News - Page 2151

CITROEN has come to the rescue of another fleet - this time the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. The RNLI is now operating 29 Citroen Dispatch 1.9TD 900 vans, based at various sites throughout the UK. The vans replace private vehicles and will carry a comprehensive kit for use by technicians.

RYDER has supplied 12 Mercedes-Benz Sprinters on a five-year full service contract hire agreement with the Women's Royal Voluntary Service. The six freezer vans, five 2.6-tonners and one 3.5-tonner will be used by the WRVS as part of a meals-on-wheels project in and around Cambridge.

GLASGOW City Council has placed a £3 million order to buy 125 LDVschool minibuses and a mixture of 29 Convoy crew cabs and panel vans. All the vehicles will be supplied by Govan-based LDV dealer Lex Commercials Glasgow. Pictured, from left: Lex's Hugh Kelly, LDV regional business manager Bob Chambers and Glasgow City Council's Alex Kerr.

WINDOW company Coldseal has taken 64 LDV Convoy 3.5-tonne Hi-Loader vans on to its fleet in a contract hire deal with Lex Transfleet. The vans, which will be operated from Coldseal's 11 depots nationwide, have been fitted with roof and ladder racks, exterior window frails, ply lining, interior racking systems and heavy duty front axles. Pictured, from left: LDV's executive director sales and marketing Tony Lewis, Coldseal regional manager Bob Docker and Lex Transfleet contract sales manager Tony Elliott.

BICESTER-based crane and access platform maker, Grove Europe, has taken delivery of 13 Volkswagen Transporter TDI vans to replace half its existing fleet - and there are plans to replace the remainder later this year. The vans will be leased over four years through Oxford-based Cordwallis Volkswagen Van Centre.

CITROEN has transferred its HDi common rail diesel technology from passenger cars to two of its commercial vehicle ranges. The Dispatch and Berlingo HDi ranges are available to order now offering fuel economy gains, extended service intervals, reduced emissions and greater drivability.

LDV launched its first dual-fuel vehicle at the show in response to calls from environmentally-conscious customers. The petrol/liquefied petroleum gas conversion is available on any Convoy model, from the panel van to minibuses and box vans, at a price premium of £2,896 plus VAT. However, the Convoy is eligible for a Powershift grant which pays 75% of the cost of conversion - equating to an £1,800 rebate for Convoy buyers.

FIAT has taken the first steps towards having common rail diesel engines across its commercial vehicle range with the announcement of a JTD version of the Scudo. A 2.0-litre common rail unit made its debut under the bonnet of a Scudo Combi and the model will be on sale in the early summer. It will be followed by further Scudo van and platform cab versions later this year.

RENAULT is broadening the Kangoo range with a new entry-level model and more body options. The move follows a strong sales performance for the Kangoo, which was highly commended in the best van under 1.8 tonnes category at this year's Fleet News Awards.

GROWING competition in the van market has prompted Ford to issue the new Transit with a three-year/100,000-mile warranty package. The previous generation Transit came with a one-year/unlimited mileage package in line with the rest of Ford's range in the UK.

FORD is promising more power and lower ownership costs following the introduction of a new direct injection turbodiesel engine to its Fiesta-based light commercial vehicle range. The 74bhp 1.8-litre TDdi unit will sit alongside the existing 59bhp 1.8-litre indirect injection oil burner in the Fiesta 35 and Courier 50 van range, offering reduced noise levels and a claimed 15% improvement in fuel economy over the old IDI engine.

A YEAR after making its debut at the Fleet Show, Peugeot's 206 van has finally gone on sale. Based on the successful 206 car, the van variant is on sale now priced at £8,000 plus VAT.

FORD claims already to have taken more than £100 million worth of orders for new Transit which went on sale on March 23. And the company has brushed aside any suggestion that Mercedes-Benz's new Sprinter van will provide any serious competition.

BRITAIN'S top fleet diesel manufacturers and the Association of Car Fleet Operators have backed a Fleet News campaign calling on Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown to abolish the 'outrageous' company car tax penalty for 'clean' oil-burners. As expected, the Budget saw the Chancellor announce details of the carbon dioxide-based company car tax system due to be introduced from April 6, 2002.

A RECORD-breaking £9 million drive to get 6,500 clean-fuelled fleet vehicles on the road this year is being launched by the Government-funded Powershift programme - paid for by higher taxes on petrol and diesel fuels. The 270% hike in its annual funding was prompted after the initiative, which provides grants of up to 75% towards the extra cost of purchasing clean-fuelled vehicles, ran out of funds as fleet demand for grants rocketed.

EIGHT thousand fleet decision-makers are expected to attend Europe's largest fleet event - Fleet Show 2000 which opens on Tuesday (April 4) for three days at the NEC, Birmingham. Almost 8,000 fleet chiefs - last year's visitors and Fleet Gold Club members - have been sent tickets to the show and 7,500 have pre-registered to attend the event. In addition a further 800 people have registered via the new Exhibitor VIP hotline.

THE new 2002 carbon dioxide-based company car tax system will be destroyed within weeks if the Government backs a bid to abolish recommended retail prices for new cars, according to an eleventh hour warning from the Inland Revenue. The warning came on Monday - less than a week after details of the emissions-based tax were unveiled in the Budget.

MANCHESTER Airport has joined forces with Enterprise Rent-A-Car to launch what is claimed to be the UK's first commercially-run Employee Car Club scheme. The partnership offers vehicles from the Enterprise fleet to staff at prices starting from £6 an hour in a pilot project which will run until June 2001.

YOU'VE got all the facts and figures on the future of company car tax - now get to work making them work to your advantage and clean up your fleet. That was the message from Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, as he addressed more than 100 fleet managers at a post-Budget seminar, The Fleet Operators Guide to the Budget, organised by the Association of Car Fleet Operators.

VOLKSWAGEN Financial Services has changed its business strategy to focus on brands within the VW Group rather than maintaining its 'all makes' approach. The company says that the move is in response to 'current difficult market conditions', in particular the pressure on new car prices.

THE Metropolitan Police have launched an inquiry into the quality of maintenance of its 3,500 vehicles after officers expressed fears about their safety. The vehicles are maintained under contract by the Venson Group, which has carried out repairs and maintenance of the 3,500 non-covert fleet since 1998, when it won the contract from the Metropolitan Police's own in-house workshops.

THE Government is to use next week's three-day Fleet Show in a publicity drive for a new scheme to help companies cut their fuel bills and clean up the environment. The scheme - to be known as Motorvate - will officially be launched in June, but Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions civil servants will be at the show publicising the project.

FLEET managers must become more pro-active to cherry-pick the most tax-efficient vehicles for their drivers, according to the Association of Car Fleet Managers. Tony Leigh, chairman of ACFO, warned fleets they had to act to help high mileage drivers who face large tax hikes in 2002 when carbon dioxide-based company car tax is introduced.

CLEAN diesels look set to win company car tax concessions from the Government in the future. And chancellor Gordon Brown is also prepared to give concessions to gas/petrol, electric/petrol and electric vehicles to offset higher list prices.

CORNWALL Healthcare NHS Trust is hoping to convert all 140 of its pool car vehicles to liquefied petroleum gas over the next three years. The Trust has taken delivery of six LPG Vauxhall Astras and six Corsas which will be used by psychiatric community nurses.

DAIMLERChrysler and Mitsubishi Motors are to jointly develop new ranges of small cars, light commercial vehicles and pick-up trucks following the German-American group's £1.28 billion acquisition of 34% of the Japanese car and truck company. The alliance, expected to be formally signed by June, will create the world's third largest automotive group in terms of revenue and sales.

FLEETS are turning away from the outright purchase of vehicles but instead of opting for contract hire are mixing acquisition methods, according to this year's Company Car UK survey by Monks Partnership. In the last five years, there has been a significant shift away from companies owning vehicles but the survey, surprisingly in the light of 1995

DEALER group D C Cook plans to win business away from new internet import companies such as OneSwoop and Virgin Cars after launching a rival online operation. The venture comes as Perry Group prepares to reveal its direct sales set up, to be linked to a call centre in north London. Customers will be able to compare models, book demonstrator cars and buy online.

THE fleet efficiency and economy of liquefied petroleum gas vehicles is being demonstrated in a John o' Groats to Lands End drive which will stop off at the Fleet Show on Tuesday (April 4). Arthur Large, chairman of LPG Systems, sets off on Friday in an LPG Citroen Berlingo and he will stop at the show so fleet decision-makers can see for themselves the economic and environmental benefits of running LPG-powered vehicles.

NATIONAL newspaper reports that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation was considering a bid for General Motors has been dismissed.