News - Page 2141

THE Health and Safety Executive has set itself a 14-month deadline in which to make recommendations to Government ministers on the best methods to prevent work-related road traffic accidents. The work will be carried out by the Work Related Road Safety Task Group, formed by Lord Whitty, minister for road safety and health and safety at work, and Bill Callaghan, chair to the Health and Safety Commission, which held its inaugural meeting at the beginning of the month.

SMALL fleets are to be brought under the spotlight in the new Government initiative to improve the safety of company car drivers. The new Work Related Road Safety Task Group, led by the Health and Safety Executive, has identified the need to include companies with about 50 employees because they form the bulk of organisations in the UK - but because of their size often find it difficult to implement the same degree of risk management strategy as larger firms.

EUROPE'S largest yet tyre safety blitz begins in June when retailers in the UK, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Scandanavia will be drawing drivers' attention to the importance of tyre maintenance and could lead to a campaign for new laws. Tyrecheck 2000 starts on June 5 when drivers will be offered free tyre checks at thousands of outlets in the UK, with similar offers across Europe.

SPECULATION is mounting that recommended retail prices could be abolished following radical changes in the way the Inland Revenue calculates tax relief on lease cars. The Inland Revenue is allowing fleet discounts to be included in the definition of the retail price of a lease car when deciding the percentage of rentals which can be offset against tax.

THE MP who demanded fleets be named and shamed for receiving large discounts has been forced to rethink his stance after it was revealed some of the biggest discounts are being achieved by the Government's own fleets. Martin O'Neill, Labour member for Ochil and chairman of the Trade and Industry Select Committee, called for a naming policy because he blamed fleet discounts for pushing prices up for private buyers.

BRITAIN'S largest fleets, daily rental companies and Motability could still continue to receive the biggest fleet discounts in the country - effectively making them exempt from Government moves to equalise discount terms between other fleets and dealers. Following publication last month of the Competition Commission's New Cars Inquiry report, Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers compiled a seven-point action plan designed to increase competition among suppliers of new cars and reduce prices.

FLEET managers must learn important lessons from a devastating computer virus which caused havoc throughout British businesses and cost tens of millions of pounds to repair. The virus, nicknamed the love bug because it was spread through e-mails with the enticing message 'ILOVEYOU', hit the fleet industry, including manufacturers, software suppliers and fleets.

A DECISION was expected today on a landmark legal ruling which could decide the future of the credit hire industry and the fate of millions of pounds in disputed rental bills. The House of Lords appeal ruling on test case Dimond-v-Lovell was originally due at the start of this year.

FLEET managers are pressing newly-elected London mayor Ken Livingstone to fulfil his commitment to consult them before introducing congestion and workplace parking charges. Throughout his election campaign, Livingstone warned that once in office he would hit motorists by charging commuters £5 a day to travel into the city.

MORE fleet industry support is required for the company car leg of the Island Race - Britain's biggest charity run. The round-Britain run takes place this summer and FNN's sister publication, Fleet News, has joined forces with Kwik-Fit Fleet to promote the fleet leg of the event, which will cover the 43 miles from Woodham Ferrers, near Chelmsford, to Purfleet on June 6.

THE fleet industry will be taking to the water next month when Emap Automotive - publisher of Fleet NewsNet - holds the annual Automotive Industry Yachting Challenge. To be held on June 20/21 at Port Solent, Portsmouth, the AIYC allows companies to invite clients to help crew 36ft racing yachts under the watchful eye of an experienced skipper.

DAIMLER Chrysler is recalling about 15,570 Voyager and Grand Voyagers following safety concerns over handbrakes self-releasing.

CONTINUOUSLY variable automatic transmission with sequential manual gear selection, Speedgear, has become available on two Fiat Punto models.

CAR Fleet Control is holding its second roadshow of the year on Tuesday, May 16, designed to give fleet managers the chance to discuss their software needs and other industry issues.

JOHN Fowles, chairman of Gowrings, the publicly quoted Ford Motor dealerships and Burger King restaurants group, told the company's annual meeting there would be no further capital spend on its motor operations outside the new Oxford bodyshop which opens this month.

LEX Transfleet has won a deal to manage the commercial vehicle fleet of East Midlands Electricity. The 1,015-vehicle fleet, which is owned by East Midlands Electricity, was previously managed in-house.

THE Dixon Group has taken delivery of a batch of 50 Astras as part of a two-year solus deal for 350 units it has renewed with Vauxhall.

ZENITH Vehicle Contracts, the Leeds-based provider of bespoke fleet management services to businesses, has won two new contracts worth more than £1 million over the next three to four years.

COMMERCIAL rental and contract hire company TLS has won a £1 million solus deal to supply more than 100 vehicles to Atlantic Utility Services as part of a two-year rental deal.

4x4 hire company SHB Hire has ordered 100 Toyota Hilux 4x4 pickups worth more than £1.7 million.

HIGHWAY Glass and Locks has signed up with Lex Vehicle Leasing for contract hire of its 300-vehicle fleet.

NISSAN has won its second fleet deal in less than six months with industrial machinery sales company Mannesman Demag.

ROVER'S new owner Phoenix must forge links with other car manufacturers to ensure its future in fleet following the sell-off by BMW. The alliance call comes from corporate sales director Trevor Houghton-Berry, who says it is crucial the consortium of business leaders led by former Rover chief executive, John Towers, establishes partnership links.

ROVER'S fleet and retail sales rocketed in April as the troubled manufacturer bucked the monthly sales fall - despite the plethora of cut-price deals available as manufacturers looked to win back business lost in the run-up to publication of the Competition Commission's New Cars Inquiry report. Rover recorded its best April sales performance for a decade as buyers flocked to support the ailing manufacturer due to a combination of discount pricing and a 'backing Britain' mood.

DIESEL sales fell last month, although top-selling manufacturer Peugeot bucked the trend as it continued to meet strong demand for 306 and 406 common rail diesel-engined models. Fleet diesel sales last month totalled 14,095 (April 1999: 15,823) in a total diesel market of 24,451 (April 1999: 26,878). This year fleet diesel sales are down 3.1% at 62,063 (1999: 64,016) in a total diesel market down 0.3% at 113,422 (1999: 113,731).

VAN sales fell in April, with registrations of vehicles under 1.8 tonnes down 16.1% year-on-year to 5,579 from 6,650 in April 1999, taking sales for the year fractionally below last year's four-month tally at 26,776 (1999: 27,045).

JAGUAR is working on ways to ease its cars out of the gas-guzzling tax class created by the new carbon dioxide-based company car tax regime. But the manufacturer admits no firm decision has been made as to how it will clean up its current range so as not to incur punitive ratings from April 2002.

VAUXHALL is to invest £189 million in the UK - the majority on transforming Luton-based IBC Vehicles into a dedicated van plant for the production of a new medium-sized vehicle in a joint venture with Renault. In addition to the £130 million to be invested in gearing up the IBC plant for production of the yet-to-be-named Vauxhall van.

THE all-new replacement 2.5-2.8 tonne van for the Vauxhall Arena and Renault Trafic will go on sale in spring next year. Designed and engineered by Renault, the vehicle will be built at a transformed IBC Vehicles plant in Luton, creating about 500 new jobs over the next 18 months.

PRODUCTION of the Vauxhall/Opel Frontera is to switch to Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port plant following the decision to transform IBC Vehicles into a dedicated van factory. The first Fronteras will be produced at Ellesmere Port in spring 2001.