News watch April 2011: today's auto industry news

Come to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hourFriday 28 April 2011• Due to UK royal wedding national public holidays, CAR Online news coverage will be reduced until CAR reopens on Tuesday 3 May (CAR)• The Saab financial situation continues to develop. Both the Swedish National Debt Office and General Motors are said to have given their approval for the proposed lease-back sale of Saab property to investor Vladimir Antonov.

Sturgess Jaguar is the Franchised Main Dealer of the Year 2013

The dealer experience can make or break your relationship with a car brand, so having a strong, high profile group of main dealers that offers not just a showroom full of cars, but staff who are knowledgeable, helpful and prepared to go the extra mile, makes the difference. So Jaguar will be suitably chuffed that not only did March see them deliver their best sales results ever but that one of their main dealers – Sturgess Jaguar in Leicester – has been named Franchised Main dealer of the year in the Motor Codes Garage of the Year Awards run by Motor Codes, a government-backed operator of codes of practice for the motor industry. Motor Codes had 11,500 garage users rate their experience of of customer service in garages across the UK, and Sturgess came out on top in the Main dealer Franchise gong thanks to its “transparent, customer-focused approach and its all-round efforts to accommodate all types of customer requirements”.

Subaru Impreza WRX STI A-Line released in Japan

To bring its flagship performance sedan to the masses, Subaru has released the Impreza WRX STI A-Line in Japan. The A-Line swaps-in a traditional five-speed automatic transmission with Sportshift in place of the six-speed manual. Paddle shifters and a blipping control system that automatically raise engine revs during downshifts are standard.