AUTOMOTIVE Solutions Group, which combines eight Australian 4WD retailers, accessory manufacturers and specialist service businesses, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange last week. Its $1 shares are now trading at $0.91. The company competes with another listed business, 4WD equipment manufacturer ARB Ltd.

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AP Eagers major shareholder Nick Politis must know a good thing when he sees it. He has increased his shareholding in the automotive retailer to a shade over 22 per cent after spending $3.1 million this year accumulating AP Eagers shares. The next main shareholder is Automotive Holdings Group with 19.9 per cent.

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CAR manufacturing in the UK is on the rise with almost 170,000 vehicles produced in the month of November. Engine production is also up by 36.1 per cent in November and the 11 months of the year have produced 2.4 million units. It is a record for the engine production and the first time the monthly car production figure has been reached since 1999. This year to date, the UK has exported 1.3 million vehicles.

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HONDA Motor Company has just produced its 100 million vehicle. It started automobile production in 1963 with the T360 mini-truck and the S500 sports car. A year later it built its car factory which then produced the S600 roadster. Honda now has 34 automobile production facilities on five continents.

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CARMAX, the biggest used-car retailer in the US, has reported a 6.6 per cent increase in net earnings to $US136.6 million ($A189.7 million) in the third quarter of the year. Net revenue rose 4.4 per cent to $US3.7 billion compared with the same period in 2015 on the back of rising used-car sales that lifted 9.1 per cent. CarMax said the increase was driven in part by a new website design that made it easier for customers to buy.

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SUBARU has made one-million cars with its drive assist system EyeSight, reaching the figure eight years and seven months after the system was first launched in Japan in May 2008. It was the first system in the world to use solely stereo camera technology for features including pre-collision braking, adaptive cruise control and the ability to detect and identify cars, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists in the vehicle’s path. Based on data from Japan’s Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis, Subaru vehicles with EyeSight had 61 per cent fewer accidents resulting in death or injury per 10,000 vehicles, than those without the system. In vehicle-to-vehicle accidents, they also had 84 per cent fewer rear-end collisions.

By Neil Dowling