News - Page 2390

LEX Vehicle Leasing managing director, David Galloway has been appointed a director of Lex Service plc and is to widen his role within Lex by becoming responsible for Lex Autosales, Lex Autocentres and Lex Bodycentres. Galloway has been with Lex Vehicle Leasing for two years and with Lex Service since 1973. He will continue in his role as chairman of Hyundai Car (UK) and as a director of Lex Vehicle Leasing and Lex Corporate Sales.

REACTION so far to Fleet News on the Net has been overwhelming. In the first three days leading up to its official launch more than 3,000 pages were accessed by site visitors, and the much quoted, but somethimes misleading 'hit' rate (it includes pictures, graphics etc) soared to nearly 6,000.

CAR makers are calling for closer scrutiny of corporate sales figures after fleet business accounted for 50% of total half-yearly sales amid a resurgent retail sector.

DEALER group Lancaster has provided BT Global Challenge skipper Richard Merriweather with a Land Rover Discovery to help move his crew and kit around the UK as he prepares for the round-the-world race.

BRITISH Car Contracts is to supply Powergen with a fleet of off-roaders for use during the construction of its massive new distribution site at Hams Hall. BCC is providing four Land Rover Defender 90s and two 110 County Station Wagons on full contract hire, which will be used to transport project managers and consulting engineers around the 890-acre Hams Hall site.

SWAN National Motor Finance has won the contract to supply eight executive cars to the British Olympic Association. The cars, including Vauxhall Vectras and Rover 800s, are for staff based at the association's South London offices where they will be used for team preparation, fund-raising, and technical support.

AS well as entering its own team in the annual Wooden Spoon Society/ Vauxhall Four Peaks challenge, PHH Vehicle Management Services also provided the fuel cards for all competitors.

THATCHAM'S integrated crash damage estimating system - TTS - has won a major prize at the British Insurance Awards. The Thatcham Time System computerised estimating model took the Ernst and Young-sponsored Technology Initiative of the Year award at this year's awards.

DEALER group Ryland has bought Soans and Soans Vehicle Contracts in a £1.3 million deal. The acquisition incorporates the Ford main dealership for Leamington and Warwick plus an 1,800-vehicle contract hire operation which last year achieved a combined pre-tax profit of £242,000.

A NEW player in the vehicle disposals market is set to enter the fray with the establishment of the largest independent auction centre in the UK. Premier Motorauctions opens its doors in August at a purpose-built site alongside the new A1/M1 link road currently under construction near Leeds.

VEHICLE security consultant Securinet has attracted £180,000 worth of backing from recently floated windscreens company Silver Shield. Silver Shield has subscribed for a one third interest in Securinet Marketry and taken an option to increase this stake to 50%.

VOLVO's first ever four-wheel drive car - the 850 AWD - joins the range this month with a price of £27,800 on the road. The company says the car will appeal to the driver who wants the capability but doesn't want the size, weight or height of a conventional off-roader.

PEUGEOT has announced a new range-topping 306 to go on sale in August, and uprated 605 models. The 306 GTi-6 is priced at £17,145 and is the first car in the class to feature a six speed gearbox. The 167 bhp car, which replaces the S16, has a top speed of 137 mph and a 0-62 mph time of 8.5 seconds.

DEALER group Reg Vardy is set for further large-scale expansion after reporting a bumper crop of sales and profits. The Sunderland-based group wants to increase its dealer network by a third and is planning a foray into the small fleet sector.

MANN Egerton Vehicle Contacts has launched a personal contract hire scheme targeted at the low mileage business user. The 'Signature' scheme is designed to appeal to drivers who have been hit hard by rises in benefit-in-kind tax.

ALMOST 50% of executive car drivers claim practicality is the key factor in their choice of model according to a new survey by accident and fleet management specialists VELO.

BMW has appointed Dr Walter Hasselkus to the post of chief executive at Rover Group replacing John Towers. The appointment follows a failed search for a suitable British manager.

AVIS Fleet Services has published a slimline driver's guide to put busy company car drivers in direct contact with service executives in the event of a problem or emergency. The new Driver Information Guide contains essential information required by the driver and replaces pages of more detailed data with telephone helplines.

LEADING pharmaceuticals company Wyeth Laboratories has appointed Fleetlease to manage its 670-strong vehicle fleet. The move follows Wyeth's acquisition last year of Cyanamid, which saw the size of its car fleet increase by more than 50% prompting a reassessment of its fleet management requirements.

VAUXHALL MasterHire Leasing has won the contract to supply more than £5 million worth of Vectras and Astras to Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society. After comparing the wholelife costs, security features and nationwide dealer support, Liverpool Victoria decided to choose Vauxhall and hand over its national fleet management operation for the company's 350 personal financial advisors' cars to Master Hire.

UNITED Kenning Rental Group has labelled Fleet Cost Management's pledge to peg daily rental prices until March 1997 as unrealistic and potentially damaging to the credibility of the short term rental industry. A fortnight ago FCM pledged to hold its prices for the next ten months (Fleet News June 21); UKRG is one of FCM's key suppliers.

TCL - the East Grinstead-based transport consultants - is looking for fleet operators willing to test a new fleet management software package. The package, called Fleet BIAS, will be available as a stand alone fleet management package or coupled to TCL's specialist fleet management services.

HANS Tauscher, managing director of Mercedes-Benz (UK) has announced his intention to retire at the end of the year. During his time in the post he has seen Mercedes-Benz truck sales leap from 2,021 to 17,344 in 1995 and car sales increase from 4,436 to 32,694 in the same period.

THE RAC is attracting new business volumes from the smaller end of the fleet sector after the launch of its dedicated rapid response. In the last eight weeks, the breakdown and recovery organisation has signed up more than 750 small fleets of under 250 vehicles - a 31% increase on the same period last year.

INDEPENDENT Car Auctions has succeeded in its bid to gain control of Central Motor Auctions after ADT Auctions blocked its first attempt to acquire a 100% stake. ICA's bid has been declared unconditional after shareholders accounting for more than 55% of CMA's share capital accepted its offer of 87p per share.

FORD has announced prices for the new Maverick 4x4 sports utility vehicle which goes on sale later this month. The new slimmed down range starts at £17,650 for the 2.4-litre short wheelbase GLS model, rising to £21,450 for the long wheelbase 2.7 litre turbo diesel.

NATWEST'S head of group vehicle services Peter Parkinson is to retire next January after six years in charge of one of the UK's largest car fleets.

DOUBTS have been cast over the usefulness of VIN numbers after a survey discovered that 28% of dealers never check them when buying a car. The survey, by vehicle registration checking agency HPI, found that 25% of dealers always checked VIN numbers and 25% admitted to doing so 'usually'. However, 28% never did, a worrying prospect for fleets.

FLEET sales look set to reach record levels in August as both dealers and manufacturers predict the third highest monthly market of the decade. Retail sales are also set to boom as a combination of the registration plate change, summer deals and the feelgood factor sees retail buyers return to the showrooms in force.

FLEETS face paying up to £3 a gallon for fuel within 12 months if the petrol price war continues to claim retailers at its current rate. According to some predictions, the number of petrol stations in the UK will halve due to low profit margins, with site closures, mergers and even takeovers in the pipeline.