News - Page 2075

FLEET managers can now get the latest vehicle emissions figures through the relaunched Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders' web-based CO2 information service.

VEHICLE hire firm Ryder has become the official van supplier to the Special Olympics UK Summer Games in Cardiff this year.

Arval PHH has opened a new £2.5 million office in Manchester, as part of a £4 million investment in its commercial vehicle operation.

RAC Business Services is promising a better service for fleets after unveiling a £10 million new centre of operations in Stretford, Manchester.

DRUG sales force provider Ashfield Healthcare has taken delivery of its 500th Toyota in under two years. The company, based in Ashby de la Zouch, employs 600 salespeople, and supplies mobile sales teams to pharmaceutical companies.

WINDOW manufacturer BAC Windows and Doors is replacing its fleet of 87 Iveco Daily vans over the next two years with Iveco's newer model.

NON-fault accident assistance firm 3 Arrows has assumed a new corporate image in a bid to modernise and move on from the high profile confrontations between credit hire companies and insurance firms of recent years.

INCHCAPE has called in outside experts to inspect vehicles at its Burton on Trent remarketing centre in an attempt to improve residual values on its ex-lease cars.

FLEETS can expect to do business with a new-look Mercedes-Benz sales network from spring next year after dealers ended their dispute with DaimlerChrysler over plans to restructure its UK sales network.

SAAB will introduce 'one new model every year', including a sport utility vehicle, over the next few years as it broadens its range to boost sales.

THE Police Complaints Authority has demanded better driver training and black boxes across all police forces in a bid to stem the flood of fatalities involving police pursuits.

SUPERMARKET giant J Sainsbury has denied that it plans to move into car retailing, despite launching two in-store initiatives to promote Drive, the personal motoring scheme run by Sainsbury Bank.

IN the motor industry the word 'bumping' means different things to different people. For as long as I can remember the trade has been adjusting figures on new and used car invoices, a process once called 'VAT tricking' but now known as 'bumping'.

MG Rover is on track to break even next year after recording losses of £254m for the eight months to December 31 last year.

FLEET managers are being invited to free seminars on 'green fleet management', set up by the Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme.

THE paperless office is a realistic target for fleet managers if they use technology to help themselves, according to an award-winning fleet manager.

FORD is keeping tight-lipped about the prospect of Euro IV compliant diesels as it unveils more details on plans for a state-of-the-art Diesel Business Centre at Dagenham.

MAYOR of London Ken Livingstone has announced that fleet operators will be able to set up accounts to pay for congestion charging in the capital.

A DIRECTOR of a multi-million pound construction company has handed over the keys to his £50,000 Mercedes-Benz for a Citroen Berlingo van to slash his company car tax bill.

BUSINESS travel could be revolutionised by 2003 as the Government plans to introduce a direct booking and information system.

TAX-conscious employers are heeding the Government's environmental call by buying lower emission company cars.

UK employers could give key staff their company cars in lieu of an annual bonus to help drivers escape sharp rises in their benefit-in-kind tax.

THE new Government wants to encourage UK van fleets to switch from diesel to gas-powered vehicles and has reassured fleets that alternatively-fuelled vehicles have a long-term future.

Striking looks are not the only thing to make the Multipla stand out. It is also a great drive, as Simon Harris reports

BRITISH drivers who whinge about paying the highest tax in Europe are mistaken, according to a new report.

CAR distribution company Richard Lawson Autologistics has launched a new division that will deliver cars with the same punctuality as parcel delivery firms deliver packages.

VOLVO is promising a wider range of smaller products when its S40 and V40 range is replaced in 2003.

EVIDENCE is emerging that low mileage company car drivers who gave up the perk for a cash alternative are being attracted back to company-funded vehicles.

CHRYSLER is offering UK buyers the successful Sebring Cabrio this summer as an alternative to established upmarket convertibles from BMW, Saab and Volvo.

FIRST National Vehicle Holdings (FNVH) has supplied 80 cars to the courtesy fleet of independent bodyshop, M&M Vehicle Repairs, in Staffordshire.