News - Page 2158

UP TO the minute road safety advice and information on driver training - one of the hottest issues in fleet since the Government announced its road safety strategy this week - will be on offer to Fleet Show 2000 visitors at the NEC Birmingham from April 4-6. Paul Beresford, sales and marketing director for Defensive Driver Training, which will be exhibiting at the show, believes driver training will soon become a health and safety requirement.

THOUSANDS of fleets face a contract hire lottery this year as leasing firms make wildly differing predictions on residual values which hold the key to setting monthly rentals. Some firms warn rates could increase by up to 5%, adding £16.45 a month to the cost of a typical rental rate for an upper medium fleet car, or £588 over a standard three-year lease.

RADICAL proposals obliging companies to show a 'green grade' for their fleet operations in their statutory accounts could be ordered by the Government. The move could dramatically alter the company perception of a fleet manager's role as a poor performance will have a direct impact on the company's image with shareholders and the public.

BRITAIN'S largest green fleet, Humberside Constabulary, is acting as a guiding light for companies and organisations wanting to 'go green' following the runaway success of its own scheme. The force has converted 180 of its 434-strong car and van fleet to run on liquefied petroleum gas, and is now achieving annual fuel savings of £180,000 compared to an equivalent petrol-powered fleet.

SPECIALIST vehicle marketing services supplier Keddy Services has joined with American original equipment manufacturer Qual-Effic Services to create the largest OEM business in the world. The combined business, launched on Wednesday, is known as QEK Global Solutions (QEK) and has more than 1,700 employees in 51 locations in North America, South America, Europe and Australasia.

A GROUND-breaking tie-up between arch-rivals Ford and Vauxhall, together with DaimlerChrysler, to create the world's largest internet parts purchasing market could lead to reduced car prices in the UK. On Friday, the three giant motor manufacturers announced in the US a combined initiative to form a business-to-business market place open to all car makers and their suppliers, partners and dealers - worth $250 billion a year in buying and selling everything from car parts to paperclips.

PLUNGING residual values have created a wave of interest in alternative ways to dispose of fleet vehicles. The days of simply using a local auction for all sales are dead, and instead fleets must use every means at their disposal to maximise the value of their stock.

THE LP Gas Association (LPGA) is organising a pan-industry show to offer more information about liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as an alternative fuel for vehicles.

GUESTS at the Fleet News Awards - the fleet industry Oscars to be held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London on Wednesday, March 15 - will be treated to a night of top entertainment from a showbusiness star. His - or her - name will be revealed on the night.

AN all-new front-engined, front-wheel-drive Toyota Previa people-carrier is to be launched in June. Toyota's flagship five-to-eight-seater MPV, revealed on the eve of the Geneva Motor Show, will be offered with a 2.4-litre 154bhp VVT-i petrol engine and a 2.0-litre common rail diesel.

THE scale of the collapse in residual values has been revealed by Lex Vehicle Leasing, Britain's biggest contract hire company, which saw disposal losses rocket 460% to £14 million last year. Losses caused by falls in used car prices saw parent group Lex Service record annual profits for the year to the end of December down almost £10 million to £64.1 million (1998: £73.3 million) on turnover down from £1.7 billion to £1.53 billion for the same period.

AVIS Europe is to launch a new internet disposal venture for its vehicle fleet in the UK that could lead to the service being offered to other fleets in the industry. It has signed a memorandum of understanding with US-based Navidec to form a joint venture to sell cars over the internet.

THE AA has reported an operating loss of £30 million for the first three months since it was taken on by its new owner Centrica - but the new parent company insists it will bring huge dividends in future. Overall Centrica, which bought the AA last year for £750 million, made a pre-tax profit for year ended December 31 of £417 million, up from £252 million in 1998, on turnover down slightly year on year from £7.4 billion to £7.2 billion.

BANKING group HSBC, the parent of contract hire specialist HSBC Vehicle Finance, has reported a 21% increase in 1999 pre-tax profits.

DAIMLER-Chrysler shares rose 2.4% after announcing a 20% operating profits rise in 1999 to Euro 10.3 billion (£6.4 billion) with revenue up another 20% in the fourth quarter.

THE Consumers' Association is to launch its long-awaited internet-based car import service, 'carbusters', on March 28. The scheme is part of the organisation's 'Great British Rip-Off' campaign against carmakers' reputed overcharging of UK drivers.

A TWO-seater electric Nissan, designed for shared public use and integration with public transport systems, has just gone on sale in Japan. The lightweight Hypermini is powered by a lithium-ion battery, has a top speed of 60mph and a range of 70 miles on a single charge.

GLASS'S Holdings has acquired Virtual Showroom Limited and the automotive division of Anchor Computer Systems to form a new business unit within Glass's Information Services.

OIL group Burmah Castrol has sealed a three-year deal with Hyundai to become the car-maker's preferred lubricants supplier.

FLEET chiefs can find out how Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown's Budget on March 21 - one of the most important ever for fleets - will affect them at the Fleet News Budget Briefing. Taxation and fleet specialists will be on hand to help with queries in the wake of the Budget, which is expected to have a significant impact on company car drivers and fleet operators.

A HIGH stakes battle between the insurance and credit hire industries, which has led to a crippling stand-off over payments for vehicle rentals, has entered its final stages. The dispute focuses on the terms of contracts between credit hire companies which supply temporary replacement cars to the non-fault parties involved in road traffic accidents and their customers.

SAAB has slashed the price of its 9-3 2.2TiD by £1,650 in a move that means all turbodiesels cost £800 less than their petrol counterparts. The move makes Saab one of the few makers not to charge a premium for its oil-burners and follows Peugeot's move to gradually reduce price differentials between common rail diesels and petrol variants.

VOLVO is opening a new safety centre in Sweden featuring a crash laboratory which allows collisions from every possible angle and at different speeds.

RESULTS of the next set of Euro NCAP supermini safety tests will be released on September 27.

A ROAD safety report has called for car manufacturers to put more emphasis on crash protection for pedestrians and cyclists in their vehicle design. This recommendation was contained in a report by the European Transport Safety Council.

THE British-built Honda Accord has secured a four-star rating in the Euro NCAP crash test results for family cars.

LATEST European crash tests have shown superminis and city cars - once considered too small to offer fleet drivers adequate crash protection - are becoming safer. And the dramatic improvements in small car safety could further accelerate moves by fleets to downsize to the supermini sector.

KWIK-FIT is planning to more than double in size and is aiming to have 5,000 outlets across Europe over the next five years. The company achieved its first goal of having 2,000 service points by the year 2000 at the end of last year with the acquisition of glass repair and replacement company Silver Shield Screens.

HUNDREDS of fleet operators have received letters from Sussex Police informing them their employees have been reported for traffic offences since an initiative was launched last year. The force introduced COSTS - Commercial Operators Safer Transport Scheme - on October 1 with the aim of saving lives and helping companies reduce their fleet accident costs.

AUTO Windscreens has won two new contracts from the Post Office and VELO Motor Accident Management and retained BT's business. The windscreen replacement firm will provide glass replacement to the BT fleet until 2002 with an option to renew the contract for a further 12 months.