News - Page 2138

CONTRACT hire brokers often advertise in the back of car magazines and offer cut-throat rates, but fleet managers must read the small print before signing on the dotted line. Intense competition between brokers means they want to print the lowest prices possible, so stripping out details including maintenance and cutting annual mileages helps make the headline price more competitive.

MINORPLANET, the producer of telematic-based vehicle management information systems, is trialling its devices with the BT fleet of 53,000 vehicles. If successful it could lead to its biggest yet order.

PRICES of 'run of the mill' lower and upper medium cars must fall to attract buyers, a leading auctioneer has told fleet managers. Sales and conversion rates at Manheim Auctions have increased this month, according to Andrew Shepherd, senior group auctioneer.

THRIFTY Car Rental UK has launched an online used car sales operation initially featuring around 200 ex-daily rental cars. The new initiative is one of several introduced on the company's website.

SUPERMARKET chain Morrisons is to open liquefied petroleum gas filling stations at all its new stores and expand current sites to take LPG in one of the highest profile boosts yet for the fuel.

THE Government's environmental strategies have been labelled 'merely cosmetic' after it was revealed that MPs are claiming more than £4 million a year of taxpayers' money to cover their business mileage. MPs benefit from a generous business mileage system that takes little account of the environment and dwarfs the amounts paid to most employees who use their own cars on company business.

ROVER'S recent sales surge looks set to receive a further boost after its new owners confirmed plans to reduce list prices by 'between 10% and 14%'. Buoyed by April sales, which saw Rover record its best performance for a decade as it more than doubled total new car sales and increased fleet sales by almost 40%, new owner the Phoenix Consortium said it planned to correct 'pricing mistakes' made by previous owner BMW.

FORD'S decision to import all mass-market cars into the UK could see list prices tumbling by up to 15%.

MERCEDES-Benz's decision to build right-hand drive versions of its new C-class in South Africa in a bid to reduce waiting times has raised concerns over quality and a question mark over residual values for the compact luxury range.

THE Fleet Driver Training Association has been hit by the resignation of three high-profile members - AA Driving School, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents' Driver Services division and Universal Driver Training.

LEASING and fleet management firms Mann Egerton Vehicle Contracts (MEVC) and Kenning Leaseline have become part of a new single organisation incorporating the 58-outlet dealer group Inchcape Motors Retail and vehicle logistics operation Seaking Automotive.

THE Institute of Advanced Motorists says it is 'business as usual' despite the departure of four senior members of its fleet training division since last November. The latest to resign are Michael Coleman, operations director, and sales manager Maurice Taylor. They follow John Trafford, commercial manager, who left at the end of last year and David Cunningham, national business manager, who resigned a few weeks ago.

A RADICAL overhaul of Ford's European operations, including the end of car production in the UK, will benefit fleets by guaranteeing vehicle quality and value for money into the future, according to the manufacturer.

FORD is to create 360 new jobs in the UK by making it the centre for Ford's Commercial Vehicle Engineering operations. The operation is being transferred from the United States to the UK in a move which will offset job losses caused by the end of vehicle production at Dagenham.

A LEADING industry academic has called on Ford's critics in the UK to look at the bigger picture of the manufacturer's presence in Britain.

SPECULATION is rife that Sovereign Fleet Services - owned by Alliance & Leicester - is going for growth by snapping up smaller leasing firms. The rumour mill swung into action following a box number advertisement in sister title Fleet News which read: 'We are a major bank-owned finance and contract hire company looking to expand our business by acquiring contract hire companies operating with fleets of up to 3,000.'

THE predicted shake-up in UK new car pricing in the wake of the Competition Commission's inquiry is unlikely to take place as civil servants grapple with the difficulties of writing new legislation. Following revelations that some of Britain's biggest fleets - such as the public utilities - as well as daily rental companies and Motability, could still be able to continue to receive the biggest discounts in the country, it has emerged that other fleet deals also look set to continue unchecked by the Government. These could include dealer and other demonstrators, manufacturers' own business cars, courtesy cars and bodyshop cars, leaving only 'normal' fleets subject to restrictions.

THE UK motor industry has rebutted allegations that 'misleading' new car sales figures, which paint a rosy picture, are doing 'terminal harm' to the industry.

THE Competition Commission's New Cars Inquiry report is set to play a major role in the European Commission's review of the block exemption, which was severely criticised by Europe's competition chief this week.

TRAFFIC information provider Trafficmaster has announced major expansion plans, including a doubling of its UK workforce to almost 400 people and a move to a new 50,000sq ft headquarters early next year. The new jobs will be across the board and will include positions to help the group expand an internet-based fleet management service which it will launch in the UK on May 22.

PROTON has launched a pilot direct selling programme that could earn fleet managers commission for recommending the Malaysian marque to new customers.

FLEET managers are being urged to remind company car drivers and staff using their own cars on business to ensure vehicles are properly secured when parked - for however short a period of time.

BIRMINGHAM has overtaken Manchester to become the worst place for smash and grab car crime in the UK. The city topped the league in a survey carried out by Autoglass, the UK's biggest windscreen repair and replacement company.

NISSAN'S UK dealer and manufacturing operations have been threatened with job losses amid a massive shake-up which will see franchises sharing sites.

BRITISH Car Auctions Newport has been acknowledged as the top performing auction centre for Rover products over the last year by Rover Cars, achieving the highest conversion rates and residual values for the manufacturer nationwide.

THE used car market is still flat as fleets continue to postpone buying or selling cars, according to online car retailing specialists availablecar.com.

AVIS Rent a Car has become the latest rental firm to launch a car club scheme with the unveiling of CARvenience in a move that is hoped will increase awareness of alternatives to car ownership.

THE Government made a £30 billion 'profit' from road users - including fleets and company car drivers - last year, according to the British Road Federation.

ALEXANDERS Holdings has sold its motor retail vehicle unit to Ilkeston Consumer Co-operative Society for about £680,000 in cash.

TRAFFIC levels have risen by 1% since the first quarter of last year, according to provisional Government figures for the first quarter of 2000.