News - Page 1726

MERCEDES-Benz has regained its reputation in the power stakes by launching a new 3.7-litre V6 petrol version of the Vito which boasts a huge 231bhp and 254lb-ft of torque.

LDV has launched Maxus Additions Plus, a flexible aftersales care package for its new Maxus van.

FORD has dropped the price of the Ranger double-cab and super-cab 4x4 pick-up.

ALUVAN has launched FlexoVan, a new curtain-sider aluminium body for 3.5-tonne trucks.

AUSTRIAN firm Palfinger has acquired Ratcliff Tail Lifts, making it the largest European lift company.

A TOTAL of 123 of Peugeot’s 320 dealerships have enrolled as business centres, specialising in light commercial vehicles and fleet.

'UNDERSTANDING what buyers want is crucial when the market gets a little trickier.

BUYERS saw the first two-year-old vans from Royal Mail reach the used market at Manheim Mansfield in the second week of June. This coincided with the launch of the new shape Vauxhall Combo which at 20,000 miles and two years of age was making in the region of £3,000.

A LOW mileage van complete with a television history was the star of BCA’s light commercial sale at Blackbushe on Saturday, 25 June.

THERE are tough times ahead for sellers of 3.5-tonne gross vehicle weight vans, according to Glass’s Guide.

STEWART Whyte, director of the Association of Car Fleet Operators and a leading fleet consultant, sets out everything the van fleet operator needs to know about the coming alterations in benefit-in-kind tax for commercial vehicle drivers

ONE of the 64,000 dollar questions in the industry at present is: should fleets continue to buy vans that use alternative fuels?

BEING a commercial vehicle designer must be one of the world’s most frustrating jobs.

IT is not difficult to see why the 4x4 double cab market has been so successful in Britain in the past few years.

SEXUAL stereotypes aside, the commercial vehicle business has traditionally been very much a man’s world.

FORWARD control, or cab forward light trucks are something of a niche market in the UK, with just four companies, all of them Japanese, competing for a share. Japanese in name anyway, as most of these vehicles are built in southern Europe, where they are a common sight on the roads.

SINCE the post-election Queen’s speech, there has been an increased attention on the likelihood of the Corporate Manslaughter Bill finally happening – after years of being promised as the Government’s just around the corner solution to the work-related road safety problem.

COMPANY car drivers travelling across European borders could fall foul of the law by being ill-prepared for driving abroad.<P>

THE European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending E10 million to Hungarian vehicle lease company Merkantil Car for on-lending to small businesses seeking help for leases of up to E125,000.<P>

COMPANY car drivers negotiating their way through Bulgaria can now make use of a digital map of the country’s roads.<P>

A MOMENTOUS event occurred at Ford’s van plant in Southampton last week when the five millionth Ford Transit rolled off the production line.

LEASEPLAN UK’s managing director Kevin McNally has been promoted to regional senior vice-president of LeasePlan Corporation NV Group.

The New Passat, the car drivers want

RENAULT van sales are up more than 4% in the first half of this year over 2004.

WANT your drivers to be safer on the road? A quick check on the music they listen to while driving might help.

MG Rover finally has a new owner – Nanjing Automobile – and a potentially more certain future, but what does this mean for fleet operators? Phill Tromans reports

As Ford celebrates the 40th anniversary of its best-selling light commercial vehicle, Trevor Gelken looks at the story so far of a vehicle that has changed the face of British transport

New Transport Minister Dr Stephen Ladyman used to be a company car driver and thinks fleets are vital. Has the industry finally found a new best friend in Government? John Maslen finds out

Electricity supplier E.ON UK is powering a shift towards hybrid technology. Adele Burton talks to the latest Fleet News Environmental Star Award winner

SIR Bob Geldof has succeeded in bringing global issues into UK households, to the point where most schoolchildren could now probably tell you that there is a link between CO2 emissions and our changing climate