News - Page 2245

A SHOCK announcement that five tyre manufacturer-owned retail groups are leaving the National Tyre Distributors Association has been followed by Kwik-Fit, the country's largest independent fast-fit organisation, saying it was considering joining. Kwik-Fit's move means the NTDA is upbeat about its future, particularly in its potential ability to represent the independent sector.

RAC chiefs have dismissed as 'shameful' the response to the second phase of its fleet manager training Scholarship Awards Scheme. The 1999-2000 RAC Scholarship Awards Scheme was launched two weeks ago at the Institute of Car Fleet Management's annual members' conference.

THE bid to recover the cost of treating accident victims at the expense of those responsible could be 'the tip of the iceberg' for fleets with many left 'uninsurable' by cash-chasing National Health Service trusts. But despite universal backing of driver training courses among insurance companies and safety organisations warnings have been made that fleet managers will only be made to act if the premium increases are substantial.

THE threat of higher insurance premiums will prove the catalyst to prompt fleet managers to look more favourably on what driver training and risk management organisations have to offer. Some are already experiencing an upsurge in interest.

THE Government is being accused of being 'unjust and unfair' to motorists by making them pay for the cost of NHS accident treatment. The allegations that the Government is singling out motorists have been made by Stewart Whyte, managing director of Petersfield-based Fleet Audits, in a letter to his local MP Michael Mates.

THE provision of driver training will soon be made a statutory duty for fleet managers, according to the boss of the company with possibly the cleanest accident record in the country. If ever a company was to make the headlines for demonstrating the clear benefits of driver training then Ampthill-based N.E.W.S. Transport is it.

PEUGEOT is recalling about 27,000 306s after potential faults were discovered in the brakes and steering system. The faults were detected during a routine check by a dealer. All the cars were made at Peugeot's Ryton, Coventry, plant between November 1997 and April this year.

FLEETS are being targeted as the champions of alternative fuels, with the resources to cut down on emissions by taking on clean-fuelled vehicles. More than 100 fleet buyers and decision-makers from private and public sectors attending a workshop held by the Energy Saving Trust's Powershift initiative, at Duxford Airfield, near Cambridge, were told they were at the forefront of the growing green fuels industry.

VAUXHALL Master Hire has launched a tie-up with National Tyres and Autocare to offer a major pan-European tyre service to fleets. The European Tyre cover programme will offer access to the newly-launched pan-European tyre network of National Tyres and Autocare, run in conjunction with tyre manufacturer Continental.

ROVER has announced 15,000-mile service intervals for its new 75, helping it to achieve half the forecast service, maintenance and repair costs of the outgoing Rover 600. Further savings are achieved through the longevity of the Rover 75's parts, with significant increases in their durability.

A COMPLEX system of trim levels and packages is confronting fleets looking at the Volvo S40/ V40 and S70/V70 models. The move comes a few weeks after the manufacturer scrapped the range-topping CD trim on the S40/V40 line-up to simplify pricing.

LAND Rover's Defender utility 4x4 range is to be offered with a five-cylinder direct injection turbodiesel engine from January, and 1999 model year Range Rovers receive improvements. The Td5 engine, also fitted in the new Discovery, develops 129bhp at 4,200rpm and maximum torque of 300Nm at 1,950rpm - 9% more power and 13% more torque than the Tdi engine previously used in Defenders.

THE Government has abandoned plans to introduce a company car tax system based on private mileage. Concerns that the introduction of such a regime would result in the increased use of privately-owned, less environmentally-friendly cars, and a significant increase in the administrative burden facing businesses and company car drivers, have forced the Government U-turn.

THE search for fleet's finest managers, service companies and vehicles begins today. The 1999 Fleet News Awards are in their 11th year and the winners of will be announced at the fleet night of the year - March 17, 1999 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

ELECTRICAL giant Thorn UK has decided to outsource its 1,800-strong car and van fleet to PHH Vehicle Management. The contract begins at the end of December and will see Thorn's transport team of six made redundant, including vehicle fleet manager Anne Giberson, former winner of a Fleet News Fleet Manager of the Year Award.

THE UK fleet industry's long-running £15 billion VAT battle entered its final round this week, when the case finally reached the European Court of Justice. The ECJ will now give the final verdict on the legality of UK VAT rules which prevented fleets and leasing companies from reclaiming VAT on the acquisition of company cars.

THE heads of four UK car companies feature among 114 business chiefs who have called on the Government 'to join the single currency as soon as the conditions for successful entry are in place'. Nick Reilly, chairman and managing director of Vauxhall, Walter Hasselkus, chairman and chief executive officer of Rover, Ian Gibson, managing director and chief executive of Nissan Motor Manufacturing, and Massimo Carello, chairman of Fiat UK, have all lent their support to the Euro, calling it a 'force for economic stability'.

ABBEY National's finance house subsidiary First National Bank has strengthened its stake in the UK motor finance market with the acquisition of Lombard Motor Finance. First National paid £347 million for LMF, Lombard Tricity Finance and Lombard Business Equipment Leasing, which between them have unaudited net assets of £219 million, and total assets of £4.3 billion.

ROVER has launched a massive dealer incentive programme to accelerate the runout of the 600 and 800, forcing other manufacturers to follow. Total margin support ranges from £3,000 on the Rover 618iS to £7,000 on the 800 Vitesse, as the company bids to minimise the sales overlap with the R75.

TRIBUTES have been paid to distinguished motor industry figure Ernie Thompson, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, whose funeral took place this week. The service was held on Wednesday afternoon in the presence of family and close friends at Basildon and District Crematorium in Essex.

LAND Rover is recalling 10,500 of its Freelander models in the UK to check the rear suspension arms. This recall comes only weeks after Rover recalled 19,917 MGFs - all those sold since its introduction in 1995 - because of a seatbelt 'snagging' problem.

EUROPEAN Motor Holdings has blamed a slump in half-year pre-tax profits on a string of problems facing the motor industry. The company, which has a 32-strong multi-marque dealership network including BMW, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz, saw its share price drop 10p to 54.5p after warning that full-year profits would fall short of expectations.

VAUXHALL has signed its largest and most significant order for dual-fuel gas/petrol-powered vehicles - a 40-strong fleet deal with the City and County of Swansea local authority. The fleet of liquefied petroleum gas vehicles will be delivered early next year and will be composed of 28 dual-fuel Combo vans and 12 dual-fuel Astravan, Astra estate and Astra saloon models.

GE CAPITAL Fleet Services has acquired the assets and trading operations of Pantech Vehicle Services and Motor Industry Marketing (MIM) for an undisclosed sum. Based at Thurleigh, in Bedfordshire, the two businesses provide vehicle storage, preparation, inspection and disposal services, in particular for motor manufacturers, including Vauxhall.

VAUXHALL has signed a two-year supply agreement with pharmaceutical sales company Innovex (UK) which will give it a forecast 70% share of the firm's total fleet of 2,200 vehicles. This will amount to about 1,500 new Vectra LS and GLS models and a small number of Omegas during the next two years.

CHAMPAGNE corks popped as Chrysler and Daimler-Benz changed the signs on their doors to celebrate their $75 billion mega-merger last week. DaimlerChrysler, as the new company will be known, instantly became the world's fifth largest car manufacturer, employing 428,000 people following the official completion of the deal first announced six month ago.

NATIONWIDE demand for alternative fuels in fleets is being held up because of the lack of refuelling sites, according to contract hire and transport solutions firm TransLinc. The firm says contracts covering hundreds of vehicles could be won if oil companies were prepared to invest more heavily in the growing alternative fuels market.

SHELL UK has opened its first central London liquefied petroleum gas filling pump as part of a £10 million investment in alternative fuels. The pump will sell MotorGas, the new brand name for LPG from Shell, at Semley Place filling station, in Victoria, chosen for its prime location, and will primarily serve the local business community.

THE Government has been warned against staging a 'fiscal onslaught' against executive cars by the managing director of BMW (GB) amid concerns that new car sales next year will be lower than this year. With the Government yet to 'come clean' on any increases in Vehicle Excise Duty above the current flat rate £150 a year charge, BMW chief Kevin Gaskell has issued a 'hands-off' warning.

MERCEDES-Benz has followed BMW in hitting at the Government's heavily-flawed graduated vehicle excise duty proposals. Richard Whitton, chief executive officer of Mercedes-Benz Finance, claimed most Mercedes models were already very fuel-efficient for their class and that poorly-made products with short lifecycles were ultimately more costly in environmental terms.