News - Page 2347

KWIK-FIT Fleet has taken the lead in the race to provide fleets with fixed cost tyre policies. The fast-fit giant has won what is believed to be the first ever outsourced tyre management contract for a car fleet, in a three year deal with Lex Vehicle Leasing.

FORD has confirmed the future of Halewood beyond the millennium after successfully negotiating the support of the unions and Government financial backing. The Government is believed to have come up with a funding package worth around £60 million to secure £600 million of additional investment by Ford.

A BOARDROOM power struggle is understood to have led to the dismissal of Neil Pykett as managing director of Cowie Interleasing, which has a fleet of more than 70,000 vehicles on contract hire and fleet management.

LABOUR leader Tony Blair has emphasised the importance of the car - and specifically the company car - in society. Blair and shadow secretary of state for transport Andrew Smith both defended the role of the car as part of a wider co-ordinated transport policy.

BRITISH Gas fleet administrators have come up with a simple means of checking company car drivers' licences without taking up too much management time.

NEW figures from TopCalc reveal 32 out of 49 Volkswagen models are cheaper to run than equivalent Ford or Vauxhall models. Volkswagen has published the fifth issue of its Wholelife Cost Guarantee tables which reveal that fleets can save between £156 (£9,745 Polo 5dr 1.4 CL) and £1,746 (£10,250 Golf 3dr 1.4L) over three years/60,000 miles by operating the German manufacturer's cars instead of the cheapest equivalent Ford or Vauxhall models.

SATISFACTION that Fleet Cost Management continues to provide a better service than its competitors was the reason cited by Jewson for renewing its fuel cards and maintenance management deal.

WOKING-based sealing technology company James Walker & Co has increased the number of Hondas on its fleet by taking on a further 12 Civic five-doors. The Civics bring the total number of Hondas on the fleet to 17 Civics and 10 Accords, representing a 21% share of the 123-strong fleet.

CORPORATE sales staff at Honda are to become 'strategic advisers' under plans to win a bigger share of Britain's fleet market.

MORE of Britain's top leasing companies have adopted the RAC-British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association's 'Fair Wear & Tear Guide'. The good practice guide has now been adopted by 65% of the association's 120 leasing company members following its launch last year.

LEASING rates for the new Peugeot 406 estate put it head to head with the competition from Ford and Vauxhall. The French newcomer is within a few pounds per month of the Mondeo and Vectra across the range according to figures from four leading leasing companies.

AVIS Europe has announced its intention to return to the London Stock Exchange after an absence of eight years. The flotation is expected to value Europe's largest car hire company at £700 million, and should raise £250 million of new funds, which Avis will use in part to repay debt and invest in its rental business.

THE 1997 Fleet Motor Show is to be opened by Peter Agar, the deputy director-general of the Confederation of British Industry. Agar's acceptance of the invitation to the open the show, which will be held at Silverstone from April 29-May 2, underlines the importance of the event as a 'business-to-business' show.

FORMER Ford fleet marketing manager Nick Rothwell is leaving Ford Credit Europe to take over as managing director of the car-maker's South African finance operation.

NISSAN is to launch a wholly-owned finance subsidiary next spring to replace its current joint venture with Lombard - Nissan Motor Finance.

NEW calls for fleets to introduce driver training and encourage staff to take the advanced driving test have been made by the Institute of Advanced Motorists in the wake of last week's high-profile new car crash test findings published by the Transport Research Laboratory.

MINIBUSES used for carrying children must be fitted with seat belts throughout the vehicle under new legislation which came into force on Monday.

ESSEX Police has taken delivery of 12 Ford Scorpio 24 valve cars with specially tuned rear suspensions designed to provide optimum performance and handling with consistently high boot loads.

NISSAN fleet sales director Simon Rutherford is bound for pastures new after six years in the fleet industry. He is leaving the department he set up in 1991 to become director, operations support following the departure of Jon Beveridge.

A LIVERPOOL company with a 130-strong fleet is turning its back on Ford in protest at the company's plan to stop building the Escort at Halewood. Greenberg Glass is hoping other organisations will follow suit in a bid to persuade Ford to change its mind over the move, which will result in 1,300 job losses.

CITY diesel distributor Greenergy has hit out at a BMW document which apparently advises fleet operators to avoid using its ultra low sulphur diesel. In a circular issued by BMW's technical services department in Germany, Greenergy's City Diesel is omitted from a list of low sulphur diesel fuels which the manufacturer recommends.

BRITISH Airways is to sell its 7,300-vehicle airport-side ground fleet services division to vehicle rental, contract hire and distribution services company Ryder for an undisclosed sum. The deal, part of BA's drive to improve services and reduce costs by £1 billion over the next three years from all parts of its operation, takes in towbars, aeroplane steps, tugs and other mobile machinery as well as some crew buses.

THE British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association has outlined its views to the Labour Party on a number of issues in response to Labour's transport document 'Consensus for Change' published almost a year ago.

THE 30-strong fleet operations team at Lyons Cakes is being made redundant as the company merges with Manor Bakeries following its sale to Rank Hovis Macdougal 18-months ago. The existing Lyons fleet is to be run by the Manor Bakeries fleet team, giving the company a car fleet of around 200 vehicles, in addition to a range of commercial vehicles.

DAEWOO has denied allegations that it is turning away its own second hand cars due to massive oversupply of used models throughout its network. The Korean importer described an article suggesting Daewoo residual values were about to go into freefall in a trade newspaper as 'absolute rubbish'.

ENVIRONMENTAL issues have become a focal point for fleet policies in recent months and at the 1997 Fleet Motor Show a special environmental handbook will be available FREE to all visitors.

AN alliance of leading European leasing companies including Dial Contracts has won one of the largest-ever pan-European fleet deals.

THE results of the first ever European crash testing programme - sponsored by the Department of Transport, Swedish Government, the FIA, AA and RAC - have showed wide differences between the levels of passenger protection offered by seven popular superminis.

HIGHWAY Vehicle Leasing has been acquired by General Guarantee - the finance division of retail giant Great Universal Stores. With a fleet of 15,500 vehicles, Highway is the last major contract hire company to lose its independent status after 22 years as a stand-alone operation.

THE UK's three leading fleet manufacturers feature among the five most unreliable marques in the country, according to Britain's most definitive study ever of car reliability.