News - Page 2122

A LEADING motoring services company is urging company car drivers to stop using washing-up liquid as an alternative to screen wash.

BP Lubricants is looking for a high-mileage 100-plus car and van fleet to take part in a six-month running costs study of synthetic oils. The test participant, which must currently use mineral oil, would have its vehicles drained down and replaced with BP's Visco 7000.

Kazakhstan and Kuwait will have safer roads following two separate contracts secured by IAM Fleet. In Kazakhstan, an IAM fleet trainer is starting a six-week stint and running a 'train the trainer' module for Karachaganak Petroleum.

TWO leading contract hire firms are showing their commitment to career development by investing thousands of pounds into specialist training.

ADVANCED Claims Management has been appointed by ICI to handle claims and accident management for 31 subsidiaries and 2,000 UK-based vehicles. ACM will provide incident reporting to repair authorisation using its own engineering department and approved repairer network and third party claims.

INSURANCE provider Chubb Europe has handed over its 120-vehicle fleet to Lease Plan UK as part of a sale and leaseback agreement. The contract for Chubb Europe's UK operation will be funded under Lease Plan's actual cost motoring product, Open Calculation, and includes full maintenance with direct driver contact between Chubb Europe's drivers and Lease Plan, breakdown and recovery through LPAssist and accident management.

MONDIAL Assistance is to handle IM Group's new Subaru Proven and Isuzu Assured warranties for used cars with less than 60,000 miles and under six years old.

FLEETS face two years of disposals misery as the crisis of confidence in used car values deepens with a new survey revealing the UK has the lowest residual values in Europe. Residual values as a percentage of the original price of the car have slumped 3% in the last three months in the UK, offsetting much of the benefit from price cuts launched by manufacturers.

VAUXHALL is to launch 20,000-mile one-year service intervals throughout its range in a move that could slash fleet servicing costs by thousands of pounds. The move towards extended intervals, for both petrol and diesel engines, will be pioneered in the new Corsa in October.

AUDI will this month export 80 company cars from its German fleet to France in a pilot cross-border remarketing initiative, <I>reports the September issue of Fleet News Europe</I>. The cars are all Audi ex-management vehicles, and will be offered to Audi's French dealer network at a closed auction.

NEW proposals from the Council of the European Union will force company car drivers to pay financial penalties for motoring offences committed anywhere within the EU, <I>reports the September issue of Fleet News Europe</I>.The Council has called for the establishment of an international cooperation agreement between Member States to ensure the pursuit of road traffic infractions and the enforcement of fines.

THE new director-general of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association will be John Lewis, operations director of debis Car Fleet Management. Lewis will take the post at the start of next month, replacing Norman Donkin, who will remain for a month to ensure a smooth handover before stepping down.

INFLATIONARY pressures are forcing up the price of car rental across Europe, <I>reports the September issue of Fleet News Europe</I>. Last month Hertz announced plans to increase the rate in the US and executives have now confirmed price rises for some of its European markets.

INTERLEASING has awarded one of the biggest corporate breakdown recovery deals in the fleet business to the AA. The service includes European cover through the AA's 5 star Europe package and a dedicated telephone line for drivers.

FLEET bosses could face rocketing car insurance costs within a year if predictions that premiums are to rise by 25% become a reality - increasing demands for fleets to invest in driver training to cut accidents.

BMW and Audi are 'reviewing the situation' after fellow German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz became the first volume prestige marque to cut its official list prices by between 9% and 20%.

THE alternative fuel industry has hit back at research which suggests gas-powered vehicles could be more of a health hazard than diesel. After comparing diesel and natural gas vehicles, Harvard University Centre for Risk Analysis in America suggests vehicles powered by gas could produce high levels of ultra-fine particulates.

BRITISH Car Auctions has begun a series of live online auctions with Vauxhall, where buyers on the internet compete with bidders in the auction hall. In the first sale of its kind for cars, 11 UK Vauxhall dealers competed online with 66 registered buyers in the BCA auction hall at Blackbushe, Surrey.

FLEET managers are being urged not to delete sunroofs from options lists in cars fitted with air conditioning following a study which claims the combination of the two improves driver safety.

BUSINESSES are throwing away thousands of pounds a year because they refuse to spend the equivalent to the price of a tyre on training for their fleet managers. In a blistering attack on the complacent attitude of industry towards the role, Fleet Audits claims fleet managers are being starved of skills because their bosses cannot see past the end of their chequebooks.

ON-the-spot investigation teams are being deployed as part of a £2million Government scheme to research road accidents. Air accident-style investigators will be looking out for information on training and experience of drivers involved in accidents to use in their research.

NATIONAL Car Rental has opened an in-terminal branch at Stansted Airport, which is currently undergoing a £200 million expansion to increase passenger capacity from 10 million to 15 million a year.

ROVER is to enter a team of Lola-prepared MG cars into next year's Le Mans 24-hour endurance race. It will mark MG's return to the French classic after an absence of 36 years.

THE Highways Agency has introduced a £4 million ramp metering system at six junctions along the M3 and M27 around Southampton to reduce bottlenecks and reduce the risk of accidents for drivers entering motorways from slip roads.

Axial UK has invested £1million in a new vehicle pre-delivery inspection (PDI) and enhancement centre at Tynedock in the north east. The purpose-built 1,700sq m facility is near Nissan's vehicle compound and close to the new Tynedock railhead.

THE Civil Service Motoring Association has called a halt to a trouble-hit partnership with debis Car Fleet Management that offered its 345,000 members discounts on new cars and access to cheap finance. About 60,000 members a year buy a new car via the association's scheme - but the service has been stopped after a string of problems.

A FUEL cell vehicle fitted with a fuel processor to convert petrol into hydrogen is to go on trial early in 2002. The system, which could be in fleet cars by 2010, has been developed by General Motors and ExxonMobil Corporation.

FEWER than 4,000 vehicles in Britain are thought to be affected by the Mitsubishi Motors announcement of a recall campaign for 620,000 cars and trucks worldwide.

BRITAIN'S top executive saloon comes has two new versions from this week as Jaguar launches an ambitious bid for more boardroom business.

INDEPENDENT daily rental firms struggling to compete against large companies are being targeted in a 'big brother' venture by Flightform - the UK licensing arm of Thrifty Car Rental. Vehicle Rental Services is offering to supply rental products and services to small operators without the franchisee norm of loss of business identity and independent branding.