Rolls-Royce banking on bespoke cars to attract super-rich July 23, 2025 Wealthy buyers seeking to personalise their new Rolls-Royce helped boost the luxury car brand’s profit in 2024 despite falling sales. The Hampshire-based business, which is owned by BMW, said its bespoke service reached a record level last year with a 10 per cent increase on average per car year-on-year. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars added the rise [...]
Electric vehicle grants return, but most buyers will miss out July 16, 2025 The UK government has reintroduced grants for electric vehicles (EVs) in a bid to boost lagging consumer demand, but industry insiders warn that most buyers may be left behind. Unveiled late last week, the new electric car grant will offer up to £3,750 off the price of a new EV, targeting models priced under £37,000 [...]
Lloyds Bank-owned firm slumps into the red after huge profits July 15, 2025 Lex Autolease, the car leasing company owned by Lloyds Bank, has fallen into the red two years after posting a profit of more than £500m. The firm, which is headquartered in London, has reported a pre-tax loss of £10.6m for 2024, according to new accounts filed with Companies House. The total comes after the business achieved [...]
Tesla shares slide after Musk plots new political party in latest Trump snub July 7, 2025 Tesla has once again lost its status as a trillion-dollar company after the EV-maker’s stock slid on Monday on the back of CEO Elon Musk’s plans to launch a new US political party. Shares in the Nasdaq-listed business fell as much as 7.5 per cent in the opening minutes of trade in New York, giving [...]
Arnold Clark counts the cost of Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes July 1, 2025 Car dealership giant Arnold Clark has revealed the tax hikes announced by Rachel Reeves in her first Budget as Chancellor will cost it an extra £30m a year. The Glasgow-headquartered group said the increase in employer’s National Insurance contributions and the rise in the National Minimum Wage will mainly be responsible for the rise. Arnold [...]
Aston Martin tariff hit sinks UK car output to 76-year low June 27, 2025 UK car production plunged to its lowest level since 1949 last month, as Aston Martin and other British carmakers halted exports to the United States amid president Donald Trump’s escalating trade war. Data released on Friday by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) found that UK factories turned out just 49,810 cars and [...]
Motorway CEO: How I built my $1bn empire after a huge failure June 16, 2025 The co-founder and chief executive of used car marketplace Motorway has opened up about how he helped to build a $1bn empire from scratch following the biggest failure of his career. On an up-coming episode of City AM’s Boardroom Uncovered show, Tom Leathes also revealed how he and his fellow founders landed on the car [...]
Volvo issues warning despite record UK sales June 11, 2025 Volvo has issued a warning despite its UK sales surging to more than £2bn and its profit almost quadrupling in 2024. The division of the Swedish car-making giant, which is headquartered in Berkshire, has reported a revenue of £2.3bn for its latest financial year, up from the £1.7bn it achieved in 2023. New accounts filed [...]
Reeves’ tax raids and tariff woes strain UK manufacturers June 2, 2025 British manufacturers continued to struggle in May, despite a surprise minor uptick, as tax hikes and tariffs weighed on firms. S&P Global’s latest PMI survey, which asks around 600 industrial companies about their performance, revealed manufacturers were still battling a tirade of challenges. The latest figure edged up to 46.4 in May, compared to 45.4 [...]
Auto Trader: FTSE 100 giant passes major milestone as profit jumps May 29, 2025 Sales at FTSE 100 giant Auto Trader have accelerated past a major milestone as its profit increased during its latest financial year as it defied a year of high interest rates and economic uncertainty. The Manchester-headquartered group has posted a revenue of £601.1m for the 12 months to 31 March, 2025, according to new figures [...]