Supply improvements make it a summer time special for fleets

It’s summer time and allegedly, the living is easy… certainly what is getting easier is the supply of new cars and vans to fleets, which has seen a marked improvement in recent weeks and most manufacturers are now able to get customers a new vehicle in six months or less.

If you’re an SME fleet manager or end user, then that has to be good news, as is the increasing choice of EV and PHEVs for your business, as we find out in this issue.

First up is our cover star, the Toyota bZ4X, the Japanese brand’s first electric car. It’s impressively different, as we found out.

We finally got our hands on BMW’s entry level electric car the iX1 recently, and it proved very capable indeed. Lexus has added a second electric car to its range in the form of the premium SUV RZ, and with Lexus Stockport’s help, we gave it the once over.

Also on test we have one of our favourites, the recently updated Volkswagen T-Roc, the Audi Q5 TFSI e PHEV, news of Renault’s all-new Austral and an update on the MY24 Land Rover Defender plug-in.

On the commercial front, local Nissan dealer Westway in Manchester was kind enough to let us spend some time in the new small Nissan van, the Townstar, and it’s a welcome addition to the compact van sector. We have also driven the electric eDoblo and the new Renault Kangoo. Read our thoughts inside.

After that it’s pick-ups all the away. Volkswagen’s Amarok has made a welcome return, we had a drive in Ford’s Ranger Wildtrak, Isuzu’s D-Max has been updated and we revisit the electric Maxus T90 with a drive across Ireland.

Away from the tests we met up with smart CEO David Browne at Fully Charged North, where we got our first taste of the new smart #1, and we’ve a feature on one of the new smart dealers too, Western of Edinburgh.

There’s a Q & A with Audi’s Warren Richards, Head of Direct Sales Audi UK, as the brand strengthens its electric portfolio, dealer features from Lookers Ford and Trenton of Hull as well as contributions from regulars Rolec, Sevadis, Europcar, Corparison, CPL and Vanaways, whose expertise is sure to help you navigate the company vehicle sector.

Andrew Walker Editor & Publisher