News - Page 2130

MITSUBISHI Motors has announced further price cuts to its car range, marketed as 'value added' summer offers valid until September 30. The importer took 15% off list prices in December, 1999 and is now offering automatic transmission on Colts for the same price as manual, Carisma 1.6 Equippe and 1.8 Equippe manual and automatic versions for the same price, 1.9 turbodiesel Classic and Equippe Carismas for the same price as their respective 1.6-litre petrol models and all Galant estates for the same price as the saloons.

DAEWOO has launched a new contract hire scheme for Chamber of Commerce members through the UK which is expected to particularly benefit small fleets.

VOLKSWAGEN is considering an appeal against a euro 90 million (£57 million) fine imposed by the European Court of First Instance for alleged 'anti-competitive behaviour'. The Court upheld the European Commission decision of January 28 that the manufacturer had seriously infringed EU competition rules by preventing German and Austrian customers from buying in Italy, where prices for VW and Audi cars were said to be lower.

INTERNET services software provider Novell UK has switched its 220-strong fleet to Lease Plan after experiencing 'poor service levels' from an unnamed previous supplier.

PERRY Group has acquired Pendragon's four separate motor accident repair businesses for £3.37 million, with further acquisitions planned. The four will be integrated into Nationwide Crash Repair Centres - Perry Group's motor accident repair subsidiary - bringing Nationwide's total number of centres to 61.

AUTOMOTIVE Leasing has been awarded a sole supply contract by the Meat and Livestock Commission for its fleet of 250 vehicles for use in the UK, Germany and Belgium. Fleet management will be outsourced to Automotive Leasing through its TCM division.

DUCK producer Cherry Valley Farms, which operates 130 vehicles - 100 cars and vans plus 30 HGVs - has switched from outright purchase to contract hire with Lex Vehicle Leasing and Lex Transfleet.

ENTERPRISE Rent-A-Car and Europcar have been named as the two preferred suppliers of replacement cars when a Mercedes-Benz customer needs roadside assistance in the UK under the manufacturer's 'mobilo life scheme'.

FLEET sales are on track to reach a record high this year, beating 1998's 1,055,816 figure, according to new Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders statistics. In the first six months of this year fleet sales reached 566,803 - 3.5% ahead of 1999's six-month tally.

FIRST National Vehicle Holdings' long-held expansion plans have started to be realised with the acquisition of the 1,300 lease vehicle fleet of Brooklyn Vehicle Contracts. The Abbey National subsidiary, which operates about 50,000 units, has made no secret of its desire to be one of the top two or three contract hire companies in the UK which would mean it virtually doubling in size.

MANUFACTURERS could face significant cuts in fleet sales volumes as the threat of imprisonment for corporate manslaughter causes a shift towards Euro New Car Assessment crash test results as key criteria for company car choice.

LIGHT commercial vehicle rental specialist Northgate is on track to double the size of the business by 2004 with expansion fuelled by the growth of home shopping trade through the internet and cable television. The company has seen its fleet increase 22% in the last year from 26,600 vehicles to 32,500 units with pre-tax profits up 46% to £24.3 million (1999: £16.6 million) on turnover of £260.79 million (1999: £218.62 million) for the year to April 30.

TRIALS of battery-powered LDV Convoy vans fitted with an on-board recharging unit are to be conducted by Merseytravel and the Royal Mail. With new technology removing the need for expensive roadside charging units, the trials have been heralded as the most significant for encouraging the use of electric vehicles by UK fleets.

PRICES for the new Nissan Almera Tino, which goes on sale in the UK on August 1, have been announced. On-the-road prices are: S 1.8 £14,200, 2.2Di £15,200, 2.0 CVT £16,200; SE 1.8 £14,800, 2.2Di £15,800, 2.0 CVT £16,800; SE2 1.8 £15,300, 2.2Di £16,300, 2.0 CVT £17,300; SE+ 1.8 £15,800, 2.2Di £16,800, 2.0 CVT £17,800.

VAN sales in the first six months are ahead of 1999's half-year total, according to latest Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders figures. Sub-1.8-tonne van sales last month totalled 7,252 (June 1999: 7,301) taking this year's total sector sales to 40,497 (1999: 40,329) with Citroen, Vauxhall and Suzuki all reporting significant increases while most rivals saw sales slump year-on-year.

THIS year's topsy-turvey fleet diesel market continued in yo-yo style in June with year-on-year sales down 1.6% to 14,850 (June 1999: 15,089) following May's significant year-on-year rise. The fleet reduction came despite a 2% rise in total new car diesel sales to 27,092 (June 1999: 26,560) taking half-year diesel sales to 167,503 (2000: 164,139), of which fleet sales account for 92,205 units (1999: 92,760).

HIGH fuel pump prices are encouraging drivers to buy vehicles with lower fuel consumption and use their vehicles less, according to the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. Defending high fuel pump prices and the 75% price of fuel which goes into Treasury coffers, Commission chairman Sir Tom Blundell said motorists were being encouraged to opt for cars producing less carbon dioxide.

PEUGEOT has beefed up its 406 range with the introduction of SRi-badged saloon and estate models powered by an all-new 2.2 16v 160bhp petrol engine delivering maximum torque of 160lb-ft at 3,900rpm. Costing £18,245 on-the-road as a saloon and £19,245 as an estate, the new engine, producing 207 g/km of CO2, powers the car from 0-62mph in 9.7 seconds and has a top speed of 135mph.

A CENTRE of excellence for the development of natural gas vehicles to increase their use worldwide is to be opened in the autumn in the UK.

RESIDUAL value falls have reached record levels as cuts in new car prices and chronic oversupply have hammered down used car values almost 20% year-on-year, it was claimed this week. Thousands of pounds have been wiped from the values of key fleet models in the past year, amid growing confusion over the true state of the market.

ROVER is to hold head-to-head talks with fleet bosses for the first time since its sale to the Phoenix Consortium as part of a determined drive to restore confidence in the brand and bolster residual values. Key fleet decision-makers are being invited to a conference at Rover's Longbridge plant on July 18 for the talks, which follow a confidence-boosting meeting held with data providers and residual value experts.

VOLKSWAGEN is to expand its ground-breaking running cost guarantee scheme to contract hire firms after its success with outright purchase fleets. The manufacturer is investing tens of thousand of pounds in the scheme, launched at the end of last month, which promises to make its range as cheap to run as equivalent Fords or Vauxhalls.

THE official UK launch of BMW's upmarket X5 sports utility vehicle has been delayed by five months because of its success in left-hand-drive markets. Built in South Carolina, USA, the new off-roader has been on sale in America and Europe since May, and demand has been outstripping supply to the extent that the German manufacturer has announced it is to invest another £180 million in the plant to speed up production. Current annual capacity is about 50,000 units.

DULUX Decorator Centres, which has a 190-vehicle fleet, is using Euro New Car Assessment Programme crash test results as one of the main criteria for its employees' car choice. With the help of lease supplier Associates Fleet Services, the ICI Paints subsidiary is finalising an NCAP-based choice list of predominantly Ford, Volkswagen, Audi, Honda and Renault models for sales staff and managers. The company will only recommend cars which have scored at least three stars out of the maximum five-star ratings.

GE Capital, parent company of GE Capital Fleet Services, is rumoured to be among six potential purchasers of up-for-sale Chartered Trust, parent company of ACL autolease. Chartered Trust was put on the market with a price tag of some £700 million by its parent company Standard Chartered, the UK-based international banking group, which wants to concentrate on expanding its emerging markets business. General Motors Acceptance Corporation, owner of Interleasing, has also been suggested as a potential bidder for the company.

FLEETS will be one of the main weapons which transform Land Rover into a profit-making venture within two years, its new bosses at Ford have declared. Ford formally took over the business from BMW on Saturday in a deal worth an estimated £1.95 billion and within an hour of the contract being signed, new chairman and chief executive Bob Dover was setting out his vision for the future of the company.

EDEN Vehicle Rentals, part of National Australia Bank's fleet management group, has changed its name to Custom Fleet as the start of a drive for new business, which will include new internet-based services. The development follows the acquisition by National Australia Group of the controlling shares in EVR in January 1999 and brings the UK fleet management service in-line with other parts of the group across the world.

ACCIDENT management company Auto Indemnity has become the first of the traditional nationwide credit hire companies to be approved by the Association of British Insurers. The move comes amid concern over the future of the credit hire industry as companies continue to grapple with the fallout from the recent House of Lords ruling in the Dimond v Lovell case.

THE new chairman and chief executive of Land Rover has become the latest in a growing army of manufacturers demanding Britain's entry into the Euro. Bob Dover, speaking on his first official day in the position, warned the strength of the pound was seriously damaging manufacturing and could threaten car making in the UK.

CONTRACT hire firms have been accused of 'burying their heads in the sand' and avoiding investment in systems that could help fleets stay up-to-date on CO2-based company car tax. Grosvenor Contracts has sparked an industry row with the attack on rivals for their lacklustre response to warning customers of the impact of the new tax.