BRITAIN'S leading car manufacturers have been urged to bow to pressure from the fleet market and provide standard three-year/60,000-mile warranties on all their vehicles. The call, from Tony Leigh, chairman of the Association of Car Fleet Operators, comes after Peugeot announced it would be introducing 20,000-mile service intervals on cars.

Leigh said: 'If this becomes common, then the vehicle will only need three services in its fleet life, so why don't Peugeot provide warranties to cover it? The firm must know the car is capable of running that far or it would not have these intervals.' His appeal, following a similar call by Alan Pulham, director of the National Franchised Dealers Association, is the latest in a long campaign by the fleet industry, calling on manufacturers to introduce three-year warranties.

Company cars with one-year warranties cost fleets on average £143.35 more per vehicle in unreliability than those protected by a three-year/60,000-mile warranty, according to Fleet Management Services. Major fleet manufacturers such as Ford, Vauxhall, Rover, Renault, Peugeot and Citroen remain opposed.