News - Page 2029

THE two-plate registration system means used cars age at 'twice the speed', according to Glass's Information Services.

VOLVO is planning a new initiative to encourage dealers to buy high-mileage ex-fleet cars and help prop up residual values.

A NEW programme offering used MINIs at dealerships throughout the country, called MINI Cherished, launches this month.

HPI, the independent used vehicle information service, has won a solus deal with Honda to provide online vehicle checks to support the Honda Approved Used Car Programme.

THE Peugeot 307 has made its BCA debut in a series of special sales during February at Measham, Brighouse, Nottingham and Bridgwater, and achieved an average of 86.6% of list price.

CHRISTOPHER Macgowan, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, has warned that moves towards supermarket-style, multi-franchise new car retailing will lead to customers getting a worse deal.

VAN fleets of 25 or more vehicles will pay 10% higher congestion charges in London than other vehicle owners when the capital introduces the scheme next year.

Should operating a dangerous piece of machinery, often in extreme conditions, for many hours a week require special qualifications? That is the question that often confronts the fleet industry, particularly in regard to drivers doing high mileages on company business.

THE AA has challenged the entire foundations of the Government's transport investment policy, claiming that money targeted at the railways would be better spent on the roads.

UP to 300,000 company car drivers could be driving vehicles fitted with unsafe and potentially illegal tyres.

HUNDREDS of company finance directors and their managing directors have yet to assess the impact of the new company car tax regime on their firm's finances, which is launched in just four weeks.

LIVERPOOL Football Club employees will never 'walk alone' in future. They will be driving in their plush new Jaguars instead.

THE latest winners of the Fleet News/ATS Euromaster Rugby Challenge, Becky Cope and Rob Jackson, enjoyed another classic Six Nations match last weekend as Wales beat Italy by 44 points to 20.

NEW research has put the Saab 9-3 and 9-5 among the best performing vehicles in their sector for crash safety.

ALL new Land Rover models will be offered with an unlimited mileage warranty in the UK replacing the previous 60,000-mile cover.

DRIVER training company Creative Training has made its Highway Code knowledge test available free on the internet for fleet drivers. The test is the same one that Warwickshire Police used on its 'Fleetsafe' presentations to companies.

AUTOGLASS is launching its 2002 Fantasy Formula One championship on March 4 and staff at fleet companies are invited to knock Michael Schumacher off pole position.

MORE than a third of fleets would consider accepting adverts on company cars in order to dramatically cut their leasing costs, new research has revealed.

STABLE used car values meant strong financial results for the leasing and fleet management arms of automotive services group Inchcape.

A 'phantom menace' is responsible for a huge number of accidents involving company cars as employees insist that they cannot identify the other driver involved in the incident.

TOYOTA launched its diesel Yaris this week to join the growing ranks of ultra-economical diesel superminis.

A MAJOR UK fleet has backed the Government's call to embrace alternative fuels by converting 270 vehicles to run on liquefied petroleum gas and saving millions of pounds.

VOLKSWAGEN has cut on-the-road prices for certain Golf models.

THE Government has pledged that it has no intention of imposing road tolls, following a controversial report that suggested cars should pay to use roads on a mile-by-mile basis.

GLOBAL courier giant DHL is currently sourcing suppliers for its perk company cars.

THE RAC Foundation is asking fleet managers to impress on their drivers the dangers of driving in the wet after research found that more than a third of all collisions are happening when it rains.

Dixon Motors plc today posted record results for 2001, with pre-tax profit up 54.9% to £12.06m on turnover up 16.4% to £817m.

Fiat Auto UK is confidently predicting Stilo sales of 32,000 this year, up 60% on the 1996 peak achieved by the Brava/Bravo models. It goes on sale this month.

Preventative medicine has a far better track record in ensuring good health than surgery, so last week Fleet News held two regional fleet Healthchecks, one at the Belfry and one at Wentworth. The events provided a practical checklist for fleet decision-makers to ensure they have covered all the bases in the key elements of fleet management. Jonathan Manning reports.

THE basic, traditional elements of core fleet management have a major role to play in ensuring and improving fleet driver safety.