestone of the company’s 10,000th car, all capping another highly successful and record-breaking year.

MG Motor UK has been named as one of the fastest-growing automotive brands in the UK*. Figures released earlier this week by the SMMT** reveal that the company registered 4,192 vehicles in 2016 – 1,040 more than last year. Sales have grown by 33% year-on-year, with MG’s family-friendly SUV – the MG GS – a key driver of this success. In November, the new model reached its 500 unit sales milestone, just 176 days after being unveiled at The London Motor Show in May.

According to the Guardian, the British car industry has warned of a sales downturn this year as the economic uncertainty that followed the Brexit vote kicks in. A fifth consecutive year of growth saw nearly 2.7m new car registrations in the UK last year, a rise of 2.2% on 2015. But the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said it expected growth to reverse, with a sales decline of 5-6%, as the cost of new cars rises due to sterling’s fall. An end to cheap financing deals would also hit sales, it said. But Mike Hawes, the SMMT’s chief executive, said the domestic market remained comparatively strong. “This is historically an incredibly high level. We’re not talking about a collapse,” he said, adding that the market had been more resilient than expected after the EU referendum. But, he said: “Clearly, […]

Earlier this year, Jaguar Land Rover launched twin lawsuits against Bombardier Recreational Products, (BRP) over the Canadian manufacturer’s use of the name “Defender” for one of its Can-Am brand off-road utility all-terrain vehicles. The lawsuits were brought in England’s High Court of Justice, and in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan here on this side of the pond.