News - Page 2237

HERTZ Corporation, the world's largest car rental company, has signed a letter of intent to pursue a business partnership in Japan with Toyota Corporation's rent-a-car operation, the largest car rental business in Japan, beginning in April.

ESTABLISHED Kent-based dealership group Fairways has opened a new Volkswagen franchise in Maidstone in addition to the company's existing Rover outlets in Gillingham and Gravesend.

COMPANY car drivers have been warned not to use rearward facing child seats on the front passenger seat of cars fitted with airbags.The advice comes from Volkswagen after an accident in Germany in which a child was killed following the deployment of an airbag.

DIXON Motors has sold its Plunkett parts business to the Partco Group for £3.25 million.

EUROPE'S largest steel stock agency - Hillfoot Steels Group - has entered the motor industry with the opening of its first dealership - Hillfoot Mitsubishi.

BRITAIN'S fleets have been blasted for their poor road safety record by junior transport minister Lord Whitty who has demanded a 20% cut in crashes involving company car drivers. He has called for an overhaul of the fleet industry to create a 'culture of safety' to cut 10,000 driver accidents a year from fleets' log books.

FLEETS face the risk of runaway fuel bills as the Government asserts its commitment to the fuel tax escalator. Continued pressure to persuade drivers to use alternative transport and greener fuels is seeing fleets stung at the garage forecourt.

A RECORD number of fleet managers have entered the 1999 Fleet News Awards with 35 of Britain's top fleet chiefs battling it out for the five titles, including the prestigious UK Fleet of the Year Award. Meanwhile, almost 80 submissions have been made by fleet industry service companies for the seven service company awards.

A MAJOR attack on the fleet market is being launched by Chrysler Jeep Imports UK, spearheaded by the launch of a four-year free servicing offer on all vehicles supplied by nominated leasing companies. The importers' fleet programme - called Chrysler & Jeep Corporate Direct - sees the Dover-based company being the linchpin in a chain linking its 107 dealers with selected contract hire and leasing companies and top FTSE targets.

MANAGING director of Highway Vehicle Management Colin McLean has resigned as a result of differences of opinion with the company's parent, General Guarantee, over the future strategy of the contract hire firm. He described his departure as amicable but disappointing, after spending seven years with the company, which has offices in Stirling, Worcester and Crowthorne, Berkshire.

REMARKETING and disposal experts are divided over the impact on residual values of Motability Finance Ltd's plans to take responsibility for selling end-of-contract vehicles. Under the current system original supplying dealers are obliged to buy back Motability cars for a pre-agreed sum. But MFL proposes to take the residual value risk on its 360,000-strong fleet in order to maximise disposal proceeds and add greater flexibility to the scheme.

THE Government could give the thumbs-up to the introduction of graduated vehicle excise duty in the Budget and announce an implementation date, it was claimed this week. As industry experts try to guess Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown's Budget plans for the fleet industry, wider motor industry expectations were high that the Budget's transport focal point would be reform of the present VED system.

A NEW contract hire and vehicle management company has been launched by well-known industry figure Nick Brown. Harrogate-based Black <I>i</I> will start trading at the end of January with Brown pledging that the new company will provide 'big company benefits while ensuring small company personal service'.

THE apparently widespread practice of ignoring a car's servicing schedule to save costs could lead to the managers of leasing companies and garages facing jail and heavy fines, it has been claimed. The warning has been issued by Chris Withers, trading standards manager for the London Borough of Bexley, after he took his Renault Laguna RTi 2.0-litre 16v company car for a 70,000-mile service.

MARKET-leading fleet service companies are backing this year's Fleet Show, delighted that the event is returning to its business forum roots. Among the major players who have announced they will be taking part in this year's show at the NEC, Birmingham, is PHH Vehicle Management Services, returning after its absence at the 1998 event.

MOTORING organisations are renewing their calls for the fuel tax escalator to be scrapped in the light of a Government admission it is failing to meet pollution objectives set for 2005. In a review of the National Air Quality Strategy, John Prescott, Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and Regions, admitted the target set for 2005 for reducing the level of airborne particulates, which cause the premature deaths of more than 10,000 people in the UK each year, was 'unrealistic' and would be relaxed.

THE Retail Motor Industry Federation is renewing its calls for annual emission tests in the light of the Government announcement on emission targets. And Powershift, the Energy Saving Trust initiative to encourage the use of alternative fuels, said particulate emissions could be reduced and other air quality targets met more quickly if clean fuel vehicles are introduced in greater numbers.

FLEET industry giant Cendant Business Answers, parent company of PHH Vehicle Management, has announced a major shake-up in its management team. The company has appointed two new managing directors - Jeremy Hay at PHH Vehicle Management, and David Bird at sister companies Cendant Claims Plus, Cendant Business Partners and Overdrive. Operations director Godfrey Larque is leaving the company to pursue other interests.

PRICES for the heavily revised Vauxhall Vectra show 'modest' increases over the outgoing model with the manufacturer claiming that the rises are more than offset by specification enhancements. The new Vectra, featuring about 1,800 part number changes, many of them under the skin, enters showrooms in mid-March with the new prices following the recent industry trend of 'negative' increases once inflation is also taken into account.

FLEET managers are being told they have a future, but need to adapt to meet the changing demands of the industry and work alongside fleet management companies following a series of outsourcing deals and criticism of their performance. The message has come from the Association of Car Fleet Operators, which says fleet managers should always have a place within a company.

PROTON is slashing the price of its whole UK range for a three-month sale which puts the car back at 1989 prices. Taking into account inflation, Proton says its models are priced exactly as they were when introduced in the UK 10 years ago.

GE Capital Fleet Services has announced a major restructuring which will see significant investment in new offices and sites, and the closure of its premises in Evesham and Leamington Spa. The two centres to close are the former headquarters of Leasecontracts and BRS Car Lease, both acquired by GECFS in the past four years.

FLEETS and company car drivers are to continue to reap the benefit of 'falling' new car prices and improving vehicle specification into the millennium, according to the boss of Vauxhall. Simultaneously the choice of new cars in the UK market will continue to divide into two sectors - established model trims such as LS and GLS for fleets, while special editions will be increasingly targeted at retail buyers.

THE company car culture is one of the main obstacles to the success of the Government's integrated transport white paper. Dr Richard Knowles, a transport researcher for 25 years and now a reader in geography at Salford University, believes company car drivers are 'welded' into their cars and no longer act rationally when it comes to considering alternative means of transport.

COMPANIES face draconian measures to cut car use including annual workplace parking charges of up to £5,000 per space under radical new proposals for reducing road traffic in London. The initiatives, which also include the implementation of congestion charging and road-user charging, are needed if traffic conditions in the capital are to be improved, according to a report by the London Planning Advisory Committee (LPAC).

A GROWING mood of intolerance is developing towards 'sloppy management' of fleets which risks the lives of employees through a complacent attitude to safety. Mary Williams, director of road safety organisation Brake, which hosted the Managing Road Safety conference at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in London, said it was time for a change to the lack of interest many fleets show towards safety issues, including driver training.

CRASH tests results on six lower medium sector cars including the Ford Focus - the 1999 European Car of the Year - and the new Vauxhall Astra will be announced on January 26. The crash tests, carried out under the European New Car Assessment Programme, will also see verdicts published on the performance of the Ford Escort, Nissan Almera, Renault Megane and Mercedes-Benz A-class.

VOLVO is continuing its penetration of police fleets with a partnership with the Surrey force aimed at increasing safety during car pursuits. The manufacturer has loaned Surrey Police five Volvo V70 T5 2.3-litre turbo-charged cars for 12 months, which will be used for training purposes by the tactical pursuit and containment team.

BMW'S entry model 316i Compact is from this month equipped with a new and more powerful 1.9-litre 105bhp engine, producing more power, torque and improved fuel consumption. It replaces the existing 1.6-litre 102bhp engine, boosting torque by 10% to 122lb-ft at a lower 2,500rpm, compared to the former engine's 3,900rpm.

A PRICE increase, improved specification and a facelift have been confirmed for the 1999 Audi A4. Across the A4 range prices are to go up by an average of 1.7%, except the A4 2.4 and 2.4 SE, A4 1.8T Sport, A4 2.8 and 2.8 SE, A4 2.8 quattro and S4 quattro, which remain unchanged.