News - Page 2288

RAC Accident Services has signed paint companies ICI and Azko Nobel as network development partners to help ensure RAC bodyshops meet the new Environmental Protection Act. The EPA has set new regulations for bodyshops using more than two tonnes of solvent annually, which come into effect on April 1, 1998.

ELECTRONIC commerce project FleetWeb has received formal approval from HM Customs & Excise to transmit invoices over the Internet. FleetWeb received 'temporary approval' to invoice over the Internet last summer, with Customs wanting to check the system met normal VAT record-keeping requirements before making any further commitment.

ABBOTT Laboratories has bought Car Fleet Control's Eurofleet fleet management software system for its 400-car fleet. Ruth Newcombe, Abbott's fleet manager, said specialist software was essential to overcome the paper-intensive management of the company's outright-purchased fleet.

CAR Fleet Control is preparing its range of fleet and workshop management software products for the launch of Microsoft Windows 98. The new version of the Windows system, on which Car Fleet Control's software is designed to run, is due to be launched on to the market late this year or early in 1999.

BSM Fleet Training and Aon Risk Services are planning to launch a risk management initiative aimed at large, self-insured fleets. Details of the scheme - due to be launched this year - are being kept under wraps, but it is known that it will also involve other partners. Their identities have yet to be revealed.

CALLS for European cities to give preferential access rights to low or no emissions vehicles have been made by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg he set out the environmental cornerstones of the British Presidency of the European Union.

SIX cities have won praise from the Government for their visionary ways in tackling traffic pollution and road congestion. And the cities - Birmingham, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds, Leicester and Southampton - will receive 'Clear Zone Awards' certificates from junior transport minister Glenda Jackson.

PRESSURE is increasing on Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown to introduce banded road tax after environmental group Friends of the Earth backed a graduated system to discriminate against gas-guzzlers. The prospect of graduated Vehicle Excise Duty designed to penalise larger-engined vehicles has been floated by both Labour and the Liberal Democrats in recent years and now has the support of the vocal green group.

JAGUAR is to increase prices of the V8 XJ Series saloon and XK8 sports car by an average of 2% from March 1. Option prices are unchanged and standard wheelbase models of the Sovereign and Daimler are also available at the same price as the LWB versions.

DAEWOO will unveil its new sub-B segment car, codenamed the M100 and rivalling the Fiat Cinquecento, at next week's Geneva Motor Show. The car's name and basic European specification will be announced at the show.

RENAULT has revealed details of the new range-topping Clio 16v sports model due for launch in the UK at the end of the year. Power for the new hot hatch is from a new 1598cc 16v DOHC engine producing 110bhp at 5,750rpm and maximum torque of 148Nm at only 3,750rpm - 90% of which is available between 2,500 and 5,500rpm.

THE restyled Nissan Micra, which goes on sale in the UK in April, will be the star attraction on the manufacturer's stand at next week's Geneva Motor Show. The new Micra looks larger and more aggressive with a new bonnet, grille and rear lights among the main exterior changes.

THE motor industry is steeling itself for another Budget with a barrage of gunfire across the bows of Chancellor Gordon Brown. In a number of submissions and open letters, numerous lobbies have delivered unequivocal 'hands off' warnings ahead of Brown's statement on March 17.

INDEPENDENT vehicle security specialist Simba Security Systems has acquired the Securinet brand for an undisclosed sum. The directors and operations manager of Securinet have also moved over to the new operation, with the aim that both brands will continue to operate under one corporate umbrella.

IBM UK has awarded PHH Vehicle Management Services the contract to handle accident management for its 6,180-strong car fleet. The Portsmouth-based company, which already uses PHH for fleet management, was previously a VELO Motor Accident Management customer.

NISSAN is to introduce air conditioning as standard on all Almera models with the exception of the entry-level Equation and with the addition of an electric sunroof on SLX, SRi and GTi. The move makes Nissan the first maker to offer the majority of its lower medium sector model line-up with both air conditioning and a sunroof as standard.

JUDGING of the 31 categories in the 1998 Fleet News Awards has been completed, with the winners due to be announced at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on March 18.

THE AA Driving School has switched from Rover 114s to Ford Fiestas in a 10,000-car deal worth £110 million over the next four years. British Car Contracts has retained the contract to fund and manage the learner driver fleet, an important win for the company following its independence from Rover.

DEPUTY Prime Minister John Prescott is expected to swap his official 4.0-litre petrol Jaguar for an LPG version. Jaguar is said to be putting the finishing touches to an LPG V8 Sovereign for Prescott, who has come under fire in recent weeks for his use of such a large-engined car.

BRITAIN'S most economical car, the new SEAT Arosa SDi which has a claimed economy of 78.9mpg, will go on sale in April/May costing £8,295 on the road.

NORMAN Donkin has been appointed director general of the British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association. He was previously the association's secretary general.

PROFITS slipped slightly at Arriva Automotive Solutions last year, but did little to dent Arriva plc's record full year profits. The transport group announced pre-tax profits up 24% year-on-year to £101 million for the year December 31, 1997 (1996: £81.2 million), on turnover up 26% to £1,421 million (£1,126 million).

PERK drivers are reluctant to ditch their company cars although the take-up of cash alternatives has increased significantly in the past year, according to Monks Partnership's annual company car survey. The report, Company Car Policy UK 1998, shows that the percentage of companies where more than 10% of drivers had taken up the cash alternative has risen from about 25% last year to some 40% this year.

THE speaker line-up for the Fleet News Budget Breakfast to be held on March 24 has been completed by the addition of CW Lease. The Budget Breakfast at Down Hall, Hatfield Heath, will give fleet chiefs the opportunity to find out from fleet and tax experts the impact on their businesses of Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown's March 17 Budget.

KWIK-Fit Fleet has declared war on clocking as the fleet industry fights back against the scourge of the UK motor industry. Britain's largest fast-fit company will give a massive boost to the British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association's vehicle mileage database by supplying it with the registration and odometer reading of every one of the 750,000 company cars and vans it services annually.

VAUXHALL is aiming to shake up the lower medium sector by pegging prices of the new Astra at existing levels.

ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners have put a £100 a year price tag on the privilege of town centre parking provided by employers with the flat rate tax increasing annually. Pressure group Transport 2000 wants to levy a £100 tax on company-provided car parking as a measure to discourage commuting and raise more money for improving alternative modes of travel to work as well as increasing funding for local government, health and education.

THE Home Office has issued a 20-page discussion document on the liability of daily rental companies for unpaid parking fines incurred while their vehicles are on hire. This has been a bone of contention between rental companies and local parking authorities for a number of years, but a resolution is now in sight.

FLEETLEASE has won a sole supply deal to provide more than 60 vehicles to Dorchester-based pub retail company and wine merchant Eldridge Pope. The contract - which Fleetlease won after a three-way tender process - consists of full service contract hire including disposal and acquisition, maintenance and direct driver contact.

AUTOGLASS has won a £1 million three-year deal to supply Lease Plan with windscreen repair and replacement services for its 60,000-strong fleet. The contract follows a 12-month trial period during which the two companies developed a computerised link to co-ordinate their businesses.