News - Page 2325

NATIONAL Car Auctions' chief executive Ron Leader is aiming to raise at least £30,000 for the NSPCC and the Williams Syndrome Foundation - his 14-year-old daughter Hannah suffers from the rare genetic condition - by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya later this year.

A FLEET of mainly Nissan Primeras supplied on contract by BCH Vehicle Management is to be operated by Dana UK, a start-up subsidiary of Renaissance Cosmetics, a corporation which markets fragrances and cosmetics.

PARCEL delivery giant TNT Express Worldwide has bought a Car Fleet Control fleet management software system for its Dubai-based operation. The Fleetbase system is being used to manage the 100-strong fleet, which includes cars, vans and motorcycles.

THREE Valleys Water is evaluating a liquefied petroleum gas-powered Ford Transit, as part of an on-going programme by Shell Gas to give fleet operators hands on experience of LPG vehicles.

VAUXHALL Fleet came to the aid of six of the best-known characters from the popular ITV series 'Gladiators' by providing six Fronteras in aid of charity.

VOLKSWAGEN has slashed its Motability business in the face of overwhelming demand for its entire range. Supply problems with the Passat have been well publicised, but the Golf is all but sold out until the end of the year, leaving only the Polo to fill the gaps.

SATELLITE Vehicle Rentals has teamed up with Budget Leisure Cars to create a new division offering international rental facilities. The joint venture is called Satellite International, and will make Budget's rental fleet available to Satellite customers overseas.

THE UK's light commercial vehicle hire market could be on course for rapid growth if it follows the model of the US. In the US 55% of fleets hire their lcvs, compared to just 8% in the UK, though demand is rising on this side of the Atlantic, according to specialist commercial vehicle hire company Northgate Motor Holdings.

BRADFORD-based Hellmann International Forwarders has outsourced its fleet of more than 70 vehicles in a £500,000 deal with Perry Contract Hire. The contract has been signed following a review of the company's fleet acquisition and management policy which has resulted in a streamlining of the management of the company car fleet.

SWAN National has set up a new call centre for customers with fleets of less than 25 vehicles. A free telephone call will give clients access to a team of staff who will handle everything from an initial inquiry to the delivery of a car to any UK mainland address.

THE Vauxhall Vectra has maintained its position as the cheapest upper medium car to repair, in a special edition of the VELO Fleet Insurance Report. VELO published the figures to coincide with the results of the European New Car Assessment Programme, in which family sized cars were crashed tested.

AUDI is taking advance orders for an additional batch of S8 luxury sports saloons after the original allocation sold out. The handful of range-topping S8s initially earmarked for the UK were snapped up prior to its arrival next month, but Audi has made a few more of the £61,544 supercars available to British customers.

THE first cars in Rover's recent £28.5 million deal with Royal London Insurance have been delivered by Fairways of Gillingham which is supplying 300 of the 2,000 vehicles on the company's fleets.

EXPANDING dealership and contract hire company Red Vardy is to increasingly target fleets as it battles to increase business. The 50-strong dealership group (which, it is hoped, will expand to 60) has reported record sales and profits for the year to April 30 with around a third of its record 24,441 new car sales - up from 20,887 - going to fleets. A total of 52,864 used car were sold up from 44,101.

THE Association of Car Fleet Operators is helping the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions gather data on the cost of vehicle crime to companies. The organisation is asking fleets to give details of their experiences in order to help the DETR compile a statistical breakdown of theft of and from vehicles.

FUEL prices rose fractionally last month and they will continue to rise as a result of the 4p a litre/18.2p a gallon rise in fuel excise duties in the Budget earlier this month, according to the latest monthly pump price report from PHH AllStar.

A COMPANY launching a new advertising concept has opted for a new concept in motoring for its fleet. Easy Numbers, which markets what it claims to be the first free-call directory in Europe for businesses - using 0500 and 0800 numbers in association with Mercury Communications - has taken delivery of seven Ford Ka and Ka2 models as well as a Ford Galaxy.

THE Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has written to the new Government in a bid to secure an agreement on alterations to the August registration plate change before next month's expected sales boom. The SMMT submitted its proposals for a twice-yearly registration plate change to the Conservative Government in March and has heard nothing from either the previous Conservative nor the new Labour administrations since.

A CALL has gone out to manufacturers to offer defensive driver training as a central part of their sales package to fleets, following the results of the NCAP crash tests. Driver training company NDI claims manufacturers invest millions of pounds in active and passive safety features such as ABS, airbags and side impact protection schemes, but ignore the driver.

FLEET sales surged 10.2% last month - the largest year-on-year rise this year - putting the market on course to break the one million barrier for the first time in 1997. A total of 84,420 cars were bought by fleets in June - compared with 76,626 in June 1996 - placing the fleet market 3.6% ahead of the six-monthly figure for 1996 at 522,322 (1996: 504,007).

HELPHIRE Group's turnover has nearly quadrupled to £10.01m from £2.6m during the year to the end of March, while its pre-tax profits tripled to £1.057m from £346,648. The results are the first to be published since the credit hire and repair company floated on the Stock Exchange in March, a move which raised £5.6m net of expenses.

DIRECTORS and senior managers have more accidents per business mile than any other company car driver, according to an analysis of crash statistics relating to the 14,000 vehicles operated by Fleet Management Services. And the average cost of repair for those accidents is £1,019.58 - almost double the average cost for accidents suffered by sales executives.

BCH Vehicle Management is to provide fuel cards for all Safeway Stores' drivers. The supermarket giant operates a fleet of 1,400 vehicles and has been a BCH customer for contract hire and fleet management for more than 20 years.

GE CAPITAL Services is buying Union Bank of Switzerland's car leasing business. The operation, run by UBS subsidiary Bank Aufina, is the Swiss market leader with a 26% share.

UNIVERSAL Salvage's pre-tax profits dropped 26% to £3.4m (1996: £4.6 before exceptional flotation costs of £0.7m) in the year to 30 April 1997, against a 24% increase in turnover to £57.1m (1996: £46.1m). The Bedfordshire-based contract motor salvage company issued a profits warning in April, at the same time as announcing that its managing director Richard Bird had left the company.

THE leasing industry is preparing itself for a potential boom in sale and leaseback van deals following the Chancellor's announcement of a windfall tax on privatised utilities. The one-off tax leaves the utility companies facing bills from £45 million to £500 million.

LLOYDS Bank-owned Black Horse Vehicle Management Services has appointed David Harrison as its new managing director, following the departure of Stephen Barrett to daily rental giant Hertz Europe. Harrison also holds the position of managing director of First Service Management, United Dominion Trust's leasing and fleet management operation, which founding managing directors Nick Brown and Nigel Stead left earlier this year.

THE new chief executive of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has issued a blistering attack on companies which fail to take responsibility for the safety of their drivers. Dr John Hooper has wasted no time in addressing the issue of occupational road risk, since taking up his position at the head of RoSPA just four weeks ago.

FLEET operators can reclaim millions of pounds in overpaid VAT on the purchase of company cars after a landmark ruling by Customs & Excise. The decision centres on the payment of VAT on the manufacturer's discount on the car, which tax experts successfully argued should not be paid by fleet operators.

THE Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has fired the first shots in the war of words preceding the Labour Government's next Budget with a ringing endorsement of the company car. Following a relatively harmless Budget, the car makers' trade association has put its lobbying machine into overdrive with an emphatic 'hands off' message.