News - Page 2323

A BODYSHOP has stepped in to save a car rental branch in North Wales from closing down. Merit Motorbody Repairs has taken over Stapeley Selfdrive - Colwyn Bay's only vehicle rental outlet - and has plans to expand the business.

HYUNDAI has confirmed it will import a new micro-car to the UK towards the end of next year. The MX is a compact city car with a high-roof derivative to provide the maximum amount of interior accommodation while occupying the minimum amount of roadspace.

A CAR rental firm has called for 'swap shops' to be set up so business motorists can switch to emission-free transport for city-centre travel. Sites which allow drivers to exchange ordinary cars for battery-driven models could provide a major boost to the Government's programme for cleaner air in cities and towns, believes Standish Self Drive.

THE Fleet Driver Training Association has appointed a secretary for the first time to manage its affairs. Graham Bigg will assume the administrative responsibilities of the FDTA during the course of the year, and his position will be ratified at the association's next annual meeting.

ACCIDENT management specialist, Elite Repair Services, has launched a new motor claims handling service. Called Elite Claims Handling, the scheme offers clients total claims management, presenting them with the opportunity to modify the service in accordance with their own business needs.

DRIVERS who want to avoid the queues but can't stretch to in-car navigation systems will shortly be able to purchase special route cards to help divert them round the traffic. The first in a series of maps detailing alternative routes to the major motorways is Routes Round the M25. The 64-page booklet includes routes from one junction to the next, both clockwise and anti-clockwise.

CRASH research centre Thatcham is substantially expanding its database to provide the exact labour times and parts required to repair the 2,600 most popular models on British roads following a 'common crash'. Experts have found that drivers are running a one in five risk annually of being involved in a common crash - defined as a 20-30kph collision causing front, rear or side damage. Such a crash occurs 6,000 times a day in the UK.

THE liquified petroleum gas industry has to continue its campaign for further reductions in excise duty to secure its future, according to the new chairman of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association. Pascal Rambaud, managing director of Shell Gas, took over the post at the LPGA, replacing David Hepworth, Conoco's business manager LPG.

THE largest municipal fleet of natural gas powered vehicles in the UK has been unveiled by environment minister Michael Meacher. The 24 vehicles replaced conventionally-fuelled vans, buses and refuse trucks used by the London Borough of Merton. The gas-powered fleet includes nine Ford Courier vans, used to provide Social Services Meals-on-Wheels, nine Iveco Ford coaches and six Iveco Ford refuse trucks. In each of these areas, the gas-powered vehicles now make up half of the total operational fleet.

ENVIRONMENTAL pressure group Transport 2000 has published its proposals for a national roads strategy to take Britain into the 21st century. The document is the first of many in what is likely to be a protracted debate over the future status of the car in the UK.

VOLKSWAGEN has published new wholelife cost guarantee tables which reveal the competitiveness of the German manufacturer's range against rival models from Ford and Vauxhall. The new tables, which quote independent figures supplied by TopCalc, reveal that of the 88 Volkswagen models across its Polo, Golf, Vento, Passat and Sharan ranges where there are equivalent Ford and Vauxhall models, the Volkswagens are cheaper to operate in 51 cases and more expensive in 13 cases.

HONDA is targeting public sector fleets in a joint initiative with leasing companies to promote its new Civic five-door and double its market penetration. Appleyard Vehicle Contracts, Cowie Interleasing, Crown Vehicle Contracts and Cochranes are all working alongside Honda to develop the initiative for health authorities and local authorities.

BUDGET changes to the rules governing finance leasing will have a bigger effect on the increasing cost of contract hire than initially anticipated. Finance experts have only just grasped the full implications of small print hidden within the Finance Bill and are warning of significant increases in some contract hire companies' costs.

COWIE Interleasing managing director Michael Gwilt is to succeed group chief executive Gordon Hodgson at the helm of the Cowie organisation. Gwilt, who was only appointed to the top job at Interleasing in March, will take over as managing director next January.

FORD is to take further action to reduce costs in its European operations following the announcement of a $39 million cut in earnings to $157 million in the second quarter of 1997. Although Ford earned a record $2.53 billion worldwide in the second quarter, up 33% from $1.903 billion in the second quarter of 1996, chairman and chief executive officer Alex Trotman said: 'We're all encouraged, but we're not letting up one bit.'

THE company car is assuming even greater importance in the recruitment war as employers seek to hire and hold on to the highest calibre candidates in the most competitive sectors of commerce. In two separate fleet deals announced this week, BMW clinched its largest ever contract to supply 1,000 vehicles to Pearl Assurance while Rover enjoyed a 20-fold increase in business with Royal London Insurance in a 2,000-vehicle deal.

VAUXHALL is gearing up for a major increase in leasing business with the recruitment of a new leasing chief and an industry-leading initiative which sees customer support manager implants at 16 of the UK's largest contract hire companies.

THE AA has signed a £1.5 million contract to upgrade its fleet management technology in one of the largest fleet software deals ever signed. Car Fleet Control will provide the new system to manage both the AA's 5,500 vehicles and the organisation's 29 workshops responsible for 90% of the AA's maintenance work.

BRITAIN'S largest motor insurance firm, Royal & SunAlliance, which has policies covering more than 3.4 million vehicles, is to use Glassmatix for all its repair estimating. The use of the computerised collision repair estimating device will be spread to every one of Royal & SunAlliance's 350 approved repairers by October this year and follows an internal review of best practices following the recent merger between Royal Insurance and Sun Alliance.

RYLAND Multifleet's ground-breaking fleet deal with the British Chamber of Commerce has moved up a gear with the launch of Chamber Fleet. The two-year-old deal, which, when launched to the Chamber's 200,000 member-businesses was believed to be the largest of its kind, was originally a three-year contract and still has a year to run.

A LANDMARK VAT ruling by the European Court of Justice has removed a major obstacle to cross-border leasing and could lead to cheaper European leasing deals, according to leading accountants. The European Court of Justice this week backed Dutch-based leasing company ARO Lease BV which leased 800 cars to fleets in Belgium.

LEN Clayton has left Hertz Leasing after just 18 months as managing director. Former managing director of Swan National, and one of the best known figures in the leasing industry, Clayton joined Hertz last year in a surprise move from Swan National. He described the departure from Hertz as 'amicable' and said he was actively looking for new opportunities within the fleet industry where he has worked for the past 21 years.

VAUXHALL is to exhibit at the 1998 Fleet Motor Show which will be held at Donington Park in the spring. The Luton-based company said it would attend next year's show, providing an opportunity for fleet chiefs to see and drive the new Astra which will go on sale in the UK just before the show opens.

THE Government has met leading motor manufacturers to discuss the tax treatment of company cars and other key industry issues as it shapes Britain's future transport policy. Next spring the Government will publish its much-heralded white paper on an integrated transport policy and simultaneously its second Budget is expected to introduce measures which could have a dramatic impact on the UK fleet industry.

COWBOY wheelclampers are in the firing line after the Government announced a consultation process prior to legislating against crooked private law enforcement and security companies. Home secretary Jack Straw said the whole private security industry needed regulating after a massive increase in complaints from the public about charges to release wheelclamps and intimidation and assaults by operatives.

LADA importer Motor Vehicle Imports has confirmed it is to cease imports of the Russian car after encountering difficulties making the engines comply with European emissions legislation.

DORSET-based Daihatsu dealership Derek Warwick, owned by the former Formula 1 racing driver, has been awarded corporate dealer status as part of Daihatsu's bid to increase its share of the fleet market. It is one of eight new corporate dealerships in the UK, geared to offering businesses specialist finance packages, fleet prices and a comprehensive fleet of demonstration vehicles.

THREE out of the top five best performing ambulance services in the UK use Securicor Datatrak's mobile data communications systems to improve response times and cut costs. New Government national ambulance service performance league tables place Staffordshire at the top, Lancashire third, and West Yorkshire Metropolitan fifth.

TWO very different prizes were won at this year's Fleet Motor Show - a free site on the internet and the more traditional bottle of bubbly. Banbury automotive marketing firm Woods and Seaton will receive a £2,000 web site courtesy of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association as a result of success in their competition, in which contestants had to guess how many visits were made to the BVRLA internet site during the show at Silverstone.

THE Doctors Emergency Service, which provides out-of-hours cover for 150 Berkshire GPs, has taken on a fleet of 10 Kia Sportages. The service previously used Rovers, but chose the Sportages following an assessment of a range of similar vehicles. Necessary factors included reliability, good interior space and the option of four-wheel-drive to cope with harsh weather and different terrain.