A NEW television channel designed specifically for the automotive trade - including the fleet industry - is to be launched by British Sky Broadcasting. The Automotive Channel will start broadcasting on September 28 with coverage of the Paris Motor Show.

The channel is being launched following two years of research and is based on the United States of America's automotive industry's business-to-business television networks.

Its launch has already been publicly endorsed by organisations including the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and the Retail Motor Industry Federation and other organisations with which BSkyB has talked, including the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association.

Iain Holden, BSkyB's commercial marketing director, said: 'This is a channel for the whole automotive trade - manufacturers, dealers, leasing companies and fleet buyers.'

BSkyB says the channel will serve as 'a platform for industry-wide communication'. It will broadcast news, analysis, market information and training programmes via Sky Digital from 8.30am to 1.30pm each weekday.

The subscription-based service's target audience is manufacturers, dealers, independent motor traders, component suppliers, service organisations and trade associations. In addition a complementary website will allow viewers, including fleet chiefs, to interact with programmes and obtain programme and training notes.

Broadcasting from Hayes in Middlesex, launch programmes include 'Marketwatch' which, among other issues, will provide an insight into key industry issues including the fleet and corporate markets.