News - Page 2194

NEWSPAPER and television group United News & Media has given all its 6,000 employees access to its new PCP scheme, supplied by Lease Plan. The group, which includes The Express, Anglia TV, Meridian TV and HTV, introduced the scheme as an option for its 700 'perk' company car drivers.

AUTOGLASS has launched a 'Cracking Car Crime' campaign after it revealed the cost of smash and grab attacks on company cars has more than doubled to £184 million in a year with a fleet vehicle being targeted by criminals every 100 seconds. The average cost of each attack has soared from £219 to £804 and, Autoglass's sixth annual car crime study reveals, that one in three victims had not set their car alarms.

GOWRINGS, the Ford dealership, bodyshop and burger chain conglomerate, has returned six-month profits before tax up 22% on turnover which increased 16%. For the half-year ended June 30, pre-tax profit for the company topped £491,000 (1998: £401,000) with turnover at £50.3 million (1998: £43.3 million).

AUTOMOTIVE industry logistics and support services company AutoLogic Holdings has reported increased profits despite the impact of the introduction of the twin plate- change and a perceived weakness in the UK car market. In its interim results for the six months to June, the company, which operates in the UK, France, Belgium and Holland, reported pre-tax profits up 8.9% to £6.3 million (1998: 5.7 million) while turnover during the first six months grew by 37% to £74.1 million (1998: £54.1 million).

A TOYOTA super-mini MPV is to make its UK debut at London Motor Show in October. Due to go on sale in the UK next year, the Yaris Verso five-seater offers flat-in-floor retractable seats, similar to those on the larger Vauxhall Zafira.

KWIK-FIT Fleet managing director Ron Bambra has been appointed group fleet director of Kwik-Fit to spearhead development of the company's fleet services in continental markets. As a consequence of Bambra's promotion, Kwik-Fit Fleet sales and marketing director Simon Roper, who has been with the company and held the post for five years, becomes managing director from September 1.

HELPHIRE Group has completed the acquisition of 1st Automotive Limited and Rescue Car Rental Limited. 1AL and RCRL operate as a single business in the credit hire industry under the 1st Automotive brand and the group, which operates a fleet of 252 vehicles, has branch locations in Sheffield and Strensham with headquarters in Altrincham.

FIAT has revised its Coupe range, adding a new model and increasing the specification of the existing line-up without changing the price. A new top-of-the-range £24,754 Coupe 2.0 20V Turbo Plus joins the existing two models which now feature air conditioning as standard.

VAUXHALL has launched a dedicated website tailored to the fleet market and aimed at financial directors, purchasing managers and fleet buyers. The Vauxhall Finance site is designed to explain Vauxhall's wide range of car financing options.

AUDI is to offer an electronic tyre-pressure monitoring system as an option from next month on its A8 and S8 quattro models. It is claimed the system will halt the negative effects on rolling resistance, fuel consumption and tyre wear caused by drivers not regularly checking tyre pressure.

MITSUBISHI Motors has opened a further three UK dealerships in time for the September 1 introduction of the V-plate. They are at Grenson Mitsubishi in Crewe, Grosvenor Garage in Tunbridge Wells and Edmonson Mitsubishi in Ipswich.

HYUNDAI Motor Company has opened the world's most advanced wind tunnel at its Namyang Research and Development Centre in South Korea.

PEUGEOT is reviewing its 406 coupe line-up, adding an SE trim to the 2.0-litre range but axing the SE from the 3.0-litre V6-engined models. This reduces the range to two 2.0-litre models and one V6 3.0-litre. Prices start at £20,875 on-the-road for the 2.0-litre, including air conditioning with climate control, CD autochanger, trip computer and rain-sensitive windscreen wipers.

EUROPCAR has become the first in the country to offer the Audi Cabriolet 1.8 and 2.8 on its daily rental fleet. The convertible will be followed by the hardtop A6 and A8 in September.

VAUXHALL is planning to create the largest single network of alternative fuel refilling stations in the country with pumps at specialist fleet dealers in a radical move to help conquer the lack of infrastructure which is stifling growth of the 'green' vehicle market. In a partnership with fuel suppliers including Calor Autogas, 120 Vauxhall dealer sites have been pinpointed throughout the country which can volunteer to stock gas equipment on forecourts.

A POLICY adopted in the United States effectively forcing manufacturers to produce alternative fuel vehicles and fine them for producing so-called gas-guzzlers should be adopted in the UK. Instead of using grants to fleet buyers to encourage manufacturers to start producing clean fuelled vehicles, the Government should 'bully' car makers to take action with set production targets, according to Howard Wheeldon, a capital goods analyst for Metheson Investment.

WIDESPREAD apathy towards the introduction of twice-yearly plate changes looks set to consign the rush by fleets for the latest registration cars to the motoring history books. Fleet managers report that very few of their drivers are hankering for the V-plate, to be introduced on Wednesday.

TYRE manufacturer Bridgestone has been named General Motors' Supplier of the Year for the fourth consecutive year.

ROAD safety experts from across the world are being brought together by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in an attempt to create new ideas on reducing the UK casualty rate.

MORE than 400 jobs will be created in Rotherham as the result of a £32 million investment by Japanese car components company Toyoda Gosei, part of the Toyota group.

AUDATEX (UK), computerised accident damage estimating software developer, is to provide its network of AudaWorkstation users with new Thatcham TTS software free of charge.

CAR Kits Direct has launched a national expansion of its hands-free car phone kit installation service for fleets.

VEHICLE leasing and fleet management specialist, Automotive Leasing, has launched AL-ROM, a CD-ROM Electronic Business Card the size of a traditional credit card, which provides details of their products, services and contact details in a fully interactive way and gives a direct connection to their internet site.

BRITISH Car Auctions and Honda (UK) combined for another 100% sale success at the Measham auction centre earlier this month. Sixty of the manufacturer's dealerships were represented on the day to bid on the complete Honda product range, including the new Accord, Civic, CR-V, Prelude, HR-V and Shuttle. A total of 188 cars were sold, generating a turnover exceeding £2.1 million.

BRITISH Car Auctions has appointed Dent Wizard, a subsidiary of competitor Manheim Auctions, as the exclusive provider of paintless dent repair services throughout its UK and European auction network. Dent Wizard will conduct paintless dent removal as an additional service for vendors at auction working with BCA subsidiary ITS Solutions' vehicle inspection team in delivering a 'seamless' remarketing repair solution.

A 200% increase in its fleet business in July compared to last year helped Motorauctions, Leeds, increase total sales during the month by 18%. During the same trading period, the auction site also achieved a 23% increase in its main dealers' business.

FLEET managers are being urged to bombard their MPs and the Government with demands for a clear message on how the proposed 2002 carbon dioxide-based company car tax system will function. Dismayed by the mixed messages emanating from the Inland Revenue, in particular the proposed penalty for diesels, fleet chiefs are calling for clarification on the finer details of the new benefit-in-kind tax system due to be introduced on April 6, 2002.

FLEET managers have been earmarked by the Government for a pivotal role within its integrated transport strategy. A confidential tender document seen by Fleet NewsNet acknowledges the importance of fleet managers as key influencers in the establishment of green corporate transport plans that cover journeys to work, car parking, greener driving and alternative modes of transport.

BMW Group has launched a new initiative which will see approximately 1,000 Rover Group cars a year offered through the German manufacturer's UK dealer network as courtesy cars. Each of BMW's 156-strong dealer network is being 'encouraged' to take, on average, seven cars from the Rover Group, which could be anything from 200s through to Land Rovers.

BLACK box data recorders are likely to become commonplace in company cars within the next five years as fleet chiefs are placed under increasingly intense pressure by the police and Government to ensure employees are driving safely. But there is also a growing need for greater individual responsibility among drivers to use the roads sensibly and ensure their vehicles are safe, according to members of the north-east branch of the Association of Car Fleet Operators.