Close Brothers Motor Finance’s Dealer Satisfaction Survey has found that two-thirds (66%) of car dealers believe the Government’s plans to ban petrol and diesel cars by 2032 will be too early. The qualitative survey of more than 200 dealers nationwide found that the vast majority (86%) believed the ban would cause another layer of confusion to the market, with 59% believing it would make car … [Read more...]
Avoid being driven to distraction
IAM RoadSmart has called for businesses to urgently tackle the issue of distracted drivers at the wheel and overhaul their safety at work policies – to help stem the tide of avoidable crashes on our roads. The UK’s biggest independent road safety charity has just published a white paper called Driving While Distracted: Challenges and Solutions, which examines the reasons why so many motorists’ … [Read more...]
Diesel shortages beginning to show, prices rising
New diesel car sales are falling so quickly that there could be shortages of them on the used market in the near future, says the Vehicle Remarketing Association. The organisation – which represent companies that handle, sell, inspect, transport or manage more than 1.5 million used vehicles every year – says that while new car diesel demand has plummeted, corresponding used demand has stayed … [Read more...]
BMW drivers are UK’s worst, says insurer
GoCompare Car Insurance says BMW drivers are the worst in the UK. They are most likely to speed, run a red light or make an at-fault claim, according to data held by the insurer. A study by GoCompare Car Insurance has found that BMW drivers are the most likely to be convicted of an offence and cause a collision on the road. More than one in six BMW 4 series drivers (17.1%) have at least … [Read more...]
Extending ‘company car’ benefits
Interest is growing from businesses looking to provide vehicle solutions to their entire employee base including those not entitled to a company car, reports Arval. The vehicle leasing company says that employers increasingly want to offer a broader mix of vehicle solutions to more employees – and that a range of products including personal lease and salary exchange can effectively meet this … [Read more...]
Welsh car buyers spur sales
Welsh car buyers and dealers have bucked the UK trend and pushed up new car registrations in November by 1.03% to 5,579 models. This compares to a rise of 7.1% in Scotland with 12,407 new cars and 3,8% in Northern Ireland 3,253 while a decline of 4.1 %was experienced in England when figures dipped to 137,039, so the market in the UK went down overall by 2.98%. British new car sales fell by … [Read more...]
Safety and service take back seats in new trend
New approaches to service and maintenance will be needed as personal contract hire increasingly makes an impact in corporate circles, says epyx. Tim Meadows, commercial director, said that typically 80% of cars on traditional corporate contract hire were leased with inclusive maintenance packages but that this fell to around 20% for PCH. He explained, “Fleet leasing companies are selling … [Read more...]
SUVs’ abilities need explaining to company users
Company car drivers may need to be warned of the limitations of their vehicles in winter driving conditions, Arval is warning, highlighting SUVs as a prime example. These vehicles are increasingly attractive to fleets and their drivers for many reasons but the company says that some drivers mistakenly believe that relatively lightweight, two-wheel drive SUVs of the type that are becoming common … [Read more...]
Welsh drivers among UK safest
The Welsh are worriers behind the wheel. There are now over 25.8m cars on the road in the UK today, that’s nearly one for every two people and the figure is increasing at a rate of around 600,000 every year. Even given the vast number of vehicles on the road, you’ll rarely encounter someone who openly admits they’re a bad driver. This led us to wonder, how do people’s perceptions of … [Read more...]
Giving evs a fair chance in fleets
Businesses need to adopt structured policies matching alternative fuel vehicles to the right person and purpose in order to give them a “fair chance” to integrate into fleets successfully, says FleetCheck. The fleet management software specialist says that so far AFV adoption has quite often been haphazard and that some fleets have already become wary of emerging technologies as a … [Read more...]