News - Page 2376

PEUGEOT has doubled its representation on Stretton Leisure's 500-vehicle fleet with a new deal to supply 406s to the Greenhalls Group subsidiary.

TWO of the UK's major dealership groups have backed new car sales figures which reveal a return to the market of private buyers.

BISHOPS Stortford-based security firm Astor Security Group has secured a new fleet of Vauxhall Astras in a £120,000 contract with local Vauxhall dealer Franklins. The fleet deal involves 10 Astra diesels - a mix of three and five-door Merit and LS models - which have been acquired on a maintenance inclusive three year contract hire basis through Vauxhall MasterHire Leasing.

SAINSBURY'S has added Air Miles to the lure of its cut-price fuel in a move designed to poach customers from its main rival, Tesco. The company's marketing director, Kevin McCarten, predicted that the £15 million promotion - which involves a link up with British Airways, would boost the store's turnover by 3%.

HIGH toll charges across the newly opened £330 million second Severn River Crossing will continue to force traffic to divert on to less suitable routes, according to the RAC.

LEXUS is increasingly winning favour with pubs and leisure giant Whitbread's company car drivers. More than half Whitbread's drivers are choosing to upgrade their vehicles under a policy by which model choice is determined by monthly cost of ownership figures based on contract hire rates from Avis Fleet Services.

SKODA'S Felicia range gains fleet appeal this month with the availability of a 1.6 litre Volkswagen engine, a driver's airbag and ABS brakes. The 75 bhp eight valve engine gives the Skoda a top speed of 100 mph. 0-62 acceleration times are 13 seconds for the hatch and 15 seconds for the estate.

EUROPEAN Motor Holdings, the London-based motor retail chain, has reported falling profits despite increased turnover. Profit before tax was £6.7 million and turnover totalled £345 million. In the previous 12 months profit was £7.9 million and turnover was £284 million.

TOYOTA has revealed details of its new Landcruiser models, called the Colorado, on sale from August 8. It replaces both the 4Runner and the mid-sized Landcruiser II models and will target both the Land Rover Discovery and Mitsubishi Shogun.

DRIVERS with an Orange phone can now access traffic information by dialling 177 on their mobile. Orange is using TrafficCall, part of the world's largest traffic and travel news reporting organisation, to provide regionalised traffic information, 24 hours a day.

VOLKSWAGEN is bringing a new maxi-MPV to the UK with room to accommodate up to nine adults and all their luggage. The new-look 1997 Caravelle gets a host of drivetrain, suspension and cosmetic refinements to complement its smaller sister - the Sharan.

A FLEET of 100 air-conditioned Ford Galaxys has been transporting the tennis stars throughout Wimbledon fortnight. The vehicles are operating through Hertz which says this is the world's largest sports transport service, next to the Olympics.

YORKSHIRE-based driver training specialist Driving Development is backing its courses with a no quibble double guarantee.

THE AA is demanding a 'cashback' system where drivers would get refunds on their car tax when the Highways Agency fails to meet its targets. John Dawson, the AA's policy director said the Agency's Road User's Charter seemed reasonable until you checked the figures.

A BEDFORD-based contract hire company has reported Mazda to the Office of Fair Trading because, it says, the firm's dealers all offer exactly the same fleet discounts. Martin Keepfer, a director of Vehicle Contracts (UK), wrote to each of the 112 dealerships asking for quotes and 57 replied all quoting the same prices.

VAUXHALL has launched an assault on the lower medium sector with a major support package to boost fleet and retail sales of the Astra. Dealers are being offered £2,000 per car to register up to five Astras during the last week of June as long as they hold on to them until December before selling. In the fleet sector, Vauxhall is offering to support the Astra to the tune of £5,000 by guaranteeing a residual value of 45% of cost new.

FRIENDS of the Earth wants to raise the price of every new car sold by £500. The idea would leave the motor industry sitting on a cash mountain growing at the rate of £1,000 million a year.

GREEN Flag national Breakdown is celebrating its 25th anniversary with the introduction of a superfast mobile information system.

FLEET operators who stayed loyal to hot-hatchback drivers three years ago are being rewarded as the cars go to auction. However, many more fleets have banned the cars from user-chooser lists as insurance companies reacted to the rising tide of car theft by boosting premiums.

MORE than 50 major UK fleets operating 250,000 vehicles have joined Ford's computer controlled central billing invoicing programme. The new service marks the third phase of Ford Customer Service Division's fleet development programme first launched in 1994.

A NEW driver training company, New Driving Initiatives, has been launched with the support of fleet industry companies, including PHH Vehicle Management Services, Eagle Star, and Securinet. Paul Austin, who set up the company after resigning as managing director of BSM Qualified Driver Training earlier this year, will be managing director.

ALMOST every company car driver is likely to be a victim of road rage during their working life, according to the 1996 Lex Report on Motoring - 'Listening to the needs of Company Motorists'. Of Britain's 2.8 million company car drivers, 2.24 million are likely to be victims of some form of road rage.

ONE in three company car drivers are now women compared to just 7% in 1989, according to the 1996 Lex Report on Motoring - 'Listening to the needs of Company Motorists'.

FLEET managers are failing to invest in software to run the company car fleet, despite declaring that jobs such as monitoring servicing and maintenance and managing accidents or repairs were wasting time.

PRESSURE group Transport 2000's anti-company car report which claimed the Treasury was losing £1 billion through fiddles and undertaxing has been blasted by the 1996 Lex Report on Motoring - 'Listening to the needs of Company Motorists'.

MORE than 70% of fleets have not reviewed or changed their company car policies as a result of the August 1, 1995 VAT changes, according to the 1996 Lex Report on Motoring - 'Listening to the needs of Company Motorists'.

IN praising the fleet industry and car manufacturers for actions they have taken in recent years to stem vehicle pollution - such as the introduction of unleaded fuel and catalytic converters on cars - the 1996 Lex Report on Motoring, 'Listening to the needs of Company Motorists' says government action is now essential. And it backs the view first touted by Ford chairman and managing director Ian McAllister for a scrappage tax.

HEAVY benefit-in-kind tax, congestion and road rage have all failed to impact on the company car, according to the 1996 Lex Report on Motoring - 'Listening to the needs of Company Motorists'.

SWIFT'S new operations manager for its Scottish rental division Andy Neilson has helped Securicor Omega Express and the local SCOPE squad raise more than £1,500 for charity.

AVIS Europe is considering a return to the London Stock Exchange, seven years after it left following a takeover. David Maloney, group finance director of Avis Europe, said this was just one of a number of options under consideration which would change the ownership of the company.