News - Page 2377

VAUXHALL has reported a 21% increase in demand for air conditioning following introduction of the £395 option in lieu of a sunroof on Vectra LS and GLS models.

FOLLOWING another record year, Caffyns Motor Contracts is considering expansion by opening an office in the north.

FIAT has added a 1.6 version to its Bravo/Brava range and at the same time increased prices by an average 1.6%. The three-door 1.6SX is powered by Fiat's 103bhp 16 valve Torque engine and is capable of 114mph. 0-62mph comes in 11 seconds and fuel consumption ranges from 30.3mpg on the urban cycle to 51.3mpg at a steady 56mph.

TOYOTA has announced £2.5 million expansion plans for its engine plants in Wales for the assembly of 1.3 litre engines to go into a new British-built Corolla from 1998.

SOFTWARE company Kinesis Systems has handed over the management of its 30-strong fleet to Fleetlease and expects to cut operating costs by thousands of pounds a year.

FORD is recalling 47,000 new-shape Fiestas for safety checks on clutch mechanisms and brake pipes.

NISSAN'S new five-door Primera, which will account for 75% of UK sales when launched in October, will be available with a choice of three power units: two petrol engines - a 100 PS 1.6 litre unit and a 130 PS 2.0 litre unit and the manufacturer's first turbodiesel engine - a new 90 PS 2.0 litre unit. All the engines will be built at Nissan's Sunderland car plant.

INSURANCE giant Prudential has formalised its finance arrangements with Swan National Motor Finance in a three-year funding deal for its 2,800-vehicle fleet.

HONDA is hoping to boost fleet sales with the introduction to its Accord line-up of a turbodiesel version now on sale. The £18,340 Swindon-built Accord 2.0 TDi is powered by the same 105 bhp direct injection L series engine which powers the Rover 600.

VAUXHALL'S efforts to protect the residual value of the new Vectra are paying dividends to the benefit of fleet managers opting for Vectra over its closest rival, according to Chris Barry, managing director of Greenhous Vauxhall in Hanley, the manufacturer's largest volume dealership.

THE UK car leasing market will continue to grow with personal leasing schemes becoming increasingly popular, according to market analysts MarketLine International. In its latest report, UK Car Leasing, MarketLine values the current market at £4,929 million, but predicts growth of 16.3% to a total market of £5,787 million by the year 2000.

THE RAC is demanding the devolution of transport management to local authorities and the adoption of a longer term clearly focused national transport strategy.

UTTOXETER-based J C Bamford Excavators has taken delivery of an initial 25 of 100 Vauxhall Vectras - the majority of which bear personalised JCB number plates.

ALMOST half of UK fleets are unaware of how much they spend on mobile communications.

VOLKSWAGEN has announced specification improvements for its Golf model range as the company moves closer to its aim of competing head-on with the 'big four' fleet players. The move is an early launch of the 1997 model year cars which would normally go on sale in September after old model stocks have been cleared in the August rush.

SKODA has secured its first major fleet deal and at the same time become the latest manufacturer to enter the daily rental market following a 40-vehicle deal between Scotland-based Condor Self Drive and Gateshead-based dealership Benfield Motors.

FLEET managers are being given a new weapon in the battle to control company car fuel bills. Fleet Cost Management fuel card customers are to be sent at no extra cost a new report which highlights, on a regional basis, any driver or vehicle which has bought fuel at a price above a figure set by fleet managers or FCM.

BRITAIN'S major car makers are being forced to modify their ranges - or ditch some models altogether - following an EU directive ordering a reduction in drive-by noise levels.

A QUALITY survey of nearly 9,000 cars could persuade fleet operators in search of the perfect car to buy Japanese. The latest JD Power research document says nearly eight out of 10 British drivers experience problems with their new cars during the first two years of ownership. And when it comes to customer satisfaction there are no British badged vehicles in the top 12.

PEUGEOT has announced two new engines and a price rise on some 406 models. From July, the car will be available with a high performance 2.0 litre turbocharged petrol engine and the new 2.1 litre turbodiesel.

FLEET Cost Management has hit back at claims that daily rental car hire prices may have to increase by 10-15% this year by guaranteeing short term hire prices to March 1, 1997.

CONFUSION over new standards for setting vehicle fuel consumption could cost companies millions of pounds a year and cause havoc with fleet choice lists. The crisis is due to the existence of two different, but 'official', methods for measuring fuel consumption.

FORTHRIGHT Finance Group, which includes First Mutual Contracts, will transfer all its activities to sister company NWS Bank. Both are owned by the Bank of Wales, which in turn is part of the Bank of Scotland group.

THE AA Driving School is taking delivery of more than 900 Rover 114 GSis in a deal which will see the cars replaced every six months via a leasing deal with British Car Contracts. The cars replace the 'old' Rover 111 GSis which are no longer in production.

LOOKERS Planned Motoring is looking to double the size of its contract hire fleet after parent company Lookers plc announced pre-tax profits up 30% to £3.16 million for the financial year to March 31, 1996. All sectors of the business, which ranges from dealerships to car delivery, agricultural machinery, and contract hire, showed a profit.

A NEW report from the Quality of Urban Air Review Group looking at the latest data on airborne particles, is set to put more pressure on diesel fleet operators. The QUARG group hit the headlines in December 1993 with its report titled 'Diesel Vehicle Emissions and Urban Air Quality' and although the word diesel does not appear in the new title, diesel vehicles have not been ignored.

THE Labour Party has said it will not 'punish' car drivers as it seeks to persuade motorists to radically change their driving habits. Shadow transport secretary Clare Short this week wrote to Fleet News outlining its broad transport policy.

THE 1996/97 edition of 'The CCH Company Car Tax Guide' written by leading chartered accountants and business advisers Coopers & Lybrand has been published. Costing £24.95 the guide has been updated to reflect the tax position as at April 6, 1996.

MERCEDES-Benz dealership Malaya Gatwick has expanded its business with the launch of a daily rental service.

SWAN National, which became the first company to launch a personal contract motoring scheme, has become the latest company to claim that the Whitechapel Corporate Services 'personal leasing' scheme could be shortlived.