News - Page 2218

FLEETS are being urged to give their verdict on the standards of the car servicing and repair industry amid fears that drivers' lives are being put at risk by low standards and poor workmanship. A wide-ranging investigation has been set up by the Office of Fair Trading to look into the industry, which is worth nearly £9billion a year.

CAR giant DaimlerChrysler is taking over the import and distribution activities for Chrysler and Jeep from January 1, 2000. The move follows last year's merger between Daimler and Chrysler and will bring to an end Inchcape's seven-year import and distribution operation for the Chrysler and Jeep brands.

FLEET managers have given a proposed national league table of companies' driver safety standards a sceptical welcome. Even the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents does not seem to be rushing to back the league table unveiled last week by the Driving Standards Agency.

FLEET managers should follow a basic checklist when choosing vehicles for the fleet to guarantee fuel efficiency - a vital move as petrol and diesel costs are forced up by Government tax rises. Will Murray, senior researcher at the University of Huddersfield's Department of Transport and Logistics, says simple steps could save fleets thousands of pounds on their fuel bills.

NATIONAL Mobile Windscreens is undergoing a £1.3million expansion, tripling the size of its headquarters and operations centre on a new site in Bristol. The privately-owned independent vehicle glass replacement company, which is currently based at Stokes Croft in the city, has acquired the 2.7-acre site formerly occupied by Independent Car Auctions on the Kingsland Trading Estate.

MITSUBISHI Motors' new flagship £1.1million complex in Newbury is the latest dealership to carry the company's new branding. More than 70% of the company's UK dealers have now adopted the corporate 'visual identity' programme.

CAR dashboards could soon feature buttons to call out emergency and breakdown services thanks to a new vehicle tracking service from Trafficmaster. The service is called TrackStar and takes advantage of new telematic technology, combining a GPS global positioning system with a cellular network.

MASTERDRIVE Leasing and Rental has become one of the preferred suppliers to the UK's largest china clay producer English China Clays. So far it has supplied four cars for the 120-strong car fleet along with several Citroen 600 vans and Ford Ivecos for the light commercial vehicle fleet of 250 vehicles.

VEHICLE management systems company Minorplanet Systems is targeting its first year in profit following a major new deal with High Street store Boots and a planned new service for GE Capital Fleet Services customers which goes live next month. Rocketing business has seen Minorplanet turnover increase by 73% to £2.175 million in the six months to February 28, compared to the same period last year when it brought in £1.258 million.

BP Oil this week launches its new fuel card, BP Onestop, which is being administered by PHH Vehicle Management. It replaces the BP Local Account card and joins the newly launched BP Plus Control2 card and the BP Supercharge and BP Agency fuel cards.

BUSINESS chiefs are being urged to increase their efforts to improve the safety of their car parks. Home Officer minister Paul Boateng has written to every local authority chief executive and more than 200 heads of other agencies including firms and hospitals, encouraging them to back the Secured Car Park Scheme and to increase the safety and security of car parks.

FLEET business is to lead the way in doubling Subaru and Isuzu total sales during the next five years following the launch of a corporate sales network. Specialist corporate sales staff are in position in 25 dealerships around the country, targeting user-chooser lists and smaller fleets looking for 'something different'.

AXUS UK has ploughed more than £500,000 into computer technology to provide customers with quicker quotations. It is part of a wider investment programme by Axus International to provide a fully integrated system throughout each of its operating countries - which include Belgium, Germany, Denmark, France, Finland, the Netherlands and Spain.

MAJOR changes to the Nissan Micra line-up have been announced, resulting in significant specification enhancements and some price cuts. The range-topping Micra Si has the biggest changes with standard specification now including power steering, passenger airbag, rear head restraints, sports aluminium gear knob and single CD player.

ALFA Romeo has expanded its 156 range with an automatic transmission version of the 2.5-litre V6 24V known as the Q-System. The Q-System is two transmissions in one - a central console-mounted gearlever provides fully automatic transmission when positioned to the right, or a four-speed clutchless manual option when moved to the left.

MALE drivers are turning to personal attack alarms, repellent sprays and even, in extreme cases, replica guns and crowbars to protect them from other road users' aggressive behaviour. A survey commissioned by motoring and public transport group Arriva has found that four out of five men carry an item that they consider provides some personal security.

THE Government is asking for fleet industry input in the establishment of the new car registration system. Roads Minister Lord Whitty has announced the start of a consultation process on a system of local identifiers which will form part of the new registration format, due to be introduced in 2001.

FLEET decision-makers have hit out at claims that their operations could be run more cost effectively if outsourced. The managers, speaking at the Midlands regional meeting of the Association of Car Fleet Operators, were responding to recent statements made by Axus managing director Brian Taylor.

NISSAN has announced it is set to reveal disastrous results for the year to the end of March in its home market - although worldwide sales will claw back some of its huge losses. The manufacturer is predicting first-quarter losses for the year of about £182million compared to an expected £52million in its Japanese car division.

LEXUS is to launch up to six new models in the UK in the next three years, starting with the IS200 which goes on sale on May 20. From being a two-car company - GS300 and LS400 - the executive vehicle arm of Toyota will expand to encompass 'seven or eight' models.

LEX Service has amassed a cash war chest of more than £100million and is looking to expand, prompting continued speculation that it remains in the frame to acquire RAC Motoring Services. Speaking at the company's annual meeting, Lex Service chairman Sir Trevor Chinn said: 'The group's financial position remains strong.

BRITAIN'S roadside vehicle recovery business looks certain to face a massive shake-up in the coming months as speculation continues to mount that the Automobile Association, RAC Motoring Services and Green Flag - the three biggest providers - could all be taken over.

A FURIOUS political row has blown up over the Government's annual 6% real terms increase in fuel duties which continues to send fleet bills soaring. This week Treasury officials denied national newspaper speculation that Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown was proposing a radical rethink on the annual Budget increase amid increasing nationwide discontent at the tax led by the road haulage industry.

A NATIONAL league table of companies' driver safety standards is being proposed by the Driving Standards Agency. This will give businesses their first chance to 'benchmark' their fleet accident records against organisations of a similar profile and thereby recognise the importance of a risk management strategy.

FLEET managers have been warned they face being 'ripped to shreds' by a rigorous police investigation should one of their drivers be involved in a serious accident. David Lee, fleet manager at John Laing Construction, has experienced the 'harrowing' experience of a police investigation following the death last year of one of the company's drivers in a road accident.

NISSAN will re-enter the 1.8-litre sector of the fleet market in September with the launch of the new-look Primera, which makes its world debut at the Fleet Show at the NEC, Birmingham, April 29-29, where 250 fleet VIPs have been invited to a private viewing. The Japanese manufacturer's decision to launch an all-new 1.8-litre engine in the heavily facelifted Primera, which goes on sale in the UK on September 1, follows major growth in the sector.

BUSINESSES across Britain must start to plan for the types of company cars they will be using in five years' time and how their staff will use them if they are to avoid stiff financial penalties designed to protect the environment. But the company car is here to stay and will continue to play a critically important role in British business, according to Liberal Democrat transport and environment spokesman Matthew Taylor, not least in providing tens of thousands of jobs directly and indirectly in the UK automotive industry.

A MASSIVE drive to win more business sales for Honda will get under way when the crucial new five-door Accord model is rolled out at next week's three-day Fleet Show. A 70% boost in corporate sales personnel has been agreed as part of a plan which calls for the Japanese company's UK marketing division to achieve a minimum 10% year-on-year growth in registrations.

A GUIDE giving fleet managers listings of all crash tests carried out under the European New Car Assessment Programme is launched by the AA. The EuroNCAP guide follows calls for accessible information to the crash test results which are becoming an important guideline in many acquisition policies. It explains the tests, which show how far vehicles exceed legal requirements for crash safety.

FNN's sister title, Fleet News, will launch the essential guide to the UK car and fleet market at next week's Fleet Show, which opens its three-day run at the NEC on Tuesday. This fact-packed booklet presents a comprehensive profile of the UK fleet market.