News - Page 2205

NISSAN is to launch the new version of its Skyline GT-R supercar in the UK in the autumn.

HOUSEWARE producer Brabantia (UK) based in Bristol has signed a single-badge contract hire deal with Vauxhall Master Hire.

GRASS Roots Trading Company, a turf care business, has taken delivery of 19 Honda Civic Aero deck VTi models for its new team of sales representatives.

LOCAL authorities have been given the power to create 20mph speed limits in their own areas, without needing Government approval.

DIESEL-engined company cars are to be penalised under the new carbon dioxide based benefit-in-kind tax system due to be introduced on April 6, 2002. The Inland Revenue confirmed this week that diesel cars, which emit lower levels of CO2 than their petrol equivalents, will be hit with an additional 3% tariff added to their CO2 rating.

THE Competition Commission has provisionally concluded that a 'complex monopoly' exists in the UK's new car market. The Commission has written to 20 manufacturers - BMW, Citroen, Colt (importer of Mitsubishi), Daewoo, Fiat Auto, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda. Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, Rover, Saab, Toyota, Vauxhall, VW Group and Volvo - asking them to respond to its provisional conclusions.

THE Consumers' Association has launched a campaign to end the high prices of new cars in the UK, condemning the current pricing regime as the 'Great British rip-off'. The launch coincided with the publication of a CA report that showed UK consumers face the highest pre-tax prices for 60 out of the 74 best-selling cars in the European Union.

RAC Holdings chief executive Neil Johnson is leaving the motoring organisation at the end of this month, once the sale of RAC Motoring Services to Lex Service is completed. He will be replaced by former Reg Vardy chief executive Graeme Potts, who will become group managing director of the RAC and will join Lex's main board on August 1.

ROVER is in danger of sacrificing its future in fleet after parent company BMW revealed that the 200 and 400 will be replaced by a single lower medium sector model. This would leave Rover without a new upper medium car and therefore without a four-car model range considered crucial to corporate success.

HUMAN resource experts have advised fleets not to scrap their company car fleets in the wake of NatWest's decision to remove 5,000 perk cars from its fleet. Nicholas Bennett, head of compensation and HR practice at Buck Consultants, said many employers were interested in cash allowances and PCPs, and would like to reassign the company car benefit and reduce their fleet administration.

THE latest European New Car Assessment Programme crash tests have called into question the safety of some of the UK's most popular people carriers. Euro NCAP examined the performance of eight MPVs in front and side impact situations, and found shocking shortcomings in some of the vehicles' driver and passenger protection.

A £3.3 million funding programme for the Energy Saving Trust's Powershift programme has secured its future into the next millennium. Transport Minister Helen Liddell gave the go-ahead to the one-year deal on Monday, which could double the number of alternatively-fuelled vehicles funded by the programme.

MANUFACTURERS are fighting a rearguard action against new distribution channels that threaten to steamroller established UK sales routes. The internet is allowing new car buyers to circumvent their local dealer and shop for the cheapest price anywhere in the UK, or even Europe.

FLEET drivers are set to play a key role in the evaluation of the latest road tolling trials which the Government this week confirmed will take place in Leeds and Edinburgh. However, a new survey has found that company car drivers are hostile to congestion charging, considering tolls to be a 'poll tax on wheels'.

A DAMNING attack has been launched on companies which are 'trapped in a company car culture' and refuse to plough resources into reducing car use. Experts launched the offensive at the second in a series of free 'green' seminars, organised by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, which are being held throughout the UK over the next two months.

FLEET managers have hit back at Government allegations they are wasting fuel and should stop moaning about the fuel tax escalator. One is urging transport officials to 'come out of hiding' to see the management process he has in place.

THE UK's largest contract hire company, Lex Vehicle Leasing, has appointed Budget Rent a Car as a supplier of short term hire vehicles. The agreement is initially for one year, and will see Budget share the account with Lex's established supplier Avis Rent A Car.

MFI Furniture Centres has renewed its single-badge deal with Vauxhall for three years for its 900-strong fleet. Vectra 1.6 LS models, driven by MFI's retail, trade and support managers, will make up 80% of the fleet.

THE 1999 Five-A-Side Charity Challenge in aid of Motability, sponsored by FNN sister title, Fleet News, RAC and Royal & SunAlliance has scored a record number of entries.

COLESHILL-based Hallmarque Assistance, which provides vehicle rental and uninsured loss recovery services to the fleet industry, has declared April's Fleet Show at the NEC, Birmingham, 'a great success'.

MITSUBISHI says user-chooser fleets have joined retail enthusiasts in ordering the Evolution VI following its rallying success.

AUTOGLASS has won a three-year contract with Zurich Financial Services - formed by the merger of Eagle Star, Preferred Direct and Zurich Insurance.

VAUXHALL has launched a new internet site featuring a 'virtual brochure' detailing accessories for cars and vans.

FORD has relaunched its fleet internet site - accessible via FNN's Buyers' guide section.

JEFF Fielding has been appointed fleet operations manager for Fiat Auto UK, following the recent departure of Graham Howes to Korean manufacturer Daewoo to head up its fleet operations.

HONDA is to open a new flagship headquarters at Langley, near Heathrow Airport, after more than 35 years based at Chiswick.

FUEL price differentials across the UK continue to widen, according to the latest monthly pump price survey by PHH Vehicle Management.

CITROEN is claiming an industry first with the launch of a new car finance section on its internet site (accessible via the Buyers' guide section of FNN).

UNIPART has acquired the Partco Group for £179 million after the deal which will create the largest automotive parts distribution business in the UK was given the go-ahead by Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Stephen Byers.

KIA has promised a 'fairer deal' for UK car buyers by giving its new range of cars some of the lowest prices in Europe. The South Korean importer has promised that the lower prices represent a long-term commitment to drive down new car prices in the UK, and will not just be short-term promotional offers.