News - Page 2183

NEW car buyers are delaying their purchases in anticipation of price cuts, Richard Palmer, chief executive of European Motor Holdings, said this week. The 40-strong franchise dealership group reported pre-tax profits for the six months to August 31 of £4.23 million on turnover of £225 million.

GROWING buyer resistance and rising stock levels are more likely to force new car prices down in the short-term rather than the 'statement of possible remedies' from the Competition Commission published earlier this month. John Lawson, motor industry analyst at Salomon Smith has predicted price cuts on volume-selling cars in the UK of 10%,

THE Volkswagen Group has followed the lead taken by Ford and introduced a price guarantee to customers buying new cars up to the end of the year. It means that anyone buying a new Audi, Volkswagen, Skoda or SEAT will be protected from any price reductions until December 31.

THE motor industry has unveiled a 'green' labelling system for new cars, and called on fleet managers and company car drivers to prioritise the environment when choosing a new car. The voluntary initiative by manufacturers and dealers has Government support, and will see every new car given an environmental label detailing its carbon dioxide emissions, fuel consumption, noise level and regulated emissions (such as Euro II, III or IV).

VOLVO has revealed one of its largest ever fleet deals - a £14 million contract to supply Virgin Atlantic Airways with 450 S80s over the next 14 months to chauffeur upper class passengers from their home or business to Heathrow and Gatwick airports. The first batch of 20 cars will be pressed into action at the end of this month and will be supplied to Tristar Cars, Virgin's chauffeur drive supplier, as part of the airline's exclusive check-in system.

GE Capital Fleet Services' 'satellite revolution' has received the backing of transport minister Lord Whitty. The ground-breaking product will see GECFS track vehicle mileages, and give its customers the chance to monitor their vehicles' locations and journey routes using global positioning satellite technology and GSM communication technology.

CONFLICTING views on the state of the used car market in 2002 have emerged from the two leading residual value forecasters. CAP Motor Research is predicting that residual values of typical three-year-old ex-company cars will be 2% higher than today's prices in three years' time, but Glass's is forecasting a 10% decline.

FORD Credit has relaunched and rebranded its full service leasing product as Ford Business Partner, targeting smaller companies. FBP is based on the former Ford Contract Motoring product, but also includes RAC Accident Management, BP branded fuel cards, a one-call daily rental service through Hertz, and a 21-day driveaway insurance cover called Fordinsure for fleets with fewer than five vehicles.

THE Volkswagen Passat is the surprise joint winner of the Car of the Year title in the annual Association of Car Fleet Operators' Fleet Vehicles of the Year Awards. For the first time in the 16-year history of ACFO's Fleet Car and Vans of the Year Awards there was a tie for first place in the Fleet Car of the Year category. Results were announced at the show on Tuesday.

THE Rover 45 - the facelifted 400 - has made its world debut. The car was unveiled along with the 25, a revised version of the 200, at the London Motor Show just two weeks after Rover revealed its first images of the new cars, although detailed pictures of the 45 were not released.

KEEN pricing - with many models undercutting their predecessors - and high ambitions for greater fleet penetration are key elements in SEAT's plans for its new Ibiza and Cordoba ranges which went on sale on Tuesday. Ibiza prices now start at £500 below the superseded model, from £8,495 on-the-road for the entry-level 1.4.

AUDI is contacting 1,000 UK owners of the TT sports car to carry out modifications to the suspension in response to customer complaints about high speed stability and a number of accidents in Germany.

UNIPART, one of Europe's leading independent logistics and automotive parts and accessories companies, has announced record turnover of £590.2 million for the first six months of 1999 (1998: £565.6 million). Pre-tax profits are £26.3 million (1998: £15.5 million).

THE Skoda Fabia, which made its world debut at last month's Frankfurt International Motor Show is one of five cars shortlisted for the millennium Car of the Year Award to be announced next month.

FIFTY teams completed the 10th Wooden Spoon Vauxhall Four Peaks Challenge in 48 hours, raising £393,362.50 for the charity's projects. beneficiaries include a child development centre in Lambeth, hydrotherapy equipment for the SENSE Scotland family resource centre in Glasgow and a teenage cancer unit in Birmingham.

2000 will be the biggest year in the 10-year history of Lexus with four new vehicles set for launch in the UK, including the sports coupe concept convertible which made its world debut at the Tokyo Motor Show. The vehicle, powered by a V8 engine with variable valve timing and five-speed automatic transmission and fitted with run-flat tyres, features a plastic-free wood/leather interior and foldaway aluminium roof.

WILTSHIRE Police have taken delivery of a fleet of 10 Honda Civic 5-door models. The force already operates more than 25 Hondas of different types, including motorcycles and generators.

THRIFTY Car Rental UK and Ford have signed a supply agreement which will see the rental company take a minimum 850 vehicles this month.

HYUNDAI is entering the people-carrier market for the first time with an seven-seat multi-purpose vehicle. Making its world debut at the London Motor Show and called the Trajet it will go on sale in the UK and the rest of Europe in spring 2000.

FIRST National Vehicle Holdings has introduced a pilot scheme designed to boost residual values of defleeted company cars by selling them direct to end users. The company has launched Buy Direct following a restructuring of its remarketing operation to run alongside its traditional method of disposing of end-of-contract vehicles - auctions and brokers.

HONDA is claiming class-leading residual values with its Swindon-built Accord saloon now that one-year-old models are reaching the used car forecourts. Based on Glass's Guide figures, most individual Accord models command a trade value of about 80% of their original list price with retail values approaching 90%, putting the model top of the D-sector saloon list of 1998 S-plate models with 14,000 miles recorded.

THE second-hand van market has weathered the fluctuations in residual values resulting from this year's introduction of a twin-plate change far better than the 'image-conscious' car market, according to CAP Motor Research. It says warnings it made in 1997 of how scrapping the annual plate change would cause faster depreciation by diluting the value of the 'latest letter' have been confirmed with the accelerated depreciation of car values - which has not been matched by a fall in the commercial market.

FIVE manufacturers singled out by Lease Plan for the number of vehicles being recalled have hit back at the accusations. Ford, Vauxhall, Peugeot, Renault and BMW were named by Lease Plan following a survey of its 72,000-strong fleet as being the worst offenders for the number of vehicle recalls being made.

THE Government has acknowledged concerns about the lack of user-friendliness of official tables listing vehicle carbon dioxide emissions - but in doing so highlighted another potential administrative nightmare for fleet managers. Vehicle emissions will form the foundations of the new Vehicle Excise Duty and company car tax systems due next year and in 2002, but they are only available in the Vehicle Certification Agency's Guide.

A TOTAL of 150 fleet industry chiefs have booked to attend this year's Automotive Congress Europe to be held in Amsterdam on November 23/24. Pan-European fleet, rental and leasing issues will be under the microscope at the event organised by Emap Automotive, publisher of Fleet NewsNet. The Congress is sponsored by BCA Europe and is being supported by the European Car and Truck Rental Association, and will be held at the Hotel Okura, Amsterdam. Last week a brochure containing the programme of topics and speakers and a booking form was distributed to more than 8,000 fleet decision-makers in the European leasing, rental and fleet businesses.

ADJACENT to the Automotive Congress Europe hall will be a networking area featuring a range of companies to discuss business issues relating to their own products and services. Booked into the networking area to date are Aon Risk Services, British Car Auctions, which is also sponsoring the cocktail reception following the first day's Congress, and Kwik-Fit Fleet.

LEADING information technology provider Kalamazoo has awarded a five-year pan-European contract hire deal for its 438-vehicle fleet to GE Capital Fleet Services. The solus deal replaces a previous arrangement with a range of contract hire suppliers, including Jessups Vehicle Contracts, BCH Vehicle Management and Lease Plan.

AN expansion programme which backfired, coupled with the dramatic fall in used car values, has sent profits tumbling at dealership group D C Cook. This week the company reported a pre-tax loss of £9.2 million on turnover of £337.5 million for the year to April 30 compared to a profit of £3.5 million on turnover of £226.8 million in 1998.

PROFITS at General Motors Europe, which includes Vauxhall, dropped in the third quarter of 1999 as sales volumes dipped, although market share increased to 10% from 9.7% in the third quarter last year. However, the slip in profits in Europe was offset by strong year-on-year increases in GM North America and General Motors Acceptance Corporation, which bought UK-based Arrive Automotive Solutions earlier this year.

FRANCHISED dealers are critical of the control manufacturers and importers exert over their businesses, according to the 20th dealer attitude survey by the National Franchised Dealers' Association. While Kia, Honda and Suzuki dealers are 'enjoying greatly improved relationships with their suppliers', prolonged disenchantment exists among the franchises of Daihatsu, Mitsubishi and Proton.