CAR dealers are being put under "unreasonable" pressures by car manufacturers, according to the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI).

Matthew Carrington, the chief executive of RMI, was commenting on the publication of the Trade and Industry Committee's House of Commons report into the UK Automotive Industry in 2004.

He said: "Independent garages and franchised car dealers are still subject to excessive demands made by car manufacturers, but the need for change has now been highlighted by the Trade and Industry Select Committee.

"Despite changes to the way car sales and servicing are governed brought in by the new Block Exemption regulation, the report finds that both independents and franchised dealers are still being put under unreasonable cost pressures. These changes were supposed to offer more freedom for businesses to offer consumers a better deal, but in reality little has changed.

"The report agrees with the RMI view that for independents and franchised dealers the costs incurred via conforming with manufacturer authorised repairer criteria are too high, and the levels of corporate branding required unnecessarily strict."

"The challenges provided by the new Regulation were more than enough, so the manufacturers should not add to them."