Car sales in China rose 37% in April, boosted by tax incentives. The rise in sales means China has now overtaken the USA to become the world’s largest automotive market, after total vehicle sales increased by a quarter to 1.15 million. In a bid to revive flagging car sales, the Chinese Government announced buyers of [...]
The global economic downturn has resulted in a slump in demand for big-ticket items, such as cars and this is still the case for US carmakers after Chrysler reported a 48% decline in April sales compared with April 2008. Sales at Ford were down nearly 32% while General Motors (GM) sales were down 34%. The [...]
UK carmakers, Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan, have today received £720 million worth of funding, in return for investing in cutting vehicle emissions. The funding was approved by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU’s main source of long-term lending, and is the first such package provided to any carmaker. Jaguar Land Rover was awarded [...]
Figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have revealed yet another fall in new car sales. The SMMT said 313,912 new vehicles were registered in March 2009 – a fall of 30.5% compared with March 2008’s figure. Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive, said the continued fall in the market shows [...]
Official figures from the VDA have revealed that sales of new Germany cars rose by 22% compared with the same month in 2008 – the highest February sales for a decade. A total of 277,800 vehicles were sold in Germany during the month after a Government incentive scheme offered consumers €2,500 (£2,236) to scrap their [...]
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have revealed that the number of new cars registered in the UK in January fell 30.9% year-on-year. The continued fall highlights the fact that the economic downturn continues to have a major impact on new car sales. According to the organisation, a total of 112,087 new cars [...]
Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson, will this afternoon unveil plans to help the struggling car industry since the economic downturn has meant that car sales have plummeted in recent times. However, No. 10 have said that the support is ‘not a bailout’ but is expected to include measures such as guarantees for loans to the industry [...]
The Bank of England has cut interest rates by 3% to 2% today, which is the lowest level since 1951. A cut was widely expected by economists and has been welcomed by many commentators who believe the reduction will help the deteriorating economy. The reduction follows last month’s shock reduction of 1.5% and a cut [...]
Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that the economic downturn continues to have a major impact on new car sales. According to the SMMT, new car registrations suffered their steepest monthly fall for 28 years, with expensive sports cars hit particularly badly. Just over 100,000 new cars were registered in [...]
According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), car sales in the UK fell last month at their fastest rate since 1991. In October, new car sales were 128,352, down 23% from a year ago, reflecting the fact that Britons continue to rein in their spending as the economic downturn continues to have [...]
More evidence of consumers tightening their purse strings is unveiled today after figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reported that car sales plummeted 21% in September compared with last year. September is a major month for car dealers, due to the introduction of new registration plates in August. However, in the [...]
A report by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has revealed that Britons continue to rein in their spending as new car sales have fallen to the lowest level in over 40 years. New car registrations were down 18.6% to 63,225 in August compared with the same period last year with the worst [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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