The UK’s car scrappage scheme, which was introduced last May to boost the ailing car industry, expires today after giving the car industry a much-needed boost. The £400 million initiative paid drivers of cars at least 10 years old £2,000 off the price of a new vehicle. The £2,000 grant was made up of £1,000 [...]
Struggling Japanese carmaker Toyota is to suspend production at plants in France and Britain for two weeks from Monday amid safety recall problems. The carmaker has been suffering amid major safety fears and has recalled almost 9 million vehicles over concerns about accelerator pedals and brake systems. The problems have been blamed for almost 60 [...]
Figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed a sharp rise in UK car production for the month of February. Car production surged 62.7% against the same month a year ago and represents the fourth consecutive month that output has seen a year-on-year increase. The SMMT said there 97,255 cars [...]
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has today announced UK car sales were up by 26.4% in February compared with the same month in 2009, boosted by the Government’s scrappage scheme. The £400 million initiative, which was launched last May to boost the ailing car industry, pays drivers of cars at least 10 [...]
Figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed a strong rise in UK car production for the month of January. Car production surged 64.8% against the same month a year ago – this represents the biggest year-on-year increase in monthly production since May 1976, according to the SMMT. The SMMT [...]
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has today revealed sales of new cars grew by 29.8% in January compared with the same month in 2009, boosted by the Government’s scrappage scheme. The £400 million initiative, which was launched last May to boost the ailing car industry, pays drivers of cars at least 10 [...]
The UK car scrappage scheme has been extended for one month – until the end of March. The scheme, dubbed cash for bangers, was due to expire at the end of this month (or until funds ran out). However no extra funds will be provided for the scheme but the Government said the extension would [...]
Figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed a severe fall UK car production. Car output fell 47.5% in December compared with a year earlier, with 53,823 cars produced. For the 2009 year as a whole, 1,446,619 cars were produced – a fall of 5.7% on the previous year. The [...]
Figures published by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association revealed a rise in European car sales of 16% for the month of December. However, on an annual basis, 2009 sales were down 1.6% compared with 2008, according to the Association. In order to boost the ailing car industry, many countries have implemented a scrappage scheme which [...]
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has today revealed sales of new cars grew by 38.9% in December 2009 compared with the same month in 2008, boosted by the Government’s scrappage scheme. The ‘cash for bangers’ scheme pays consumers £2,000 to get rid of their old cars and replace it with a more [...]
Figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed a rise in UK car production. Car output rose 15.7% in November compared with a year earlier – the first time car output rose since September 2008. According to the SMMT, there were 112,948 cars made in November and so far this [...]
Chinese state media has reported that annual car sales and production in China has accelerated and topped the 12 million mark to the end of November. In addition, the Xinhua News Agency reported that the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers expects car sales and production to exceed 13 million units for the full year. China [...]
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has today revealed sales of new cars grew by 57.6% in November compared with the same month in 2008, boosted by the Government’s scrappage scheme. November also represented the fifth consecutive monthly rise. July saw the first monthly rise, prior to that there were 15 successive months [...]
Last December, the Government cut the VAT rate from 17.5% to 15% in an attempt to boost spending. However, the rate is to revert back to the normal 17.5% level from 1 January 2010 but research shows that Britons are unaware and unprepared. Research from Auto Trader shows that 12 million Brits are unaware of [...]
Figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed a fall in UK car production. Car output declined 6.7% in October compared with a year ago, however, it was the smallest monthly drop this year. According to the SMMT, there were 106,400 cars made in October and so far this year, [...]
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has today revealed sales of new cars grew by 32% in October compared with the same month in 2008, boosted by the Government’s scrappage scheme. October also represented the fourth consecutive monthly rise. July saw the first monthly rise, prior to that there were 15 successive months [...]
Research from Sainsbury’s Finance has found that since the launch of the Government’s scrappage scheme in May, an estimated £61.2 million of personal loans per month have been taken out to purchase cars, compared with a monthly average of £44.7 million in 2009, prior to the scheme. The scheme, which pays consumers £2,000 to get [...]
The GfK economic research institute has revealed a fall in German consumer sentiment. According to the institute, a survey of around 2,000 individuals revealed a decline in confidence for the first time since September 2008, as a result of rising petrol prices and forecasts for higher unemployment. According to the institute, confidence dipped to 4.0 [...]
According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), UK car production fell 16% in September compared with the same month last year. However, the SMMT said it was the smallest fall for 12 months and was considerably less than the annual rate of fall of 31.5% reported in August. The SMMT attributed the [...]
The Commerce Department today revealed a fall in US retail sales for the month of September as the US Government’s Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), branded the “cash for clunkers” scheme ended. According to the organisation, retail sales in the world’s largest economy fell 1.5% on the month – the largest amount in 2009 to [...]
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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