News - Page 2314

THE Car Group, which specialises in used vehicle sales through its Car Supermarket outlets, has bought south Wales-based independent competitor Empress Cars for £20.3m. The acquisition looks set to double Car Group's annual sales to more than 60,000 vehicles and provides the company with its fourth Car Supermarket site.

BCH Vehicle Management Services has become the latest contract hire and leasing company to launch a personal car purchase scheme. Called Autochoice, customers can contact a dedicated Autochoice team to order any make or model of new or used car. Finance will then be arranged either as a PCP, outright purchase or traditional hire purchase and allowing buyers to take advantage of BCH's national buying power.

LOWER fleet sales following Ford's decision to pull back from rapid cycle business contributed to lower new car sales by Dagenham Motors in the first six months of 1997. Interim results for the six month to June 30 show that the Ford dealership group sold 5,553 new vehicles, 3.4% down on the same period last year, but the company said that reflected Ford's well-publicised decision to reduce dependence on daily rental business.

LEX Vehicle Leasing has won a solus deal to supply 230 cars and vans to Furmanite on contract management. Kendal-based Furmanite, which provides specialist services for the petrochemical, power, offshore and marine industries, previously operated its vehicles on finance lease contracts.

A SURVEY of the residual value forecasts made by contract hire companies three years ago illustrates why the industry is making such healthy profits today. From a basket of 30 of the most popular fleet cars, 23 have exceeded the residual values which leasing companies were predicting in August 1994.

MERGER talks between traffic information network operator Trafficmaster and stolen vehicle tracking system company Tracker Network have been called off. The ending of talks comes just two weeks after it was revealed the two publicly quoted companies were involved in merger negotiations. In a one-line joint statement from both companies boards they said they were unable to agree terms which they could individually recommend to their shareholders. Following the collapse of talks Tracker shares slumped 100p to 575p and Trafficmaster's slipped 12p to 369p.

THE stress of driving long hours on congested roads is seriously threatening the health and safety of company car drivers. Disturbing new research reveals that 15% of fleet drivers admit to falling asleep at the wheel, while 43% regularly read a book or newspaper while driving.

TRAFFICMASTER has announced plans to launch a pilot information scheme in October in and around Winchester in conjunction with Hampshire County Council. This will provide motorists entering the city with information such as current car parking capacity and restrictions, road closures and works, park and ride schemes and other information which is all designed to improve traffic flow.

A NEW workshop management software system has been bought by one of Car Fleet Control's longest standing customers - furthering its already extensive use of the company's products. Central Scotland Police first bought Car Fleet Controls fleet management software in 1988, choosing System One, the company's first PC-based package. Over the years this has been upgraded to EuroFleet, the current market-leading system.

VOLKSWAGEN has slashed prices on its Caravelle people carrier line-up by an average of £576 and made air conditioning standard on GL models instead of a £1,675.55 option. The changes to Caravelle almost complete Volkswagen's pricing and model revisions for the 1998 model year following the decision to increase prices on Passat, Polo and some Golf models earlier this month.

ACCIDENT management company Town and Country Assistance has teamed up with credit hire specialist Helphire to launch a 'no-fault, no-cost' package for fleets. Fleetunique combines a full accident management package from Town and Country with the services of Helphire, which specialises in car hire and repair services on credit for those involved in accidents which were not their fault.

CONTRACT hire company Autolease has cautioned fleet operators not to be taken in by massive headline savings promoted by a number of innovatory fleet acquisition schemes. Managing director Martin Tucker has reacted angrily to claims that fleets can save up to £1,000 per company car per year by switching their vehicle acquisition method from outright purchase to employee-based personal contract purchase schemes.

THE Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has opened a website on the Internet. The site serves as a billboard for the society's services to the UK motor industry and acts as the front of house for a paper-free system being developed to send technical data to its members.

VOLKSWAGEN is half way through one of the largest recalls undertaken in the UK - all 150,000 Golf and Vento models which have been sold in the UK between 1994 and July 1997. The recall relates to faulty headlamp wiring which could result in the lamps overheating and then going out.

DIAL has announced details of two major deals, representing a total of 600 vehicles. The leasing company has been awarded contracts to finance and manage Corporate Express UK's fleet of 300 vehicles, as well as half of Graham Group's 600-strong fleet. Office stationary supplier Corporate Express has opted for contract hire with maintenance through Dial for its car and van fleet. Following a series of acquisitions, Corporate Express had been using 16 suppliers.

FLEET managers in charge of fleets of all sizes will be able to gather a wealth of up-to-date information from industry experts at the 1997 Fleet News Roadshows. The shows, being staged for the second year, will focus on three key operating areas - cost control, taxation and contract hire and will be held on Tuesday, December 2, at Sopwell House, St Albans, Herts, and Tuesday, December 9, at The Donington Thistle Hotel, close to East Midlands Airport.

HUNDREDS of British business drivers are to be asked to help Honda create its next new contender for volume sales in the fleet market. The Japanese company is about to launch a unique appeal for comments which it hopes will turn the 1998 Accord into the most user-friendly model in the executive sector.

FRANKFURT provided the backcloth for the international debut of the 156, Alfa Romeo's important new mid-range car. Supplies of the saloon designed to underpin the Italian marque's sporting tradition are expected to reach UK showrooms early next year.

AS the new Land Rover Freelander was launched at Frankfurt, Ford and Nissan hinted that they will introduce small 4x4s to compete in this growing sector in the near future. Land Rover said it expected the Freelander to attract significant fleet interest in the UK. Soaring sales for Toyota's RAV4 and Honda's CRV have proved to Ford and Nissan that the small, leisure 4x4 sector can no longer be ignored.

CHRYSLER UK celebrated an August record for sales outside the US last month by announcing that one of the fastest 4x4s ever made will go on sale over here before the end of the year. The 5.9-litre V8-engined Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited LX,which offers 237bhp and 0û60mph in 7.5 seconds, was unveiled at the Frankfurt show. The model features a new 180-Watt sound system with 10 speakers.

IT WAS billed as a prototype - but Daihatsu's elegant NCX supermini is likely to be in British showrooms by late next year. 'This car will be in production before too long. It is too early for me to talk about marketing. But it would be a perfect model to add to our UK range,' said Daihatsu UK chief executive Paul Williams.

VOLKSWAGEN UK chief Robin Woolcock has pledged to solve the importer's UK supply problems which bedevilled the launch of the highly-acclaimed Passat. Having spent three years establishing Volkswagen in the UK fleet market, Woolcock said supply integrity was now the number one issue facing the importer.

VOLVO bolstered its growing reputation as a maker of innovative cars at Frankfurt with the S40 and V40 T4, and the V70 XC - an estate with all-wheel-drive and a tougher off-road appearance. The T4 is powered by a 1.9-litre turbocharged engine producing 200bhp, with a designation which follows the hugely successful T5.

FORD questioned at Frankfurt the big rise in new car sales during August as suspicious and potentially damaging to the whole industry. The news follows recent praise from the industry and dealers for Ford's policy of cutting down on daily rental sales, and working to protect residuals - despite an inevitable fall in market share.

SUZUKI is set to launch a sizzling successor to its smash-hit Cappuccino sportster model. With the world's smallest V8 engine under its low-slung bonnet, the C2 pre-production prototype caused a sensation when it was revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

PEUGEOT'S 406 Coupe is sold out until August 1998 with the manufacturer now trying to obtain an increase in supply. Demand for both the 2.0-litre and 3.0-litre V6 has been signficantly higher than expected in the UK, which initially was due to take 2,000 of the 11,000 cars due to be built in the first year on sale.

THE survival of Kia as a major car manufacturer is beyond doubt, claims Kia Cars UK managing director Mark Quinn, amid industry speculation of financial troubles. As the South Korean firm unveiled its new Sephia II range at Frankfurt, Quinn insisted: 'The fate of the company will be finally decided at the end of the month.'

PROTON is planning to drive into the next century with a completely new product range. The Malaysian company's next-generation line-up will include an upper medium car spawning variants which will include estate, cabriolet and even a van, revealed chief executive officer Tengku Mahaleel at Frankfurt.

NISSAN gave a world premiere at the show to the new Patrol GR which will go on sale in the UK next March two months ahead of the Primera estate which fleets saw for the first time at this year's Fleet Motor Show at Silverstone. Powered by a new 2.8 litre, six cylinder, turbo diesel engine with an intercooler, power has been increased to 130 PS from the 113 PS of the out-going Patrol GR.

LEXUS - Toyota's luxury car division - is being relaunched with a strengthening of the brand across Europe which will encompass the launch of a 'baby' model as well as a significantly facelifted LS400 and all-new GS300. While Lexus showed off the new LS400 and GS300, company bosses were remaining tight-lipped about the new smaller car.