News - Page 2123

RENAULT UK has outsourced the supply of courtesy cars for its 263 dealerships to Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Renault customers are entitled to a courtesy car if any repair job takes longer than three hours.

CREDIT hire firm Auto Indemnity has side-stepped a bitter row between the industry and insurers to clinch a contract with the UK's largest direct insurer, Direct Line. The agreement will see Direct Line refer customers involved in accidents to Auto Indemnity and has prompted the accident management company to call for a 'culture of co-operation and not confrontation' between the industries.

ROVER says it will not sign a partner to develop a platform for future models until at least the New Year. That does not mean Malaysian car manufacturer Proton, which owns Lotus and which was said to have been in talks with Rover, is ruled out, but the Birmingham-based manufacturer says it has other priorities.

FLEET managers have another chance to become football managers as the third Autoglass fantasy football league kicks off. Fielding a team is free, but all entrants are invited to make a contribution to the charity SPARKS, which raises funds through sporting events for medical research into children's illnesses - and Autoglass will match every pledge pound for pound.

RESTRUCTURING in UK car factories has been blamed for a 15.5% drop in production for home and export markets. Office for National Statistics figures show the numbers of cars built in Britain in July fell to 121,405 units (143,731 July 1999).

MERCEDES Benz has triggered a round of car price-cutting in the luxury car sector after slashing new car prices across its range by up to 20%. The moves follow the Government's publication of legislation designed to cut UK prices by 10% in the wake of the Competition Commission's inquiry into Britain's retail motor industry.

A RADICAL overhaul of Inland Revenue Authorised Mileage Rates to encourage 'greener' motoring could spark a rush to smaller cars among drivers and create a wholesale review of cash for car and personal leasing schemes.

CLAIMS that one in six new cars on Britain's roads are bought abroad have been dismissed by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders as 'nonsense'.

A STAND-off between credit hire firms and insurers threatens to cripple the industry as tens of millions of pounds in rental bills are left unpaid. Leading credit hire specialist Helphire has revealed it has issued proceedings on more than 20,000 cases and is accusing insurers of deliberately delaying legal invoices.

THE Ministry of Defence police force is to introduce state-of-the-art black box technology to its fleet in a commitment to ensuring the safety of staff on the road. A supply deal with Global Telematics, maker of the vehicle tracking and fleet management system Orchid, will fit 60 vehicles with the system, although the deal could eventually stretch to the force's entire 500-strong fleet.

THE Queen has halved her official travel costs over the last 10 years by replacing old limousines with people carriers and hiring cars for major state occasions. According to the latest Royal Trustees report, the cost of running vehicles used for travel by Her Majesty and Royal Household staff in 1991 was £82,786, but the projected cost for 2000 is £39,350.

DEALERSHIP, leasing and rental group Sanderson Bramall has bucked car market trends with a healthy increase in new vehicle sales over the first six months of 2000. New vehicle sales were up 7% for the company, boosted by an 11% increase in the fleet market compared with 3% for retail sales. During the same period the UK car market has grown by 2% compared with last year.

A NEW television channel designed specifically for the automotive trade - including the fleet industry - is to be launched by British Sky Broadcasting. The Automotive Channel will start broadcasting on September 28 with coverage of the Paris Motor Show.

COMPANY car drivers are being forced to think about whether they are going to be better off paying for 'free' private-use fuel rather than pay tax on the fuel scale charge, after Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown announced annual scale charge increases of 20% in real terms in the 1998 Budget.

CARELESS fleet drivers are costing their employers hundreds of thousands of pounds a year in repair bills by parking their cars in places where they are exposed to vandals and thieves. Figures from Lex Vehicle Leasing show the extent to which fleets are haemorrhaging money to vandals who damage vehicles just for pleasure or in botched theft attempts.

LEADING figures in the fleet industry are on the move following changes in top management at some of the UK's biggest leasing companies.

KWIK-Fit Hometune is to almost double its fleet of mobile servicing vans to 260 over the next two years as part of a plan to extend the service nationwide. The company admits it could mean fewer customers at static servicing sites, but says going mobile makes the operation more competitive.

MOTOREASY, the vehicle maintenance and support company formed by former Daewoo group operations director David Gerrans, ex-Walon director Michael McInerney and Camden Motor's Car Shop founding director John Highfield, has collapsed after little more than a year. The company was forced to call a creditors' meeting last week after plans to secure rescue finance failed.

THE Association of Car Fleet Operators is continuing to lobby Government over what it sees as discrimination against disabled company car drivers who are forced to drive automatic vehicles.

INTERNET technology could provide a lifeline to low volume bodyshops struggling to survive under the weight of cost-cutting pressure by insurers. Audatex, one of the largest providers of computerised estimating systems, says it is about to revolutionise the motor claims, assessment and repair business by launching a multi-million pound web service that will help slash operating costs, improve efficiency and maintain quality standards.

CITROEN'S new Xantia replacement will be called the C5 when it is launched at the end of the year. The launch of the C5 will herald a new nomenclature for Citroen's model line-up. And the launch of the C5 will be followed by the unveiling of the C3 - the Saxo replacement - and the C6 - the executive sector contender.

LEEDS-based insurance broker, the Smithson Mason Group, has decided to transform its multi-make and model vehicle fleet into an exclusively Honda affair for its 30-strong car operation. The company has placed orders for the 1.8 S, 2.0 Executive and Type V or R versions of the Accord.

BIRMINGHAM City Council has taken delivery of 12 Vauxhall Astravans and a Ford Transit van, all powered by liquefied petroleum gas. The vehicles will be used by the council's pest control and Birmingham City Laboratories.

THE London Borough of Newham has signed up vehicle rental and contract hire specialist TLS as its main supplier for daily rental vehicles. TLS has won the tender for 12 months, with a possible two-year extension. It already supplies more than 100 vehicles on a separate £1 million contract hire deal.

FIRST National has appointed AA Business Services to provide comprehensive roadside repair and recovery to its fleet of 47,000 cars and light commercial vehicles on a pay-for-use basis. The contract, which provides cover in the UK and Europe, includes vehicles from First National Vehicle Contracts, Fleet Management Services and Whitechapel Corporate Services, the group's three core brands.

Britain's first official smart centre will open for business on October 17.

CENDANT has offered to buy 82% of Avis Group Holdings for £468 million in a bid to bring the car rental company under its direct control. The move would affect Avis Group, which operates the car rental business in North America, Australasia and Argentina.

NEW moves to end the Government's 'unfair' discrimination against diesel as a credible alternative to petrol have been launched. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says the UK Government's tax treatment is totally out of step with its treatment by other European governments.

SALES managers at Permabond have been told by their bosses they would rather have them alive than clocking up more than 15 calls a day. The Hampshire-based company has laid down rules for its sales managers and drivers, which includes restricting them to a combined working and driving total of no more than 12 hours a day in a bid to reduce the number of accidents caused by driver fatigue.

DRUG and drink driving and tiredness are among the topics being brought up in the Fit to Drive? conference, organised by the road safety organisation Brake. The conference will feature a number of presentations to explain latest research findings on the risks posed by drivers in a poor mental or physical state.