News - Page 2343

FLEET Management Services has again attacked manufacturers for increasing delivery charges by up to three times the level of their list price rises. FMS director - operations Tony Coles said scrapping delivery charges was 'a PR exercise with no real substance. Far from scrapping charges, the cost of delivery from factory to outlet is being differentiated from the 'total' price for many cars.

VOLKSWAGEN is to reduce its daily rental business in 1997 although the company admits it increased daily rental volumes last year after a last minute deal with Europcar, which it part owns.

TRANSPORT and road safety minister John Bowis has launched The Times - Lease Plan Company Car Driver of the Year 1997 competition. The event, to find the safest and most competent company car driver in Britain, is in six regional heats between April and June with a final at the Silverstone Driving Centre in July.

ROVER has unveiled the design powerhouse which will drive its model range into the next millennium. Rover has centralised research and design, product development and testing facilities in a £30 million purpose-built design and engineering centre at Gaydon in Warwickshire where some 1,200 designers and engineers will design Rover vehicles for the next century.

ROVER has adopted similar tactics to Peugeot in attempting to head-off threatened industrial action at its Longbridge plant. Rover wrote to 2,000 employees on the 400 range production line suggesting strike action could affect parent company BMW's investment decisions.

THE British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association is to host a series of 30 minute seminars on fleet industry issues at the 1997 Fleet Motor Show to be held at Silverstone from April 29-May 2.

DEALER group Henlys is to increase its focus on specialist franchises in a drive to maximise margins.

LEX Vehicle Leasing and Hyundai contributed substantially to Lex Service Plc's 22% pre-tax profits surge in 1996, up to £51.4 million. The UK's largest contract hire company Lex Vehicle Leasing - jointly owned by Lex and Lombard - achieved record profits last year of £37.5 million, up 16% year on year from £32.1 million in 1995. This coincided with an increase in its fleet size, up 11,000 units to 80,000.

FLEET management software specialist TRANMAN has been sold to its management team in a £1 million buy-out. The Bristol-based outfit is planning new investment and a 15% increase in its workforce after securing sufficient backing to demerge from its parent company RMS Group, which markets broader-based asset management software.

ATS has signed the first contract under its fixed cost tyre control system, launched in January to offer leasing companies tyre management for a set monthly fee. The solus agreement with Middlesex-based MotoRent started on March 1. The service is now available to all MotoRent's UK customers.

THE Government has acknowledged the fleet industry's role in fighting car crime. Crime prevention minister Tom Sackville said the fleet and leasing industry's progress in forcing manufacturers to upgrade car security had improved standards of security for all car buyers.

GE Capital Motor Finance has appointed a new managing director after the sudden departure of Ron Elder. George Awad will replace Elder, who is leaving the company to pursue career opportunities outside GE.

HI-Q Tyreservices is launching a pilot scheme to franchise some of its company-owned centres. The franchises will initially be offered to Hi-Q and Goodyear staff.

EMPLOYEES are being forced to rely on cars to get to work because bus and rail privatisation has left the public transport system too complicated and confusing, according to a new report.

THE Fiat Cinquecento S 3-door, Ford Ka 1.3i 3-door and Rover 1.1 Knightsbridge 3-door share the top slot as the cheapest cars to run in the UK, according to CAP Motor Research. CAP's UK Value for Money Top 40 puts the three cars in joint first place, each costing 13.7 pence per mile to run over three years/ 60,000 miles.

GLOBAL insurer Zurich International has launched a worldwide motor fleet policy. The policy achieves economies of scale by treating vehicles in several countries as a single fleet, thus minimising administration and allowing international control of cost and risk. All policies will be issued locally, with all the risk reinsured back to the initiating country.

BRITAIN'S major fleet suppliers appear to be taking a united stand in resisting demands to give three years' peace-of-mind motoring with every car they sell. Despite increasing calls for an end to the traditional 12-month warranty in favour of a switch to three years cover, executives at Ford, Vauxhall, Rover, Peugeot and Renault have all said they see no need for a change at present.

CHRYSLER is aiming to secure a 1% share of the British car market by the turn of the century but will not sacrifice residual values to accelerate growth. Managing director of the UK importer Richard Mackay said the marque's growth in the UK would continue to be measured and demand-led rather than forced and volume-driven.

LABOUR will set up a task force to 'green' the car rather than attempt to tax or legislate it off the road if elected in May. Shadow environment secretary Michael Meacher this week announced Labour's plans for a partnership approach involving Government, academics and car-makers to tackle fuel efficiency and explore the future of ultra low emission vehicles.

THE Metropolitan Police Service is to conduct a pre-tender process involving private sector suppliers interested in providing outsourced vehicle maintenance to the force's vehicle fleet. All companies interested in tendering for the new contracts are invited to a conference at the end of March where it will outline the opportunities available and set out its performance criteria.

FLEET operators who had pinned their hopes on reclaiming millions of pounds in VAT paid on delivery charges have suffered a serious setback in the High Court. Justices this week reversed an earlier VAT Tribunal ruling which upheld BT's claim that the delivery charges it paid on its fleet vehicles should not be subject to VAT.

VAUXHALL is likely to announce an experimental 'toe in the water' three year warranty on selected vehicles later this month. At the Geneva Motor Show, which opened on Tuesday, Vauxhall chairman and managing director Nick Reilly, said he would expect to make an announcement during the Vauxhall Sintra press trip to Marrakesh this weekend.

FORD has extended Ford Direct - its branded used car scheme - to cover vehicles of up to four years old after a protracted pilot scheme lasting three years. The manufacturer introduced the first 'Level 2' cars to the scheme to dealers in the north west last month and it will gradually be rolled out to the rest of the dealer network over the next few months.

BRITISH Car Contracts has signed a new contract hire deal with shoe company Hush Puppies. Senior staff at Hush Puppies' head office in Leicester will be supplied with six Ford Mondeos, seven 3 Series BMWs and one Rover 400 under the deal. This makes up the company's entire car fleet.

A NEW journey planner combining the latest Ordnance Survey maps with hotel and restaurant guidebooks is now available for PC users.

MICHELIN is to buy 51% of the shares in fellow wheel manufacturer Mannesmann Kronprinz AG, Soligen.

GAS company Transco has taken a team of emergency engineers out of their vans and put them on motorbikes. The company has bought three Honda ST1100 bikes - as used by the police, ambulance service paramedics and the AA - to be used for a six-month trial in London.

ALISTAIR Murray has been appointed corporate sales manager at Volvo. Murray, who was previously national corporate accounts manager with the company, replaces Rob Thomas who became director of customer relationship during a Volvo management shake-up last year.

ALAMO has launched an all-in car hire package for UK travellers bewildered by the range of options available to them when renting a car in the US. Alamo Gold includes all the 'extras' which are taken for granted in the UK, but classed as optional in the US - plus one or two bonuses.

THE Retail Motor Industry Federation says car servicing is one of the most competitively-priced services available today. Director of the RMIF's Independent Garage Association Hugh Roberts has dismissed as 'nonsense' allegations of excessive servicing costs which the RMIF claims are due to be made in a yet-to-be-published Consumers Association report.