News - Page 2293

CLEANER fuels could make a 'small but significant contribution' to improving air quality in the UK, but they are not the 'complete answer', according to a new report. 'Cleaner Air: the Role for Cleaner Fuels' was launched at a London symposium last week and was commissioned by the National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection.

FLEETS considering buying alternatively-fuelled vehicles have been reassured that the gap in prices between conventional and cleaner fuels will continue to grow, with further savings likely in the next Budget. Chairman of the Labour Backbench Environment, Transport and the Regions Departmental Committee Geraint Davies told fleet managers at the latest Powershift seminar that companies could be confident that using such vehicles would result in cheaper running costs.

A YEAR after the Ford Explorer was launched in the UK a series of wide-ranging refinements have been made to the world's top-selling 4x4 - with no resulting price rise.

HONDA has increased the price of Civic three- and five door models and the CR-V by up to £300. The price rise, which averages 0.48%, ranges from £40 but prices of the Civic four-door line-up, five-door 1.5i and all Accord, Prelude, Shuttle, Legend, Integra and NSX models have been held.

MAGISTRATES are being offered a cycling allowance in a bid to encourage them to leave their cars at home. The JPs can opt for the 6.9p per mile allowance, instead of the 40.8p they receive for driving on official business. So far it is not known how many are taking up the option.

THE rate of traffic congestion slowed in the last quarter of 1997, but jams still cost British businesses more than £2.1 billion. Trafficmaster's 'Motorway Congestion Index' for the last three months of last year reveals that more than 43 million man-hours were lost compared with more than 45 million in the final quarter of 1996, involving more than 62 million vehicles (1996: 64.5 million) and costing £2.1 billion (1996: £2.17 billion).

A 'CHALLENGING' year for dealership group Lookers ended with pre-tax profits up from £8.1 million to a record £9 million. Turnover was up from £513.4 million to £618.4 million for the year to September 30, 1997.

SPECULATION about a March 17 Budget clampdown on so-called 'gas guzzlers' appears to be doing little to worry those already running prestige cars with high fuel consumption rates. Large-engined prestige models would be first in the firing line if the Chancellor introduced steep increases in fuel duty, a Vehicle Excise Duty system graded according to engine size, or increased benefit-in-kind taxation for drivers of larger cars.

CALLS for a 10mph top speed with motorists having to give way to pedestrians and cyclists in some urban areas have been made in the House of Commons. Peterborough MP Helen Brinton introduced a 10 Minute Rule Bill proposing that highway authorities would have the power to introduce 'home zones' in residential areas to promote road safety and clean-up the environment.

FLEET managers who are not members of the Institute of Car Fleet Management and want to compete for a place on the new RAC Scholarship Awards Scheme have just two weeks to apply. Those who are already in the Institute at 'Member' level but who have not registered their intention to try for a place on the first scholarship programme, starting this summer, are urged to request application forms.

THE common shares of AT&T Automotive Services' American parent AT&T Capital Corporation have been acquired by Canadian finance house Newcourt Credit Group for an undisclosed sum. The combined organisation is one of the world's largest asset finance companies, with owned and managed assets of £12.2 billion and 65 offices in 24 countries.

THE Government has performed a U-turn and is now backing a backbench Bill requiring it to set targets for reducing traffic levels. The Road Traffic Reduction (UK Targets) Bill was drawn up by a coalition of green pressure groups and was debated in the House of Commons on Friday.

SUPPORT from fleet operators for a new report urging 'consultation not confrontation' with the Government on the future of the company car continues to flood in to Fleet NewsNet. In the run-up to the crucial March 17 Budget and the publication in May of the Government's transport white paper, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott have been sent the loudest possible message by the fleet industry.

EMPLOYEES will not give up their company cars despite the availability of cash alternatives, according to a survey of 391 UK companies by London-based Hay Management Consultants. Its Company Car Guide reveals that 90% of British employees offered a company car because of their job status take up the offer, despite organisations offering a choice of cash alternatives, including lump sum payments, salary increases and fixed allowances.

THE Government is under pressure to lead by example and reduce the use of cars by civil servants and ministers as it seeks to introduce radical solutions to solving the UK's transport problems. As the Government analyses the 6,500 written responses to its consultation document 'Developing an Integrated Transport Policy', Transport Minister Gavin Strang said they showed that the public was 'ready to accept radical solutions to transport problems'.

SPECIAL versions of the Mercedes-Benz S-class aimed at captains of industry have gone on sale this month. The S-class Business Edition is an office on wheels with almost £8,000 of additional equipment added to give business leaders and company executives a well-equipped limousine in which to travel and work.

COMPANY car drivers will be tempted to 'chase miles' as a means of avoiding benefit-in-kind tax, whether the company car tax regime is based on business or private miles. And more than 80% of company car drivers and almost 70% of fleet managers are also unlikely to downsize - even if taxation encouraged them to do so - according to a survey of 220 fleet managers by leasing and fleet management company Fleetlease.

FLEET chiefs must review existing employee travel expense systems in the light of new rules which come into effect on April 6. Leading tax adviser Ernst & Young has welcomed the new Inland Revenue regulations which replace the existing 'triangular' arrangements with a simpler system which puts business travel on to a full cost basis which allows employees to claim the cost of all business travel other than from home to work.

CAMDEN Motor Holdings has expanded its motor retailing operations with the acquisition of Essex-based Ford dealership business Charles H Allen. The addition of the three Ford outlets gives Camden Motors 13 dealerships, plus two preparation centres. The combined businesses will have a turnover of £425m, employ 750 staff and sell more than 25,000 new cars a year.

PILOT schemes introducing on-the-spot £60 fines for dirty vehicles have been launched in Westminster and Glasgow. They are among seven local authorities given the power to trial such schemes, using roadside tests to ensure that vehicles meet MoT emissions standards.

INITIATIVES to reduce research and development costs and increase the use of shared production facilities have been revealed by the French-based PSA Group - parent company of Peugeot and Citroen. The developments, announced this week, will not impact on the brand image of either marques and both Peugeot and Citroen will retain separate customer-facing operations.

CITROEN has facelifted the Xantia, enhanced its specification and slashed up to £2,000 off some models in a major realignment of the ageing range. The 33-model range of hatchbacks and estates still comes in five forms - Base, LX, SX, Exclusive and Activa - with on-road prices starting at £13,050 and reaching £21,550 for the V6 Exclusive Auto.

PROTON is establishing an approved used car scheme to protect itself from potential residual value problems triggered by a glut of nearly new daily rental cars. Thousands of ex-rental cars - which were originally destined for the Far East - will now be remarketed in the UK via Proton's 150-strong dealer network.

THE message that vehicles must become more environmentally acceptable is being taken on board by the motor industry, according to Transport Minister Gavin Strang. Strang was speaking after a visit to Johnson Matthey in Hertfordshire - a world leader in the development and manufacture of vehicle exhaust catalysts - in the run-up to the first meeting of the Cleaner Vehicles Task Force.

THE first direct injection diesel engine from a French car manufacturer makes its debut under the bonnet of the Renault Megane from February 1. The new 1.9-litre direct injection turbodiesel engine, the F9Qt, promises improved economy and more power, lower running costs and emission reductions at no extra cost over the outgoing indirect injection engine.

TRANSLEASE, the computer-based repair authorisation and invoice forwarding system, has received a boost with news of a successful six-month pilot project run by Motability Finance. The organisation has been trialling Translease on a test fleet of 7,000 cars, and will continue to do so, but has not yet decided whether to extend the system to the whole of its 350,000-strong fleet.

MOTOR trade Internet specialist AutoNetica has acquired FleetWeb, the Internet-based electronic transaction system launched last year by Smart Choice. The system, designed to link up fleet operators and motor dealers, was set up last summer by Philip Jackson of Smart Choice and the system was backed by a steering group made up of a consortium of leasing companies.

VAUXHALL increased prices by an average of 1% across its car and light commercial vehicle range last Monday. No specification enhancements accompany the price rises, which follow similar increases by Ford and Volkswagen.

GOVERNMENT plans to introduce a £25 first registration fee on cars, vans and trucks is the first step in plans to effectively privatise the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, according to industry sources. If proposals to introduce the charge are approved by Ministers the DVLA would raise more than £50 million a year which Transport Minister Gavin Strang has pledged would be ring-fenced.

THE Association of Car Fleet Operators has protested to Transport Minister Gavin Strang about his plan to introduce a £25 first registration fee and urged all its members to write to their local MPs protesting. And Norman Donkin, secretary general of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association, whose members buy more than 600,000 new vehicles a year, has written to Strang urging the minister to meet a delegation of chief executives from major rental and contract hire companies.