News - Page 2172

A NEW book co-written by David Burke, who took ill health retirement in August 1993 as marketing manager from the company then known as BRS Car Lease and BRS Auctions, detailing more than 150 vehicle collections, has been published.

WESTMINSTER City Council is claiming a world first with the addition of a fuel cell vehicle to its fleet as an example to business of green fleet practice. The launch combined with a blistering attack on the Government for its stance towards motorists, branding plans for workplace parking charges and road-user charges in the capital as 'nonsense' and 'short-sighted'.

A NEW era of professionalism in the contract hire and leasing industry began this week following the launch of a ground-breaking new training programme. Simon Kerr, chairman of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association, and Professor John Stancer, pro-vice chancellor of Nottingham Trent University formally signed an agreement on a new six-stage industry professional development programme at the University on Friday.

BRITISH Car Contracts is insisting it is 'business as usual' despite speculation over its future ownership amid rival bids for NatWest, owner of its parent company Lombard North Central. Two major banks, The Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland, are pitted against each other to buy out NatWest.

NEW car registrations this year look set to be the fourth highest on record after breaking through the two million barrier. Year to date registration figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed registrations are down 1.8% to 2,113,033 units (1998: 2,151,056), with November sales down 5.9% to 143,323 (1998: 152,314). Year end registrations should hit 2.2 million units, in line with forecasts, the SMMT says

VAUXHALL has signed a new three-year solus badge deal worth £16.5 million with gaming machine firm Leisure Link. The firm, formerly part of pub and restaurant chain Bass Leisure which already has a supply deal with Vauxhall, has taken delivery of 400 new models, including Corsa, Astra, Vectra and Omega.

FLEET industry website Fleet NewsNet exceeded 1 million 'hits' in November, the site's busiest month since its 1996 launch.

TESCO, which runs one of the UK's largest commercial vehicle fleets, has taken on 230 new Volkswagen LT35 2.5DI vans as it surges ahead in the forefront of the online shopping revolution. Tesco Direct, a scheme in which shoppers can order their goods over the Internet to be delivered to the door, was originally launched in 1996.

ROVER has won an order from Sainsbury's for vehicles worth £15 million at showroom prices. The supermarket retailer will take 350 vehicles per year for three years on contract hire ranging from the new 25 and 45, to the 75 saloon.

THE Ministry of Defence has taken delivery of 17 dual-fuelled petrol/LPG Vauxhall Vectra saloons which will replace staff cars at the Aldershot Garrison, home of the British Army.

INTERLEASING has signed a four-year contract hire deal with maintenance to supply Cambridgeshire County Council with 10 dual-fuel Vauxhall Astra estates. They will be used as pool cars by the council, which has rejected using an on-site fuel bunker and instead will use local refuelling sites in a bid to speed up the development of an infrastructure for liquefied petroleum vehicles (LPG).

NISSAN has won a £245,000 contract to supply 16 Primeras to Leicestershire-based home and garden company Vitax.

THE Government has announced revised regulations for grey imports that have not been type-approved in the UK. The new regulations relax the volume limits for imports, but impose stricter safety and environmental conditions.

BRITISH Car Auctions (BCA) has rejected a proposal from an independent trader to sell around 300 grey import cars a month at dealer-only auctions. The approach was made by Tim Charlesworth, a founding member of the British Independent Motor Trade Association (BIMTA) and an importer of Japanese cars.

PRICES of used cars continue to tumble according to two separate pricing indexes released this week, although one suggests the heat is off upper medium sector values. The CAP Index, which monitors Britain's new and used car prices, says used car prices have dropped an average 5.3% this month compared to December last year. However, the one bright spot is that the decline is not as steep as the average 5.9% fall last month compared to November 1998.

FLEET industry chiefs are furious at not being invited to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's 'roads summit' where he outlined 'a better deal for Britain's motorists' in the 21st century'. Monday's summit brought together invited representatives from various transport organisations. It was organised 48 hours ahead of Wednesday's publication of the Transport Bill.

ENHANCING services and customer benefits in a rapidly evolving fleet industry will only occur if contract hire, rental and leasing companies employ the best-trained and educated staff, according to the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association. As a result, the BVRLA will launch its six-stage industry-specific professional development programme for employees ranging from industry newcomers to company chiefs at Nottingham Trent University.

SPECULATION is mounting that the new millennium will begin with a spate of takeovers in the UK contract hire and leasing industry. VELO has been bought and it is understood that at least five companies are 'actively being sold'.

DRESDNER Kleinwort Benson has sold its leasing and fleet management subsidiary VELO to the Motor Group, a holding company backed by the venture capitalist European Acquisition Capital, for an undisclosed sum. The sale coincides with the disposal of VELO's stake in VELO Motor Accident Management, which covers about 100,000 company vehicles, to its joint venture partner Aon Risk Services.

THE Environmental Transport Association is reporting a phenomenal increase in companies looking for information on how to run a 'green' fleet. The news comes as the ETA announces the winners of its first awards for the most environmentally friendly cars, entitled the Green Apple Awards.

WELL-known fleet industry figure Bob Rider is stepping down as joint managing director of debis Car Fleet Management at the end of this month. His departure will end the latest chapter in a 30-year career in the fleet industry, and leave colleague Hubertus von Zastrow as sole managing director of the company.

NEW tax rules for cars and certain light commercial vehicles came into force on Wednesday and could pave the way for outright purchase fleets to recover VAT on their company cars. This week HM Customs & Excise created the new category of 'stock in trade' cars for VAT purposes.

THE Competition Commission's long-running inquiry into UK new car pricing has 'virtually turned into an anti-car industry campaign', according to Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders president Sir Ian Gibson. He told the SMMT's annual dinner that the inquiry - due to report on December 16 - had contributed to creating tension between the motor industry and the Government.

HM CUSTOMS & Excise has introduced a major change in its VAT treatment of pick-up vehicles, including double cabs. The new definition will now classify pick-ups as vans rather than cars if they have a payload of more than 1,000kg.

BOOMING credit hire and accident management firm Helphire is on the hunt for acquisitions after announcing record results. The announcement comes as rivals launch on the stock market to raise funds in a bid to mirror its success.

BRITAIN'S fleet drivers are having to operate on a transport network that is 'crumbling' due to year's of under-investment and the Government is facing the challenge of winning back their trust - lost through years of being subjected to soaring taxes - through a radical reassessment of their needs. John Dawson, the AA's head of policy, called for an urgent rethink on spending policies at the launch in London of a new report 'The Great British Motorist 2000: Lessons from European Transport and Travel'.

A SUMMIT meeting of fleet chiefs, vehicle manufacturers and representatives of organisations, including the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions, is to be held to discuss the availability of carbon dioxide data. The 'CO2 summit' has been organised by the Association of Car Fleet Operators and is to take place in London on Friday, December 3.

THE National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has signed a solus agreement with Rover Corporate Finance to supply and manage its 420-strong car fleet for three years in a deal worth £4.6 million at showroom prices. The bulk of the company's fleet is already made up of Rover 214iE and 414iE cars, used as operational vehicles by child protection teams, project leaders and other NSPCC staff throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

THE RAC is recruiting women to join its roadside breakdown patrols to reflect the fact that nearly half (45%) of its 6.2 million members and a quarter of all company car drivers are women. The RAC last had women on patrol in the 1960s when they were known as patrolettes who acted more as guides rather than vehicle repairers.

A FEMALE sales representative who claimed she suffered back problems after being given a smaller company car than her male colleagues has settled her claim for sex discrimination. Susan Jesshope claimed that salesmen at the greetings card firm where she worked were given 1.8-litre Ford Mondeos and Peugeot 406s while she was given a Vauxhall Astra 1.6 and as a result she aggravated a back injury.