Auction House and de-fleeting expert Manheim’s has seen its direct trade sales operation, vrs, increase in sales in the first quarter of 2008.
During the first four months of 2008, vrs was up 8.25 per cent compared with the same period in 2007, which itself saw a 15.3 per cent increase in sales compared with 2006.
Lewis Arthur, managing director of vrs said: “Despite tougher trading conditions and the negative economic commentary we believe that the continued growth during the first four months of 2008 can be attributed to dealers, independent traders and used car supermarkets taking a discerning approach and investing in the right sort of products that meet retail demand. There is no doubt 2008 will continue to be a tough year however we believe the wholesale market can sustain further targeted growth.”
Manheim handles nearly 10 million used vehicles worldwide, facilitating transactions representing more than $58 billion in value.
Its DeFleet Services: provide logistics; vehicle inspection; asset recovery; reconditioning and pre-sale preparation. It includes the brands of Dent Wizard, Kah Systems, Manheim Inspection Services and Manheim Asset Recovery.
While the Auctions & Remarketing part: provide a national physical auction network, comprising 19 centres of which 7 have dedicated commercial vehicle activities; a dedicated trade-only direct sales channel; 3 online bidding /sales channels. It includes the brands of Manheim Auctions, VRS and RMS.
Simon McBride

 Speeding is one of the leading causes for accidents and driving convictions in the UK - yet many fleet drivers are happy to gamble if it means getting a job done a little faster.

Now however, a new speed management module has been launched that identifies company drivers that consistently flout the law by speeding. The Eagle-I speed management module examines where drivers were speeding, and by how much over the limit they were when travelling.

Speeding can be a costly business. One speeding offence will earn the recipient a £60 fine and three penalty points. Two or more convictions however, can have a serious affect on car insurance costs.

Two speeding offences will typically hike car insurance premiums by 25 per cent. However, some insurers impose higher charges - Endsleigh car insurance for example, has been known to increase premiums by 74 per cent for repeat offenders.

The hard line against speeding can also see instant driving bans implemented in the case of serious accidents - not to mention potential legal action against the fleet company.

If you want to curb your drivers’ speeding habits before the worst happens, then check out the Eagle-I website for more information.

Zenith Vehicle Contracts has become the UK’s biggest fleet management firm following the acquisition of Reading-based employee car ownership specialist Provecta.

The deal creates the largest independent leasing, fleet management and vehicle outsourcing business in the UK. The Zenith fleet is now 26,000 vehicles in size and includes prestigious clients BP, Asda and Ernst & Young. The purchase of Provecta also gives the Northern based company a foothold in the South of England.

Andrew Cope, chief executive of Zenith said: “The most cost-effective solution for fleets in the future will be delivered by fleet providers which have the full range of specialist products and services at their disposal. Our ability to deliver a new approach to a company’s total transport needs is what makes this deal really exciting.”

Zenith was established in 1989 as a specialist provider of bespoke fleet management services, concentrating on the provision of innovative management solutions.

Fleet Software company, CFC Solutions has appointed Neville Briggs as its managing director following the departure of Andy Leech.
It is an interesting appointment as Briggs already holds the MD post at sister firm Pinewood Computer Solutions which develops motor dealer software.
On his new position, Neville Briggs said: “Bringing CFC and Pinewood into closer alignment, we believe will benefit the capabilities of both companies, allowing our teams to develop new products more quickly and deliver them to market more effectively. CFC has several innovative products under development designed to underline its market leading position and we are aiming to deliver these to customers as soon as possible.”
Briggs continued: “The fleet market has undergone continual change over the last few years due to emerging factors such as corporate manslaughter and the environment, and we aim to remain in the vanguard when it comes to developing solutions to these issues.”
CFC confirmed that merging the role of MD at CFC and Pinewood will have no other effect on the current structures of either company as both already share key departments such as software development, finance and marketing but retain separate sales and support teams.
Simon McBride

The Association of Car Fleet Operators (ACFO) in the UK has issued new advice to all its members over diesel particulate filters.
From research ACFO is warning fleets to ensure that only employees “whose normal driving will allow them regular opportunity to drive at 50mph or more, for 20 minutes or so” have cars with diesel particulate filters.
This advice has been issued to fleets as many soot traps in cars are being clogged up because they are being used too much in towns.
If a soot trap becomes clogged it could damage the engine and fleets will face large bills.
How do soot traps work?
Soot traps self-clean by burning at high temperatures, the particulates generated from diesel engines then create ash. In some cars the higher temperatures are only generated at higher speeds typically seen in motorway driving.
So, ACFO’s advice is if you have drivers who are driving cars with diesel particulate filters then make sure they build in at least 20 minutes of motorway driving where they are driving at over 50mph so that the high temperatures can clean the trap.
Simon McBride

Business car drivers looking for great performance plus being eco-friendly should look no further than the Volkswagen Bluemotion badge according to Windsor Vehicle Leasing.

Volkswagen expects more than 7,000 BlueMotion models to be rolled out in 2008. The BlueMotion has proven to be especially popular with fleets, particularly with local councils and daily rental firms.

The BlueMotion is the badge that denotes the environmentally-friendly arm of Volkswagen with the lowest CO2 emitting model in each range being awarded the badge. Volkswagen will be adding a BlueMotion to each model as they seek to further reduce CO2 emissions.

The Volkswagen Golf, the most searched for car on ContractHireAndLeasing.com is expected to be the most sought after BlueMotion model with fleets accounting for over 1,400 of the 2,380 sold in the UK. 75% of the Volkswagen BlueMotions sold will go to the corporate sector.

By 2009 the BlueMotion will contain 9 models

• Polo
• Golf
• Golf Plus
• Jetta
• Golf Estate
• Touran
• Passat Saloon
• Passat Estate
• Sharan

“If you want to be eco-friendly whilst getting big performance out of your business car in 2008, you might like to consider a car carrying the Volkswagen BlueMotion badge.” says Windsor Vehicle Leasing’s Ben Newton.

All these models are to available to lease now (please follow links above), the Sharan and the Touran will be available shortly.

 California is leading other US states in a push to become more environmentally conscious - and its latest target is rejuvenating its fleet sector.

The state has proposed that all heavy-duty trucks be diesel efficient and that they are equipped with products approved by the Environment Protection Agency’s Smartway program. The plan is part of a wider effort by California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020.

The proposals, which, if approved would be enforced from 2010 onwards, will apply to new and existing trucks. Trucks already in use built from 2005 onwards will be required to have single wide tyres or low-rolling resistance duals placed on to lightweight wheels. Trailers meanwhile will need to have side skirt fairings, with either front- or rear-mounted trailer fairings.

Fleets with 19 trucks or more must have at least half of the EPA Smartway regulations in place by 2012. Fleets with less than 19 vehicles wouldn’t have to report Smartway retrofits but would have to be fully compliant by 2014. 

Financing to purchase these products is available - for more information visit smartwayfinancecenter.com.

What do you think of this Californian scheme? Should similar rulings be enforced in the UK? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Kia cars has appointed Andrew Sellars at its head of fleet and remarketing.
Sellars replaces Bob Austin who has left Kia.
Sellars’ key role will be to make the company a bigger player in the business car market, he will also manage the brands residuals.
Sellars has worked for Kia since 2003 as a regional business manager and was then area manager for the North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Kia Sales Director Yaser Shabsogh said: “Andrew is the perfect individual for this role because he has such extensive experience of our dealer network. He has been with the Kia brand throughout the last five years and so has seen how our growth has been built on dramatically improving product quality and a closely focused retail strategy that is delivering sustainable and profitable growth for both the dealer network and the brand nationally.”
Simon McBride

Software giant Chevin Fleet Solutions has launched a new system designed to make managing your fleet of vehicles even easier. The software should help your fleet avoid parking ticket escalation charges.
It is a common occurrence for some employees to pick up several of these parking tickets a week. Now the fleet manager can stamp this out by introducing this new kit.
The new system is called PCNPAL and is designed with delivery drivers especially in mind, as they are more likely to get ticketed when dropping off and picking up goods.
The product is available as a stand-alone system or as a add-on for existing companies that already use Chevin Fleet Solutions.
According to the maker, PCNPAL will reduce administration and manage the procedure including appeal tracking, case numbers and hearing dates. It will also record the driver payment details and keeps an accurate record of the penalty codes to challenge validation criteria where appropriate.
A spokesman from Chevin said “Fleets are wasting large amounts of money by not paying tickets on time and being hit by the escalation charge, which normally doubles the cost of the offence.”
Simon McBride

 Who is to blame for a fall in retail value of used small executives? Well, if you listen to the price experts at CAP its fleet managers that should shoulder their share of responsibility.

CAP is one of the leading providers of residual values data in the UK and has examined the fall in value of certain models in what is widely considered an especially tough marketplace. The BMW 3-Series in particular has seen its price slump by around four-five per cent from the CAP target price last month. By contrast, the market has fallen by 2.6 per cent.

This fall has been attributed to the large number of low-spec vehicles which are entering auctions. CAP argues that fleet managers should be doing more to prevent users from picking up the lowest rung of cars.

Robert Hester, Black Book valuations relationship manager at CAP, commented: “Fleet managers need to be very careful about specs. That’s particularly true with the 3-series: the ES is not too bad in itself, but put it out in a non-metallic you’re going to suffer at the back end.”

He continued: “Typically what happens is that on somebody’s company car list, the choice is between a reasonable-spec Mondeo or Passat, or a basic model 3-series or A4. They’re always going to go for the base model executives.

“It’s mainly the big fleets, the leasing companies. Smaller fleets can control it more, especially if the purchasing manager works closely with the disposal manager.”