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August 2000
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The BMW dealer network is to source all workshop consumables from Würth UK under an exclusive partnership agreement signed with the car importer. Approved supplier
status for Würth will give all 155 BMW dealers in the UK access
to more than 7,500 product lines providing a one-stop shop for all
hardware and materials used in servicing. (08/00) Unipart Launches new Servicing and Maintenance Scheme Unipart has announced the launch of AutoPlan, a new budget plan for motorists to be run through Unipart Car Care Centres. The scheme allows customers to spread the cost of vehicle servicing and maintenance evenly over a twelve month period. It can cover both work just completed and future costs including tyres, exhausts, clutches, batteries, MOTs and the Road Fund Licence. The cost of Autoplan will depend on the annual mileage covered by the car, the manufacturer's scheduled servicing requirements, and the other costs the motorist chooses to include. (08/00) Institutional Buy-Out of BBA Group Division HSBC Private Equity led and arranged the institutional buy-out of the automotive friction materials divisions of BBA Group plc. Total financing to complete the transaction was £487 million. Operating in 13 manufacturing facilities worldwide, the division employs over 3,600 people and is a leading manufacturer and supplier of friction materials used in braking systems for the automotive sector. (08/00) ArmorGroup Warns of Dangers of Counterfeit Car Parts Corporate Security specialists ArmorGroup have accused Government policy of encouraging the spread of potentially dangerous car parts. According to ArmorGroup, Kim Howells, Minister for consumer Affairs, has spoken in favour of parallel or grey market trading, whereby price differentials between countries enable the purchase of goods from cheaper markets such as Eastern Europe or the USA, to be sold on to UK retailers. The group claims that parallel trading will make fakes far more widely available by providing a route for counterfeits to saturate the major, trusted high street retailers. Competitors will start selling goods more cheaply, forcing the retailers to follow the same course and meaning customers can do little to guarantee the goods they purchase are genuine. (08/00) Tenneco Plant Wins Quality Award from Toyota Tenneco Automotive's
Walker exhaust plant in Burnley has been awarded with Toyota UK's
"Quality Along with four
other companies, Tenneco Automotive was selected from all Toyota's
UK suppliers for its 1999 performance in providing exhaust components.
It was particularly congratulated on its efforts to improve the quality
of its products, the plant, its layout and weld shop. (08/00) ArvinMeritor Begins Operations ArvinMeritor, Inc., the $7.5 billion global automotive supplier newly created by the merger of Arvin Industries, Inc. and Meritor Automotive, Inc., launched its operations on 10 July 2000 when its stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. ArvinMeritor's Chairman and CEO, Larry Yost, said that as well as benefiting from the new synergies created by the merger, over the next five years, he expected the size of the company to double The main goal of ArvinMeritor is to build upon the two merged companys' complementary product lines and technological expertise to become the premier global, single source provider of undercarriage systems and complete drive trains across the light and commercial vehicle industries. (08/00) Walker Recommends Exhaust Checks For Holiday Makers Exhaust manufacturer, Walker, has asked motorists to get their exhaust system and catalytic converter checked before driving off on holiday, otherwise they may run the risk of causing pollution and incurring higher fuel bills or even a breakdown. Damaged or failing catalytic converters or exhausts, which may not be detected until the car is next serviced, can cause all these problems.
Walker also reminds
motorists that the emissions from a neglected catalytic converter
can cause problems with the law as the Government is currently reviewing
a pilot programme in which seven local authorities carried out random
roadside emissions checks and issued fixed penalties where cars were
found to exceed the legal limits. (08/00) New Rally Car Replica for Valvoline Oil Co Valvoline Oil Company has introduced a new car to its company fleet, a replica of the Ford Focus World Rally car. Valvoline Motor Oils have been sponsor of the Ford WRC team for three years. The company's promotional car has so far been used at the Eagle One road show, promoting Valvoline's premium car care range. The car will be used for other marketing initiatives as well as the Rally of Great Britain in November. (08/00) |
Achievement Award". The presentation was made to Mike Richardson,
Commercial Manager, at Toyota's annual business meeting and supplier
award ceremony by Mizushima San, Managing Director of Toyota UK.
Walker
reports that problems with a catalytic converter can stem from a number
of causes: it may have been physically damaged, contaminated (usually
if lead fuel is used by mistake), or the monolith can melt down if
it comes into contact with unburned fuel when the car is run on empty,
push or tow started, or has a defect in the ignition or carburetion
system. In addition, the lambda sensor, which controls the air/fuel
mix, may have failed, causing the catalytic converter to operate inefficiently.