News - Page 2199

MOTOREASY, the vehicle maintenance and support company which launches this week, has signed a strategic partnership with Acoat Bodyshop Services. Drivers signed up to the Motoreasy service will be referred to ABS for any body repair requirements.

FLEETS have failed to learn the harsh financial lessons of good tyre management and are still in some cases paying more for their tyres than retail customers despite their bulk purchasing power. A new report - 'Tyre Management', by David Openshaw Associates - gives a 10-point plan to help fleets to develop more effective tyre management.

FLEET drivers are missing appointments and losing potential business through breakdowns just by being forgetful, says the AA. In a survey of the top 10 faults which caused a breakdown in the past half-year, the most frequent problem attended by patrols were batteries discharged by driver error.

MOBILE vehicle repair company Pro-Finish has acquired Autosheen, the mobile car and commercial valeting company, to offer fleets a one-stop-shop option. Bicester-based Pro-Finish has added the existing Autosheen valeting fleet of about 100 vehicles to its own 37-strong national network of franchises.

INVESTMENT in a new £1million call handling system has created a 'one-call-does-it-all' pledge from Autoglass. The initiative allows customers calling the central 0800 363636 number to be put through to a local branch immediately. The investment has replaced a previous system that involved a local branch contacting the customer with an appointment within half an hour of his of her call.

GE CAPITAL Fleet Services' operations director for the UK, Jim Stirlen, has been promoted to European director for remarketing. Based at the UK headquarters in Manchester, he is responsible for standardising servicing capabilities, expanding resale channels and networks, improving resale performance and building on the company's Defleet lifecycle products and services across Europe.

CAP Commercial Vehicle Monitor has predicted that Land Rover's new Freelander Commercial will retain 41% of its list price at three years/60,000 miles. The August edition says a residual value figure of £6,325 puts it in close contention with both the Land Rover Defender 90 Hard Top Td5 at £7,000 (46%), and the Daihatsu TDL LWB at £6,175 (43%) - prior to its September on-sale date.

NISSAN's heavily revised and face-lifted Primera range has been given the thumbs up from fleet managers and contract hire companies at a series of pre-launch drive events. The manufacturer has kept the modifications tightly under wraps and only allowed a limited audience of 250 key decision-makers to view the car at its world debut at this year's Fleet Show.

COMPANIES from all sides of the fleet industry climbed the heights of generosity when they scaled Britain's highest mountains and helped to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity. Teams from all over the country took part in one of several challenges, including the Four Peaks Challenge in aid of the Wooden Spoon Society, which supports children and young adults with disabilities.

NISSAN engineers are trying to get to the bottom of seat wear and tear through the development of a mechanical bottom, dressed in a pair of jeans to test the durability of its car seats. The 'Nissan bottom' is modelled on an 11-stone person and denim is used because it is the most abrasive clothing material.

THE Government's commitment to comprehensive corporate green transport plans is being put to the test by Britain's second largest company. Vodafone Airtouch has created one of the most all-embracing company green transport plans in the country in an attempt to move staff from a traffic-choked town centre to a modern purpose-built out-of-town site. The company says the move is essential with staff making about 1,200 journeys a day between its 57 offices in Newbury's congested town centre.

Sister publication Fleet News, in conjunction with the Association of Chief Police Officers, Vauxhall Motors and Venson Group Plc, has published a 28-page guide to fleet risk management. 'The Fleet Manager's Guide to Risk Management' highlights the views of Transport Minister Lord Whitty, Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Paul Manning - who both call on fleets to cut the road carnage involving company car drivers - as well as leading industry figures.

THE world's largest professional services organisation, PricewaterhouseCoopers, has signed a 'strategic alliance' with Abbey National-owned Whitechapel, creator of the innovative Whitechapel employee car ownership scheme. It will boost the number of consultants trained in the complex technicalities of the scheme, under which drivers effectively own their company cars to avoid paying benefit-in-kind tax.

SENIOR fleet decision-makers have ruled out buying cars abroad, despite fresh evidence that UK pre-tax prices for new cars are higher than anywhere else in Europe. A survey by Lease Plan of 100 finance directors has revealed that 63% felt sourcing vehicles overseas was not worth consideration because of the increased administrative burden involved. They believe that UK prices are falling, with 62% expecting savings of up to 10% within the next 12-24 months.

LAND Rover is launching a new fleet strategy to make its first concerted drive to win business in the company car market. The Rover Group subsidiary says it has relied for too long on sales 'just happening' within fleet and is now to launch a fleet sales campaign. This will begin on October 4 when a new computer system goes on line which will allow Land Rover for the first time to analyse exactly which are fleet sales and which are retail.

CITROEN has shaken up its Saxo line-up, axing more than half its trim levels, discarding almost all the diesel models and increasing prices. But Citroen says the increases are designed to only partly make-up the big price reduction of the range earlier this year. This saw cuts of £365 from the VTR, bringing it to £10,675 on the road, £1,185 off the 120bhp 16V VTS at £11,995 and the best -selling member of the range, the three-door 1.1iX, fell £560 to £7,830. This week's increases see these models priced at £10,880, £12,200 and £7,985 respectively on the road.

CHELTENHAM & Gloucester has transferred the management of its 500-strong fleet to Black Horse Vehicle Management, a sister company within the Lloyds TSB Group. C&G is the last major business unit within the Lloyds TSB Group to transfer its fleet to BHVM - it previously used PHH Vehicle Management.

SUPERMARKET giant Somerfield has opened up access to its personal contract purchase scheme to all of its 71,000 employees. The company has developed the new staff benefits package with BCH Vehicle Management, who already supplies Somerfield's core company car fleet. Russell Dodds, Somerfield's head of compensation and benefits, said the group wanted a car scheme that would benefit all employees, and offer an alternative for company car drivers looking to take a cash option in lieu of their car.

STRONG sales of the Vauxhall/Opel Astra and Zafira contributed to parent company General Motors Europe reporting second quarter earnings of $187million, up from $124million in the same period in 1998. European sales coupled with booming sales in North America contributed to GM unveiling record second quarter profits of $1.7billion (1998: $306million).

THE Vehicle Certification Agency has been heavily criticised by a fleet industry expert for providing 'useless' information in its new 'New Car Fuel Consumption and Emission Figures' booklet. Stewart Whyte, managing director of consultancy Fleet Audits, has attacked the 'lack of clarity' in the figures provided by some manufacturers. He said they had been allowed to supply economy and emission information in a format that was easy to them but 'useless to users of the publication'.

BRITAIN'S best-selling volume fleet executive car - the Vauxhall Omega - will feature a heavily revised interior and exterior as well as a new 2.2-litre 16v petrol engine when the new saloon and estate model is launched in the autumn. On Wednesday, Vauxhall revealed the first official details of 'Omega 2000' which will see the existing 2.0 DTi engine dropped from the present engine line-up while trim levels - GLS, CD, CDX, Elite and the MV6 featuring sports chassis, 20mm lower suspension, sports tyres and modified spring/damper settings - continue.

NATIONAL Car Rental has signed a £600,000 one-year solus deal with supermarket giant Asda to supply the retailer with 70-100 vehicles a day. The largely group C cars such as the Vauxhall Astra and Ford Escort are used by store managers for a wide range of staff purposes including training and transporting the sales force.

ROLLS-Royce and Bentley cars have been put in the hot seat after having to recall almost 600 cars which have a fault with their heated seats.

THE Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union has bought a Car Fleet Control package to run its 200-strong fleet of Vauxhall Vectras and Astras driven by officials of the 700,000-member union.

GE Capital Fleet Services has relocated its UK corporate headquarters from Salford Quays, North Manchester, to Sale, in South Manchester. The new headquarters will become home to the GECFS's UK businesses: Avis Fleet Services, Leasecontracts, Cochranes Fleet Services and GE Fleet Logistics.

NISSAN'S 4x4 Terrano II range will be boosted with Sunday's launch of the £18,000 on-the-road S model featuring driver's airbag, electric front windows, alloy wheels, metallic paint, soft front bumper extension and colour-coded hard spare wheel cover.

ROBINS & Day Leasing is targeting fleet managers and buyers in the public sector and the NHS with a second annual ride and drive event.

A BLUEPRINT for a national network of low emission zones has paved the way for fleets with vehicles that are considered too polluting to be 'locked out' of town centres. The plan, published in a report by the National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection, has prompted new warnings that fleet managers must take formal training to cope with the new pressures they face.

FLEET managers can contribute to a significant reduction in vehicle carbon dioxide emissions if they buy more fuel-efficient vehicles and clamp down on 'unnecessary' car mileage, says the first report from the Cleaner Vehicles Task Force. The report argues that there is 'a strong business case' for adopting green fleet strategies. 'Many companies and fleet managers have only limited knowledge and awareness of environmental issues. Often, their organisations do not regard business mileage as manageable. Nor do they always adopt a green transport plan.'

FLEETS that deal directly with manufacturers will have to collect cars or arrange for their delivery themselves if they are to stand any chance of recovering VAT on delivery charges. But if manufacturers arrange the delivery, fleets will not be able to reclaim VAT, the House of Lords has ruled in the long-running case between Customs & Excise and British Telecommunications.