News - Page 2387

FORD has launched a special edition Transit '96 aimed at attracting the small-business buyer.

THE RAC has joined forces with Ford to road test the company's satellite navigation system prior to its planned sale date next year.

DELICE de France has signed a five-year contract hire deal worth £500,000 to obtain a temperature-controlled fleet. The contract has gone to TDG's vehicle rental specialist, Swift.

AMBULANCE versions of the LDV Convoy have gone on sale after their debut at the Ambex International Show in Harrogate.

TOYOTA Motor Manufacturing (UK)'s bid to keep a grip on fuel and oil costs led it to opt for Fleet Cost Management's fleet card for the 40 cars and light commercials on its pool fleet.

SPECIALIST vehicle finance company Barr & Barr has purchased a fleet of six Toyota RAV4s for its staff.

LUXURY cars must be specified with air conditioning if fleets are to obtain top residual values at auction, it was claimed.

MONTINEX - the holding company for the fast-fit group comprising Charlie Browns Autocentres, Chessington and Fleet and Malvern Tyres - has bought the Albany Tyre and Exhaust Group, which has outlets in Bridgwater, Epsom, Sandhurst, Weston-Super-Mare and Wokingham, for an undisclosed sum.

NISSAN is to launch a side airbag system in its flagship QX model range in Europe next autumn and across volume passenger models by the end of 1998.

DIAL has entered into a new partnership agreement with Hermes Technical Consultants to improve its Dial Assure accident management service.

BODYSHOPS awaiting payments for repairs carried out following the collapse of insurance company Paramount are likely to receive the majority of outstanding amounts, the Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association said this week.

THE AA is asking fleet managers to help stop car clockers by including mileage on vehicle registration documents when de-fleeting company cars.

NORTH Yorkshire police has acquired 20 new Ford police cars on contract hire from Ford Contract Motoring - the first such contract of its kind.

EVIDENCE that MPVs and not 4x4s are the trendy fleet vehicle has emerged from Britain's largest fleet management company.

GE Capital Fleet Services has a new partnership with insurance broker Roger Lark & Sedgewick offering fleet operators tailor-made insurance packages.

THE British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association will back the Fleet Show for a further year.

EMAP Automotive has appointed Mark Catterall editor-in-chief of Fleet News and its monthly sister publication, Fleet Car. Catterall was previously editor of industry newspaper Automotive Management, acting editor of Motor Trader, and news editor of Carweek. Prior to this he was an English teacher in Barcelona. He has written for many newspapers and journals, including the Daily Telegraph, the Independent and the Economist Intelligence Unit.

A NEW company established to manage the combined fleets of Welsh Water and SWALEC is set to expand into commercial fleet management in both the public and private sectors. Transis is the transport services division of Hyder - the parent company of the former public utilities which merged earlier this year.

HONDA is gearing up for a renewed attack on the fleet market with a series of management changes which come into effect on September 1. Among them is the appointment of Nicholas Phillips as manager of national corporate sales in place of David Strangeway who moves to regional sales (South).

ICI Chlor-Chemicals has appointed BSM Qualified Driver Training to train its Research and Technology team after concluding the motorway was a more dangerous environment than the workplace. The approved supplier deal involves training 45 drivers per year over two years followed by refresher courses every three years, or every two years for drivers under 25.

VOLKSWAGEN says its all-new Passat will offer executive levels of interior space for an upper medium price tag. Three models will be available from launch on November 15, but the range will extend to four petrol engines and two turbodiesels, in four trim levels. The Passat will only be available as a saloon, with no plans for a hatchback. An estate will arrive early next year.

SURVEY figures reveal that the number of fleets on contract hire has almost doubled in the last three years from 19% to 35%, while the number of companies which purchase their fleets outright has dropped from 58% in 1993 to 50% this year - although that is a 4% rise on 1994 and 1995 levels.

NATIONWIDE Network Services has introduced the Audatex estimating system across its network of 43 bodyshops as it targets insurance companies and fleet operators for more direct business.

DRIVE & Survive and New Driving Initiatives - two of the UK's leading driver training companies - have finalised the terms of their joint venture, which will operate from within an umbrella organisation called the Distinctive group of companies.

PRESSURE is mounting on the Government to reconsider its imposition of a three-year cap on backdated claims for VAT from the fleet industry. Last month's announcement by Paymaster General David Heathcoat-Amory caused dismay among accountants and fleet operators hoping to benefit from VAT windfalls as a result of legal challenges to the current treatment of company cars (Fleet News, July 26)

CAP Motor Research's future residual values guide - Monitor - is stepping up pressure on the manufacturers to scrap delivery charges by publishing all-in prices.

VAUXHALL has followed Ford with an across-the-board price rise of an average 1.7% with effect from Monday, August 19. Although Tigra, Monterey, Brava and Midi van prices remain unchanged, all the mainstream models are subject to the increase.

FORD is expected to unveil the new Mondeo at the International Motor Show in Birmingham in October with no price premium over the outgoing model. On Monday Ford increased the price of the current Mondeo line-up by an average 3% (Fleet News August 9).

BRITAIN'S largest fleet management company is calling on manufacturers to publish comprehensive fuel consumption figures - critical to fleet operations.

PHH Vehicle Management Services is celebrating an Irish double - the decision of Ireland's premier retail department store group to appoint the company to manage its 250-strong fleet which coincided with the issue of the company's one thousandth PHH Fuelcard in Ireland.