News - Page 2260

FLEETS are getting a sneak preview of the new Discovery as Land Rover attempts to make inroads into the executive company car market. Fleet NewsNet has learned that the more 'refined' vehicle is being put through its paces by the managing directors of several 'exclusive and valued' companies.

FASHIONABLE 4x4s are shaping up to be a costly option for fleets due to falling residual values. According to one of the UK's specialist 4x4 auction houses only the workhorse Land Rover Defender is a sure bet for fleet managers nervous of a residual backlash.

MERCEDES-Benz has taken its top 100 fleet buyers on a two-day exercise to put the new M-class through its paces in Scotland. The company is confident that fleet registrations will play a significant role in helping it get a grip on the British off-road market.

MERCEDES-Benz and Chrysler cars could soon be based on the same platforms as part of a new drive to make one of the world's biggest motor manufacturers more efficient. Daimler-Chrysler is poised to follow Volkswagen's example by making use of common underpinnings for both its brands, it was revealed this week.

THE UK is the only country in Europe where diesel prices exceed unleaded petrol prices at the pumps. This country continues to have the highest fuel prices in Europe, particularly for diesel, which is almost twice as expensive as some other European countries, jeopardising the future of the fuel in this country.

FRENCH officials are proposing to follow in the footsteps of the British Government by moving towards cutting the price advantages diesel enjoys over unleaded petrol. A French driver pays 14p a litre less for diesel than for unleaded petrol.

THE Government has admitted that engine size has little direct relation to fuel economy or emissions. Yet blaming large engines for pollution was one of its key arguments behind plans to introduce graduated vehicle excise duty to discourage larger-engined cars.

A LIBERAL Democrat MP is calling on the Labour Government to abolish vehicle excise duty for all cars up to 1.6 litres. David Taylor MP for North-West Leicestershire, made the demand at a recent session in the House of Commons.

THE new Jaguar S-type will be the first car which has the ability to listen to its driver and act in response to spoken commands. Drivers of Britain's next prestige saloon will have only to speak when they want to turn on the radio, dial a phone number or set the air conditioning.

CAR running costs have marginally decreased - despite Government efforts to tax motorists out of them - according to the latest Top 40 Value for Money Cars compiled by CAP Motor Research. The cheapest car in Britain to run remains the Perodua Nippa EX five-door hatchback at 13.1ppm on a three-year/60,000-mile operating cycle,

THRIFTY Car Rental UK has launched a new operation in France as part of its European expansion. Thrifty Car Rental France, which includes the French West Indies, has already opened three branches for business in Paris with two further opening in the French capital during the next two months.

FIRST National Vehicle Contracts is attempting to boost sales by offering staff a dream holiday as an incentive. Dean Hedger, public sector account manager, is the company's first winner of its newly-launched sales person of the quarter award, for top sales and customer service.

GREEN-conscious Southwark Council has vowed to convert its entire 300-vehicle fleet to run on alternative fuels by April 2000 and ban conventional diesel and petrol-power from the south London borough. In a move which could force local fleets and national delivery firms to accelerate the partial switch to cleaner fuels such as natural gas and electricity, the council has become the latest UK recruit to ALTER, the Alternative Traffic in Towns initiative led by the Convention of European Cities with the aim of cleaning up atmospheric and noise pollution in urban areas.

MANUFACTURERS face the deferral or cancellation of huge orders as leading daily rental companies delay the replacement of their fleets until prices strengthen in the nearly-new car market. The weakening residual values of ex-hire cars have severely damaged rental company profits throughout 1998, with lower and upper medium cars now fetching £1,200 less at disposal than in December.

MAJOR changes to the format of the Fleet Motor Show will be introduced in 1999 to provide visitors and exhibitors with an improved environment in which to conduct business. Following extensive visitor market research and discussions with car manufacturers and service companies, organiser Emap Automotive is finalising plans to launch a pure business show without the test-driving facilities.

LEASING and fleet management company Axus International has bought Alexanders Contract Rentals for £14.4 million. The deal is subject to the approval of the shareholders of ACR's parent Alexanders Holdings on September 2, and is the latest in a series of takeovers in the contract hire industry.

FLEETS face a profound shake-up in the way they buy car hire, as daily rental companies move to levy separate charges for every value added service they offer. Hire operators have already set a precedent by imposing an individually identified charge of around 95p per day to cover the cost of the new £25 vehicle registration fee.

FLEETS have been urged to 'shop around' to find the best price for an MoT by the director general of the Office of Fair Trading after it broke up an MoT test centre cartel. The cartel, involving at least 69 garages, operated in the Cleveland area of Britain.

EUROPE'S second largest insurance company, AXA-UAP, has teamed up with BSM Fleet Training to offer fleets free 'health checks'. AXA is just the latest in a string of major insurance companies to form a partnership with BSM, giving fleets free risk management advice, discounted driver training and insurance premium rebates.

MASTERDRIVE Leasing and Rental has relaunched its accident management programme MasterAssist after finding it was not meeting fleet managers' needs. Masterdrive carried out research over a 10-month period and found the accident management market changing, with more fleets going self-insured and customers becoming more demanding.

MIDLAND Shires Farmers is carrying out tests on the possible introduction of liquefied petroleum gas to its fleet of 164 cars and 30 vans. Fuel duties, the rising cost of diesel, and refuelling are all issues being assessed before Worcester-based MSF decides to switch its entire fleet to gas-power.

COMPANY car breakdowns are set to reach record levels this year, but almost half of the cries for help to the RAC are due to wear and tear or human error. However, seven of the top 10 most common company car breakdowns require advanced diagnostic tools to identify the faults as a consequence of the dominance of on-board vehicle electronics increasingly contained within sealed engine management systems of new cars.

AA patrols are arriving at breakdowns in record time, according to new figures from the organisation. Average arrival times fell to a new record low of 31 minutes last month due, says the AA, to the implementation of its new computerised patrol despatch system. Consequently 'call to complete' times also fell to under one hour.

COUNCILS are rejecting Government calls to slash the number of town centre parking spaces for fear of driving away businesses, according to a new report. One of the most comprehensive surveys into traffic congestion has revealed that only one in 10 local authorities is looking to reduce parking levels, while one in four is actually looking to increase the number of spaces available.

HONDA has become the latest manufacturer to extend service intervals - but the move from 6,000 miles to 9,000 miles only brings it into line with the industry norm. However, with some rival manufacturers such as Peugeot, Citroen, BMW and Renault extending service intervals to up to 20,000 miles, Honda remains behind the leaders in helping fleets to cut service and maintenance costs.

PRICES for the new Honda Accord which goes on sale on October 1 will run from £15,295 to £20,895 with the manufacturer pledging a no-holds-barred pitch for an increased share of Britain's most keenly-fought fleet sector. The company claims its next-generation line-up of upper medium sector cars from Swindon will boast a superior blend of comfort and safety equipment as well as carrying prices which undercut key rival saloons from Ford, Vauxhall and Volkswagen.

AWARD-winning fleet manager Peter Carson is on the move again, taking charge of Pearl's 2,300-strong fleet. In the last 12 months Carson has resigned as ND Service Team fleet manager, following a split with bosses, and set up his own fleet management and advice company called Insource Fleet Management.

RENAULT'S all-new 120 bhp 1.8-litre 16v engine will debut in the Laguna in October and simultaneously the French manufacturer has announced further specification enhancements to the Safrane. The addition of the new petrol engine to the Laguna line-up - it replaces the 2.0-litre 8v - gives fleets a choice of three 16v petrol engines - 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0-litre - and a range-topping 3.0 litre V6 as well as diesel engines.

AUTOMOTIVE parts supplier Unipart is targeting fleets of up to 60,000 vehicles as it fights for a larger market share for its fledgling fleet service business. The firm has held talks with a variety of companies and clinched business worth millions of pounds following the launch of its dedicated fleet support service Unipart Fleet at the 1998 Fleet Motor Show.

FLEET managers will gain a tantalising glimpse of cars for the next millennium at the 1998 British International Motor Show. An entire hall is to be devoted to concept vehicles, promoting the environmentally friendly message of the Government's recent transport white paper.