News - Page 2142

INFLATIONARY pressures are forcing up the price of car rental across Europe, <I>reports the September issue of Fleet News Europe</I>. Last month Hertz announced plans to increase the rate in the US and executives have now confirmed price rises for some of its European markets.

INTERLEASING has awarded one of the biggest corporate breakdown recovery deals in the fleet business to the AA. The service includes European cover through the AA's 5 star Europe package and a dedicated telephone line for drivers.

FLEET bosses could face rocketing car insurance costs within a year if predictions that premiums are to rise by 25% become a reality - increasing demands for fleets to invest in driver training to cut accidents.

BMW and Audi are 'reviewing the situation' after fellow German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz became the first volume prestige marque to cut its official list prices by between 9% and 20%.

THE alternative fuel industry has hit back at research which suggests gas-powered vehicles could be more of a health hazard than diesel. After comparing diesel and natural gas vehicles, Harvard University Centre for Risk Analysis in America suggests vehicles powered by gas could produce high levels of ultra-fine particulates.

BRITISH Car Auctions has begun a series of live online auctions with Vauxhall, where buyers on the internet compete with bidders in the auction hall. In the first sale of its kind for cars, 11 UK Vauxhall dealers competed online with 66 registered buyers in the BCA auction hall at Blackbushe, Surrey.

FLEET managers are being urged not to delete sunroofs from options lists in cars fitted with air conditioning following a study which claims the combination of the two improves driver safety.

BUSINESSES are throwing away thousands of pounds a year because they refuse to spend the equivalent to the price of a tyre on training for their fleet managers. In a blistering attack on the complacent attitude of industry towards the role, Fleet Audits claims fleet managers are being starved of skills because their bosses cannot see past the end of their chequebooks.

ON-the-spot investigation teams are being deployed as part of a £2million Government scheme to research road accidents. Air accident-style investigators will be looking out for information on training and experience of drivers involved in accidents to use in their research.

NATIONAL Car Rental has opened an in-terminal branch at Stansted Airport, which is currently undergoing a £200 million expansion to increase passenger capacity from 10 million to 15 million a year.

ROVER is to enter a team of Lola-prepared MG cars into next year's Le Mans 24-hour endurance race. It will mark MG's return to the French classic after an absence of 36 years.

THE Highways Agency has introduced a £4 million ramp metering system at six junctions along the M3 and M27 around Southampton to reduce bottlenecks and reduce the risk of accidents for drivers entering motorways from slip roads.

Axial UK has invested £1million in a new vehicle pre-delivery inspection (PDI) and enhancement centre at Tynedock in the north east. The purpose-built 1,700sq m facility is near Nissan's vehicle compound and close to the new Tynedock railhead.

THE Civil Service Motoring Association has called a halt to a trouble-hit partnership with debis Car Fleet Management that offered its 345,000 members discounts on new cars and access to cheap finance. About 60,000 members a year buy a new car via the association's scheme - but the service has been stopped after a string of problems.

A FUEL cell vehicle fitted with a fuel processor to convert petrol into hydrogen is to go on trial early in 2002. The system, which could be in fleet cars by 2010, has been developed by General Motors and ExxonMobil Corporation.

FEWER than 4,000 vehicles in Britain are thought to be affected by the Mitsubishi Motors announcement of a recall campaign for 620,000 cars and trucks worldwide.

BRITAIN'S top executive saloon comes has two new versions from this week as Jaguar launches an ambitious bid for more boardroom business.

INDEPENDENT daily rental firms struggling to compete against large companies are being targeted in a 'big brother' venture by Flightform - the UK licensing arm of Thrifty Car Rental. Vehicle Rental Services is offering to supply rental products and services to small operators without the franchisee norm of loss of business identity and independent branding.

RENAULT UK has outsourced the supply of courtesy cars for its 263 dealerships to Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Renault customers are entitled to a courtesy car if any repair job takes longer than three hours.

CREDIT hire firm Auto Indemnity has side-stepped a bitter row between the industry and insurers to clinch a contract with the UK's largest direct insurer, Direct Line. The agreement will see Direct Line refer customers involved in accidents to Auto Indemnity and has prompted the accident management company to call for a 'culture of co-operation and not confrontation' between the industries.

ROVER says it will not sign a partner to develop a platform for future models until at least the New Year. That does not mean Malaysian car manufacturer Proton, which owns Lotus and which was said to have been in talks with Rover, is ruled out, but the Birmingham-based manufacturer says it has other priorities.

FLEET managers have another chance to become football managers as the third Autoglass fantasy football league kicks off. Fielding a team is free, but all entrants are invited to make a contribution to the charity SPARKS, which raises funds through sporting events for medical research into children's illnesses - and Autoglass will match every pledge pound for pound.

RESTRUCTURING in UK car factories has been blamed for a 15.5% drop in production for home and export markets. Office for National Statistics figures show the numbers of cars built in Britain in July fell to 121,405 units (143,731 July 1999).

MERCEDES Benz has triggered a round of car price-cutting in the luxury car sector after slashing new car prices across its range by up to 20%. The moves follow the Government's publication of legislation designed to cut UK prices by 10% in the wake of the Competition Commission's inquiry into Britain's retail motor industry.

A RADICAL overhaul of Inland Revenue Authorised Mileage Rates to encourage 'greener' motoring could spark a rush to smaller cars among drivers and create a wholesale review of cash for car and personal leasing schemes.

CLAIMS that one in six new cars on Britain's roads are bought abroad have been dismissed by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders as 'nonsense'.

A STAND-off between credit hire firms and insurers threatens to cripple the industry as tens of millions of pounds in rental bills are left unpaid. Leading credit hire specialist Helphire has revealed it has issued proceedings on more than 20,000 cases and is accusing insurers of deliberately delaying legal invoices.

THE Ministry of Defence police force is to introduce state-of-the-art black box technology to its fleet in a commitment to ensuring the safety of staff on the road. A supply deal with Global Telematics, maker of the vehicle tracking and fleet management system Orchid, will fit 60 vehicles with the system, although the deal could eventually stretch to the force's entire 500-strong fleet.

THE Queen has halved her official travel costs over the last 10 years by replacing old limousines with people carriers and hiring cars for major state occasions. According to the latest Royal Trustees report, the cost of running vehicles used for travel by Her Majesty and Royal Household staff in 1991 was £82,786, but the projected cost for 2000 is £39,350.

DEALERSHIP, leasing and rental group Sanderson Bramall has bucked car market trends with a healthy increase in new vehicle sales over the first six months of 2000. New vehicle sales were up 7% for the company, boosted by an 11% increase in the fleet market compared with 3% for retail sales. During the same period the UK car market has grown by 2% compared with last year.