News - Page 2302

THE Government should not seek to raise more revenue from taxing company car drivers but should restructure the existing system. That's the view of the RAC which in its submission on the Government's integrated transport policy document says the company car tax take is equitable.

NO change in company car taxation and the introduction of selective road tolls are two of the key measures called for by the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association in its submission on the Government's integrated transport consultation policy document.

ALPHABET (GB), BMW Financial Services Group's multi-marque vehicle leasing and fleet management company, has been officially launched. BMW Financial Services Group chief executive officer Petra Kerp said: 'Alphabet is not just a new fleet company, but a new type of fleet company, bringing a fresh and innovative approach.'

JESSUPS Vehicle Contracts has embarked on a programme to expand use of electronic commerce in all areas of its business. The company, based in Hoddesden, Hertfordshire, was one of the first companies to become involved in the DVLA's electronic fleet relicensing project which went live in March.

THE way a fleet funds its vehicles can have a more fundamental impact on running costs than any other initiative to minimise wholelife costs. The difference between the most and least efficient funding mechanism can be as much as £1,000 per year, according to accountant Arthur Andersen.

SOVEREIGN Fleet Services has been appointed to supply and maintain greetings card and gift retailer Birthdays' fleet. The deal involves the sale and leaseback of the existing fleet of 50 vehicles and the supply of new vehicles under a contract hire operation.

THE leasing industry is facing a massive shift towards dealing directly with employees as companies look at moving away from supplying company cars in favour of offering assisted car sourcing packages for staff, predicts Dial Contracts. Chief executive Ian Goswell said the industry was increasingly interested in ways of providing company car-style benefits without the tax stings and moves towards taxation based on private rather than business mileage would make such schemes even more attractive.

A GUIDE to Green Transport Plans has been drawn up to advise Government departments on environmental best practices. With the Government keen to add its voice to calls for companies and public sector organisations to promote cleaner transport methods, it is increasingly looking to its own departments to set an example.

MOBILE advertising hoardings provider Channel 3 UK has bought Securicor Datatrak's vehicle positioning system to keep track of its vans. Claiming the move will 'do something about the industry's unreliable image', Channel 3 says acquiring the system will prove to customers that their promotional vans really have travelled along agreed routes and have not just been parked and left for a time.

FIAT fleet and LCV director Colin Keir is moving on after three years at the helm of Fiat's corporate sales department. He is moving to head Fiat's dealer development division after its director, Gerry Clarke, was promoted to a special projects role to develop Fiat's presence in South Africa.

ALMOST 200 vehicle repairers have signed up to PHH Insurer Services' guaranteed claims processing service, Motornet. The latest repairer to join the network is Anderson & Young which, in becoming part of Motornet, must comply with a series of standards which include response times, quotations and customer service.

SUMMIT at Lloyd's is the first insurance company to shrink its insurance certificates down to convenient credit card size for fleet clients. The new laminated mini-certificates contain all the information required by law not only in England, but also on the continent and will be issued to all company car drivers insured by Summit from January.

THE High Court has ruled in favour of the Inland Revenue in its protracted attempts to recover almost £100 million in personal tax liability and interest from former Nissan UK chief Octav Botnar. The ruling comes two weeks after the Inland Revenue dropped a case against Botnar for alleged tax fraud relating to Nissan UK's business activities.

ROCKETING demand for air conditioning could lead to unexpected costs for fleet operators wanting to keep their employees cool. The warning comes after a number of cases of fleet managers picking up the bill for costly repairs to damaged air conditioning units which were not covered by manufacturer warranties.

RENAULT is preparing to welcome the New Year with the most powerful Laguna yet and a host of improvements and enhancements across its model line-up. Celebrating the Laguna's success in this year's British Touring Car Championship, Renault is unleashing the 194bhp 143mph Laguna 3.0 V6.

PRESTIGE dealerships helped dealer group European Motor Holdings increase profits by a quarter after a buoyant year in the luxury sector of the car market. EMH's predominantly prestige portfolio enjoyed burgeoning demand for more expensive marques - pushing up turnover by 21% to £241 million (1996: £199 million) in the year to September 30 1997.

THE Government must support the motor industry and not kill it, PHH Vehicle Management Services managing director David Knight told Roads Minister Baroness Hayman and 200 fleet industry guests at the company's annual Motor Manufacturers Awards. In his keynote speech Knight called for a higher political priority for transport and the environment with a level of financial investment to match.

THE fleet industry breathed a collective sigh of relief after widely predicted proposals to change company car tax were not announced in Tuesday's pre-Budget report. Chancellor Gordon Brown did not mention the company car at all in his 30-minute speech and there were no follow-up papers published by the Treasury outlining the widely predicted consultation exercise on changes to company car tax.

ALL additional road taxes and charges on road users, such as tolls and above-inflation fuel duties, must be ring-fenced for additional transport investment to support both transport and environmental objectives, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders' submission on the Government's integrated transport policy plan.

MERCEDES-Benz has withdrawn its all-new A-class model from sale for three months amid safety criticisms, but the manufacturer claimed the move was unlikely to leave a dent in potential British fleet market sales. The shock decision by the manufacturer, which has engineering and safety excellence as two of its hallmarks, came as more than 300 UK fleet bosses were testing the A-class at a series of ride and drive events in the south of France.

THE British-built Nissan Primera has been added to the official choice list of Government ministers' cars. The Primera joins Ford, Rover, and Vauxhall cars on the approved list thanks partly to a campaign by Fraser Kemp, MP for Houghton and Washington East.

FLEET News has launched the search for the winners of the 1998 Fleet News Awards, which will be presented at the annual awards ceremony at London's Grosvenor House Hotel. The awards will be presented on Wednesday, March 18 and, once again, the night, known as the 'Fleet Industry's Oscars', will be one of the highlights of the new fleet year as the awards themselves celebrate their 10th anniversary.

TEN cars in Volkswagen's model line-up are more expensive to operate than equivalent Ford and Vauxhall models and are therefore eligible for support from the manufacturer under its wholelife cost guarantee scheme. The latest set of quarterly figures from TopCalc show that five Polo models, the 1.8 CL Golf Estate and four Sharan models are eligible for support, ranging from £12 on the Polo 1.0 L five-door hatchback and Sharan 1.9 Carat TDi to £846 on the Polo 1.9 CL Diesel five-door hatchback.

THE Government is considering the introduction of mileage rates for bicycling MPs - and the Labour Member who suggested it wants the private sector to follow the example. Anne Campbell, MP for Cambridge, has gone as far as suggesting that employees who run 'company bicycles' should be reimbursed at the same rate as car users - providing a real incentive to use pedal rather than petrol power.

THE Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is launching a one-day course on Managing Risk on the Road. Open to fleet managers, health and safety personnel and line managers for company drivers, the course will be held in Birmingham on January 20, 1998 and July 14, and in Edinburgh on March 2.

THE battle for up-for-sale car manufacturer Rolls-Royce is hotting up with Volkswagen this week emerging as a potential buyer alongside BMW. But, this week rival German company Volkswagen also emerged as a potential buyer with a UK spokesman for the company admitting that 'in principle' it was interested in buying Rolls-Royce. Mercedes-Benz has confirmed it is no longer interested in bidding.

ROVER'S strategy of selling fewer cars at a greater profit at home and exporting a higher proportion of production is starting to pay dividends, according to sales chief Tom Purves. The domestic market now accounts for less than half of Rover's total sales as the manufacturer pulls back from rental and fast-churn fleet deals to concentrate on higher margin business.

ARRIVA Automotive Solutions has delivered its first Arriva-branded car to outsourcing client Marks and Spencer this week. Formerly Cowie Interleasing, Arriva Automotive Solutions was launched on Monday after shareholders unanimously supported the move to bring together the Cowie group's 140 brands into one identity.

FLEETS have a duty to choose fuels which are efficient and environmentally sound, according to Public Services Minister Peter Kilfoyle. Speaking at the launch of the Government's initiative to replace its car fleet with CNG and LPG vehicles, Kilfoyle said he hoped both private and public sector fleets would follow the Government's lead.

TOP honours were shared by three car makers at the 1997 PHH Motor Manufacturers Awards, with Ford, Peugeot and Volkswagen each winning two awards. There were also triumphs for Audi, which shared an award with Peugeot, BMW, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota. The 10 awards were presented on Wednesday by David Knight, managing director of PHH Vehicle Management Services.