News - Page 2178

FLEET managers must tackle company car drivers' macho instincts to drive fast if vehicle fuel efficiency is to be improved. That's the view of Keith Greenhead, PHH Vehicle Management's director of fuel, who says fleet managers concentrate too much on the price of a gallon and not on the use of fuel.

NEXT week is D-day for Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott when Thursday's Queen's Speech will reveal whether the Government plans a Transport Bill in its next legislative session. The bill would lay the foundations for city centre congestion charges and workplace parking levies, both of which are key policies in the drive by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions to encourage motorists out of their cars and on to public transport.

ROVER has announced that its facelifted 200 hatchback - the 25 - will be priced between £8,295 and £14,995, including a three year/60,000-mile warranty first introduced by the manufacturer in the 75 range. When it goes on sale on November 25, the car will be available with a choice of six engines - 1.4 16v, 1.6 16v, with either 83bhp or 101bhp, a 1.8 16v Steptronic, 2.0 turbodiesel and 1.8 VVC - and five badge identities - i, iE, iL, iS and GTi.

PRICING and specification levels for the Rover 45 will remain under wraps until just before the on-sale date of January 13. But details that the company has released support its strategy of creating a new family of cars, of which the 75 was the first-born.

BRITISH Car Auctions has taken a major step down its route of European expansion with the opening of its third BCA Autoauktionen site in Germany. The new purpose-built centre is in the industrial heartland of Neuss, on the outskirts of Dusseldorf, and has the capacity to sell 45,000 cars a year.

AN auction floor test of paintless dent repair services and warranties added £200 to the average price of defleeted cars. But the trial, carried out by Manheim Auctions and Ford Business Partner, the new name for Ford Contract Motoring, proved fleet managers must choose carefully which defleeted cars need work.

BRITISH Car Auctions has launched a new 'Smart Prepared' service throughout Europe to prepare and enhance the residual values of vehicles waiting to go under the hammer. The service includes cold metal 'smart' repairs, body and paintwork reconditioning and interior refurbishment.

A HUGE increase in sales of ex-rental vehicles has prompted Greenhous Remarketing Services to move to a purpose-built new site. The company estimates it will sell 16,000 end-of-term rental vehicles this year, compared to 7,500 last year, 4,000 in 1997 and 2,500 in 1996. The majority of vehicles sold (85%) are Vauxhalls, although Greenhous also deals with Fords, Nissans and Toyotas.

FORD has this week given a huge boost to electronic commerce within the fleet industry with the launch of Ford Fleet Servicemanager. This replaces Ford's Fleet Central Billing, and offers fleets the electronic handling of repair authorisations and invoicing using Cap Gemini's Translease technology.

PHILLIPS International Auctioneers looks set to source part of its 140-strong contract hire fleet from the continent after a cost analysis by its fleet management supplier Fleet Technique revealed savings of several thousand pounds, despite 'generous' financial offers from UK manufacturers. Fleet Technique, which has only recently won the contract to manage Phillips' fleet - previously run in-house - believes European sourcing will remain a viable option as long as current car pricing disparities exist between UK and European countries.

DAEWOO is assuring its fleet customers that UK operations will remain unaffected by the latest developments in efforts being taken to salvage the debt-ridden company. Korean chairman and founder Kim Woo-Choong and 13 senior executives have offeedr to resign.

COMPANY car drivers could find themselves out of pocket due to the lack of accurate information about cars' carbon dioxide emissions. This deficiency endangers the ability of both employers and their drivers to select cars that will prove the most fiscally advantageous under the new CO2-based Vehicle Excise Duty and company car tax regimes.

PACESETTING technology to clean up diesel engine exhaust emissions will be standard on Peugeot's replacement for the 306, at least a year before the new carbon dioxide- based company car tax regime comes into force. A unique particle filter trap system (FAP) will be used to set the vital newcomer apart in the most hotly-contest part of the European car market when it appears at the end of next year.

A POWERFUL consortium of fleet, business and manufacturing bodies has called on the Government to end the fuel duty escalator which is 'hurting, not working'. The British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, British Chambers of Commerce, Transport and General Workers' Union, National Farmers' Union, British Retail Consortium and the Freight Transport Association have all signed a joint letter that condemns the Treasury's fuel policy.

SOME of the equipment in Jaguar's next new compact executive model will also be shared by a Volvo product. The X400 project being developed to challenge the BMW 3-series is not too far down the track to get cost benefits from Ford's acquisition of Volvo.

FLEET decision-makers require specialist skills and knowledge to deal with mounting taxation and environmental pressures, according to a new survey. The GEE Guide to Company Cars 1999 said fleet management was as crucial to today's successful business as it has ever been.

THE UK's leading fleet insurance companies will underwrite Vauxhall's dual-fuel vehicle range at the same premiums as the equivalent single fuel petrol models. Birmingham-based insurance broker Marsh UK has contacted six of the country's top insurers - Allianz Cornhill, CGU, Royal & SunAlliance, Crowe Insurance, Norwich Union and Zurich - and received confirmation that they will underwrite the Vauxhall dual-fuel range as standard vehicles.

GOVERNMENT plans to tax out of existence the provision of free fuel for private motoring should not lead fleets to scrap fuel cards, according to PHH Vehicle Management. The fuel management giant was responding to Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown's Budget commitment to raise the benefit-in- kind tax for company car drivers in receipt of free fuel for private journeys by 20% over and above the rate of inflation.

THE fleet driver training industry is not ready to cope with the potential 'big bang' in demand if tough new health and safety legislation is introduced. With driver training for company car drivers under the microscope from Government, police and the Health and Safety Executive, the managing director of one of the UK's largest providers of driver training says the industry will not be able to cope with demand.

MODERN cars could pose a safety risk to fleet because they are too complicated to operate without proper instruction, according to the Fleet Driver Training Association. The FDTA is calling on manufacturers to standardise the operation and description of equipment so drivers are not confronted with a bewildering array of different equipment when they step into a new car.

AN increasing number of fleets are looking to source cars from overseas, according to Newcastle-based Fleet Technique. Recently, it has sourced two or three vehicles from the continent at a time, typically executive models, for a wide range of companies.

THE cost of hiring a car or van for a week in the UK, France, Germany and America is to be included in an investigation on international price differences being carried out by the Department of Trade and Industry. Prices of about 100 products, ranging from a loaf of bread to a cooker, will be checked in the four countries and the results of the survey will be published in January.

CIVIL liberties organisation Liberty has warned fleet managers that fitting 'black box' data recorders to vehicles can be intrusive and insulting to staff. The warning coincided with advice from industry experts that black box technology represents a 'double-edged sword' for fleets.

FLEETS could be one of the target markets in the development of technology which uses satellite tracking to automatically ensure a vehicle travels within speed limits. The Motor Industry Research Association and the Institute for Transport Studies at Leeds University have modified a Ford Escort which uses global positioning satellites and in-car CD ROM maps to calculate within one metre its location and then match it up to the position of speed limit signs.

SMALL fleets are most at risk from suffering millennium bug problems - with fewer than 60 days to go before any potential difficulties are likely to appear. As 2000 looms, latest research from the Government's Action 2000 initiative shows 27% of small to medium sized businesses with 10 to 249 staff have yet to take any Y2K action.

ROVER UK has been given the responsibility of leading parent company BMW's drive to make the UK its most successful sales region in the world. The announcement was made by Gabriele Falco, the new director of sales and marketing for all BMW Group brands in the UK, at the press launch of the £130 million facelift of the Rover 200 and 400, renamed 25 and 45.

LEADING fleet manager Simon Boggis has joined the host of industry experts set to speak at the Automotive Congress Europe in Amsterdam this month. The group fleet procurement manager for TNT UK and Eire will be giving a buyer's view of pan-European leasing, including the tax and legal perspectives and the opportunities for finding common ground across national boundaries and recognising national peculiarities.

VODAFONE Airtouch has significantly enhanced its 'green' staff travel plan to boost its chances of securing planning permission for a new headquarters building just outside Newbury. The UK's second largest company has already received planning permission from Newbury Council, but is awaiting ratification from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

DAVID Lang, AA chief engineer, has left the breakdown and recovery operator to take up a new position as director of technical services with the Australian Automobile Association. There are no official links between the two organisations, but they are working increasingly closely on crash testing, new car assessment programmes and in the development of telematics and intelligent transport systems that use harmonised standards.

DAIMLERCHRYSLER has reported a 14% increase in third quarter net income year-on-year of £0.96 billion with operating profit up 24% to £1.66 billion. For the nine months ended September 30, global vehicle sales for Mercedes-Benz cars increased 20% from 653,700 to 784,600 units year-on-year, commercial vehicles up 15% from 355,600 to 410,300, while sales of Chrysler, Plymouth, Jeep and Dodge cars and truck were up 3% from 2,348,300 to 2,407,200 units.