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A group of companies including Ricardo and Volvo Cars are working on new technology that will allow for road trains to be created whereby regular users of a motorway can lock onto each other forming a train of vehicles kept at a constant speed and distance enabling the drivers to get on with other things such as work and phone calls. Much of the technology is already available such as sat nav, distance sensors and Read more »

It would seem that companies are more environmentally aware than private motorists. According to statistics issued last year, as part of Fleet News Intelligence Report, and more recently backed up by information from the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), average CO2 emissions from cars put onto fleet leases dropped from 149.9g/km to 144 g/km following a drop of 9 percentage Read more »

Good news for those living near or travelling down the A13 in East London. Transport for London have introduced, for the first time in the UK, average speed cameras on a road with multiple entry and exit points. 84 cameras based at 37 locations will ensure that you don’t escape by monitoring the speed of vehicles. Sledgehammers and nuts spring to mind, maybe someone should check the accident and fatality stats for the stretch of road in question under the Freedom of Information Act? As I don’t go there I won’t bother of course! By Graham Hill

As more companies understand the risk attached to allowing employees to drive their own cars on company business, many have decided to avoid the risk of the car not being in roadworthy condition or the driver driving a car that isn’t properly insured by renting cars as required. Avis have recognised this and has also turned its attention to businesses for its growth. They are not only targeting the large fleets but also Read more »

My view, over the last few weeks, that we will see some return to the fleet market by manufacturers, now struggling with sales, following the end of the scrappage scheme, seems to be substantiated as Skoda, Chevrolet and Renault have all stated in one week that they are aiming at the fleet market. Renault aims to increase its market share from 3.17% to 5% this year whilst Chevrolet launches an independent fleet sales Read more »

Yet another funder pulled out of the market last month. HSBC has been a bit of a mystery because whilst they appeared to have a fleet of 33,000 vehicles out on contract the contracts weren’t with them at all. The scheme known as undisclosed agency meant that whilst the documentation showed the name of HSBC the agreements were actually underwritten by Lex Autolease. This ‘outsourcing’ started in 2005 Read more »

Dealers have not got the best reputations for being totally honest so we all make allowances when they make promises and commitments to our customers, in all good faith, and they let us down. But even our ‘allowances’ seem to be a little short of the mark of late as dealers get desperate to take orders. And to make matters worse we are back into the position of dealers making false promises regarding delivery of the Read more »

As we can see from my BMW 7 Series deal of the week, things are starting to improve at the big end of the market. In a prestige, sporting and executive auction held at British Car Auctions in Nottingham 300 dealers attended with 216 bidding online resulting in top models achieving 114% of CAP clean price (that’s trade value to you and me). The rest made 100-104% which is excellent considering the fact that last year the Read more »

From the middle of 2011 all new cars must have tyre pressure monitor systems fitted as standard. No clear indication has been given as to what the systems must consist of but currently there are systems that monitor each individual tyre with a display showing any drop in pressure down to the most basic which sounds a warning buzzer if the tyre pressure drops on any individual tyre, you then have to check them all – not a bad thing! Of course this will add a cost to the car but it could help to save fuel and even a life. By Graham Hill

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There has been an increase in the number of employees who have either opted for cash for cars or been expected to use their own cars for business in exchange for a cash payment. Either way there is a responsibility on the employer to ensure that the vehicle is roadworthy and properly maintained as well as properly insured for business use. There is a grey area for employers who, in the event of an accident, in Read more »