Fleet briefs: Latest news from SVA, Enterprise, VGroup, Europcar, BCA and Netradyne

Car club trial underway

Shetland’s first ever car club scheme is underway, a joint initiative between Shetland Islands Council and Enterprise Car Club, with the local authority and NHS set to use the service.

Eight vehicles - seven cars and one van - arrived earlier this month to kickstart the trial phase. Initially, the vehicles will be available in Lerwick, Scalloway, Levenwick, Brae and Walls, with potential to expand the scheme. 

The collaboration provides an opportunity to explore a new method of fleet management for the local authority. Selected council and NHS teams will have access to a car club membership allowing them to book the vehicles as part of their service delivery.

Information and experience gathered during the trial will be used to help the council understand how the car club model could operate in Shetland and, if successful, could be adopted further. 

Users will be able to access the vehicles by joining as an Enterprise Car Club member. They will be able to hire a vehicle by the hour or day, 24/7, on a first come first served basis using the Enterprise Car Club app. Membership options are also available for local businesses and other organisations.

The scheme offers a Surrogate Driver programme which allows a person with a disability to join Enterprise Car Club and add three additional surrogate drivers to their account at no additional cost.

Councillor Moraig Lyal, who chairs the council’s environment and transport committee, said: “The partnership with Enterprise Car Club opens up a lot of benefits when it comes to running such a scheme here in Shetland.

“If successful, this project can help make our own fleet management more efficient, while providing an easy and affordable way for people to access a car when they need it. We're looking forward to working with Enterprise Car Club to make this pilot a success.”

Dan Gursel, managing director of Enterprise Car Club, added: “We are delighted to be working with Shetland Islands Council to launch our car-sharing service to the islands. The pilot aims to showcase the potential of shared mobility to enable people to travel more sustainability and efficiently.

“By providing flexible and accessible vehicles, we aim to enhance transport for residents and local businesses across Shetland.”

Shoreham Vehicle Auctions raises £300,000 for charity

Shoreham Vehicle Auctions (SVA) raised £30,000 during its recent March charity auction week for the Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice (CTH), based in Arundel, West Sussex.

Two auctions were hosted by Shoreham during March - one car and one LCV auction - with south-coast dealers donating customer part exchange cars to auction off as well as making pledges to support families using CTH’s facilities. These include Yeomans Group, Peter Cooper Group, Tates Group, Hendy Group and Frosts4Cars.

This year is the 14th year of working with the charity during which time it has raised more than £300,000 with the help and support of car and van dealers across the south coast.

Alex Wright, SVA’s MD, said: “We are celebrating the warmth and generosity of the motor trade based on the south coast which has helped us pass the £300,000 mark. The auctions were a major success as our buyers and vendors have grown very fond of supporting such as great cause.”

Chestnut Tree House currently cares for around 300 children and young adults with life-limiting conditions and provides services including hydrotherapy and multi-sensory activities.

Becki Jupp, CEO from the Chestnut Tree House charity, said: “We are so proud to be working with Shoreham and the south coast motor industry.

“They have supported us consistently for over a decade and we really appreciate their backing. We would like to thank everyone that has helped raise money again for our charity in 2024.”

VGroup International achieves carbon neutral status

VGroup International has achieved carbon neutral status, marking a significant milestone in the industry's sustainability efforts.

The business says it has collaborated with more than 200 automotive companies, consistently raising industry standards, improving services and advancing environmental progress.

Debi Percival, group implementation manager at VGroup International, said: “While the road to carbon neutrality has been a 24-month endeavour, we didn’t start our journey yesterday.

“Our commitment to sustainability is a cornerstone of our ethos, embedded in every aspect of our operation.”

In 2017, its journey towards carbon neutrality began with the development of P1 Autocare, its flagship retail brand dedicated to reducing environmental impact through innovative solutions.

That same year, it launched its ‘Screenwash Pods’, eliminating traditional screen wash packaging.

This prevented more than 1 million kilogrammes of plastic waste and avoided the disposal of 200,000 five-litre plastic bottles in landfills, marking a commitment to achieving zero landfill.

In 2019, it expanded its sustainability efforts with the introduction of the Conscious Range, which offers 100% recyclability throughout its lifecycle.

VGroup continued its commitment to environmental stewardship with the launch of VLink Connected in 2020, a digital vehicle handover and assistance platform that reduces plastic and paper waste. Furthermore, in 2021, it introduced plastic-free number plates.

Europcar saves 76,000kg of CO2 with recycled parts

Europcar Mobility Group UK saved just over 76,000 kilogrammes of CO2 through recycling salvaged vehicle parts from its rental and company car fleet in 2023.

This was a significant increase on the 43,000kg saved in 2022.

Last year, car doors were the most common of the 1,409 recycled parts sold.

The salvage and reuse of recycled parts saw Europcar avoid the equivalent amount of CO2 emitted to charge 9.2 million mobile phones.

The 76,000kg of CO2 saved is also the equivalent of using 176 barrels of oil or 8,553 gallons of petrol.

Europcar’s repair department was an early adopter of the use of recycled parts for repair, having started using salvaged parts in 2017. 

It has a robust process where recycled parts are always first choice, with a fully committed network of BS10125 approved Tier A repairers, de-fleet centres and approved mechanical repair suppliers. 

Mark Newberry, commercial director and sustainability spokesperson at Europcar Mobility Group UK, said: “At Europcar we are committed to reducing our environmental impact, not just through the introduction of low and zero emissions vehicles on our fleet, we’re also looking inwardly to identify the best ways to make a difference through changes to our own operations.

“Re-using and reselling salvaged parts from our vehicles is an important action that is helping us reach our sustainability goals.” 

Parts salvaged from the Europcar UK fleet are carefully scrutinised for condition before being reused in other vehicles in the fleet.

Newberry continued: “As well as helping us to reduce our impact on the environment, utilising recycled parts is also helping us reduce vehicle downtime for repairs.

“Orders for parts from manufacturers have been experiencing delays for the past few years, leaving vehicles off road, sometimes waiting many months for replacement parts to be delivered.

“Using salvaged parts has allowed us to reduce these delays and minimise the impact on fleet availability.”

BCA renews five-year deal with BMW and launches new image download service

BCA has renewed its auto services solutions contract with BMW Group UK, which includes its specialist leasing business, Alphabet, for a further five years.  

The contract award takes the partnership between the BMW Group and BCA to 10 years.

The renewal will see BCA continue to provide used vehicle solutions from pre-defleet sales, inspection and collection, and remarketing services for Alphabet and BMW.  

It means BCA will continue to be the exclusive remarketing, inspect and collect and driver sales partner for BMW and Alphabet and represents one of the largest remarketing contracts BCA has signed in its history.

BCA has also retained logistics coordination services and vehicle distribution centre customer support services (including company car handovers and inspections), together with the award of the customer experience programme fleet services.

Matt Bristow, BCA’s UK commercial director, said: “This important contract renewal to provide the used vehicle supply chain for BMW and Alphabet underlines the trust in BCA to represent the BMW brand values across a range of key, highly significant, touchpoints to internal and external customers and stakeholders.”

At the same time, BCA has introduced a new image downloads service, meaning buyers can access high-quality images immediately upon completion of purchase.

The new feature enables BCA buyers to showcase their inventory to their customers as soon as possible, using a selection of non-branded, multi-viewpoint images of the actual vehicle including cabin interiors and other details. 

The service is accessed via the MyBCA dashboard and customers can quickly view the status of their purchases and download the images, as well as making delivery arrangements via click and collect, which enables buyers to collect vehicles from all BCA locations or request a delivery booking for eligible vehicles.

Stuart Pearson, BCA’s chief operating officer, said: “This latest enhancement to the MyBCA dashboard will drive further efficiencies for our customers and continues to make it even easier to do business with BCA.”  

Netradyne scales up in the UK with new partnership

Netradyne, a specialist in artificial intelligence (AI) technology for fleet and driver safety, has announced its expansion into the UK market.

The company has partnered with Intelex, a provider of aftermarket vehicle safety solutions based in Birmingham. 

Driver-i, the company’s vision-based safety camera system, uses AI, machine learning, and edge computing to improve driving standards for commercial vehicles.

Through the integration of Driver-i with Fleetly, logistics organisations will gain access to a holistic vehicle safety solution that amalgamates telematics, video analytics, AI-powered insights, walkaround checks, vehicle diagnostics, and tachograph live with remote downloads.

“By combining Netradyne’s industry-leading Driver-i with Intelex's Fleetly platform, we are confident in delivering improved driver safety and fleet management efficiency to UK fleet operators,” said Durgadutt Nedungadi, senior vice-president for international business at Netradyne,

“GreenZone, our unique driver scoring system based on positive reinforcement, provides a holistic view of entire fleet and drivers while motivating drivers to adopt defensive driving practices, ultimately making UK roads safer for everyone.”

Mallesh Cheekoti, managing director at Intelex Systems, added: “This partnership represents our shared commitment to providing cutting-edge technology that enhances safety and efficiency for fleets of all sizes. We aim to set new vehicle safety and fleet management standards for the UK market.”