News - Page 2147

FLEET buyers will not be able to cherry pick the best product and service prices across Europe, according to one of the continent's major fast-fit companies. Ian Thomas, European marketing and communications director of ATS Euromaster, said the Euro would expose pricing differentials across Europe, but that some of these were unavoidable.

A TRIAL with one of Britain's biggest ambulance fleets is expected to net the first of a series of 'blue light' supply orders for Renault. Seven examples of the French company's trendsetting Scenic compact MPV have brought 'positive' feedback from the West Midlands Ambulance Service, national fleet sales manager Nick Tame reported at Fleet Show 2000.

MERCEDES-Benz UK is planning to win significant new fleet business with the new C-class range. But total registrations of the key executive model are unlikely to rise in Britain next year, corporate sales general manager Nick Ratcliffe revealed at Fleet Show 2000.

FIAT Auto UK fleet sales are surging ahead of target, despite a 50% cut in the group's field sales force, claims fleet operations manager Jeff Fielding. 'We made a substantial change in the way we approach the fleet market at the start of this year and the benefits are starting feed though. Instead of having 10 people operating on a marketing basis, we now use five area sales managers.

A SURGE of interest in 'fast track' fleet manager training has been reported by the Institute of Car Fleet Management. Almost 200 Fleet Show visitors requested information on fleet training at the ICFM's stand with the vast majority looking to enrol for the organisation's recently launched nine month 'Fast Track' programme.

FLEETS will be exposed to messages aimed at convincing them cars are 'naff' and that would make Government schemes to encourage greater use of public transport through road or workplace parking charging obsolete. Chris Wright, head of the Transport Management Centre, Middlesex University, told a fleet Show forum on the impact of the Transport Bill on fleets that the centre was working on 'assassinating the car subtly and ruthlessly'.

HUNDREDS of corporate decision-makers are to be offered off-road and race-track driving experience in Subaru and Isuzu 4x4s. Subaru's national fleet sales manager Harvey France said: 'Ride and drive days work well for us.

THE sub-100 sector is being targeted by ATS Euromaster with its Fleetmaster card. Launched in partnership with Overdrive at Fleet Show 2000, the card provides small fleets with maintenance management with access to fast-fit services at 550 ATS Euromaster centres, repairs from more than 10,000 garages, car rental, breakdown recovery, glass replacement and fuel at more than 10,500 filling stations.

IT'S not all about cars and vans at the Fleet Show, Cooper-Avon Tyres' national and European fleet sales manager Paul Taylor was reminding visitors. Police, ambulance and other emergency services have substantial numbers of motorcycles and as alternative travel plans and Government measures to curb car use kick in, two-wheeled corporate transport is on the rise.

USER-chooser demand for four-wheel-drive vehicles is paying dividends for all-terrain tyre specialists like John Craddock, the Cannock-based importer and distributor for the USA-made Wildcat brand. The independent company already sells 75% of its stock into fleets and says corporate sector business is growing steadily.

TRADE and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers has given the fleet industry a clean bill of health and potentially signalled a company car tax bonanza for employees if new car prices fall. However, Monday's long-awaited publication of the nine-month Competition Commission's New Cars Inquiry report will mean transaction prices for fleets remain unchanged, despite calls by Byers for prices to tumble.

LEASE Plan is poised to become Britain's biggest contract hire and leasing company if its expected acquisition of Dial Contracts goes ahead, according to rumours sweeping the Fleet Show. If the deal goes through Lease Plan, currently Britain's third largest company in the sector with 55,000 units plus 15,000 vehicles with sister company Automotive Leasing, is set to become Britain's first 100,000-unit contract hire and leasing company, according to Fleet News' 'FN50' survey of the UK's top 50 contract hire companies.

SALES of both small and medium-sized vans increased year-on-year last month and continue to rise ahead of last year. Sales of sub-1.8-tonne vans increased 2.2% to 11,623 from 11,372 in March 1999 with year-to-date sales totalling 21,157 (1999: 20,395).

ATTENDANCE at Fleet Show 2000, which ended at the NEC, Birmingham, on Thursday after a three-day run, was 7,961 - beating last year's figure of 7,843. And fast-expanding Powermarque is the first company to sign up to attend Fleet Show 2001, which will be held at a similar time next year.

A SEVEN-point action plan to increase competition among suppliers of new cars and thereby reduce prices has been announced by Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers. However, Byers has fallen a long way short of ordering a wholesale shake-up of the UK new car industry despite calculations that private car buyers in Britain are paying £1 billion a year too much for their new cars.

WELCOMING 'with relief' the publication of the report, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said there was little scope for price reductions. But the car manufacturers' representative body said it would be working with the Government 'to ensure UK customers continued to buy with confidence'.

POINT one of seven-point price parity remedy plan announced by Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers following the Competition Commission's New Cars Inquiry states that suppliers should offer car dealers the same bulk discounts as fleet customers. It also suggest suppliers provide their dealers with regular statements of terms they are prepared to offer which reflect the terms given to fleet customers.

LEADING experts said second-hand car values could be increased by the findings of the Competition Commission in future, but there would not be an immediate effect on prices. CAP Motor Research said a move to force manufacturers to reveal pre-registrations could mean up to 500,000 fewer cars on the road as they stopped pushing too many cars on to the market, reducing supply and therefore pushing up used car prices.

THE Consumers' Association welcomed the release of the Competition Commission's New Cars Inquiry report, declaring it a 'victory for consumers'. Sheila McKechnie, director of the CA, which is running the Great British Rip-Off campaign against high new car prices, said the Government had rejected the car industry's 'lame excuses'.

NEW car prices to fleets will remain unchanged, despite Vauxhall slashing up to £2,900 off the price of some of its cars. The manufacturer made a pre-emptive strike ahead of publication of the Competition Commission's New Cars Inquiry report and reduced prices on Corsa, Tigra, Astra and Vectra to imported vehicle price levels.

MOTOR manufacturers and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders were due to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday for their 'once a month routine meeting'.

RECORD fleet sales were reached by BMW in March, becoming the fifth best-selling fleet manufacturer last month - despite talk of a boycott following news of the planned break-up of its Rover Group subsidiary. BMW fleet sales totalled 8,678 last month - more than double its fleet sales in March last year - and taking its fleet sales for the first quarter of 2000 to 12,439 - 71.3% up year-on-year putting it ahead of Fiat, Rover, Toyota and Nissan.

MANUFACTURERS have been accused of massaging March's new car sales figures after almost 20% of registrations occurred on the last day of the month, according to statistics obtained by Fleet NewsNet - the claim was vehemently denied by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

AUDI'S rival to the Mercedes-Benz A-class, the all-aluminium A2, turned out to be one of the biggest draws on the Fleet Show 2000 stand it shared with the TT Roadster and Coupe quattro and the A6 2.5 TDi quattro Sport with the new 180bhp V6 TDi engine. The distinctive, lightweight five-door A2 is expected to enter the UK market in September with prices from below £14,000 for a 75bhp 1.4-litre petrol-engined model boasting ABS, electric windows, electronic stability programme (ESP) and alloy wheels as standard.

MAZDA is to supply about 200 cars to non-fault accident assistance company Helphire after launching Mazda Insurance Services at the Fleet Show. The claimed industry-first sees Mazda UK forming an alliance with insurance broker Marsh UK and Helphire.

CHEVIN Computer Systems launched its new package - RoadBASE Contract Manager at the Fleet Show. The package is aimed at fleet management companies and includes most aspects of fleet management, from original vehicle quotation, to payment terms and invoicing.

LEASING brokers and dealers can produce monthly contract hire rate for small fleets operating up to 40 vehicles following the launch of a new internet site by Calleva, Powermarque's internet trading contract hire company. Calleva launched its new web-based quotation system 'Calleva Online' at the Fleet Show.

THE future of alternative fuels is at the a crossroads, according to the AA, which launched its new report, 'Fleets Fuels and Taxes', at Fleet Show 2000. Alternative fuels such as liquid petroleum gas will continue to be considered as unviable by many fleet managers and businesses, unless positive steps are taken by petrol companies to invest in infrastructure, AA Business Services general manager Ray Combs said at the show.

FLEET managers who fail to keep tabs on the specifications of new cars could lose thousands of pounds even before the firm begins to use them, according to AA Business Services. With the introduction of graduated Vehicle Excise Duty from March 1 next year and reforms to company car tax to take place from April 6, 2002 - both based on vehicle carbon dioxide emissions - the AA says 'fuel-hungry' extra equipment could push a car into higher rate bands.

AUTOBYTEL, the car-buying website for new and used vehicles, is helping with residual values at contract hire firm Fleetlease with a groundbreaking remarketing deal. Fleetlease expects to increase the residual value of disposal vehicles through the deal as its vehicles will be marketed direct to consumers.