News - Page 2234

MASERATI, which was relaunched in the UK at last month's British International Motor Show in Birmingham, has announced the near completion of its dealer network with 16 outlets opening.

ALTERNATIVELY-fuelled vehicles could soon to be allowed through the Channel Tunnel for the first time if a bid by Eurotunnel proves successful. Eurotunnel is making proposals to the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority to try to lift the restrictions which prevent any vehicle fuelled by liquefied petroleum gas or compressed natural gas from using the tunnel.

REGISTRATIONS of cars and vans from southern Ireland in the north is becoming an increasing problem according to the Retail Motor Industry Federation. Mervyn Stewart, Northern Ireland chairman of the RMIF, is calling on manufacturers to look at their marketing strategies in the north, when cars are being offered cheaper in the south.

VAUXHALL has unveiled a trim-level shuffle for the Corsa range following the recent announcement its price would be slashed. The new Corsa range is down in price on the outgoing models, despite many additions to the specification.

LEX Service and Hyundai Motor Company have signed a new four-year rolling contract with the aim of further strengthening the brand and increasing sales beyond last year's record 28,608. The new contract was signed by Sir Trevor Chinn, chairman of Lex Services, which acquired the Hyundai Car (UK) franchise in 1993, and Lee Chai-Sam, director of Hyundai Motor Europe.

BUDGET Rent a Car has signed a partnership agreement with Go, the low-cost airline from British Airways, which flies out of Stansted.

TOP fleet manager David Lee is living proof that driving a car with a high safety rating saves lives, after he walked away from a head-on car crash in a vehicle he chose based on European New Car Assessment Programme crash test results. Lee, who runs the 2,500-strong fleet of John Laing Construction, says he owes his life to the guidance provided by the crash test results and has told fleet managers to put a car's safety record before any other fleet buying decisions.

THE Government's efforts to introduce alternatively-fuelled vehicles on to its fleet have been dismissed as pure tokenism. Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Norman Baker MP said that more than six months after the Government unveiled its integrated transport white paper there were still only a few alternatively-fuelled vehicles on its vast fleet.

UNITED Norwest Co-operatives has awarded a one-year contract to c2K Automotive Solutions, which will now have first option to supply vehicles for the company's 900-strong fleet. The leasing company believes the year-long deal will see it supply about 100 cars on contract hire to the fleet managed from Sharston, Manchester.

THREE directors of Shrewsbury-based Fleet Management Services, including managing director Geoff Cobley, have retired from the business. The departure of Cobley, Tony Coles, director of operations, and Alan Brain, director of remarketing, follows the acquisition of FMS by First National Vehicle Contracts, First National Bank's fleet subsidiary.

HONDA is targeting fleets with the launch of air conditioning as standard across its range in a shake-up which sees changes to trims and prices cars. The move is part of a reorganisation - which includes price rises for some models - as it prepares for the T-plate in March.

ROVER has pledged to launch a replacement for its 200 and 400 models in 2003 and is to continue to significantly reduce its rental business in pursuit of stronger residual values across the brand. Meanwhile, this week's press launch in Spain of the long-awaited Rover 75 - the manufacturer's new executive contender which will now go on sale in the UK in mid-June - was overshadowed by the company announcing further massive cost-cutting measures and more job losses as it embarks on a one-year action plan to make the company profitable.

A DAMNING attack on fleets has been launched after a new report revealed a 'shocking' lack of interest in road safety among fleet managers. Fleets' attitude has been branded 'a syndrome of disinterest' by the Royal Association for the Prevention of Accidents.

CITROEN has renewed its three-year solus contract to supply the Civil Aviation Authority and National Air Traffic Services' fleet of more than 600 cars. In total 300 Xantia and 300 Xsara models are to make up the core of the contract hire agreement.

FLEET News editor Ashley Martin and deputy editor Jonathan Manning have contributed a chapter called 'European Fleets' to the Confederation of British Industry's 1999 'European Business Handbook' published this week.

CIVIL servants' transport arrangements will cost the public purse more dearly if they are forced to give up their cars and use public transport. The claim follows plans at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions' to slash mileage allowances as a key element in its blueprint for Government staff travel.

GODFREY Davis has launched a corporate version of its personal motoring scheme, Freeway, in anticipation of more company car drivers revisiting the cash-for-car conundrum. Nigel Underdown, Godfrey Davis' director of marketing, said one of the hesitations many employers had in introducing a cash allowance was the fear that staff would select 'inappropriate' cars, and consequently fail to reflect the image which the company wished to portray.

CAR dealership chain Reg Vardy has made its first big buy of 1999 with the purchase of 12 dealerships from Caledonia Motor Group.

SHAREHOLDERS and the Government have given the go-ahead for Bristol-based contract hire and fleet management company BCH Vehicle Management to be acquired by Deutsche Bank for £39.6 million. This week the board of bank subsidiary DB Vehicle Solutions said its offer for the group had been declared wholly unconditional.

THE AA is targeting 15 million drivers, including company car drivers, in a war to combat public ignorance about the UK's highest-ever fuel taxes. AA research shows that just 7% of drivers realise that £8 out of every £10 spent on fuel goes to the Government in tax.

LOOKERS Motor Group has opened its first Mitsubishi dealership.

PEUGEOT'S Ryton plant has set an all-time weekly production record building 2,965 206 hatchbacks - the highest weekly production total since 1973.

JAGUAR has confirmed the pricing of its new S-type, to be at the end of March, at £28,300 for the 3.0-litre V6 manual, £33,150 for the V6 SE automatic (the manual is a no-cost option) and £37,600 for the 4.0-litre V8 automatic.

NEW car sales in January could be 50,000 below last year's figure with fleets holding on for the T registration in March partly to blame for the massive fall. Industry forecasts had predicted that January 1999 sales would be about 219,000, but it is expected that the final figure will be close to 170,000 units.

FORD and Land Rover have announced production cutbacks at their Dagenham and Solihull factories respectively. Ford's Dagenham factory, which produces the Fiesta car and van and Mazda 121 saloons, has been on short-time since October.

SCHERING-Plough, the pharmaceutical company, is taking delivery of more than 100 vehicles in the first phase of fleet expansion plans for this year. The Welwyn Garden City-based company has purchased outright 56 Volvos - S40s and V40s - and 68 BMWs - including the 3- and 5-series - taking the total car fleet up to 412 vehicles.

SPECULATION that BMW will steer Rover Cars into niche territory has been fuelled by the resurrection of the Riley name for a 75-based coupe concept likely to appear at the 1999 London Motor Show. But the sporty three-door, commissioned as a design challenge from BMW chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder, is unlikely to go into production.

INCHCAPE-owned Kenning Leaseline and Mann Egerton Vehicle Contracts has merged their fleet funding operations under the MEVC banner. The two companies already share some centralised finance and operations systems and structures, and the sales function was combined from February 1.

FLEETLEASE has won a multi-million pound contract to supply and manage Andersen Consulting's 650-strong car fleet. The leasing company won the contract after Andersen decided to go out to tender, approaching seven different fleet management companies.

ROVER has strenuously denied rumours that it has stockpiled as many as 40,000 used cars until prices in the second-hand market improve. Industry sources have suggested that Rover withdrew the cars to avoid selling them in the company's last financial year.