News - Page 1309

Vauxhall will launch its all-new Movano van in the UK in May, with prices starting at £21,660 ex-VAT.

Fleet management software company Jaama has won its eighth Institute of Transport Management award.

KLM Equipment Services has appointed Mycompanyfleet to provide the fleet management systems to manage its fleet of 2,500 vehicles and equipment at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

Mazda is looking to double its sales into Motability this year, viewing it as a "good strategic channel" and an opportunity to provide its retail network with a source of high quality used stock. The carmaker is also returning to short term rental on guaranteed buy-back deals after a two-year absense.

Legislators should stop concerning themselves with ever-increasing emissions restrictions and do more to support alternatively-fuelled vehicles if it wants to help the environment, according to a boss at Italian commercial vehicle manufacturer Iveco.

Government proposals to introduce vocational driving qualifications for at-work drivers have been unanimously backed by some of Britain’s most safety-focused fleets.

The Ford Mondeo is the most popular fleet car, according to recent poll from FleetDirectory.co.uk.

GE Capital’s Key Solutions team has claimed it identified £30 million in cost savings for its UK customers in 2009.

Manchester-based Equalease says that fleet managers are starting to wake up to the potential of medium term leasing and car clubs.

Nokia has announced plans to make walk and drive navigation free on its smartphones as part of a new version of Ovi Maps, available for download at www.nokia.com/maps.

Road safety charity Brake and Direct Line Insurance have presented ‘Parliamentarian of the Year’ awards to MPs Meg Munn, for her national road safety achievements, and Richard Spring, for championing road safety in his constituency.

TRL has announced it will be providing managers, who have responsibility for their company’s driving policy, with an insight into the root cause of work related driving risk, the strategies behind managing this risk and the tools to deliver change.

Cybit Holdings, which provides telematics services and software to fleets, has been acquired by private equity company Francisco Partners, which specialises in buying technology firms.

Electricity company Western Power Distribution (WPD) is greening its fleet after switching some of its service and maintenance vans to battery power.

Tracker is launching a new online traffic and travel service after seeing a 32% reduction on journeys by business drivers.

Streetcar has launched a Streetcar app that allows users across the UK to locate, book and even open a car using their iPhone or iPod touch.

IAM Fleet and Drive & Survive have issued advice on how to deal with potholes estimated to cost motorists £320 million every year.

Pecan CCTV has launched Vu-Box – a satellite navigation-sized two-channel digital data recorder for video and audio using GPS technology.

Theo Kortland is the new managing director of remarketing company GRS and will report to previous MD Kerry Finnon in his role as the chief executive of Greenhous Remarketing.

CAP has set the Nissan Cube’s residual value prediction at 45%, with the carmaker claiming its unique design is the key to its predicted performance.

Kwik-Fit Fleet has reported record sales with a 10.4% rise in 2009 - up to £203.6 million from £184.4m in 2008 - due to MoTs on company cars and vans increasing 89.7% year-on-year and fleet vehicle servicing rising 54.2%.

HSBC has withdrawn from the vehicle finance business after four years of offering the service to its business customers through Lex (now Lex Autolease).

Wilsons Auctions has doubled capacity at its centres in Telford and Queensferry in Wales following the closure of its operations at Bruntingthorpe in the midlands.

Following yesterday's statement for its workers to adopt a winning attitude, GM has confirmed that it will close its manufacturing plant in Antwerp, Belgium, effectively laying off hundreds of workers.

It takes years to build a strong brand image, but it can be destroyed by a single act. Just ask jewellery tycoon Gerald Ratner.

The Labour Government has made multi-million pound commitments to ensure fleets adopt electric vehicles. However, it is unlikely this subsidy will remain if there is a change of Government.

DriveTech is now officially known as AA DriveTech and recently moved into its own floor of the AA’s headquarters, Fanum House in Basingstoke.

Thirty accident repair centres have come together under a new affinity group promising to provide fleet operators with unrivalled levels of service and quality.

The UK’s largest utility company has reduced its accident frequency by a third.

Three-quarters of fleets expect their costs to increase this year, according to a Fleet News poll.