News - Page 2175

THE battle between the insurance and credit hire industries will go to the House of Lords, after a Court of Appeal ruling this week. The dispute focuses on the terms of the contracts between credit hire companies which supply temporary replacement cars to the non-fault parties involved in road traffic accidents, and their customers.

HONEYWELL Control System's fleet manager Eddie West has taken early retirement after 30 years with the company and now has his sights set on using his knowledge of the industry as a consultant. He officially left Honeywell at the end of October, but had been off work for about two months due to ill health.

NORTH east dealership group, Reg Vardy, has signed a deal to supply staff at Sunderland Football Club with 27 vehicles.

MACHINE tools manufacturer and distributor Bridgeport Machines has signed a sole supply contract with full maintenance including short term hire, accident management and fuel cards for its 75-vehicle UK fleet with debis Car Fleet Management.

PHARMACEUTICAL giant Johnson & Johnson has introduced a personal motoring scheme option for its 1,200 company car drivers. The health care product manufacturer has offered drivers a cash alternative to their company cars since 1993, but has experienced a low take-up, despite the fact that 500 of its staff have so-called 'perk' cars.

CONFUSION over fair wear and tear costs is gripping the fleet industry amid claims some contract hire firms are slapping charges on customers in a desperate bid to claw back money lost through collapsing residual values. Industry leaders claim unscrupulous firms caught out by collapsing residual values are charging customers for scrapes and scratches which would once have been accepted as fair.

FLEET NewsNet print sister publication Fleet News has launched the search for the winners of the 2000 Fleet News Awards - the 12th year of the awards which have become known as the fleet industry 'Oscars'. Once again there will be awards to fleet managers, vehicle manufacturers and fleet supplier companies.

FLEETS are buying the wrong type of vehicles if they want to maximise residual values when they come to re-sell them. Both CAP Motor Research and Glass's Guide are warning that fleets and leasing companies are buying cars which are too expensive for private motorists to run.

KWIK-FIT Fleet is taking Formula One technology into the heart of the company car and van market with the launch of a new service to fill tyres with nitrogen gas rather than air. The fast-fit giant claims the use of nitrogen will help fleets cut 10% from fuel bills, improve the life of their tyres, and enhance the safety of their vehicles.

MORE than 200 of Europe's fleet industry leaders will be attending Automotive Congress Europe, to be held at the Hotel Okura, in Amsterdam, on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 23 and 24. The event is organised by Emap Automotive, publisher of Fleet NewsNet.

TOP 10 contract hire and fleet management company Dial will stop prospecting for new medium and large fleet business as part of a major strategic restructuring. The Barclays-owned company believes the acquisition of new business in the large fleet sector is too expensive, and in future it will seek to win a greater share of the accounts that it already supplies.

THE popularity of the company car is rising, according to new official Inland Revenue figures. Statistics obtained by Fleet NewsNet from the Inland Revenue show that in 1997/98 - the latest year for which figures have just been published - there were 1.73 million tax-paying company car drivers.

FORD has denied that it has reneged on its September price promise, despite cutting the price of a batch of Focus models by about £1,000. The cars are all old model year stock, and Ford claims the discount is merely a marketing programme that will cease when the cars have been sold.

JONATHAN Burr, managing director of GE Capital Fleet Services, has resigned from the company to develop new business opportunities. He had been managing director of GECFS, which includes Avis Fleet Services, Leasecontracts, Cochranes and Pantech, for three years.

GOVERNMENT calls for motorists to use their cars less frequently are falling on deaf ears, according to research by Lease Plan. The leasing and fleet management company has found that the number of drivers using their cars on a regular basis for journeys of less than one mile has increased from 56% last year to 61% in 1999.

ASTON Green Audi dealership has come up with a novel way of discouraging potential customers from heading to the continent to buy cheaper new cars. This weekend, November 19-21, the dealership is offering a 'peace of mind' European pricing weekend by attempting to match continental prices for all cars ordered and delivered by December 31.

SAINSBURY'S and British Gas have joined forces to promote liquefied petroleum gas to fleets and are claiming a UK first for bringing the fuel to a supermarket forecourt. An LPG pump has been installed on trial at Sainsbury's Beckton store in London selling AutoGas and is the first of three stores to have one fitted in the city, with a further seven planned.

LEISURE and brewing group Whitbread has renewed its 10-year old sole-supply arrangement with GE Capital Fleet Services. The deal will see GECFS continue to supply 2,969 vehicles throughout the UK on contract hire with a full maintenance package and direct driver contact.

ALARMING research by PHH Vehicle Management has found that only 14% of UK companies consider a good fleet manager to be instrumental in running an efficient commercial fleet. The study also revealed that only 27% of service companies cited maintenance and reliability as important factors, and just one in four companies identified costs as a key element in successful fleet management.

NATIONAL Car Rental is looking for major growth in the UK as its parent company plans to float on the New York Stock Exchange under the name ANC Rental Corporation. The move will separate the global car hire giant from AutoNation, a car dealer in the United States with 406 franchises and 41 used vehicle megastores.

FORD has launched the sportiest Focus so far - the 2.0-litre Zetec ESP - with prices starting from £15,000 on-the-road. Available as a three-door, five-door (£15,500) and estate (£16,000), the 16-valve engine produces 130PS and gives the Focus a top speed of 125mph and 0-62mph acceleration of 9.2 seconds.

LEADING fleet service companies are joining manufacturers in signing up to attend next year's Fleet Show. The premier fleet event takes place at the NEC, Birmingham between April 4-6, 2000.

CAP Green Book is warning van buyers to be aware of parallel imports from Ireland with British plates which could cost the unwary buyer up to £750 at resale after three years. The warning comes in the latest edition of the book, which says it has never been easier to misidentify a parallel because some imports are registered in the UK, as opposed to having BAZ or GAZ on the registration plate.

FIGURES released by CAP Motor Research highlight the areas where fleets are making windfall disposal profits or incurring residual value shortfalls. The residual value forecasting specialist has compared predictions it published three years ago in CAP Monitor, with what is actually happening in today's used car market, as published in CAP Black Book.

THE Toyota Yaris, which went on sale in Europe in April, has been voted European Car of the Year 2000 by 56 motoring journalists from 21 European countries.

FORD has reached agreement in its long-running dispute over pay with the unions employed at its factories.

THE AA and the National Association of Air Ambulance Services teamed up to raise almost £12,500 at the London Motor Show for air ambulance services around the country.

MAZDA is offering free servicing for the first 45,000 miles for all cars registered before November 30 for fleets sales of more than 25 cars and business sales of two to 24 cars.

DUPONT Automotive Finishes' Five Star Network of repairers is now used by almost one million vehicles following the signing of two new fleet contracts.

BRITAIN'S cheapest car to buy - the £4,724 on-the-road Perodua Nippa EX2 five-door - is the cheapest to run at 13.1p per mile over three years/60,000 miles, according to CAP Monitor's 'Top 40' value for money chart.