The motoring industry steers towards getting connected

As technology develops and more and more people get ‘connected’ motoring manufacturers are developing their vehicles to keep up with this growing trend as SIM cards are introduced to cars.

With the introduction of a simple SIM card that will be inserted into the car, in the not too distant future drivers will receive help in terms of traffic jams, car crashes and breakdowns.

Using satellites cars will be able to monitor where other cars are in a bid to avoid congestion and shorten the journey for drivers. It will also allow the car to contact the police or emergency services in the event of an accident or breakdown.

When looking for a parking space the car will be able to tell you what car park has more spaces as well as directing you to an empty space.

Concierge services will help you find the nearest restaurant and after the meal help you catch the next film by telling you the cinema times.

Companies such as BMW have already started fitting 3G SIM cards into the cars that have been in production since April. By 2018 it is believed that 36 Million cars will be embedded with a SIM card.

One of the main factors that pushed this revival is the EU’s eCall legislation that is due to be in place by early 2018. Where by in the event of a car crash the car must automatically contact the customer services.

A survey produced by Management Consultant McKinsey found that 27% of iPhone users would change their car if an alternative offered greater connection. This may cause a problem for manufactures as they will have to keep up to date with the ever changing technological market.

The negative comments towards this move include hat drivers will have even more distractions. Tell us what you think by tweeting us  @motoranswering

Self-driving cars are steering their way on to public roads!

The department of transport had predicted that self-driving cars would be allowed to drive on public roads by the end of 2013.

Although it may be a year later the prediction may about to become true.

With the Government announcing that they will be allowed on public roads on January next year, Vince Cable the Business sectary had this to say

“This announcement will see driver-less cars take to our streets in less than six months, putting us at the forefront of this transformational technology and opening up new opportunities for our economy and society,”

This is great news for the UK as companies in the US and other countries have been adapting this idea for a few years. Google’s self-driving car has done more that 300,000 miles in California alone.

It is believed that in the long term the cars will be safer as human mistakes will be eliminated from the roads, more fuel efficient and help with congestion as all of the cars will be in sync with each other.

Experts believe that the cars will be used for businesses such as airports when travelers need to be transported to and from terminals or aircraft.  have to It all sounds too good to be true however it is believed that people will not be able to purchase on of these cars in this decade so fingers crossed for next.

John Clark Motor Group breaking records for the fourth year in a row

The John Clark Motor group, that operates over 21 car dealerships in Scotland, have achieved over 200,000 sales, beating all targets since they were first founded.

The latest figures highlighted an operating profit before interest of £8.9m which is up from £5.7m from 2012.
The sales of New vehicles was 11,101 units a 31% increase from previous years. There was a further 27% increase in the sale of used vehicles with a total of 9,023 units sold.

Along with these admirable sales and increases the Motor Group also introduced two more Land-rover dealerships one in Cupar and Perth in Scotland. Jaguar was also welcomed to the John Clark Motor Group as they also opened two dealerships in Edinburgh and Perth.

John Clark the chairman and managing director is thrilled with the results of the year and has expressed his delight,

“2013 was another strong year for the company, to have had our fourth record-breaking results in a row shows what an outstanding team we have.Our focus remains on providing the best customer experience alongside our premium franchise offering, illustrated by our ongoing investment across the group in both our facilities and our staff.
One of the highlights of 2013 was the acquisition of the new dealerships, and I am pleased to say that all four are making good progress and are generating results which are well ahead of expectations.” (source)

John Clark also expressed his plans for the future of the motor group sharing the knowledge that,

‘In addition we have invested in our existing franchises with the development of new showrooms for Nissan, Mini, Skoda and Seat in Aberdeen, as well as expanding our Volkswagen dealership in Kirkcaldy.

“Looking to the future, we have further plans to refurbish a number of our other dealerships including Dundee Audi and Volkswagen Aberdeen in the next 12-18 months. All of this continues to improve the customer experience we offer.” (source)

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