News - Page 2197

A RECORD new car sales year is on the cards for 1999 after the highest ever figures registered in July revealed burgeoning retail sales and steady fleet sales. Forecasters are revising their figures upwards to take account of the booming economy. The SMMT has increased its projection by 100,000 to 2.225million, Ford has gone slightly higher at 2.227million and Vauxhall believes 2.3million is not out of the question.

FLEETS operating their own used car forecourts to sell ex-company cars have been invited to a conference by the Institute of Trading Standards following its publication of a damning report into used car safety. The institute, which printed its 'Coffins on Wheels' report in June, is inviting all firms involved in the used car trade to attend the event, to be held on October 7 at the De Montfort Hotel, Kenilworth.

FLEET vehicle re-marketing specialist T2 Logistics has signed a deal with transporter firm Walon UK as part of the three-year joint venture announced between T2 and Walon's parent company AutoLogic Holdings. The move will combine T2's database and remarketing expertise to Walon's nationwide distribution, logistics and technical services infrastructure to offer fleet customers a 'cradle to grave service', from new vehicle preparation through refit to 'as new' standard, to complete fleet disposal.

A NEW Manchester-based company has teamed up with Cornhill Insurance to launch a residual value insurance policy for daily rental companies. Stewart Wright, Deltapoint's sales director (and former Renault and Daewoo fleet sales manager), said the company will use CAP Motor Research data to underwrite the combined residual values of a basket of year-old cars, with each basket containing between 30 and 40 vehicles, although a rental company can take out multiple policies.

A HOUSE of Commons Select Committee has backed grey imports from outside the European Union, but said any such imports should be clearly labelled. In a report, 'Trade Marks, Fakes and Consumers', the Department of Trade & Industry Select Committee said that, provided grey import vehicles can meet common safety, environmental and security standards, 'there seems to be no overwhelming reason why any differences in specification should be a reason for preventing consumers from choosing to purchase them'.

A POTENTIAL minefield of terms and conditions awaits fleets that do not stick strictly to the letter of the law on vehicle warranties. Company car drivers ignoring servicing schedules, or leaving servicing too late, will make almost all three-year warranties void.

ATS Euromaster has launched a website which can help fleet drivers and operators keep track of vehicle service needs.

THE fleet industry took a massive step towards the adoption of e-commerce and electronic invoicing this week when major new supporters emerged for the two leading systems, OASIS and Translease. Four of the UK's largest contract hire companies - Arriva Automotive Solutions, Dial Contracts, Swan National and Lease Plan - have announced they will use OASIS for service, maintenance and repair invoicing.

BMW is attempting to strengthen the Rover brand among fleets by offering its own product as part of a combined 'package'. The news follows the forging of much closer ties between BMW GB's corporate sales department and Rover Group's fleet team to maintain and develop leasing and fleet business.

SAAB is slashing up to £3,000 from models in its 9-3 range in a radical V-plate shake-up that will also see the disappearance of all normally-aspirated petrol-engined models. The changes come into force on September 1 and the manufacturer says they are part of a 'realignment' to make the brand more competitive.

KWIK-FIT Fleet has launched a new 'passport' for company car drivers heading across the Channel that will give them account-customer status across a network of almost 1,000 continental centres. They will be able to buy products and services on account overseas in the same way that they would buy fast-fit services at a Kwik-Fit outlet in the UK.

NATIONAL Tyres and Autocare has radically restructured its fleet operation into National Fleet and backed the new organisation with a guarantee to reduce fleets' tyre costs. A new IT system and call centre will underpin National Fleet, directing drivers to NTA's outlets, authorising work according to fleet requirements and offering a single number for fleet managers to call for all sales administration, invoicing, credit management and account management information.

AUTONATION, the US owner of National Car Rental and Alamo Rent-A-Car, has announced plans to separate the rental businesses from its group. A statement said: 'The board is exploring various strategic alternatives regarding the form of separation.'

BMW Group has blamed a 25% plunge in its profits on heavy discounts for Rover cars, higher-than-expected Rover redundancy pay-outs and the phasing out of the 600 and 800 ranges. BMW's profits for the first half of the year dropped 26.8% to £127million for the first six months of 1999.

THE Government has hit back at severe criticism of its record on transport with a promise to practice what it preaches, and turn Whitehall into 'Greenhall'. Environment minister Michael Meacher said they were showing business what could and needed to be done in all areas of green policy. 'It is not good enough for us simply to preach to others - the Government has to lead by example,' he said.

LAND Rover has increased the price and improved the specification of its Freelander range. A spokesman said: 'The Xi models have gone up £275 in price but they now have extra specification worth more than £900. This includes air conditioning, 15-inch alloy wheels, six-speaker stereo, four-channel ABS, four-wheel electronic traction control and hill descent control.'

MERCEDES-Benz is increasing the specification across its C-class range from next month, but with no change to existing prices. The Electronic Stability Program traction control system, previously an £846 optional extra, now becomes standard on all models.

PORSCHE has become the first car maker to harmonise pre-tax prices across Europe. But the pan-European pre-tax pricing strategy only applies to the 11-country Eurozone, excluding the UK. A spokesman said: 'In Britain, the price will continue to be set in the national currency and not in Euros because the Pound is not a part of the Euro system. Price differences may occur here when compared to the European mainland, due to exchange rate fluctuations.'

CITROEN has cut £845 off the list price of Xsara models with automatic transmission following the introduction of its 'intelligent' autoactive gearbox.

JOHN Prescott's Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions saw big changes in the recent Government reshuffle, with eight of the Deputy Prime Minister's ministerial team being replaced. Big-name departures include Glenda Jackson (resigned), Alan Meale (sacked), Dick Caborn (moved) and Helen Liddell (moved).

THE police have been given new powers to deal with a number of traffic offences through fixed penalties rather than through the courts.

THE Ford Mondeo ST200's insurance rating has been announced at 17A, lower than last month's provisional launch figure of 18.

GROSVENOR Contracts Leasing has agreed a new £1million deal with National Car Rental under which NCR continues as Grosvenor's preferred supplier of daily rental vehicles.

AUDI is to complete its S quattro series line-up with the unveiling of the new S6 quattro which is due to make its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month. It joins a line-up which already includes the S3 quattro, S4 quattro and S8 quattro.

NEW maximum fee levels for all MoT tests will come into force from September 1. For Class IV (cars, light vans and vehicles with up to eight passenger seats), for example, the charge goes up from £30.87 to £32.11.

AA patrols will shed their traditionally liveried vehicles and uniforms for the first time in their history in a new pilot scheme with SEAT. They will now take on the manufacturer's vehicles and outfits and be dedicated uniquely to the SEAT brand in their daily repair and rescue.

DISPOSAL losses saw the pre-tax profits of Lex Vehicle Leasing tumble 42% in the first six months of the year after the UK's largest contract hire company found itself exposed to the downturn in used car prices. Interim results showed turn-over up at £207million (1998: £201million) for the year to June 31 but pre-tax profits sharply down at £12.4million (£21.3million). Lex attributed the decline to 'lower market prices for used cars, which resulted in disposal losses compared with disposal gains in the first half of 1998.'

MAZDA has appointed Emma Hill as its new corporate sales manager with the aim of turning its fleet fortunes around. The importer has blamed the absence of a fleet boss for a plunge in its fleet sales from 7,249 in 1998 for the period January to June to 6,199 for the same period this year. The desk had remained empty for nine months following the departure of Trevor Houghton-Berry who now heads the LCV division.

MAZDA has slashed the price of its new Premacy by more than £300 across the range - before the mini-MPV has even reached the showrooms. The manufacturer says the prices initially announced for the rival to Renault's Scenic were led by Europe, but Mazda UK has managed to bring them down to a more competitive level. A spokesman said: 'It was decided prices needed to be lower in order to compete in the UK market.'

COMMUNICATIONS company Nortel Networks has installed FCS Computer Services' DRIVE fleet management software system to beat the millennium bug and improve its fleet utilisation. Nortel Networks previously used an old fleet software package to run its fleet of over 2,000 vehicles in the UK but has now switched to the Oracle-based DRIVE system.