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Graham Whyte has been an automotive journalist for more than...
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| The sky's the limit in Moscow |
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If you run a new-car dealership this will make your eyes water. According to Automotive News, a GM dealership is Moscow is selling between 600 and 900 cars a MONTH. The UK average is 500 cars a year.
And apparently the profits are good, too. A UK dealer makes around 1 per cent on each new car, whereas their Russian counterparts regularly make between 3.5 and 4 per cent. It appears that Russian buyers are suckers for extras, which deliver a higher profit than the cars themselves. BMW has understood this principle from Day One.
The Russian dealers also make a decent margin on servicing, and many service departments stay open until 9 0’clock every evening, just to cope with the level of business. The Genser GM dealership – the 900 cars a month dealership – employs 200 people in its service department, which handles up to 180 cars a day.
When told by Automotive News of the average levels of sales in the UK, and the profit margins, Natalyia Ignatova, Sales Department Director of Genser, said: “You call that a business?”
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Charis Whitcombe writes the She Drives section of NEW CAR...
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| Go on. You know you want to. |
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I was recently told that some carmakers are programming ECUs to detect when the car is being put through a government-imposed ‘emissions drive cycle’. The ECU then defaults to a low-emissions setting for the duration of the test. How sneaky can you get?
Perhaps we should we sue: it’s the only way to make money these days. Did you see the story about the woman who sued Sainsbury’s over the strapline on her pack of pork chops: ‘Sainsbury’s pork… your local butcher’ on the basis that it was inciting her to commit a carnal act? She won.
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Whether you’re into cars that are new, used or classic,...
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I’m confused; some would say perpetually. Network Rail has said that it’s considering a major expansion of the rail network, because the current infrastructure can’t cope. Five major new lines might criss-cross the UK to add much-needed capacity to the network. So far so good.
However, Richard Dyer, transport campaigner at Friends of the Earth, is on record as saying: “Expanding Britain’s railways by building new high speed lines is potentially very exciting - and could play an important role in weaning Britain off fossil fuels and developing a low carbon economy”.
Am I missing something here? Are these new railways going to feature trains that run on rainwater or what? I can’t see that elecricity is a viable option, and even if it was, you can bet it wouldn’t be generated from solar panels or wind – which means it would come from coal-fired power stations as the environmentalists won’t let us have nuclear either.
So in what way are these trains going to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels? The last time I looked, most of the choo-choos lining our network were diesel-powered. Still, as long as the diesel isn’t going into private cars, it just has to be more environmentally friendly, doesn’t it? Public transport is always good, even when it’s running round empty.
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Editor-in-Chief, Massimo Pini trained as an automotive designer before setting...
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I tend to stick with familiar names when it comes to car rental as I, like many people, expect to receive a certain standard of service by doing so. In late August, I holidayed in Northern Italy with my wife and 2 year-old daughter, booking a Focus-sized car for the two-week stay, with Hertz.
Hertz sent me an email customer satisfaction survey upon my return. See below my feedback, to which I have received no response:
Firstly, the selection of cars was very limited. I was initially offered a smaller car than that I’d booked but I refused it. Eventually I was offered a slightly larger car than I wanted. It had a big dent in the back but I accepted it as there seemed little alternative. The car had no user handbook in the glovebox which made it impossible to locate the bonnet release to top up the washer fluid which was empty. The office was closed when I returned the vehicle so I was unable to discuss this with the Hertz staff.
The worst thing though, was the dismal selection of child seats on offer. They were all grubby and dirty and most were actually damaged. I tried 3 before I found one that was barely acceptable. The Hertz representative, although very polite and friendly, explained that he didn’t know how to install the seat as he never had any children of his own!!! I was astonished by the comment. It seems to suggest that Hertz’s attitude to the safety of its customers is lax, to say the least. Very disappointing indeed. Am considering asking for compensation for the additional cost of the child seat since the service was so poor.
I’d really like to hear from anyone else who’s had similar problems where it comes to the rental of child seats.
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