News - Page 2127

DAEWOO is supplying Pertemps Recruitment Partnership with Matiz models on an ongoing basis as part of an employee car lease programme.

LOW residual values on revolutionary electric hybrid cars from Honda and Toyota are being predicted by CAP Motor Research and Glass's Information Services. Fleets are likely to be the major buyers of the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius when they go on sale on September 1 and in the autumn respectively. Both manufacturers are predicting low sales volumes - Honda about 200 units a year and Toyota up to 1,000 – but residual value experts are questioning who will buy the vehicles secondhand.

PLUMMETING residual values fuelled by uncertainty over car prices led to £5 million disposal losses at Lex Vehicle Leasing - the joint venture between RAC Motoring Services owner Lex Service and Halifax - in the first six months of the year. The used car hit was more than double that of the first half of 1999 (£2.3 million), and during the period from December 31, 1999 to June 30, the company's funded fleet size fell from 93,000 to 91,500.

JAGUAR produced its first executive saloon at Halewood months before the last Ford Escort rolled off the line.Pilot-build assembly of the crucial new compact model got under way in March at the Liverpool factory that was home to more than 5.2 million examples of Britain's most popular family car.

EUROPEAN fleets are heading for a residual value meltdown as the European Union opens its doors to new member states - and the floodgates to thousands of cheap imports. The stark warning came at the launch in Brussels last month of the new Credit Suisse First Boston New Car Price Index and Eurotax Residual Index, which reported 'a close correlation between residual and new car prices'.

FORD has ordered a 14% reduction in UK prices for Freelander, Discovery and Range Rover models in its first major marketing move as Land Rover's new owner. The changes - designed principally to pull buyers back into showrooms by going further than the Competition Commission's estimate that Britain's car prices are 10%-12% more expensive than those charged in Europe - are already in effect.

AS the Government, Health and Safety Executive, Driving Standards Agency and the police combine forces to crack down on the number of road traffic accidents involving drivers on company business, fleet managers have been told they have a duty of care to all employees who drive.

MERCEDES-Benz has quashed rumours it is was set to scrap the A-class and allow the MCC Smart car - built by DaimlerChrysler subsidiary Micro Compact Car - to take its place as the smallest car in its stable in the most emphatic way by confirming the introduction of a larger A-class. Responding to rumours fuelled by slow sales of the A-class, Nick Ratcliffe, general manager corporate sales, said: 'The A-class is taking its time to establish itself, in particular in the corporate market where it refuses to be seen as a repmobile even though that's where it's priced.

THE Transport Research Laboratory is urging the European Commission to introduce 40kph (25mph) pedestrian crash safety tests on bull bars, more than three years after the Association of Car Fleet Operators called for legislation to outlaw their use. Following two years of research, TRL also says deformable bars should be encouraged as they could actually improve a vehicle's pedestrian protection.

KWIK-FIT is on target to more than double its size to operate 5,000 outlets across Europe by 2005 after opening 420 service points in the last 12 months. The number of specialist fitting centres and mobile fitting vehicles under the Kwik-Fit banner has risen to 2,327, with 18 new outlets added to the group with the acquisition of Winterstoke Tyres and Exhausts and of AutoFit in Holland in July.

A FOUR-wheel-drive Lexus rival to the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz ML320 is to go on sale in the UK in October after making its debut at the British International Motor Show. Already the best-selling compact SUV in America with 73,500 units registered there in 1999, RX300 sales will be more modest in Britain.

CD and CDX-badged 2.5-litre V6 Vauxhall Omega models have been reduced in price by up to £1,400, bringing them in line with 2.2-litre petrol versions.

AIR-CONDITIONING is now a £400 option on the two turbodiesel variants of the Ford Escort van, for which on-the-road prices start at £10,532.

ANTI-LOCK brakes and a free engine upgrade are being offered on all Volkswagen LT35 heavy vans purchased by the end of the year. For the price of an LT35 with the 75bhp SDI diesel engine (from £20,321 on-the-road for the short wheelbase model), VW will supply a 90bhp TDI plus ABS, worth about £1,500.

CAR Fleet Control has split its client services department into two teams for leasing and general fleet software. The change is designed to provide 'fast track problem solving' for customers by ensuring their call is routed as quickly as possible to a member of the team that can help them.

RENAULT Financial Services subsidiary Overlease has launched Twenty-four Seven - a complete contract management and peace-of-mind service which covers everything from arranging servicing, tyre changes and windscreen replacement via one telephone call.

CASH or Car? has been launched, offering company car drivers the ability to compare the cost of taking a cash alternative and running a car via a personal contract purchase scheme.

THE Government's £180 billion ten-year transport blueprint has received a positive reception from the industry. Fleet chiefs said the plan - 'Transport 2010: The Ten Year Plan' - gave them the opportunity to design a corporate travel strategy encompassing all modes of.

MITSUBISHI, Skoda and Hyundai are the only remaining manufacturers to offer fleets a three-year unlimited mileage warranty on new cars following decisions by SEAT and Volkswagen to drop their mileage ceilings to 60,000 miles. From January 1, 2002, it is likely all car manufacturers will move to a minimum of two years' cover as a result of a European consumer guarantees directive created to provide a level playing field throughout the community on consumer goods statutory rights.

INTERNET-based new car supplier Showroom4cars.com has announced the creation of a fleet sales department, designed to cater for the growing number of company buyers and fleet operators logging on to its site. The new department - believed to be the first offered by any internet-based car retailer - will liaise with a network of more than 500 UK and European dealers already collaborating with showroom4cars.com.

MERCEDES-BENZ has launched a specialised corporate sales website as it gears up for the British launch of the all-new C-class. The prestige player has acknowledged the crucial role company car drivers will play in the success of the new model by announcing its biggest ever fleet demonstration programme and making a raft of data available online to fleet managers.

DIRECT Line has launched its internet new and used car buying service, Jamjar.com, in partnership with Dixon Motors. Despite entering an increasingly crowded market, alongside household names such as Virgin and P&O Stena, and dedicated web companies such as Showroom4cars.com and OneSwoop.com, Direct Line is confident of taking a significant slice of the market. The company, the insurance arm of Royal Bank of Scotland, is to spend £50 million in four years developing its internet showroom. Jamjar.com promises reductions of new car prices of up to 30% on special offers and at least 10% on new cars sourced from the UK and overseas.

FLEETS are due to be asked their views on plans by the Greater London Authority to introduce congestion charges in the capital with the publication of a 'discussion document'. National press reports that Mayor of London Ken Livingstone is planning to impose inner city congestion charges of up to £7.50 per car per day by the end of 2002 have been dismissed by his office as 'ill-informed'.

NEW moves to crack down on the number of company car drivers using mobile phones while driving have been launched by the Institute of Advanced Motorists. A campaign - 'Don't Talk to Phoney Drivers' - has been launched by former Transport Minister and now member of the Transport for London Board Steve Norris.

TWO new telematics-based vehicle tracking and fleet management information bureaux have opened in the UK as Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott hails the technology's key role in solving Britain's traffic crisis.

THE Government remains tight-lipped on the likely publication date of the long-awaited new Department of Trade and Industry orders governing the sale of new cars in Britain - the result of the Competition Commission's investigation into the supply of new vehicles.

FLEET chiefs are set to be wooed by leading manufacturers as the battle for business in the key upper medium sector takes off with a raft of new models to be unveiled at this year's Paris Motor Show. The end of September will be the launchpad for the public debuts of the new Ford Mondeo, Renault Laguna and Volkswagen Passat.

MANHEIM Auctions has moved into the Scottish market through a joint venture with the Scottish Motor Auction Group. The 50/50 partnership involves joint ownership of a new £2 million purpose-built vehicle auction centre at Blochairn, east of Glasgow city centre, which opens on August 7. It is planned to sell up to 25,000 vehicles a year. The group denied that the move marks the possible future acquisition of the company by Manheim.

GENERAL Motors, the world's largest vehicle manufacturer, has announced second quarter profits down 11% to $166 million (1999: $187 million) but remained upbeat, saying the European market was very strong, and blamed the profit drop on new product launch costs.

BP Amoco has unveiled a new logo - a 'vibrant sunburst of green, while and yellow' known as the Helios mark after the sun god of ancient Greece - which will replace the famous BP shield of 28,000 forecourts worldwide, company vehicles, offices, manufacturing plants and correspondence.