News - Page 2321

EURODOLLAR has won a joint supply contract with Alamo worth £1 million to supply rental cars to banking giant Barclays. Estimated at 20,000 rental days a year, the contract will provide vehicles for Barclays staff travelling on business between the company's 2,000 sites across England and Wales.

THE Vehicle Inspectorate has launched an investigation after consumer magazine Which? revealed that two of the five Citroen garages it visited in a survey failed to pick up illegal emissions levels from a faulty three-year-old Xantia. Which? has called for the Vehicle Inspectorate to inspect Citroen garages nationwide - and to consider a wider inquiry to establish whether there are similar problems at other manufacturers' franchised dealers.

VAUXHALL'S new Astra finally broke cover this week just a month ahead of its world debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The clean-cut replacement for the ageing Astra reaches the UK next spring, and - following the lead set by the Vectra - is expected to feature ABS brakes as standard across the range.

THE risk of accidents while drivers use mobile phones on the move could be higher than previously believed, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. ROSPA, whose call for use of mobile phones while driving to be outlawed has led to widespread concern over safety implications, has reviewed existing evidence on how greatly mobile phones distract drivers.

THIRTY-eight UK fleets are to receive £20 million in Government subsidies to trial alternatively fuelled vehicles. The successful fleets were named this week and will receive the cash under the Government-funded Energy Saving Trust's Powershift programme which encourages fleets to run vehicles fuelled by compressed natural gas, liquid petroleum gas or electricity.

AMERICAN conglomerate Republic Industries has launched a £95.1 million takeover bid for corporate car hire specialist EuroDollar. The board of EuroDollar has recommended shareholders accept the offer made by Republic, a $9 billion US conglomerate which already owns several car hire companies including Alamo Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental System, Spirit Rent-A-Car, Value Rent-A-Car and Snappy Car Rental.

VAN sales last month survived the seasonal nosedive and were fractionally up on July 1996 due entirely to a significant rise in 1.8-3.5 tonne vehicles. They rose from 3,688 units in July last year to 4,453 units last month, while sales of light vans dropped from 2,488 in July last year to 1,912.

THE Government has launched a national scheme to wheelclamp, impound and, if necessary, sell or crush the vehicles of road tax dodgers which in 1996/97 cost Britain £175 million. From Monday wheelclamping contractors operating in London in conjunction with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency will clamp the vehicles of road tax cheats before going nationwide.

KILTECH Vehicle Protection has won approval from the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre at Thatcham for its Lockshield anti-theft system fitted to Ford Transits. Approval for the Transit Lockshield - effectively a steel cage which armours the existing vehicle steering lock preventing it from being smashed - is expected to be followed by Lockshields fitted to other light commercial vehicles including the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and Iveco vehicles.

GODFREY Davis has won the fleet business of two subsidiaries of General Cable - Yorkshire Cable and The Cable Corporation. The open-ended deal, which is for a total of 650 vehicles, charges Godfrey Davis with the acquisition, management and disposal of the fleet in a contract management agreement.

DAIHATSU has won its largest single British fleet order with a £1.3m deal to supply 100 Grand Move Plus estates to European Car Rental. However, Daihatsu says the deal - arranged by recently-opened Nidd Vale Daihatsu in Harrogate - does not herald a major move into the daily rental market.

FLEET diesel sales in July were 17.2% down on July 1996 at 3,771 units (4,553) with year-on-year fleet sales fractionally down on last year's seven month total at 111,124 (112,331). Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders' figures released this week show that total new diesel car sales were 20.5% down year-on-year at 5,896 (July 1997: 7,414).

FLEET sales in the small and unpredictable July market were down 7.9% year-on-year with industry experts claiming many companies held off buying vehicles to cash in on the August registration plate change. Fleet sales totalled 21,001 units last month (1996: 22,805) in a total new car market for the month of 36,069 - 7.8% down on last July's 39,150.

DAEWOO is aiming to quadruple its sales to business users next year with the launch of three new models. The Lanos, Nubira and Leganza go on sale in the UK on September 11, and represent an astonishing feat of engineering, passing from blank drawing board to production in just 30 months.

DECISION makers in the corporate car sector will be putting Land Rover's crucial new Freelander model to the test two months before it goes on sale. Officials at the revitalised Midlands company are planning to invite key buyers to assess the long-awaited sports utility car as part of extensive trials in Spain, only weeks after its public launch at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

THE Government has denied that a decision on the future of registration plate changes will be announced within the next couple of weeks. The Retail Motor Industry Federation said it expected a decision to come within two weeks, but a Department of Transport spokesman said no date had yet been set. The RMI has, however, welcomed junior transport minister Glenda Jackson's comments in the House of Comments that an announcement will be made 'shortly'.

DRIVERS at Tarmac Construction are being recharged the precise cost for their private mileage following the introduction of Dialcard fuel cards. As a result frugal drivers are reaping the benefits of a light right foot, while drivers with a heavy right foot are paying more for their driving style.

COMPANIES opting to outsource their fleet business have contributed to Cowie Interleasing increasing its fleet size by 13% in the last year with further vehicles set to come on stream. In announcing record half-year results to June 1997, the Cowie Group, which has seen the shape of its business changing in recent years, believes outsourcing will continue to be a key driver to its fleet expansion aspirations.

FIAT auto UK will have a new managing director from September 1, following the return of current managing director Jim Blades to Fiat's headquarters in Turin to fulfil a senior marketing role. He will report directly to Fiat's main board director responsible for the manufacturer's worldwide sales and marketing.

A CAR which is claimed to be the cleanest on the road is to form part of a major new drive to win more fleet business for Honda. The Japanese company is understood to be planning to make a special, super-clean Civic available to corporate buyers towards the end of next year.

BMW is asking fleet operators to place advance orders on cars for delivery in 1998 in the wake of overwhelming demand for its entire model range. The supply situation on the new 5 series has been well publicised, with some customers waiting for almost a year to take delivery, and demand also remains buoyant for other models.

CITROEN has radically restructured its ageing range-topping XM model line-up with the introduction of a more powerful 3.0-litre model, price cuts on most models, specification enhancements and the dropping of SX trim. The previous nine-car saloon XM range has been slashed to a choice of six models with the five-strong estate range now numbering four.

LABOUR MP Fraser Kemp has warned the Government not to make snap decisions on fleet issues which could damage the industry. Newly-elected Kemp, whose constituency includes Nissan's Sunderland plant, says the Government must realise that even small changes in areas such as company car taxation could have a major impact on fleet operators, company car drivers and car manufacturers.

PHH Vehicle Management Services has snapped up the fleet management contract for travel giant Thomas Cook's 600-strong fleet from arch-rival Fleet Cost Management. PHH will provide driver services, accident management, the Fleetcom management information system, maintenance management services, acquisition and disposal.

FORD has kicked off the annual round of price increases by adding up to £300 to the on-the-road costs of most of its vehicles. The Ka, Fiesta and Escort special editions, Puma, pre-August Mondeo and Focus, Probe, Explorer and Transit escape the increase, but prices for the rest of the range go up by an average 1.2%.

NATIONAL Health Service transport managers have rejected the official supply terms negotiated on their behalf by NHS Supplies, and are to go out to tender for the supply of contract hire vehicles. The NHS fleet chiefs are up in arms about an arrangement which saw the number of their potential suppliers cut from 14 to four - Ford Credit, Renault Financial Services, Vauxhall Master Hire and Automotive Leasing.

FLEET sales will reach a new high this month with leasing companies and dealer groups reporting record orders. The motor industry expects about 500,000 R-registered cars to be sold this month - the second highest monthly sales figure on record - and fleet sales could reach 200,000 units - beating the previous monthly record for fleet sales of 178,009 units set last August.

MASTERDRIVE Contract Hire and Leasing has set up a dedicated car hire operation. Masterdrive Vehicle Rental is a hybrid, running its own largely prestige fleet and contracting in vehicles from other hire companies to satisfy volume demand for mainstream models.

FLEETS face a sharp and immediate increase in daily rental rates following accounting and tax changes introduced in the recent Budget. Industry predictions on the impact of these changes go as far as double digit percentage increases on rental rates, as a direct result of Chancellor Gordon Brown's clampdown on accelerated capital allowances for finance leases through multiple year end companies.

CAR crime involving company vehicles has experienced a dramatic 19.8% fall over the last 12 months. In the three months leading up to July 1997, 13.2% of the 110,000 vehicles VELO looks after on accident management were involved in a theft incident, either of or from the car. This figure is 4.3% down on the previous quarter, and continues a steady decline.