News - Page 2161

ONE in 10 vehicles - including company cars and vans - are fitted with illegal tyres, according to police estimates.

PEUGEOT is to launch its 206-based van at the Commercial Vehicle Show on March 28 at the NEC, Birmingham - six months later than originally planned. Worldwide success of the 206 supermini itself has been blamed for delaying the van's production at Ryton, Coventry. Prices will be announced at the show, although it is expected to be offered from less than £8,000.

DELIVERIES of Ford vehicles to UK fleets are unlikely to be affected by white-collar worker walk-outs planned for February 24-29 and March 6-8, according to the manufacturer.

VEHICLE leasing and fleet management specialist Automotive Leasing has been awarded a three-year contract to supply 23 vehicles on contract hire, including full maintenance and accident management, to Cathay Pacific Airways. The new contract will see a switch from Vauxhall to Volkswagen and consist of eight saloon and estate Passats and 15 Golf five-door hatchbacks.

INTERLEASING has signed a new vehicle contract to replace National Homecare's 180 Ford Transit fleet with the latest model of this van at the rate of 10 vehicles a month for the next 18 months.

A NEW battle for big business is set to consume the daily rental industry as United Kenning Rental Group mounts an aggressive bid to take on global rivals following its acquisition by Sixt Rent A Car. But the firms have vowed not to be dragged into a damaging price war to win business when the UK rental industry is already in a 'tooth and nail' battle which has plunged many leading players into loss and seen others go out of business.

THE Association of Car Fleet Operators has fired off a hard-hitting letter expressing surprise and disappointment at being shut out of the newly-launched Motorists' Forum. It has also demanded a place for fleets or a written explanation for the decision.

HIGHER priority must be given to security when it comes to choosing new vehicles if the Government is to meet its target of reducing car crime by 30% over five years, the Home Office has urged fleets. And before presenting this year's British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association vehicle security awards in London, junior minister Charles Clarke told manufacturers more must be done to improve standard levels of anti-theft equipment in cars, vans and HGVs.

MORE than two thirds of the British public believe the Government is not doing enough to protect the environment from the effects of the car. The finding comes from a new British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association survey which also shows that 94% of the public also believes car manufacturers should be more concerned about environmental issues.

THE Midlands has taken over from the North East as Britain's car crime blackspot, according to a new survey from the British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association. More than 40% of car owners and drivers in the central region feared their cars would be broken into or vandalised, compared with 31% in the north.

FIRST National has launched a new fleet accident management division and has revealed it is considering rolling out some of its core services to the retail sector through its parent Abbey National, which has 15 million customers. Branded First National Accident Management, Derrick Perkiness heads up the new division.

NEW models, a fresh initiative to target 'neglected' sub-100 fleets and an enhanced sales team are the cornerstones of Toyota's strategy to win back its place in the market after a disappointing 1999. The company is to launch seven new models this year.

FORD is understood to have shelved plans to build a Focus-based rival for Vauxhall's Zafira. Industry sources claim the project was halted because development engineers had failed to come up with an upstaging alternative to General Motors' unique seven-seater Flex-7 system fitted to Zafira.

HYUNDAI'S upper medium sector car of 2005, the five-door HCD 5 Crosstour, was unveiled at the Chicago Motor Show and features three distinct sections - the front which doubles as an office, the middle which provides the family with seating and entertainment features and the rear for storage.

A DIRECT injection turbodiesel version of Mazda's Premacy mini-MPV and saloon and estate variants of the new 626 range will go on sale on March 1. The £15,405 on-the-road Premacy has a 2.0-litre 100bhp engine.

MITSUBISHI'S revised and renamed Challenger four-wheel drive model goes on sale on March 1 at reduced prices starting from £18,995 on-the-road. Now called Shogun Sport, the five-door model fits in between the Shogun Pinin and the all new-Shogun due to be launched in May.

AUDI is offering quattro four-wheel drive on selected A6 models at a £600 price reduction until the end of March. Buyers of front-wheel drive A6 saloon and Avant 1.8T, 1.8T SE and 2.4SE models can upgrade to the quattro system for £800 instead of the usual £1,400.

FABIA, Skoda's new supermini range, goes on sale on March 3 with on-the-road prices starting from £7,599. The five-door hatchback is offered with a choice of three petrol engines, 1.9-litre normally-aspirated and turbocharged diesel units, and three trims - Classic, Comfort and Elegance.

THE Picasso has set a new record for Citroen by reaching the production lines less than two years after its styling was agreed by the company's management board. But the decision to build the car at Vigo has produced a substantial added bonus for Automobiles Citroen.

THE contract hire and daily rental industries have been the main casualties of the residual value crisis over the past 18 months, but most companies see the beginning of the year offering a glimmer of hope. However, a significant upturn in residual values is still some time away with the next year being a period of stabilisation and the chance to begin the recovery period.

DESPITE a host of launches and new ventures, fleet managers have yet to exploit the full power of the 'web' in sourcing or disposing cars. While a wide range of industries are seeing rocketing demand for business over the internet, an obvious example being the bookseller www.amazon.co.uk, car sales have several key differences which must be overcome.

AUTOBYTEL'S UK website has been visited by about 1.6 million people and achieved 140 million 'hits' since its launch last year. Customers are also willing to buy, with 16,000 purchase orders leading to 2,400 actual sales.

A NEW internet company, Auto Online, has launched a new product claiming to offer a 'cradle to grave' service for fleets wanting to sell vehicles on-line. The firm says the system, tailored for the automotive trade, will slash disposal costs by up to 50% and cut the time it takes to sell a vehicle.

CITROEN has set its sights firmly on beating the Renault Scenic with the launch of the Picasso in six months' time. Although UK pricing and specification levels have yet to be announced, the company is aiming to meet the Scenic head-on, which means prices from about £13,500 for the 1.6-litre to £16,000 for the HDi on a spec-for-spec basis with the Scenic.

WITH diesel models taking 60% of the four-wheel drive market, Mercedes-Benz expects the ML270 CDI to take the lion's share of the range's sales. The company expects to sell about 6,000 in the UK during 2000 - up on 1999's total of 4,000.

THE residual value crisis sweeping the contract hire and leasing industry has claimed its first victim, with dealership group William Jacks axing its AutoMotive Strategy arm just 18 months after launch. The move comes at a time when, after almost two years of tumbling residual values, the industry is increasing its rates to offset projected disposal shortfalls.

FLEET managers believe they will bear the brunt of the European Parliament's controversial decision to make manufacturers pay the cost of recycling all their cars. With pressure on manufacturers to cut UK list prices, fleets fear the £300 million annual recycling bill car makers face from 2006 will be paid through list price increases of up to £200 - a view denied by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

GERMAN car hire giant Sixt Rent A Car has acquired the UK's largest daily rental firm United Kenning Rental Group for an undisclosed sum. UKRG includes both the United Rental Group and Kenning Car, Van & Truck Rental - one of the UK's leading commercial vehicle rental operators.

STEADY growth in commerce over the internet during the last 12 months has led to a dramatic rise in the number of computer systems and software companies booking exhibition space at this year's Fleet Show.

COMPANY car drivers at an award-winning fleet have proved it is unsafe to use a mobile phone and drive at the same time. Permabond, a division of the ICI Group, has tested its 19 fleet drivers to see how their ability to drive is impaired because of using a mobile phone.