Fleet World July 2015

July 2015

FLEETW RLD All that matters in the world of fleet

All-New

Renault KADJAR Start living

fleetworld.co.uk

All-New

Renault KADJAR Incredible efficiency With a range of fuel-efficient engines available, the All-New Renault Kadjar delivers optimum consumption and low CO2 emissions that are amongst the best-in-class.

Impressively, four models from the Kadjar range have a CO2 rating of less than 100g/km.

As well as that, all versions but one exceeded 50mpg, whilst eight models comfortably exceeded 70mph in the NEDC combined cycle test.

July 2015

FLEETW RLD All that matters in the world of fleet

PREMIUM

PLANS see page 81

Can the volume brands fight back with a move upmarket?

Fuel management How new apps can help fleets control fuel costs

Driven Renault Kadjar • Mercedes GLE Toyota Avensis • VW Sharan

Spotlight Under the skin of Vauxhall’s New Astra fleetworld.co.uk

contents July 2015

20

Peter Bridgen, MD of Fleetcor UK discusses the benefits of the Allstar One card for fleets.

28

Kadjar joins the crossover set at the top of the class.

FLEETW RLD All that matters in the world of fleet

PREMIUM

PLANS see page 81

Can the volume brands fight back with a move upmarket?

Fuel management How new apps can help fleets control fuel costs

Driven Renault Kadjar • Mercedes GLE Toyota Avensis • VW Sharan

Spotlight Under the skin of Vauxhall’s New Astra fleetworld.co.uk

Publisher Jerry Ramsdale jerry@fleetworldgroup.co.uk

38

Editor Steve Moody steve@fleetworldgroup.co.uk

Meet Vauxhall’s forthcoming fleet star.

Deputy Editor Alex Grant alex@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Business Editor Natalie Middleton natalie@fleetworldgroup.co.uk

42

Looking back at the car that put Alfa Romeo on the fleet map – the stylish 156.

Features Editor Katie Beck katie@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Fleet Consultant Ross Durkin ross@fleetworldgroup.co.uk VFW Editor Dan Gilkes dan@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Sales Director Anne Dopson anne@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Sales Executives Darren Brett darren@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Claire Warman claire@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Circulation Manager Tracy Howell tracy@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Head of Production Luke Wikner luke@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Designers Tina Ries tina@fleetworldgroup.co.uk

50

Samantha Hargreaves sam@fleetworldgroup.co.uk

Published by Stag Publications Ltd, 18 Alban Park, Hatfield Road, St Albans, Herts, AL4 0JJ tel +44 (0)1727 739160 fax +44 (0)1727 739169 email fw@fleetworldgroup.co.uk web fleetworld.co.uk

Premium plans – volume manufacturers head upmarket

56 How new apps can save you £££s on fleet fuel...

VAN FLEETW RLD

69 DRIVEN: VW Transporter.

INTERVIEW: Andy Lawson of Mercedes-Benz.

LCV Rental.

STAG Publications

®

To subscribe to Fleet World visit: www.fleetworldsubscriptions.co.uk Certified circulation Jan – Dec 2014 18,000

fleetworld.co.uk / 03

fleetreview This month, editor Steve Moody assesses the concept of ‘premium’ brands in fleet...

How to make a premium brand...

As the world has become more linked, more understood and so many more products and opportunities have become available to an ever wider audience, our notions of things have changed.

A case in point is what is perceived as luxurious, prestigious or premium.

Once, when the world was a little more easy to define, it was simple: an essential trait of a high-end product was that it was exclusive to the chosen few and difficult to obtain.

As people have generally become richer and increasingly become aware of what used to only exist for the few in the club, one pillar of the premium brand has been pulled down. Volume does not preclude a product from being described as premium.

Witness the inexorable rise of the premium compact executive car. If I had a pound for every time somebody has said: “But they sell so many – how can that be exclusive any more?” I’d have, well, enough money to buy a 3 Series or an A4. But as the fleet industry has proved over the last decade,

04 / fleetworld.co.uk

high volume does not impinge on the perception of exclusivity.

Yes, residuals may have fluctuated a bit, and come under pressure now and again but overall German premium brand cars (and perhaps a British one in Jaguar, in time) are generally impervious to volume, certainly when compared to the ironically titled ‘volume’ brands. The simple fact is company car drivers and used buyers are in thrall to premium products.

So it will be interesting to see if the likes of Ford or Citroën can take a share of this margin-rich sector with their new products and brands, Vignale and DS, and in this issue, we analyse their chances.

About the only thing you can say with certainty is that it will be extremely tough. Not impossible, because nothing is, and it will take the confluence of a number of disparate factors to make it work. CAP Consulting has listed what it thinks needs to happen to create a premium brand in this issue too, and it will be interesting to hear whether you agree.

Don’t miss out on all the latest daily news! Visit fleetworld.co.uk

The World of Fleet

Last orders, please The Office for Low Emission Vehicles has confirmed it will honour the ÂŁ5,000 grant for any qualifying plug-in fleet car ordered before the date at which the regulations change, even it it is delivered up to nine months afterwards. Currently the exact date has not been set, but towards the end of this year a new three tier system will come into force, with grant levels yet to be announced. The BVRLA welcomed the move, saying it allowed fleets to budget more accurately.

06 / fleetworld.co.uk

fleetworld.co.uk / 07

THE NEW BMW 3 SERIES. THE DRIVER’S CAR SINCE 1975.

FROM 99 G/KM.

UP TO 74.3 MPG (COMBINED).

STARTS AT 17%.

BMW Fleet & Business Sales

bmwcorporate.co.uk

The Ultimate Driving Machine

The new BMW 3 Series continues the 40 year tradition of always delivering the ultimate driving experience. Fuel consumption and emissions have been reduced considerably, with the new BMW 320d ED Plus Saloon Auto emitting just 99g/km CO2, meaning BIK starts at 17%. All models also feature a high level of standard specification, including BMW Business Navigation, Bluetooth® and Intelligent Emergency Call. BMW xDrive technology has now been introduced to the range, ensuring maximum traction whatever the conditions. So, if you’re looking for the ultimate driver’s car, the next 40 years look just as exciting as the last.

For more information please visit www.bmw.co.uk/3series or call 0800 777 113.

0G‫ש‬DJBM GVFM FDPOPNZ ‫ש‬HVSFT GPS UIF OFX #.8 4FSJFT 4BMPPO 6SCBO NQH M LN

&YUSB 6SCBO NQH M LN $PNCJOFE NQH M LN $02 FNJTTJPOT H LN Figures may vary depending on driving style and conditions. #.8 &G‫ש‬DJFOU%ZOBNJDT SFEVDFT #.8 FNJTTJPOT XJUIPVU DPNQSPNJTJOH QFSGPSNBODF EFWFMPQNFOUT BOE JT TUBOEBSE BDSPTT UIF NPEFM SBOHF

inbusiness

Arval to top Europe with GE Capital deal A

rval will become the leasing powerhouse of Europe if its proposed acquistion of GE Capital goes ahead.

BNP Paribas, parent group of Arval, has announced that the leasing and fleet management specialist has signed an agreement with GE Capital to potentially acquire its Euro‐ pean fleet management activity for an undisclosed amount.

The agreement covers more than 160,000 vehicles in 12 European countries, of which France, Germany and the UK represent over 75%; the vehicles assets amount to €2.4bn as of Q1 2015.

The acquisition would give Arval a leading position in Europe and around 900,000 vehicles worldwide.

Philippe Bismut, CEO of Arval, said: “Arval will become the leader in full service leasing in Europe and I am sure that our clients will highly benefit from our geographi‐ cal coverage, expertise and scale.”

The transaction is scheduled to complete in Q4 2015, subject to the execution of the final documentation after work council consultations, and to necessary regu‐ latory approvals.

Vauxhall offers fleets free OnStar reporting

F

leets will get free monthly mileage, condition, serv‐ icing and fuel use reports from all Vauxhall vehicles fitted with the firm’s new OnStar telematics system.

OnStar, which has been in operation in the USA for 19 years and has now launched across Europe, allows driv‐ ers to get in contact with a call centre for help with navi‐ gation and in emergencies. It also automatically sends a report from the car every month, which fleet managers will be able to see on a web portal.

Standard on higher levels of Vauxhall cars, OnStar is a £395 option on all other models, with an £79 annual subscription including breakdown cover, following a year’s free trial. However, the reporting element will be

10 / fleetworld.co.uk

supplied free for five years to fleets.

“We believe the mileage reporting and emergency element will prove extremely beneficial, and it’s part of our commitment to ensure our fleet customers get the best service,” said fleet sales director James Taylor. “And we can tailor the package to them as well, so that it fits in with their fleet management systems.”

Vauxhall claims it is the most advanced telematics package available outside of the premium sector, with drivers able to use an App to see fuel levels, find their car and even unlock it remotely. The car will also contact the emergency services automatically if airbags are deployed or sensors detect a crash.

YOUR BUSINESS MODEL

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The New Peugeot 208 with revised front grille and more assertive styling is powered by the next generation of engines that deliver both on efficiency and performance. PureTech is an advanced 3-cylinder petrol engine technology that offers significantly improved fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from 79g/km, without drive and performance compromise.

While BlueHDi diesel engines deliver class-leading figures for CO2 and MPG and feature Stop Start functionality for added efficiency. For economy without compromise the New 208 is the business.

Visit business.peugeot.co.uk or call 0800 9548781 to discover the New Peugeot 208 re-energised.

Official Fuel Consumption in mpg (l/100km) and CO2 emissions (g/km) for the New 208 Range are: Urban 40.4 (7.0) – 78.5 (3.6), Extra Urban 61.4 (4.6) – 104.6 (2.7), Combined 52.3 (5.4) – 94.2 (3.0) and CO2 125 – 79g/km.

MPG figures are achieved under official EU test conditions, intended as a guide for comparative purposes only, and may not reflect actual on-the-road driving conditions. Consumption figures provisional.

NEW PEUGEOT 208

inbusiness

Colour blindness The right car in the wrong colour can impact residual values, which is why dealers have a responsibility to advise fleets on which shades to avoid, Curtis Hutchinson, editor of Motor Trader, reports.

F

ord famously once offered customers any colour they wanted so long as it was black.

These days customers are more discerning and new cars can be ordered in a bewildering array of shades and with personalisation packages enabling user-choosers to specify different colours for roofs, bonnets, door mirrors, interior trims and wheels.

The trend became popular with the first generation of BMW’s MINI, a car, like its forebear, that lent itself to exterior and interior personalisation with colour choice being a significant factor in its continued success story. Current models offering a degree of personalisation include the Citroën DS3, Renault Captur and Nissan Juke. Even SsangYong has joined the party with its newly launched Tivoli. However, Vauxhall’s ADAM, with its million different specification and trim combinations takes the biscuit for the widest choice available to a car buyer.

But is all this choice good for business? Colour choice is fickle with even popular neutral colours slipping in and out of fashion. According to the SMMT, in 2014 the most popular new car colour, for the second year running, was white, accounting for nearly a quarter (22%) of all registrations followed by black and grey (see panel). This was the highest penetration of white cars since 1996 and marked a turnaround for a colour which accounted for just under 10% of new car sales as recently as 2010 and less than 1% in 2005.

So what’s this got to do with fleets? For company car drivers the colour of the car is often up there with the badge, BiK rating and combined fuel consumption.

However, there’s a view that fleet managers should have more control over colour choice because a metallic orange car acquired now, on a user-chooser’s whim, could limit its second-hand appeal and therefore impact the residual values. If white can swing in and out of fashion how will that Sahara Sunrise Yellow or Latte Brown fair in three years time?

According to Glass’s, the trade bible for used values, dealers have an important role to play when it comes to advising fleets on the best possible colours to maximise on re-sale values. In many cases it’s in both parties’ interest as these cars will often end up on the supplying dealer’s used forecourt.

“The trend towards increasing personalisation of cars is creating a situation where the trade finds a growing number of models difficult to value and tricky to sell,” said Rupert Pontin, Glass’s head of valuations.

12 / fleetworld.co.uk

“Factors such as colour have always had a large impact on residual values but the trend towards increasing visual personalisation is magnifying the effect. You could have two Vauxhall ADAMs that are ostensibly the same on paper but, in the metal, are clearly hundreds or thousands of pounds apart in value because of choices that the original buyer made.

“There are some very cosmetically compromised cars around with colour, trim and wheel combinations that looked good to the first owner on the original order form but are not so attractive in the auction hall.”

Pontin said that one of the issues surrounding these cars was that the attractiveness of these vehicles was so subjective that it was difficult to know how individual used buyers would react.

“The mauve supermini with a tartan roof and yellow door mirrors running on 13-inch white alloys might look horrendous to a middle aged man like me but great to a 17-year old who has just passed their test. The problem is that the trade finds it very difficult to know how to value some of these vehicles so will tend to price them down in order to minimise the financial risk.”

Pontin believes dealers can play an important role in advising fleet managers and user-choosers on the colours which will see the best returns on the used market.

“Part of the fun of these vehicles is being able to specify all kinds of options but sometimes dealer sales people must know when they hit the order button that they are creating a dud. They arguably have a duty to point out to the fleet customer that some of the decisions they are making are very likely to have a direct impact on the resale value of their vehicle.”

One thing’s for sure, the ubiquity of black may not be where it was back in Henry Ford’s day but with it accounting for 19% of all new cars sold in 2014, it’s not going out of style in a hurry.

Most popular car colours 2014

Most popular car colours 2010

White Black Grey Blue Red Silver Other

Black Silver Blue Grey Red White Other

22% 19% 14% 13% 13% 13% 6%

25% 21% 16% 14% 10% 10% 4%

inbusiness

Ensuring insurance Bundling insurance in with leasing seems a good idea, but there may be pitfalls, reckons The Insider.

I

’m slightly surprised that the idea of bundling motor insurance together with vehicle leasing is growing, even though it has a certain logic.

It was always my understanding that fleet motor insurance was the poor relation when it came to company insurances, and that professional indemnity, buildings, and employer’s liability were subsidising motor. Historically the number of insurers wanting to deal with fleet was reducing, yet now, even the likes of Moneysupermarket.com are offering fleet insurance. On that basis it seems surprising that anyone would want to take on motor risk solely.

Perhaps I should be looking at it the other way around – that the motor insurers working with the leasing companies are hoping to gain additional business from other areas.

However, collectively Britain’s insurers made a profit on motor in 2014 for the first time in around 20 years, which they attribute to a fall in fraudulent claims, although there was also suggestion that the profits were partly due to a different way of treating reserves, which might come back to bite them later.

But if the sector is in profit, perhaps that is why bundling insurance is suddenly on the increase. Or, with a rising increase in the number of salary sacrifice schemes, where insurance forms part of the product, perhaps the industry is saying “why not?” across fleet in general. For years we nagged our leasing providers to deliver enhanced services and now they are offering just that.

The Americans have been bundling insurance with leasing for years and have taken the idea a step further. In an effort to curb end of lease damage costs – and this is to business fleets, not just retail customers – you can add the delightfully named ding-and-dent product alongside gap insurance and cover for wheels and tyres. Maybe the next big thing will be affordable grey fleet insurance, purchased by

14 / fleetworld.co.uk

the company, rather than the employee.

Ever the pessimist, and inclined to cynicism – which incidentally I attribute to too many years working in fleet – if I were outsourcing fleet insurance to a lease company, I’d want pretty stringent controls in place to ensure the pot of money relating to insurance premium was paid to the insurer and not inadvertently overlooked, leaving us without cover.

Given the sophistication and ability of our top leasing companies, I think that’s unlikely. Conversely, in an outsourced situation, knowing motor insurance was bundled with the rest of the fleet administration would be quite reassuring. Once again, the requirement for retaining a knowledgeable person in house to oversee the fleet function is clear.

As it is, our company requires all those other insurances anyway, and unless the alternative motor premium was sufficiently less, we would stay put. But it will be interesting to see the size of the premiums, and whether the insurer directly manages claims, or if accident management companies are still utilised.

Talking about fraudulent claims, which I was further up the page, we are currently being hit with just one such incident. Now obviously I can’t go into too much detail but the incident was so innocuous that our driver – who had a car full of children to shield from what turned into a slightly ugly situation – didn’t report it at the time. That has come back to bite us later, with claims from the third party for vehicle damage (clearly visible as pre-existing on their car at the time), and multiple personal injury sums, meaning the insurance reserve is massive. Two months on, it’s difficult to obtain independent medical reports and the like. So all I would say is, do encourage your drivers to report ALL incidents immediately, however trivial they appear at the time, and however much of a nuisance the subsequent paperwork and detail.

inbusiness ACFO National Seminar

Advice from the front line ACFO’s annual National Seminar provided a platform for members to debate key industry topics including vehicle selection, fuel and mileage capture and whole-life cost management.

Katie Beck reports on the highlights from the expert-led seminar sessions.

Long-term BiK levels a necessity Peter Cakebread, Marshall Leasing CEO and former BVRLA chairman Peter Cakebread, who chaired a seminar entitled ‘Effective Vehicle Choice and Fuel and Mileage Management’, acknowledged that whole-life cost management “is not easy” and “there are areas of complexity”; a concern that is exacerbated by a lack of information about long-term Benefit-inKind levels from government.

“Better signposting of where BiK levels are going is absolutely vital to fleet managers and leasing companies so we can actually say, with confidence, to drivers at the start of the vehicle life what it will cost them to run that vehicle for the next three or four years,” he explained.

“The national average CO2 emission in Q4 for new registrations last year dropped from 127g/km to 123gkm, while BVRLA averages dropped from 119g/km to 114g/km. I think this reflects that HMRC’s BiK process is effective in driving lower CO2 in the fleet industry… and could prove even more so with better signposting.”

Commenting on the make-up of the BVRLA fleet, Mr Cakebread revealed: “We have seen a decline in the number of vehicles in the upper-medium and luxury segment, down from 43% in 2013 to 36% in 2014. This has been replaced by vehicles in the lower-medium, MPV and supermini sectors. Electric and hybrid drive vehicles now represent 4.3% of the BVRLA fleet.”

Share fuel expenditure with employees Paul Jackson, managing director, TMC Paul Jackson explained why data gathered from various sources such as odometers, telematics, fuel cards and fuel receipts is critical in building up a “proper picture” of fuel expenditure, both for the employer and employee.

“But, in our experience that is not happening,” said Mr Jackson. “It is rare that drivers get to see their fuel spend. Hundreds and maybe thousands of companies don’t show their drivers what they spend. Make sure drivers see how much they spend on fuel because that will stop a lot of fuel fraud that is happening - drivers will recognise if their fuel card has been cloned.”

He explained how viewing a comprehensive picture of fuel expenditure and sharing it with drivers would ensure that any errors became apparent, delivering potentially tens of thousands of pounds worth of savings to companies depending on the size of their fleet.

Suggesting that giving drivers visibility of fuel spend created a process of “self-auditing”, Mr Jackson explained that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was becoming increasingly active in ensuring compliance with journey management and fuel reimbursement rules.

He warned: “Businesses must ensure that data is available to HMRC inspectors immediately. If employers spend two months trying to find and compile the data, HMRC will know that fuel spend is not being regularly audited.”

Set benchmarks for whole-life costs Mike Brazel, consultant at LeasePlan “Very much a minority” of fleets are operating in whole-life cost utopia, according to LeasePlan’s Mike Brazel.

“Many businesses struggle to capture all their costs in one place, but it is critical to measure, monitor and manage what is really happening,” he explained. “whole-life cost management is a continual process of review, and using whole-life costs will deliver benefits to employees and the business. What whole-life cost is really good at if it’s structured properly, is influencing behaviours and encouraging employees to make the right choice of vehicle.

“We all know that fuel is a major cost for fleets, but if we went round the room today we’d hear a variety of answers about how that fuel is paid for – reimbursement, fuel cards, etc; there’s a lack of consistency about how employee’s vehicle use is measured.”

Mr Brazel explained that communicating benchmarks and expectations of how efficient a vehicle needs to be sets a budget at the time of vehicle selection, and gives fleets the best possible chance of achieving whole-life cost goals. “Using whole-life costs as the basis for vehicle selection is eminently doable, but there must be a desire to do it,” he said.

16 / fleetworld.co.uk

Make perk cars more accessible

Treat vans like “little trucks” Mark Cartwright, head of commercial vehicles, Freight Transport Association (FTA) Van fleet management must become more professional, according to the FTA’s Mark Cartwright. He explained the impact of regulatory non-compliance, with almost 50% of vans subject to first-time MoT failure, indicating that there could be up to 1.35m ‘unroadworthy’ vehicles in operation.

Mr Cartwright revealed that many vehicles are failing their MoT due to “daft issues” that could be easily rectified, such as light bulbs not working, bald tyres and defective windscreen wipers. He claimed that 85% of Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency roadside checks highlighted defects that could be picked up by van drivers undertaking pre-journey checks.

In acknowledgment of the comprehensive regulatory framework that governs the HGV sector, Mr Cartwright said: “Vans should be treated as little trucks because you get more professionlisation.” For this to be successful, better fleet education about expectations for driver performance and vehicle maintenance will be essential.

There have been calls in some quarters for van operations to be subjected to a tougher compliance framework mirroring, in some ways, the HGV sector. But Mr Cartwright said: “With the launch of Van Excellence we have got our retaliation in first.

The industry needs to step up to the mark and demonstrate that it is grateful to have the level of legislative flexibility it has.”

Dan Rees, consultant at Deloitte Car Consulting Dan Rees prefaced his discussion by acknowledging that embarking upon whole-life cost modelling can be intimidating, but urged fleets to take the leap: “whole-life costs is a term which is used fairly widely, and there are all sorts of things that can be encompassed by the term. But what it comes down to is what is the objective of the company; what are you trying to achieve.”

Mr Rees highlighted how whole-life costs could be used by employers to offer “more attractive” company cars by demonstrating BiK comparisons using Deloitte’s wholelife Cost modelling platform. For example, he highlighted how two models with the same list price had a whole-life cost differential of £5,500 operated over a four-year replacement cycle.

“During the recession, cost saving was very much on the agenda and employees had their tin hats on and were not looking to move jobs,” he said. “Now that people are starting to feel more financially secure and motivated to look for a new job, the car has become an emotive benefit again.

“By using whole-life costs employers can save money and provide greater benefits to staff. List price drives company car Benefit-in-Kind, but vehicle choice based on whole-life costs delivers driver enhancements.”

Manage whole-life costs with data capture Caroline Sandall, deputy chairman of ACFO Caroline Sandall agreed that making the switch to whole-life cost management can be “extraordinarily complicated”. But, she added: “It doesn’t have to be. Businesses should treat wholelife costs as a menu because you can’t always start with perfection.”

She suggested that the fact that many businesses don’t use it is as a symptom of a lack of basic knowledge about the sector, particularly in SME fleets. “Whole-life costs should be something that is embedded in every company, but it is not because it is not known or understood in many cases,” she said. “That is why it is important that companies have a level of internal fleet expertise.

“One of the biggest issues with whole-life cost modelling is shifting costs – residual values, purchase price discounts, funding costs and interest rates and insurance, as well as supply chain changes and legislation – therefore businesses should ensure they monitor and look for change and try to predict future costs.”

Underlining that data capture is critical to fleet cost management, Ms Sandall said: “Businesses cannot achieve a whole-life cost management structure unless they have effective data which comes from many sources including internally and suppliers. It is critical to capture all income and expenditure to create a baseline position.”

“Businesses should treat whole-life costs as a menu because you can’t always start with perfection.”

Caroline Sandall, ACFO

fleetworld.co.uk / 17

XE UNLEASHED. NEW JAGUAR XE. THE SPORTS SALOON REDEFINED. The New Jaguar XE is here. Our most advanced, efficient and refined sports saloon ever. Born from the DNA of the F-TYPE, it delivers breathtaking performance and efficiency with a range of engines from a supercharged V6 to a frugal 99g/km of CO2. From just £26,990, the New XE is ready to rule the roads.

JAGUAR.CO.UK/XEUNLEASHED 0845 600 2214 THE ART OF PERFORMANCE

Official fuel consumption figures for the Jaguar XE Range in mpg (l/100km): Urban 24.4-64.2 (11.6-4.4); Extra Urban 46.3-83.1 (6.1-3.4); Combined 34.9-75.0 (8.1-3.8). CO2 Emissions 194-99 g/km. Official EU Test Figures.

For comparison purposes only. Real world figures may differ.

Model shown is XE S in Italian Racing Red (with optional 20" propeller alloy wheels with space saver wheel, advanced parking assist pack, panoramic sunroof and lighting pack priced at ÂŁ48,835).

inbusiness

Q &A Peter Bridgen, managing director of Fleetcor UK, explains why Keyfuels and Allstar are uniting for the launch of the Allstar One card, and the potential benefits to fleets. By Katie Beck.

What is the Allstar One card?

Customers have informed us that they find using two separate cards for Allstar and Keyfuels transactions a bit cumbersome, and we have listened to this feedback and combined the two networks into one, serviced by a single card. The Allstar One card can now be used to make purchases across the entire network of 7,600 Allstar sites, which overlap with 1,760 Keyfuels sites.

What benefits can it offer to fleets?

Keyfuels customers qualify for a 2p per litre discount on all diesel purchases, and that offer will continue following the roll-out of the Allstar One card. The new card also gives Allstar customers access to the same savings on diesel fill-ups that Keyfuels customers currently enjoy. 20% of all diesel transactions made on Allstar cards are currently made at Keyfuels locations, so Allstar One will provide a real, quantifiable cost savings for fleets. With the Allstar One card, with no change in behaviour, Allstar drivers who previously did not qualify for the 2p per litre saving on diesel purchases can now benefit at Keyfuels locations.

How is access to the card and online services controlled?

Transactions made using the Allstar One card are confirmed using Chip and PIN to give more control and enhance security against fraudulent purchases.

All Allstar and Keyfuels transactions are consolidated into a single Allstar One invoice to make it simple to administer and monitor through the back office. We also offer secure online account management from

desktop and mobile devices so users can access their account information and manage transaction history, generate reports, and so forth.

What other services are offered through Allstar One? The amalgamation of the two cards allows the user to create their own ‘One World’ by giving them access to a number of additional services. The Allstar One card can be used to make payments for services provided by partners including ATS Euromaster, National Windscreens, AA Breakdown and Fuel Assist, Business Mileage Monitor (to separate business and personal miles and stay HMRC compliant), and M6Toll. Epyx also offers savings of up to 20% on labour and parts for SME services when payment is made using an Allstar One card.

Are there plans to expand the Allstar One network?

All the big fuel companies are selling off sites in the UK, which hands those forecourts over to independent operators. Those operators are much more open to getting Keyfuels acceptance because they recognise the huge potential to drive customers to their sites, and from there they are brought into the Allstar One network. We are also working with our Allstar sites to try to bring them onboard with Keyfuels to deliver the diesel savings across as much of our network as possible. I don’t think the number of Keyfuels compliant sites is going to double overnight as the process can be complex, but I think we are going to chip away at it over time.

PERFECT PARTNERS The Allstar One card can be used across the entire network of Allstar and Keyfuels sites.

20 / fleetworld.co.uk

The new Passat for business users

looks as good on the road, as it does on your spreadsheet from £199 per month on contract hire *

^

The Volkswagen Passat is an all-new car for 2015 – raising the game from its already high-quality predecessor.

It features advanced technologies and sophisticated assistance systems, providing new levels of comfort, luxury and performance.

A range of economical engines

The innovative lightweight design combined with sustainable engine technology reduces emissions, operating costs and fuel consumption to new low levels, benefiting both the environment and your pocket.

Auto Express award the new Passat 5 stars

+++++

“Refinement and comfort are class-leading, plus with tauter handling it’s more engaging than Passats of old.”

See, hear and feel the luxury

Find out how good the new Passat is 0870 333 2229 Email us vglenquiries@vwfs.co.uk Visit makingleasingsimple.co.uk/newpassat State-of-the-art technology * Plus VAT and initial rental. Business users only. Based on a 36 month, 10,000 mile per annum non maintained Contract Hire agreement with an initial rental equal to 6 months rentals in advance.

At the end of the agreement the vehicle and ownership rights will stay with Volkswagen Finance. 10.21p (plus VAT) excess mileage charges apply. ^ Offer available for vehicles ordered between 30th June and 1st September 2015. Offers may be varied or withdrawn at any time.

Further charges may apply when vehicle is returned, subject to the contract fair wear and tear guidelines and mileage. VAT payable at the prevailing rate.

Finance subject to status. Subject to availability. Terms and conditions apply. Accurate at time of publication [04/2015]. Freepost Volkswagen Finance.

Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Limited, Brunswick Court, Yeomans Drive, Blakelands, Milton Keynes MK14 5LR. Registered in England and Wales. Company Number 2835230.

Model shown is the new Passat 1.6-litre TDI SE Business with optional metallic paint. Official fuel consumption in mpg (litre/100km) for the new Passat range: Urban 43.5 (6.5) - 62.8 (4.5); extra urban 60.1 (4.7) - 78.5 (3.6); combined 52.3 (5.4) - 70.6 (4.0).

CO2 emissions 140-103g/km.

inbusiness

What I’ve learnt Jo Elms, commercial director at LeasePlan UK, on being a working mum and being employed by a global leasing giant.

On having a work-life balance As a working mum with three children my life is pretty full on and not in a way which allows much 'me time' in the mix.

A wise customer summed things up for me when he said "we are here for a good time and not for a long time". I love my family, and I also love my job. Enjoying both elements of my life means that my work / life balance finds a way through that works for me. Having said that, like most working parents, there are days when I could do with a few more hours!

On working for a global leasing company Working for LeasePlan gives the best of both worlds. We have autonomy to ensure that we make the best decisions for our customers and our business on a local level, but we are supported by the global reach and negotiating power of the largest leasing company in the world. With over 1.42 million vehicles on the road worldwide, we have a lot of positive negotiating power.

Operating in 32 countries gives LeasePlan a key selling point: our corporate customers have the opportunity to deal with one provider on a global basis. It also gives the UK team access to great ideas and examples of best practice from colleagues in many countries.

FIN 94g/km fleet in numbers

On being a leader Leaders are only able to perform when they are supported by a great team. It’s certainly important to have vision and ambition, but working with motivated, enthusiastic, able people is what makes any vision a reality.

It's important to ensure that your team are empowered and supported to push the boundaries – that's how we develop personally and how our business develops.

It's also important to recognise that we will all make a few mistakes along the way. As long as we learn from these and don't repeat them, we will have a stronger team and a stronger business as a result.

On working with customers Working with customers is easily my favourite part of the job. Understanding a customers’ business needs and delivering solutions that help them improve their business is incredibly rewarding. This can be anything from new digital tools to help a fleet manager control costs, reducing vehicle off-road time for an LCV fleet or the excitement of a salary sacrifice driver taking delivery of their brand new vehicle.

Customer feedback ensures we are delivering what our customers need from us today and helps us to evolve to exceed our customers’ expectations in the future.

Starting CO2 emissions for refreshed Kia cee’d.

45% Percentage of company car drivers at UK SMEs who are unable to change a tyre.

SOURCE: Kia

22 / fleetworld.co.uk

SOURCE: Lex Autolease

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Start living with the All-New Renault KADJAR

BEST RESALE VALUES

LATEST TECHNOLOGY

The latest figures from independent valuation experts CAP reveal that the All-New Renault Kadjar has resale values that are best-in-class.

Thanks to Renault’s new R-Link 2 multimedia system, the All-New Renault Kadjar is available with a full menu of interactive driving aids to help city, highway and country drivers.

Drivers can make use of:

In fact, with a predicted resale value of 43% after three years or 60,000 miles, it’s at least 3% better than any of its six major rivals.

COMPETITIVE PRICING

• Hands Free Parking • Active Emergency Braking • Traffic Sign Recognition

In addition to the fantastic resale value, the All-New Renault Kadjar is competitively priced, starting at just £17,995.

It also benefits from low insurance rates, in low-cost bands from 14E to 18E and low BIK tax at only 17%.

• Lane Departure Warning • Automatic High/Low Beams All of these cutting-edge features are controlled via an ultra-modern digital dashboard, which has been streamlined into an elegantly simple touchscreen.

COST EFFICIENT EFFORTLESSLY ADAPTABLE

After much anticipation, the All-New Renault Kadjar is available to order from 1st July.

With a range of fuel-efficient engines available, the All-New Renault Kadjar delivers optimum consumption and low CO2 emissions that are best-in-class.

Impressively, four models from the range have a CO2 rating of less than 100g/km.

Perfectly comfortable in an urban setting or when exploring the great outdoors, the All-New Renault Kadjar boasts highly-tuned versatility, effortlessly switching between 4x2 and 4x4 modes, making it your ideal companion whatever the environment.

As well as that, every model but one exceeded 50mpg in the NEDC combined cycle test, while eight models comfortably exceeded 70mpg.

That means you can rest assured it’ll be there for you in all aspects; from your next business meeting to your next great adventure.

Boasting category leading efficiency in terms of performance and cost, it looks set to redefine the C-segment in more ways than one.

The official fuel consumption figures in mpg (l/100km) for the All-New Renault Kadjar Signature Nav test environment figures. Fuel consumption and CO2 may vary according to driving styles, road

EXTENSIVE CHOICE

COMPREHENSIVE WARRANTY

This five-door C-segment crossover is being offered in an 18-version line-up, based on three engines, two gearboxes, two drive systems and four trim lines.

As with all Renaults, customer peace of mind is reinforced by the comprehensive 4-year warranty and roadside rescue package, which comes as standard.

The engines are the 1.2-litre turbocharged TCe 130hp four-cylinder direct-injection petrol unit, the 1.5-litre ENERGY dCi 110hp four-cylinder diesel and the 1.6-litre ENERGY dCi four-cylinder 130hp diesel.

This provides a four-year/100,000-mile warranty (unlimited in the first two years) and four years roadside rescue cover, which includes three years of Europe-wide assistance.

An Efficient Dual Clutch (EDC) automatic gearbox is available with the dCi 110 engine, meanwhile the dCi 130 comes with intelligent four-wheel drive, with three operating modes.

The trim lines will be familiar to existing Renault drivers, with Expression+, Dynamique Nav, Dynamique S Nav and Signature Nav all available.

SUPERIOR DESIGN With its compact dimensions and high roofline, the All-New Renault Kadjar makes for an easily manoeuvrable town car, with a focus on driving enjoyment and comfort, all whilst keeping its sleek athletic profile.

Maintaining its outstanding design throughout, the cabin also features high-quality materials, plus the latest technology for advanced connectivity, combining superior luxury with a true sense of adventure.

With a predicted resale value of 43% after three years, it’s at least 3% better than any of its major rivals.

FIND OUT MORE To find out more about the All-New Renault Kadjar, visit renault.co.uk/business or call 0800 731 7066 to make an appointment with a Renault Account Manager.

dCi 110 are: Urban 67.3 (4.2); Extra Urban 74.3 (3.8); Combined 72.4 (3.9). The official CO2 emissions are 103g/km. EU Directive and Regulation 692/2008 conditions and other factors. Model shown is the All-New Renault Kadjar Signature Nav dCi 110. Resale value of 43% is average rate across the range.

g fleet e k

Garmin nüviCam Garmin’s newest portable navigation device features a six-inch pinchto-zoom glass display and a built-in high-definition dashcam. Recording continuously, it automatically saves files when an incident is detected, and advanced driver alerts including Forward Collision Warning and Lane Departure Warning help to enhance driver awareness.

Price: £299.99 from garmin.com/nuvi

NETGEAR AirCard The NETGEAR AirCard 785 provides a mobile hotspot with 4G support for up to 15 Wi-Fi enabled devices using a single broadband connection. A two-inch colour LCD screen displays real-time information for monitoring the status of connected devices and data usage, and passwordlocked access ensures a secure network for business users.

Price: £104.99, see netgear.co.uk

Lumo Lift Attached to clothing using magnetic clips, the one-inch wide Lumo Lift vibrates to give a gentle reminder when slouching is detected. The unit pairs with an iOS or desktop app to allow users to review their progress as posture improves, and offers an innovative solution to back pain caused by hours hunched over work stations.

Price: £79.99 from lumobodytech.com

apps of the month

Fuze

Uber

QuickWrite

Fuze offers a visual communication solution to rival video calling giant Skype, and is aimed at making video conferencing more reliable. Full HD video calling is offered for up to three participants with the free app, rising to 12 with a monthly subscription. Integration with the Cloud allows content sharing with programs including PowerPoint, Word and PDFs. Price: Free from Google Play, iTunes Store, Windows Store

Despite its unpopularity with taxi drivers, Uber offers an almost faultless solution to the difficulty of locating a cab in London. The app uses GPS to pinpoint the user’s exact location and match them with their nearest Uber driver, providing a headshot of the driver and their licence plate details for added security. Integration with PayPal eliminates the need to carry cash.

Price: Free from Google Play, iTunes Store, Windows Store

Available on Android devices, QuickWrite is a multilingual keyboard app with intelligent contextual word prediction. QuickWrite provides re-sizable keyboard layouts for over 50 languages and learns the user’s writing style as they type to improve text prediction. The app stores new words introduced by the user for future use, and is specifically optimised for document editing in OfficeSuite.

Price: £3.08 from Google Play

26 / fleetworld.co.uk

inbusiness

Plug and Play Rival software from Google and Apple means Android and iPhone users can take advantage of advanced connected car functions without the cost of built-in hardware. Alex Grant finds out more.

What are they?

Launched almost simultaneously and – in many cases – installed alongside each other, Google’s Android Auto and Apple’s CarPlay systems enable phone functions and a growing number of apps to be controlled and viewed through the car’s dashboard display and steering wheel controls.

What does it do?

Both systems aim to bring the familiar smartphone interface to the dashboard, as easily as possible. Connected via a USB cable, as this also keeps the battery topped up while driving, all the driver has to do is go into the relevant Android or Apple sub-menu on their infotainment screen and they’re then given access to a number of functions.

Functionality is similar in both cases, with voice controls including the ability to dictate text messages and have them read aloud, access to the user’s own media library and audio streaming services such as Spotify, and telephony functions familiar from a Bluetooth connection. Voice controls and phone conversations are streamed through the car’s microphone and speakers.

Significantly, Android Auto uses Google Maps and Apple CarPlay uses Apple Maps, in each case providing turn-by-turn three-dimensional navigation with POI searching and live traffic alerts. This is operated via pinches and taps on the screen, just like using a smartphone, and always uses up-to-date maps, downloaded while driving.

What are the advantages?

Limiting distraction. Accurate voice commands are designed to let drivers keep their hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the road, and both systems mimic their respective operating systems for ease of use. So Apple CarPlay has a single-tap Home Screen

button, while Android Auto has a bar along the bottom of the screen with shortcuts to important features.

There are security advantages too. Bluetooth connections store data on the car’s memory, whereas Android and Apple have chosen to stream this information from the phone without copying it across. Neither system requires its own app to make the link, it’s built into the operating system, and apps are updated on the phone, not in the car's memory.

It could also change the way cars are equipped. Drivers with an occasional need for satellite navigation don’t need a separate device or a factory upgrade, and there’s no risk of handing a car back with previous destinations stored in the memory – ideal for pool and rental vehicles. Moving between brands is easier too, as there’s no need to learn a new infotainment system, and previous POI searches on the phone can be selected from the menu meaning drivers don’t have to enter the data twice.

The biggest drawback is mobile phone infrastructure, as the system is reliant on a relatively fast data connection. In areas of low coverage, drivers could find maps don’t load quickly enough, voice commands take time to process and streaming audio stops working.

How much does it cost?

Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are becoming increasingly common standard-equipment software on vehicles with a touchscreen, and a growing cross-section of manufacturers are adopting the technology. Unlike adding a navigation package or an in-car data connection, they usually don’t carry their own upgrade cost.

While it’s not expected to make built-in systems obsolete immediately – largely because of infrastructure – the accessibility and upgradability of this software is likely to transform the next wave of infotainment systems.

fleetworld.co.uk / 27

Renault Kadjar It’s a late arrival, but Renault is joining the crossover set at the top of the class, says Alex Grant.

SECTOR Crossover PRICE £17,995–£26,295 FUEL 48.7–74.3mpg CO2 99–130g/km

R

enault openly admits it’s better known for clever superminis and MPVs than it is for crossovers, but that’s a reputation it’s out to change. After the Clio and Captur, the Kadjar is expected to become the brand’s biggest‐selling model in the UK, and a vital new addition for luring user‐choosers out of rival products.

Part of what will be a three‐part crossover range, it builds on the already successful Captur and will be joined by an all‐new Koleos in three years. Set to return to the UK, the latter is likely to become a more road‐focused product, an alternative to a D‐segment estate, like the latest X‐Trail.

With crossovers accounting for a fifth of global car sales and almost a quarter of European volume, it’s a place where Renault can’t afford not to be. Especially in the UK, where it says 40% of buyers in this sector are coming from segments where it doesn’t offer anything.

The Kadjar certainly has the right ingredients to perform well. It looks a lot like a scaled up Captur, already a popular part of the UK model range, and the platform underneath is shared with the Nissan Qashqai, which is this segment’s and CO2 emissions. As a unique selling point, the Kadjar benchmark product. Residual values are strong and Renault also achieves these figures with Renault’s dual‐clutch trans‐ has plans in place to maintain them throughout its lifecycle. mission. Turbocharged petrol and diesel engines, both with There’s a lot of the Qashqai in the driving 128bhp complete the range, and the dCi 130 is experience, with excellent ride quality on its 17‐ offered with four‐wheel drive for the handful FLEET FACT inch wheels and the stability of a lower hatch‐ of UK customers expected to need it. back while cornering. This modular platform is There are differences in the technology This will also be being shared across Renault and Nissan, and it’s offered, though. So Renault’s R‐Link 2 info‐ claimed that the cost savings can be reinvested tainment system will be standard fitment on built in China, a into materials and equipment. Soft to the touch, most UK cars, and the Grip Xtend system 26% crossover partially trimmed in leather on most UK cars which gives additional traction for two‐wheel car market. and with an all‐digital instrument cluster, the drive cars will be available from next summer, cabin lives up to those claims. but it does without Nissan’s active ride and The excellent Renault‐Nissan’s 1.5‐litre dCi 110 diesel is cornering control systems or the Around View Monitor. likely to be the corporate engine of choice, and it matches Usefully, it shares the Qashqai’s luggage board system, the Qashqai’s segment‐leading headline fuel consumption which enables the boot to be divided into smaller sections using removable pieces of the load floor.

Trim levels follow the Captur’s, comprising Expression+, Dynamique Nav, Dynamique S Nav and Signature Nav. With only an £800 price walk between the two Dynamique versions, and the S gaining larger wheels, chrome and half‐ leather upholstery, it’s expected that sales will be 70% weighted towards the top end of the range.

The downside, from Dynamique S Nav upwards, is that the 19‐inch wheels have a sizeable trade‐off in ride quality and curb the fuel economy. With the larger wheels, the dCi 110 engine drops to 72.4mpg with CO2 emissions of 103g/km – though it is possible to swap down to 17‐inch versions on the Dynamique S Nav, bringing it back under 100g/km.

Renault hasn’t set new benchmarks or reinvented the segment with the Kadjar, but it didn’t have to. Capitalising on the best components in the portfolio and building on the design of a proven product has made this one of the best crossovers on the market, and the next step in an evolving range.

28 / fleetworld.co.uk

what we think

highlights

A very strong newcomer to the crossover segment, the Kadjar should have no problem attracting user-choosers who – until now – would have had to look elsewhere.

Shares its platform and 1.5-litre diesel engine with the segment benchmark Nissan Qashqai R-Link infotainment system with navigation on 90% of UK cars £800 upgrade to Dynamique S Nav includes larger wheels, partial leather upholstery and 19-inch wheels

key fleet model Renault Kadjar Dynamique S Nav dCi 110

fleetworld.co.uk / 29

Toyota Avensis Alex Grant wonders if premium-brand cues can boost the Avensis’s user-chooser appeal.

SECTOR Upper Medium PRICE £17,765–£28,440 FUEL 45.6–67.3mpg CO2 108–143g/km

T

Whole‐life costs for operators are helped by a pair of new oyota reckons word of mouth plays a big part in diesel engines, both sourced through a partnership with maintaining and building the customer base for the BMW and requiring cheaper, less frequent services. The Avensis, and they’re probably onto something. While new 143bhp 2.0‐litre – the same engine usually denoted by this isn’t the D‐segment’s biggest seller, itself a part of the an 18d badge – will be the bigger seller, and replaces Toy‐ market which has suffered recently, its customers are loyal, ota’s 2.2‐litre engine. It’s quiet and very smooth with a wide often have other Toyotas and rate the ownership experience power band, and fuel economy of 67.3mpg is almost on‐par. very highly.

The same 1.6‐litre diesel used in the Verso is the range’s Around 5,500 sell in the UK each year and, recognising most efficient engine. Replacing the outgoing car’s 2.0‐litre that it’s the private part of this segment which is declining engine, it’s almost as hushed as the larger diesel and offers most, Toyota has put its efforts into targeting the 87% plenty of power for motorway cruising. However, it lacks which go to fleets. It sets this the tough task of satisfying low‐rev pulling power and has to be existing customers, while also appealing worked much harder than the larger to company car drivers with premium diesel, which is a constant reminder that models on their shopping lists. this is the economy option.

So the Avensis has become a more Regardless of engine choice, the Aven‐ aggressive‐looking car, but it’s also much sis is a relaxed long‐distance cruiser. nicer inside. The heavily redesigned Increased body rigidity and a new sus‐ cabin feels up to European‐brand bench‐ pension setup has enabled Toyota to marks, with attention paid to soft‐touch offer confident roadholding which does‐ materials and the consistency of fonts, n’t ruin ride quality, even on its largest fabrics, stitching and that phosphor blue wheels, and road and wind noise are well illumination. It also gets more supportive suppressed. It’s made this an effortless front seats for long‐distance comfort, and car to cover long distances in, rather than an unchallenging infotainment system a machine which will entice drivers to which – at least in the UK – will almost take the long way home. always have satellite navigation.

That familiar effortless But past experience has shown that this It’s also very functional, particularly as Avensis ownership isn’t a problem. Behind its new‐found an estate, with a rear bench that folds experience in a sharper aggression, the Avensis continues to be an flush with the load floor, under which easy machine to live with, albeit a choice there’s a compartment for the tonneau suit, with two welllargely driven by its rational appeal. With cover. Toyota Safety Sense, with lane‐ equipped fleet-focused a few new tricks up its sleeve, this might keeping, forward collision and road sign trim levels and lower not be out to transform its presence in the alerts, and automatic high beam, is stan‐ costs too. Worth trying.

D‐segment, but it’s given a little extra for dard across the range, which should keep its advocates to recommend it on. insurance costs down.

what we think

30 / fleetworld.co.uk

Jeep with ®

IT’S NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL. So you think you know Jeep? Think again. The new Cherokee doesn’t just offer outstanding performance off-road, it’s also guaranteed to stand out in the office car park. Its efficiency figures catch the eye too, returning 53.3mpg on the combined cycle with CO2 from only 139g/km.* New Cherokee models are also available with a range of fantastic features such as our award-winning 8.4” touch screen entertainment system, unique in-car wireless charging pad for mobile devices and adaptive cruise control. Hardly your average nine-to-five runaround, wouldn’t you say?

To book a test drive call our Business Centre on 01753 519442 or email us at fleet@jeep-comms.co.uk The new Jeep® Cherokee. Built Free.

jeep.co.uk/fleet FUEL CONSUMPTION FIGURES FOR THE NEW JEEP® CHEROKEE DIESEL RANGE IN MPG (L/100KM): EXTRA URBAN 55.4 (5.1) – 61.4 (4.6), URBAN 39.8 (7.1) – 44.1 (6.4), COMBINED 48.7 (5.8) – 53.3 (5.3), CO2 EMISSIONS: 154 – 139 G/KM. Fuel consumption and CO figures based on standard EU tests for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving results. Model shown is Cherokee Limited.

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*Figures based on 2.0 140 4x2 versions. Chrysler and CNH Industrial are Official Global Partners of the Expo Milano 2015. Jeep® is a registered trademark of FCA US LLC.

Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class Despite a broader range, the ML’s replacement hasn’t become niche, says Alex Grant.

SECTOR SUV PRICE £49,280–£96,555 FUEL 23.9–76.4mpg CO2 78–278g/km

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But it’s a car with compromises. A relatively short 18‐mile hile new niches seem to be de rigeur for the range, replenished in two hours, means drivers covering German premium brands at the moment, the GLE‐ long distances will spend most of their journey pulling 2.5 Class isn’t really a newcomer. A new badge for tonnes with a large – albeit electrically‐assisted – petrol what’s essentially a refreshed ML‐Class, the biggest changes engine. The battery also raises the boot floor by around five here come from a second bodystyle and the addition of inches, resulting in load volume comparable to a GLA‐Class plug‐in hybrid technology. and a knock to the practicality which is such a big part of Now very much a global car, the outgoing ML‐Class built this segment’s appeal. on its predecessor’s surprisingly strong fleet share by offer‐ There’s no four‐cylinder diesel or hybrid in the Coupe. ing what’s now this sector’s only four‐cylinder diesel engine Aimed squarely at the BMW X6 – and yes there’s also a rival in the UK. With associated advantages in terms of cost, fuel in the pipeline for the X4 – it shares only the V6 turbodiesel efficiency and that all‐important CO2 figure, its UK sales and AMG‐tuned 578bhp biturbo V8 with dominance isn’t expected to waver. its sibling. It’ll be as visually challenging The biggest upgrade for the GLE 250 d to some as it is irresistibly alluring to is the transmission, which now has nine others, but it’s an important model for gears instead of seven and thus travels a incremental sales growth. few more miles on a gallon of diesel. For Despite the Coupe’s sloping roofline, an entry‐level engine, power delivery is it’s light rather than headroom which is smooth and it feels relaxed rather than the big sacrifice in the back, and the underpowered, though it can sound raised lip under the tailgate is awkward coarse under load. The only thing that to lift luggage over. But it’s a pleasure to gives the price point away is the lack of drive. The V6 diesel produces 258hp air suspension on Sport and AMG Line and – in both cars – offers the right trims. The steel‐sprung alternative is muscular soundtrack and a pleasing uncharacteristically firm. surge of torque, which with its nine‐ It’s the more versatile of the SUV’s two speed gearbox means it’s barely idling economy‐focused drivetrains, despite the Luxurious and accessible at motorway speeds and should return plug‐in hybrid GLE 500 e claiming the in 250 d form, this stacks respectable real‐world economy. headline CO2 figures. Powered by a V6 up well for upper-echelon The GLE‐Class might signal the end of petrol engine and electric motor and capa‐ this segment’s oldest nameplate, but for ble of forward‐planning the most efficient company car drivers. the majority of fleet customers it’s busi‐ way to use them based on its satellite navi‐ But consider using that ness as usual. A softer‐edged update of a gation, it’s certainly clever. It also offers price advantage to car which, in a part of the market full of electric four‐wheel drive at up to 70mph add air suspension. niches, caters for its core customers and a combined 436bhp, which makes this very effectively. the fastest non‐AMG model in the range.

what we think

32 / fleetworld.co.uk

Volkswagen Sharan Alex Grant tries new technology and fresh engines for Volkswagen’s versatile people-mover.

SECTOR Large MPV PRICE £26,300–£36,280 FUEL 42.2–56.5mpg CO2 130–156g/km

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for low‐speed manoeuvres, but it has a tendency to roll ver a two‐decade lifespan, Volkswagen has carved through corners. out some surprisingly broad global niches for the Behind subtle styling updates, the engine range now Sharan. The seven‐seat MPV, beloved of expanding includes three Euro 6 compliant 2.0‐litre diesels. The 148 families and taxi operators in the UK, is a popular execu‐ and 182bhp versions – both shared with the Golf – replace tive carrier in China, while many European markets have outgoing 138 and 168bhp diesels in the previous car, and adopted this as a modern‐day lifestyle vehicle cut from the there’s a new 113bhp unit as an entry‐point, only offered same cloth as the Kombi. on the S trim. It’s almost petrol‐like in its refinement and In the UK, it’s never really found that same fashionable or lack of vibration through the cabin. luxurious niche. It tops a three‐tier MVP range alongside Volkswagen reckons most of the volume will come from the the underrated Golf SV and popular Touran, and the latter’s 148bhp engine, with sales weighted towards the six‐speed size and seven‐seat versatility mean it outsells the Sharan DSG transmission. This matches the fuel three‐fold. At the lifestyle end of Volk‐ economy of a manual gearbox and adds swagen’s people‐movers, around a thou‐ between £1,405 and £1,350 to the price of sand Caravelle buyers opt for a share of the car, depending on the trim level. the Kombi’s bloodline every year.

All trim levels also get a new infotain‐ So the range here is small. Volkswagen ment system, which offers seamless inte‐ sells 3,500 per year in the UK, of which gration with and control of Android and 70% go to fleets, and business demand is Apple smartphone apps via a USB cable driven by practicality – it’s a popular model and the touchscreen. It means drivers with private hire companies and user‐ with an occasional need for satellite nav‐ choosers with growing families. There’s no igation can stream it from their phone place for the executive‐class six‐seat ver‐ rather than paying £675 to move from SE sion or the five‐seater with the cavernous to SE Navigation. Automatic post‐colli‐ cargo area in British showrooms. sion braking, Bluetooth and three‐zone The space and versatility on offer is Climatronic air conditioning are stan‐ impressive, with individually adjustable Uncompromising in its dard across the range. middle row seats to increase shoulder and pursuit of practicality, the Compared to Volkswagen volumes and headroom, and comfortable space for two Sharan offers interior flexlined up against more fuel‐efficient part‐ adults in the back. Six of the seats fold flat, time seven‐seaters in other segments the while the five rear seats have ISOFIX ibility and capacity close Sharan is almost a niche vehicle in the UK points, and thus the potential to move a to a van-derived MPV. – a car for those who need, rather than headache‐inducing volume of under‐fours.

Smaller seven-seaters want, the space. But it’s a niche which is But it manages not to feel like a van. are a threat, though. served very well by the size and versatil‐ Ride quality is excellent, regardless of ity on offer here. wheel choice, and the controls are light

what we think

34 / fleetworld.co.uk

Toyota Auris The revised Toyota Auris becomes hybrid centric. Danny Cobbs explains.

SECTOR Lower medium PRICE £15,245–£25,095 FUEL 40.4–83.1mpg CO2 79–126g/km

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The new 1.2‐litre petrol is a no‐frills, direct‐injection nother day, and yet another hybrid launch. For turbocharged affair and costs £18,295. Mated to a six‐ Toyota the hybrid has become so integral to speed manual it’s also the most fun – well, as much fun as their model line‐up they’re giving the new 1.8 you’re likely to ever get with an Auris. The 1.6 D‐4D is, as VVT‐i Hybrid engine top billing in the revised Auris. you would expect from BMW, a solid workhorse, return‐ With more than half of all outgoing Auris models being ing 67.3mpg, 108g/km of CO2, and costs £19,495. sold as hybrids, it’s easy to see why the other two new Two new equipment grades are also being introduced engines in the range, a 1.2‐litre petrol and a BMW devel‐ with this Auris – the Business Edition and Design – increas‐ oped 1.6‐litre turbodiesel, have second billing. Not that ing the total trim levels to five. These will sit towards the top‐ there’s anything wrong with either of these Euro 6 compli‐ end of the options list and add cruise control, seven‐inch ant engines. In fact, as driving machines, both deliver a touchscreen infotainment centre and sat nav is only bettered more spirited drive than their electro‐petrol sibling. The by the all‐encompassing Excel trim.

1.3 and 1.8‐litre petrol engines remain All cars receive LED running lights, rear as before, with the 1.4‐litre diesel LED lights and Bluetooth, with 15‐inch getting an update to improve overall alloys and a colour TFT multi‐information efficiencies. Insurance for all models is display becoming standard on the entry‐ now two groups lower. level £19,645 Hybrid Active. Toyota Safety Back to the hybrid. This is the third Sense, a £450 upgrade which features a generation powertrain and by returning pre‐collision system, lane departure 83.1mpg with 79g/km of CO2 emissions warning system and an automatic high also the most efficient to date, and costs beam assist system, is available across the from £19,645. Yet, for all the advance‐ range, except in Active. ments Toyota have made with this A new set of headlights and a few engine over the years, the eCVT gearbox, tweaks to the exterior bodywork does the only form of transmission available, makes it appear marginally different to habitually lets it down. the previous model. The interior, From the start, the 80bhp electric While the Auris will however, is a wholly different proposi‐ motor becomes the Auris’s primary never set the motoring tion. High‐grade soft‐touch plastics source of power, delivering 152lb of world alight, it’s inoffenand tube style instrumentation have immediate torque, which translates to a completely transformed the cabin. It’s 0‐62mph time of 10.9 seconds. Then add sive, fit for purpose and now so much more inviting than before, into the equation 98bhp from the petrol keenly priced. Tax-bustand better laid out too. Total cargo space engine, and Toyota’s claimed 112mph ing hybrid and 1.6 D-4D remains the same; a maximum of 1,199‐ top speed seems quite achievable. Not are the fleet picks. litres in the five‐door hatchback and that you’d want to go that fast in it. Nor 1,658‐litres in the wagon. drive it with too much verve.

what we think

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The complete package Stylish, sporty looks. Innovative technology. Remarkable efficiency. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class combines all these and more to reward both driver and fleet decision-maker. The C-Class Saloon offers high levels of equipment and superb quality alongside agile handling, allied to excellent fuel economy.

As Fleet World Fleet Manufacturer of the Year, Mercedes-Benz knows exactly what decision-makers and their drivers need. Each C-Class has been comprehensively specified and uses state-of-the-art, efficient engines to ensure the wholelife cost and BiK proposition is extremely competitive. Luxury, technology, safety and careful whole-life costing: the Mercedes-Benz C-Class has it all.

Innovative technology

The Mercedes-Benz C220 d Sport Saloon

The C-Class benefits from cutting edge systems and equipment, from touch pad to cruise control to the reversing camera, you’ll find everything at your fingertips. It also hosts a number of firsts in its sector: optional all-LED headlamps, an assistance package which can automatically maintain a safe distance from other vehicles, park the car and brake automatically to reduce the severity of collisions, as well as COMAND, the internet-connected infotainment system with Google Maps, route downloads and Facebook connectivity. For the first time, customers can equip the car with adjustable self-levelling air suspension too.

Illustrating the remarkable combination of superb handling, outstanding performance and competitive running costs of the C-Class range is the Mercedes-Benz C220 d Sport Saloon.

With 170hp, sports suspension and a 0-62mph time of just 7.7 seconds, it is a car that offers involving handling and allround performance for the driver. Yet at the same time, the six speed manual version has CO2 emissions as low as only 103 g/km with a combined fuel consumption figure of 70.6 mpg.

Combine that with its stunning looks, precision construction, high specification and luxurious interior and it is a vehicle that offers an excellent proposition for the fleet and company car driver.

Powertrains that deliver high performance and low CO2

To find out just how competitive the C-Class is to run against its rivals, visit the Mercedes-Benz whole-life cost comparison site:

Powertrain options offered in the UK include a C200 d and petrol, each with a manual gearbox, C220 d, C250 d and C300 diesel electric hybrid, each with automatic transmission, C350 e plug-in hybrid with CO2 as low as 48 g/km, and barnstorming 476hp C63 AMG. An average fuel consumption reduction of 20 per cent across the range ensures that no matter what level of performance your drivers choose, they will not be penalised at the forecourt.

fleetcomparisontool.mercedes-benz.co.uk

Official EU–regulated test data are provided for comparison purposes and actual performance will depend on driving style, road conditions and other non–technical factors. Model shown is a C220 d Sport Saloon (manual) at £32,815 on-the-road with optional metallic paint at £645 (on–the–road price includes VAT, delivery, 12 months’ Road Fund Licence, number plates, first registration fee and fuel). Prices correct at time of print (07/15). For more information visit Mercedes-Benz.co.uk

SPOTLIGHT Vauxhall Astra

For drivers Targeting a bigger share of the C-segment’s user-chooser volume, the new Astra has put an emphasis on appealing to drivers, while offering attractive whole-life costs for fleets. Alex Grant explains.

Technology The Astra is the first Vauxhall to get GM’s OnStar technology. Standard on SRi and Elite models, and optional elsewhere, this includes a human personal assistant which can send destinations to the navigation, eCall with automatic emergency services calling and a 4G/LTE WiFi hotspot.

Fleets can also use on-board sensors to monitor economy, mileage, wear and driving style, which can be fed back to their telematics system.

IntelliLink-equipped infotainment is fitted across the range, with all Astras offering Android Auto and Apple CarPlay integration, enabling smartphone apps and telephony functions to be controlled via the touchscreen – including connected navigation. Optional LED Matrix headlights – familiar from executive cars – mean any one of 16 parts of the high beam can be dipped to avoid dazzling other road users.

Whole-life costs According to fleet marketing and Motability manager, Paul Adler, the Astra’s pricing was reverse-engineered from a class-leading whole-life cost position.

So the new car carries a price reduction of up to £2,200 over the model it replaces, and is also smaller and up to 200kg lighter. In turn that’s enabled Vauxhall to fit smaller wheels, smaller brakes and to use a more common, lower-price tyre size without affecting the way it drives.

Aggressive reductions in price and fuel consumption are also expected to shift sales towards higher trim levels in fleet, helping Vauxhall to target an increase in user-chooser volume with the new car. So aside from the traditional job-need Design trim, and the Tech Line which has held up user-chooser volume to date, take-up for SRI and Elite versions is expected to double, to 50% of volume.

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Engines At launch, diesel engine options are familiar from the outgoing car, comprising two versions of the 1.6-litre ‘Whisper Diesel’ with 109 and 134bhp and CO2 emissions from 94g/km. These will be bolstered in early 2016 by a biturbo version of the same engine, producing 158bhp and available in multiple trim levels for the first time, and the ecoFLEX. Contributing to whole-life cost savings of between £2,500 and £5,000 over a typical fleet life cycle, Vauxhall expects the latter to be fitted to half of all cars sold in the UK. It returns up to 91.1mpg with CO2 emissions from 82g/km. However, with fuel economy at 70.3mpg and 96g/km CO2 emissions and a lower P11d price, the 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol attracts a lower Benefit-in-Kind liability.

What we think...

FLEET FACT Vauxhall is targeting 60,000 UK sales with New Astra, up from 44,000 last year.

Vauxhall has its sights set on overtaking the ‘true fleet’ sales of the Focus with its new Astra, and that’s meant focusing on the low running costs and combination of style and technology that drivers want in this segment.

The innovative OnStar system is a unique selling point, and whole-life costs are aggressively low. It stands to put the Astra in a good position as it aims for user-choosers. AG

fleetworld.co.uk / 39

flashback a look back at the company cars of yesteryear

model Alfa Romeo 156

R

era 1998-2007

evealed at the 1997 Frankfurt Motor Show, the 156 ushered in a new era for Alfa Romeo. Though rumoured to have been designed after the larger 166, it previewed a curvier new style after the wedge-like 155 it replaced, and with a production target of 120,000 units per year, it was chasing volume.

Penned by Walter de’Silva before he moved to the Volkswagen Group, the 156 was said to have been partially inspired by the classic lines Alfa’s coupes – reflected by the door handles hidden in the C-pillars and the driver-focused dashboard. It launched claiming to combine the brand’s renowned dynamics with the space and refinement of a four-door saloon.

Mechanically, this translated into a long wheelbase within a rigid body, with double wishbone front suspension for excellent handling and comfort. Its steering was tuned for quick responses, with close-ratio gears and short strokes on the pedals. Magnesium seat frames and aluminium components were used to save weight, and factory-fit personalisation options included chassis braces, sports exhausts and bodykits.

But Alfa Romeo had mass-market appeal in its sights.

The 120bhp 1.6, 144bhp 1.8 and 155bhp 2.0-litre Twin Spark petrol engines were engineered for low maintenance costs and comfort, returning up to 34.5mpg on the combined cycle, while the 190bhp 2.5-litre V6 catered for drivers wanting more performance.

Although the 1.8-litre Twin Spark was the big seller, the 156 was one of the first cars to use common-rail diesel technology, and its two diesel engines proved popular.

There was a choice of 105bhp 1.9-litre four-cylinder and

42 / fleetworld.co.uk

UK sales 42,329

successor Alfa Romeo 159

136bhp 2.4-litre five-cylinder at the launch, both featuring dual-mass flywheels to maximise refinement, and the smaller unit returned 47.9mpg.

It struck a chord almost instantly. Named the 2008 European Car of the Year, it recorded 40,000 preorders in its first month on sale and became Alfa Romeo’s biggest-selling car in Europe, significantly expanding the 155’s segment share, and was sold in 66 markets globally. In the UK, 90% of buyers were coming from other brands.

By the turn of the Millennium, the range had continued to expand, including a Selespeed robotised manual gearbox for the 2.0 Twin Spark and clutchless manual Q System transmission for the V6, but also becoming Alfa Romeo’s first Sportwagon in 2000.

Featuring extra bracing behind the rear seats to make up for the lack of bulkhead, this would account for almost half of European volume.

A Giugiaro-designed refresh followed in 2003, with alterations to the steering and suspension for a sharper driving experience, and new engines including power upgrades for the diesels and direct injection for the 2.0-litre petrol. The range-topping GTA introduced a year before, powered by a 247bhp 3.2-litre V6 engine, was never facelifted.

The 156 saloon made way for the 159 in 2005, with the Sportwagon replaced in 2007. Though Alfa Romeo bowed out of the D-segment in 2011, a new rear-wheel drive Giulia saloon is due later this year, aiming to reestablish the Italians in the compact executive sector.

Like the 156, it’s the start of a new era.

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Compact yet clever As well as dynamic styling, class-leading interior space and versatility, and advanced infotainment and safety technologies, the new Honda HR-V will deliver fuel economy and emissions among the best in its class.

Coupé performance and styling The all-new HR-V blends the dynamic personality of a coupé with the tough, solid stance of an SUV, creating a characterful look with emotional appeal. Its body shape and a rear window line that tapers at the rear result in a dynamic and sporty side profile, complemented by ‘hidden’ rear door handles.

Combining the 1.6 litre i-DTEC diesel paired with a newly-engineered six-speed manual transmission, the new Honda HR-V small SUV will return official combined fuel economy figures of up to 71mpg, with CO2 emissions as low as 104 g/km.

But company car drivers won’t find performance compromised by the car‘s frugality. With 118bhp powering the new HR-V from 0-62mph in 10.1 seconds, the HR-V has been engineered to deliver a saloon-like driving experience, achieved thanks to its low centre of gravity and its lightweight and highly-rigid body. This rigidity helps make the HR-V one of the most confidence-inspiring cars in the crossover segment to drive enthusiastically.

The HR-V also brings class-leading aerodynamic performance to the crossover segment, benefitting not only fuel efficiency but also interior refinement.

SUV practicality and comfort The new Honda HR-V not only looks great and drives well, it provides all the practicality and comfort a company car driver craves.

The use of high quality soft-touch surfaces, subtly accented with brushed chrome highlights provide a premium ambience, while the dash design combines a solid feel with premium detailing, including a piano-black feature panel that emphasises the sense of sophistication Specification highlights include the advanced Honda Connect in-car infotainment system, and a wide range of safety aids employing radar and camera technologies to scan the road ahead.

Facing the driver is a three-dial instrument binnacle, the surround of each featuring ‘floating’ illumination rings to further the sense of quality. Honda’s ECO Assist function changes the backlight colour of the speedometer from white to green during efficient driving.

At the centre of the dash is a seven-inch Honda

Connect touchscreen that is fitted as standard on grades above entry level (SE and EX) providing advanced connectivity and infotainment. A five-inch screen is available on the S grade.

Comprehensive active safety systems combine data from radar sensors and forward and rear facing cameras.

Other than the entry-level model, all grades will be fitted with Honda’s Advanced Driver Assist System as standard.

This suite of safety technologies includes Intelligent Speed Assist, City Brake Active Assist, Forward Collision Warning, Lane Departure Warning, Traffic Sign Recognition system, and High-beam Support System. Honda’s CityBrake Active system will be fitted as standard on the HR-V. The new HR-V will also offer class-leading boot space: 453 litres with the rear seats up and 1,026 litres with the rear seats down. Thanks to innovative packaging, HR-V’s best-in-class interior space is exceptionally versatile and incorporates Honda’s highly practical Magic Seats system.

For more information visit honda.co.uk/cars/corporatesales

For more information, visit www.arval.co.uk

A smarter experience for fleets and drivers This year’s Fleet World Honours saw Arval scoop the award for Innovation in Contract Hire & Leasing. Marketing and insurance director, Robert Pieczka outlines the benefits of the company’s latest leading-edge developments.

AS technological advances – such as interactive safety systems, vehicle connectivity and autonomous cars – revolutionise the vehicle industry, the vehicle leasing industry also stands to massively benefit from the adoption of the latest innovations.

In fact, whilst traditional customer service will always be the lynchpin for fleet customers’ needs, it is also becoming increasingly vital for leasing firms to use the latest technology to support fleets’ and their drivers’ expectations for information on the move, in an easy-to-digest format and available 24 hours a day.

In line with the changing industry needs, Arval has introduced a number of advanced solutions over the last year. These include last year’s launch of the Arval Smart Experience interactive service offer to facilitate

Robert Pieczka, (right) receives Arval’s Honour for Innovation in Contract Hire & Leasing, from Andrew Fellows of CAP Consulting.

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relationships between Arval, fleet managers and drivers.

Arval Smart Experience covers four areas, including two websites aimed at fleet operators. The Arval Connect website is optimised for laptop and desktop use and contains a range of useful information to help you to effectively manage your fleet.

In addition, the Arval Fleet View tablet-optimised dashboard quickly and simply displays the most useful vehicle related information at a glance, making it easy to make the right decisions.

Arval Smart Experience also brings the Arval Mobile+ driver-focused smartphone app, which provides drivers with access to the information they need whenever they need it, and the Arval Drive Challenge free mobile app, which is designed to raise awareness of driving behaviour and positively influence it.

Arval has also developed a substantial cross-platform social media presence to provide a successful communications channel that provides a new way to support customers and drivers.

Other recent innovations include its E-billing system, newly formed account teams and the relaunch of its Driver Solutions package, which provides improved levels of support and convenience to customers. The product includes the build of a secure driver website and numerous administrative tasks like driving licence checks and managing driver documentation. It now also includes tailored consultancy services and a service charter with clear KPI’s to provide reassurance and peace of mind.

The new tools – which will be continually enhanced and adapted to meet customer needs going forwards – enable Arval to provide customers with daily support and make a positive difference for users.

Technology doesn't stop moving; Arval have just announced the next step in their digital transformation through a whole suite of new digital tools all being rolled out to customers this year.

SWOTTeam This month the SWOT Team analyses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the new Ford Focus ST against its closest rivals. Here is what they have to say...

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

GA Ford is capitalising on the ‘sporty’ diesel market by using ST naming with this good allround package. It works dynamically as well as on paper and the looks are sure to grab plenty of attention.

GA Ford has never been strong in the sporty diesel arena. Other manufacturers have really conquered it already. It’s not the most appealing out of the bunch on paper either.

GA There is definitely an opening for some alternative sporty diesel hot hatches, and Ford’s performance pedigree could well see them doing it right with some good marketing.

GA The main threat is the super well established alternatives that have bulletproof residual values. It will take some real pressure to put drivers out of the usual culprits.

AC If it is a pure driver’s car experience that you are after then the Focus is very hard to beat. Plenty of standard kit, and it’s no slouch, yet driven carefully it will deliver 50+mpg so a good all-rounder.

AC Lacks the boot size of its rivals and therefore is not quite as practical, and interior quality, although very good, is not quite up to the Golf’s standard.

AC For those looking for a hotter diesel hatchback with great dynamics then the Focus delivers. It is also a lot more frugal in terms of running costs than a petrol hot hatch with 50mpg achievable and 110g/km CO2 which obviously helps with BiK.

AC The obvious threats come from this issues’ SWOT rivals, also for a slightly higher price you will find the quicker BMW 125d M Sport and Audi A3 2.0 TDI Quattro S Line etc.

MJ ST badge continues the reputation built from the Escort Mexico onwards.

Against more conservatively styled competition the facelift car is very distinctive if in the right colour. Interior is really good with excellent electric leather Recaro seats.

MW The Focus looks great, sporty yet so economical.

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MJ Ford is still a mainstream brand, so needs to offer a little more for your money and the list price undercuts their prime competitor – good as they are comparably equipped.

The boot is still small.

MJ Low emissions of 110g/km, insurance group 26 plus good economy means ST-3 diesel will feature on many fleet choice lists. If we think that anyone is still downsizing then this car could attract some interest.

MW It is difficult to find any weaknesses with this group, though the Focus has the highest CO2 figure.

MW The Focus is good value, and looks good too so will attract customers who want style and economy.

MJ Wider choice of good competition in this sector is a factor to consider, including VW Group’s Octavia vRS and Leon FR. Nevertheless, the overall proposition is so good in diesel form that this car should sell in reasonable numbers.

MW This sector is under threat from more practical SUVs, so they all need to keep looking over their shoulder to see what's creeping up on them.

Martin Ward (MW) Manufacturer Relationship Manager, CAP

Ford Focus ST

Gavin Amos (GA) Head of Valuations, CDL Vehicle Information Services

Mark Jowsey (MJ) Commercial Director, KeeResources KwikCarCost

Strengths GA Works as well on the road as it does on paper.

AC A driver’s car, and well equipped too.

MJ Emissions and mpg are not at the expense of performance – a spirited drive.

MW Looks great, sporty and economical.

Volkswagen Golf GTD

GA Already a crowded sector.

AC Small boot, better interiors elsewhere.

MJ VW Group alternatives go beyond the Golf GTD. MW The highest CO2 figure in this group.

Strengths

Volkswagen Golf GTD

GA The one everyone knows and wants.

AC The best all-rounder, just.

MJ The benchmark in this sector.

MW A classic in the making, it has GTI-ish styling, drives brilliantly and very high quality.

GA Plentiful and not the cleanest, but nobody seems to care.

AC Priciest in this company.

MJ More competition than ever before.

MW May look a bit overpriced.

Strengths

Peugeot 308 GT BlueHDI 180

GA Stacks up well on paper.

AC Nice interior, decent space.

MJ Good looks, high equipment, paddle-shift auto as standard.

MW Enhanced exhaust note is clever.

Standard equipment: • Bluetooth, USB and aux • DAB radio/CD/SD with 6.5in screen • Front and rear parking sensors • Cruise control with speed limiter • 18-inch alloy wheels • Bi-Xenon headlights Optional equipment: • Metallic paint £545 • Leather upholstery £1,720 • Satellite navigation £750 • Keyless entry and start £365

GA Not at the top of any user’s wishlist.

AC Lacks the dynamicity of its rivals, only available in Auto.

MJ Digitally enhanced engine tone!

New kid on the block.

MW It’s French, which may go against it.

OTR: £25,945 P11D: £25,890 Fuel: 70.6mpg CO2: 103g/km RV*: £8,325 (32%) BiK: 18% SMR: £2,204 Fuel costs: £4,592 Insurance: £4,125 Finance: £3,495 NI: £1,929 VED: £40 Cost per month: £945

Strengths

Volvo V40 D4 R-Design Nav

Weaknesses

Volvo V40 D40 R Design

Standard equipment: • Bluetooth, USB and aux inputs • DAB radio/CD with 8in screen • Rear parking sensors • Heated leather Recaro interior • Cruise control with active speed limiter • 18-inch alloy wheels • Bi-Xenon headlights • Keyless entry/start Optional equipment: • Metallic paint £525 • Satellite navigation £250

OTR: £27,590 P11D: £27,535 Fuel: 67.3mpg CO2: 109g/km RV*: £10,775 (39%) BiK: 19% SMR: £2,890 Fuel costs: £4,817 Insurance: £3,750 Finance: £3,717 NI: £2,166 VED: £40 Cost per month: £950

Weaknesses

Peugeot 308 GT

Ford Focus ST-3 2.0 TDCi OTR: £26,295 P11D: £26,240 Fuel: 67.3mpg CO2: 110g/km RV*: £9,625 (37%) BiK: 20% SMR: £2,817 Fuel costs: £4,817 Insurance: £3,750 Finance: £3,542 NI: £2,173 VED: £40 Cost per month: £939

Weaknesses

Andy Cutler (AC) UK Car Editor, Forecast Values Glass’s

GA Clean, economical, great value – it should be a sure fire winner.

AC Cheapest for BiK out of the group.

MJ Great engine with 99g/km CO2.

MW Wins on sub 100g/km C02 figure.

Weaknesses GA Volvo needs to get ‘bums on seats’ to be a serious contender.

AC More comfort focused rather than sporty, although a very good chassis.

MJ Lack of awareness, and presence.

MW May still suffer from image problems.

OTR: £26,545 P11D: £26,490 Fuel: 74.3mpg CO2: 99g/km RV*: £9,100 (34%) BiK: 17% SMR: £2,328 Fuel costs: £4,363 Insurance: £3,885 Finance: £3,576 NI: £1,864 VED: £0 Cost per month: £929

Standard equipment: • Bluetooth and USB connectivity • DAB radio with 9.7-inch screen • Front and rear parking sensors • Active cruise control, speed limiter • 18-inch alloy wheels • All-LED headlights • Leather/Alcantara upholstery Massage seats • Satellite navigation • Keyless entry and start Optional equipment: • Metallic paint £525

Standard equipment: • Bluetooth and USB connectivity, HDD storage • DAB Radio/CD/DVD 7-inch screen • Satellite navigation • Speed limiter • 17-inch alloy wheels Optional equipment: • Metallic paint £550 • Leather upholstery £600 • Cruise control £225 • Rear parking sensors £325 • Keyless entry and start £550

* 3yr/60k

fleetworld.co.uk / 47

What’s your premium?

Annie Milner Principal Consultant and Head of Marketing for CAP Consulting, on how to make your business a profitable, successful, premium brand.

WHAT IS ‘PREMIUM’?

The attributes that make an object ‘premium’ are often intan‐ gible. It is often down to brand perception and this varies according to individual aspirations. However, there are some basic attributes, which are largely universal. ‘High value is undoubtedly a factor, rarity is another perhaps, and tradition and a sense of timelessness can both play a part. More than anything else, ‘premium’ is about craftsmanship and quality; it is more than just marketing.’ Interestingly, these comments are by a drinks expert talking about premium wine; but it could quite easily have been written about a premium car brand.

The point is that any product can achieve ‘premium’ status given the right level of focus and investment, although without careful consideration of the customer and their experience of interacting with your brand through the entire sale and owner‐ ship cycle, the product in isolation will not be successful.

Top 10 things we ask car makers considering launching premium brands 1. Customer First and foremost, it is critical to understand the target audi‐ ence. Does that mean targeting existing customers or is a new audience identi ied that will steal market share from a competitor? Do you understand the needs of your target audi‐ ence now, and in the future? Will the needs of your target audi‐ ence change over time – i.e. are they followers of fashion, or have a preference for classic style? What brands do they currently buy and how much do they spend? How often will they purchase and what is the size of the addressable market?

2. Product Once you understand your customer, you need to ensure that your product is it‐for‐purpose. Are you con ident that your product can deliver in line with your marketing/brand strat‐ egy; is your brand/product reliable?

Clever marketing may attract your target audience, but if the product disappoints, you won’t get a second chance.

3. Communications How will you attract new customers to your brand? It’s a risk to try something new, especially a high‐value purchase, so you need to ensure you minimise any anxiety associated with change. Do you want to associate your premium brand with your volume brand or will you create a sub‐brand to create a clear delineation?

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4. Culture Have you created an internal culture that is aligned to your ‘premium’ brand strategy? Has your strat‐ egy been communicated and (more importantly) understood across your organisation. Does every individual across the organisation know how to behave like a premium brand?

5. Uniqueness Have you decided what it is about your product that makes it ‘premium’ and how this differenti‐ ates your proposition from that of the competi‐ tion? Why would a customer choose your product over one of the established premium players?

6. Customer Experience (Service) How will you sell your product to customers?

How should they feel when they interact with your ‘premium’ organisation? Will it feel like they are buying into something special which has the right to command a higher price? Is your on‐ going service to customers outstanding? Is it easy to do business with you and do you reward loyalty? Do repeat customers get the same treat‐ ment as new customers and have you developed different service strategies for different customer groups? Will a poor experience with your volume brand reflect badly on your premium brand? How will you manage this?

7. Longevity Have you created an emotional attachment with your customers so that they ind it hard to exit the brand? Can you consistently deliver high standards over the long‐term? Experience tells us that creat‐ ing a premium brand takes time and effort and you need to plan to meet expectations today and in the future. Have a strategy in place to ensure you deliver next month, next year and beyond.

8. Competitor Paranoia Are you constantly monitoring what your competitors are doing? Will your competitor group change over time and do you know what their next move will be? Do you know their strengths and weaknesses?

CAP Consulting delivers practical, independent consultancy services and tailored research, analysis, and technology development to support global customers in the achievement of their business goals. It works with vehicle manufacturers (OEMs), regional and national sales companies, vehicle dealers, finance & leasing companies and government/trade organisations. Visit http://business.cap.co.uk/consulting

Consulting

Consulting

If you would like to speak to Annie or a member of the CAP Consulting team, email annie.milner@cap.co.uk

9. Association Have you aligned your premium brand to other brands that attract your target audience? Could you collabo‐ rate with likeminded brands to reach your target audi‐ ence? Are there new premium brands emerging that you should be associated with? Have you considered endorsement or sponsorship as a way to promote what you stand for?

“Could you collaborate with like-minded brands to reach your target audience?”

10. Follow up Finally, do you really know who your customers are? Do you have a CRM strategy that makes your customers feel cared about; are you making regular, relevant (meaningful) contact with them? Can you engage with customers (current and future) in a way that suits them – across all media channels – and do you (can you) respond to feedback in a timely way? Are you an organisation that strives for constant improvement and can your customers see that they are in luencing your behaviour? What is your strategy for retaining customers? Is your proposition competitive over the long‐term?

Can volume manufacturers achieve premium status?

It’s clear that product alone is not all that is required to lead to a successful premium brand strategy. We have considered what ‘premium’ means and how it can be achieved, so do we think it is possible for volume car manufacturers to create premium brands?

The answer is yes, but only by identifying and under‐ standing the target customer and making them the focus of all planning and strategy development.

As with any business strategy you should be clear about what success looks like and know when to exit if things aren’t working, but don’t expect results in the short‐term and be prepared to evolve your plans according to the market dynamics. Building a brand takes time, and to achieve premium status is a long‐ term strategy, which requires focus and investment.

There is always a risk, so protect your core business while you develop your premium proposition but don’t let one dilute the other in terms of quality and service.

Is our ‘traditional’ view of premium the only route?

Trying to recreate what we traditionally recognise as a premium brand may not be the only way to drive market share and pro itability. There could be differ‐ ent approaches which could disrupt the traditional model and drive a new type of premium in the 21st century. That’s where original thinking pays dividends.

FEATURE Premium vehciles

50 / fleetworld.co.uk

Premium Ford and Citroën have both recently moved upmarket, in their own ways, but will the obsession with being ‘premium’ make any difference? Mark Nichol investigates.

A

pple Inc. has a lot to answer for.

Obviously there were desirable phones and there were upmarket products before the iPhone, but it’s by far the best modern example of the way companies approach the marketing of their wares today.

Made in China for a few pounds and sold to you for hundreds, the iPhone is the handset of paupers and kings. It is everyman’s premium product. Cool as ice; common as. And it’s the reason why Ford has scrapped the ‘Titanium Sport X’ trim from the Mondeo lineup.

In its place comes the Mondeo Vignale and it’s a name that will soon become synonymous with the upper echelons of Ford’s bigger passenger car ranges, start‐ ing with the Mondeo and soon appearing on S‐Max, Kuga and Focus, and a reaction to the increasing pre‐eminence of premium brands in the car market.

But Vignale is not just a trim level, it’s “a high series execution [of the Ford brand], the ultimate expression coupled with an enhanced ownership experi‐ ence,” says Jon Wellsman, Ford of Britain’s director of customer service.

The company is adamant that it’s not “going upmarket,” and that even without the Vignale brand the Mondeo has attracted class leading – and premium brand beating – residuals. This, it says, is more thanks to a decision to reduce the number of short cycle, cash‐burning daily rental and internal staff sales from around 6,000 per year with the outgoing Mondeo to 2,000.

And with around 30% of true leet Mondeo sales last time around being Tita‐ nium X Sport (top‐of‐the‐line) models, Ford sees the shift to Vignale, with its “enhanced” purchase and ownership expe‐ rience, as a way of keeping existing customers with the brand who are on their second, possibly third Mondeo in a row.

So, it’s not competing with BMW and Audi as such, but instead giving the aver‐ age SME middle manager a reason not to jump ship. But also, you know, allowing them to spend over £32,000 on a Mondeo. There’s pro it in all that extra equipment.

The car itself is classic mutton‐dressed‐ as‐Wagyu‐beef: the Vignale dashboard is leather, the paint is thicker and the chrome is more extensive – but it’s backed up by the sort of customer care hitherto unseen from any Ford dealership.

It includes the establishment of 55 nationwide ‘Ford Stores’ whose staff are trained speci ically in the ways of Vignale. They include special customer care managers and fancy waiting areas – areas a driver can avoid entirely if needs be, because the Vignale service includes free delivery and collection for servicing, and a single, named point of contact for them, who’s always on call.

“It’s about becoming a professional and contemporary retailer, so as you would go and buy your iPhone from a beautiful looking store with great serv‐ ice, we want our Ford dealerships to be comparable with the other class‐leading retailers,” says Wellsman. “We’ve taken our inspiration not from Vauxhall or Peugeot but from what’s going no on the high street and what very successful other retailer brands are doing.”

Plus, the Ford Store concept will be extended to Focus RS and Mustang owners, giving Ford showrooms a two‐ tier class setup – Tesco blue stripe and Tesco Finest, if you will – and helping to justify the investment.

It’s not just Ford. Modernising the retail experience is something that Volvo is at too, recently announcing its inten‐ tion to calmly revolutionise all its show‐ rooms with a comfortable “premium living room” vibe by 2020.

fleetworld.co.uk / 51

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FEATURE Premium vehicles

Premium →

Which brings us onto DS – a brand that Citroën believes will compete with Audi and BMW. Recently Citroën erected a big tent in the middle of Paris to celebrate ‘DS Week’ – a display, open to the public, of all things DS and ostensibly the of icial launch of ‘DS Automo‐ biles’ as a standalone premium brand. The company prefers the term “avant garde” to premium because it’s more, well, French.

In a Toyota/Lexus type separation, Citroën wants DS to become independent, and by 2020 DS Automobiles will have launched six new models in Europe, most of them coming to the UK and a couple of which will be of the extremely on‐trend premium SUV variety.

“Clearly, margins on premium cars are greater than on mainstream product,” says John Handcock, head of communications for DS Automobiles (and also Citroën). The abil‐ ity to make more money out of each unit, without hugely more expensive production costs, while higher residual values re lect the status of the cars among used buyers is the holy grail for volume brands.

The creation of DS Automobiles is one third of an overall PSA Peugeot Citroën company restructure that will see it more aligned with the Volkswagen Group – pitch‐ ing different brands at different, but comple‐ mentary, customer bases. A strategy that has seen Volkswagen Group become the world’s second biggest carmaker.

So while DS tackles the upper end, Citroën itself stays with the mainstream (the Kore‐ ans and the Vauxhalls), and Peugeot sepa‐ rates the two, itself having moved upmarket to become a ‘upper mainstream’ kind of rival to the Volkswagen brand itself.

And while the ‘Apple effect’ (or the “democratisation of premium,” as Ford’s Wellman puts it) goes some way to explain‐ ing the desire for car companies to move upmarket it’s actually our car buying patterns that are really forcing change.

There are two possible explanations: one, that the ever‐improving ‘value’ cars (those from Korea, for example) are push‐ ing the likes of Ford and Citroën upwards to a more aspirational, higher‐cost product.

Or two, that the traditional premium manufacturers are diversifying to the extent that it’s they who form the biggest

52 / fleetworld.co.uk

threat to the traditional mainstream.

Ford lat denies that the former is having any impact, while the latter is the way Matt Friedman of automotive analyst CAP sees it: “The premium brands are colonising the entire industry,” he says. “Now you walk into a BMW showroom or an Audi showroom and it’s absolutely full of everything, from superminis all the way up.

“If you are Ford and you traditionally relied on Fiesta and Escort, the lower segments, you’ve suddenly got to compete with these people who’ve just come down from on high and started stealing your lunch.

“The British are quite premium brand conscious. Given the choice most customers would aspire to own a premium branded car over a mainstream, and now they have that opportunity. They will pay the extra, and they’ll certainly pay the extra in the used market.”

What’s dif icult is quantifying a move to premium in pure pro it terms. In the UK the Citroën DS3, for example, outsells the Citroën C3 considerably, but the DS4 and DS5 models are slower sellers.

So we have to look beyond the UK to make sense of Citroën’s plan. In 2012 Citroën moved into China, partnering with Dongfeng to make Citroëns, and with Chang’an Auto Group to make DS models – two separate entities into one massive market with no historical brand prejudices.

The size of that market means that, ulti‐ mately, the UK is a single cross‐stitch in a lucrative French‐Chinese tapestry; DS is a standalone luxury brand in China, so Citroën might as well do it here too.

And if there’s the temptation to get a little sniffy about DS Automotive’s chances of ever establishing itself as a premium brand, CAP’s Friedman goes back to Volkswagen Group.

“The test case is Audi, which took decades of very, very sustained work across every facet of business – the product, the styling, the engineering, motorsport, quality – it had to do everything consistently for something like 20 years in order to move itself securely into the premium space.”

Sustained work is what it will take for Citroën’s avant garde gamble (and, to a lesser extent, Ford’s premium one) to pay off.

Premium flops four upmarket failures Ford and Citroën’s upmarket ambition isn’t especially new, and history shows us that it’s a journey fraught with dif iculties. So here are ive car manufacturers that tried to chase the premium pound in the past and failed.

Maybach In 1997, Mercedes‐Benz revived the 90‐year‐old Maybach name for a pair of ultra‐luxury concept cars, the Maybach 57 and 62, based obviously on the S‐Class but at three times the price. Having stated its intention to sell 2,000 Maybachs per year, in 11 years Mercedes managed to sell just 3,000 in total. The whole project was cancelled n 2013, although the name was revived this year for a range‐topping S‐Class.

Lagonda Like Maybach, Lagonda was formed early in the 20th Century but sat doing nothing for decades before being revived by a big brand in catastrophic fashion – but under Aston Martin, the Lagonda revival lasted days rather than years. When Aston announced it was planning something big for Lagonda during the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, in strict proportional terms that turned out to be true, but the massive Lagonda Concept 4x4 was an absolute monstrosity. Both the car and the name were quickly ensconced back into the bottom drawer of Aston’s Gaydon factory.

Renault At around the turn of this century, the company released the Avantime coupé and Vel Satis luxury hatchback. Expensive and with challenging styling, they both lopped – the Avantime lasting just two years in production.

Edsel Ford has attempted to go upmarket before, and in doing so created perhaps the most famous commercial lop of all time. The Edsel brand, born in the late ‘50s, was supposed to sit above the Ford brand but below Mercury and Lincoln in the company’s product portfolio. Unfortunately, both the irst car – the Edsel Corsair – and the brand positioning were poorly judged, confusing Amer‐ ican buyers and forcing Ford to write off a $400m investment – the equivalent of $4bn today.

fleetworld.co.uk / 53

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FEATURE Premium vehicles

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Ford Mondeo Vignale Ford creates a new top-of-the-range, £30,000-plus version of the new Mondeo. By Mark Nichol.

SECTOR Upper-medium PRICE £29,045-£32,675 FUEL 52.3-67.3mpg CO2 99-141g/km

VIGNALE HIGHLIGHTS

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• Prices start from £29,045 • Vignale-only 99g/km hybrid hits 62mph in 7.9 seconds • No hatchback option, to bolster ‘luxury’ pretentions.

• Comes with the first production seatbelt-mounted airbags.

ou’re probably asking what ‘Vignale’ means. Well, today it means not much at all – not in the UK at least – but around 100 years ago a man called Alfredo Vignale was born near Turin, who from the late ‘40s became a celebrated coachbuilder.

Long story short, both the Vignale name and that of another formerly famous coach‐ builder were bought by Ford in the late ‘70s, but it was the other one Ford’s marketing department fancied at the time: Ghia won, and the rest is history.

Still, if Signor Vignale was ever fond of the idea of his family name one day adorn‐ ing the sill plates of high‐priced middle market family saloons in the UK, his wish has come true. Think of Vignale as Ghia‐ plus. It’s not only Ford’s new top‐of‐the‐line trim designation, but a move towards a truly modern car purchase experience – each car comes with a personal, designated customer service manager.

Ford has gone to town with the owner‐ ship experience because, frankly, the car itself is all‐but standard Mondeo. That’s no bad thing, clearly – it’s an excellent car – but to expect additional greatness from a Mondeo Vignale is to set yourself up for a dose of premium disappointment.

Ford is at pains to point out that every Vignale is signed off by one of a team of dedicated sign off people working under

54 / fleetworld.co.uk

special lights; that the paint is thicker and better quality than that of a regular Mondeo; that it debuts noise cancelling technology that (cleverly) mitigates diesel thrum using the stereo; that the chrome accenting on the outside is real; and that the seats have twice as much leather on them as regular leather seats, because the unseen parts of the seat that aren’t normally real leather are in this case real leather. The dashboard is also covered in leather.

But all the switchgear, the infotainment interface, the mechanicals – they’re all the same. Except that you can’t get it as a hatch‐ back, which for some will be a big problem.

It’s saloon or estate only.

Available with the higher‐powered engines in the Mondeo range – 2.0‐litre TDCi diesel with 180bhp or 210bp, or a 240bhp petrol‐electric hybrid – there’s no doubting the Mondeo Vignale’s credentials.

This is a spacious family car that offers exec‐ utive‐level re inement, top‐notch ergonom‐ ics, a rewarding dynamic experience, and yet feels most at home on the motorway, where its body control and in‐gear overtak‐ ing punch make it very relaxing indeed.

So is it worth that eye‐catching price tag?

Well, yes. The vast majority of last‐genera‐ tion Mondeos sold were higher‐spec models, and three in ten in top‐whack Tita‐ nium Sport X trim, which this replaces. Ford

has done its maths and concluded that with the small additional RV uplift that Vignale cars will get, the corporate leet driver that this car is aimed squarely at will ind it very inancially attractive.

The caveat is that while the Hybrid may look the best on paper (14% BiK band, 67.3mpg), it’s actually the least re ined owing to its whiney automatic gearbox, while the more expensive diesels push costs into the bottom end of German territory.

what we think The ultimate version of an already great car makes this an appealing fleet choice. But at this price it boils down to a question of preference: would you prefer a truly premium ownership experience and all the kit in your car you’ll ever want, or just the premium badge?

It… is raising the bar, and raising it again.

ARI is known and trusted by fleet management decision-makers worldwide for setting industry standards and controlling costs.

It is about people. Empowering them and rewarding performance.

Finding new ways of helping customers to do a better job—with increased efficiency, productivity and safety. It is about fleet management success. Moving the needle, and the bottom line.

Learn more about ARI’s professional fleet management services: 0844 8000 700 | www.arifleet.co.uk

FEATURE Fuel Management

Mobile management From intelligent routing to expense management on the move, there are an ever-wider choice of smartphone apps offering an easy way for fleets to control their fuel costs.

Eco Maps Via an easy search function, Eco Maps intelligently creates itineraries which plot the most time and fuel-efficient way between destinations, presenting multiple options if they’re available.

Price: £1.49 from iTunes Store

Zap-Map A live map of over 3,000 UK charging locations, with the ability to filter them based on the plug type and available speed. Ideal for simplifying EV ownership, and making the most out of a PHEV. Price: £3.49 Google Play, £4.99 iTunes Store

HERE HERE’s cloud-based navigation system learns drivers’ habits and monitors regularly-used routes for traffic. It can also offer guidance if walking or public transport are quicker than driving.

Price: Free from Google Play, iTunes Store, Windows Phone Store

Concur Simplified expenses on the move, with the ability to import credit card data, submit travel requests and send photographs of receipts for claims, with the ability to do so while offline too.

Price: Free from Google Play, iTunes Store, Windows Phone Store

Mileage Log+ Quickly entering odometer readings and start and end points enables this app to track business and personal miles, and output Excel-compatible reports via email or Dropbox.

Price: £7.99 from iTunes Store 56 / fleetworld.co.uk

in association with With over 50 years of fuel card expertise, the euroShell card can give you greater control, convenience and security to overall save fleet managers money! The euroShell card is accepted at an extensive (and growing) 3,500 stations across the UK which includes Shell, Esso, Texaco and Total sites.

The euroShell card information management system enables fleet managers to have: • Control amongst their whole fleet • Access to secure online invoicing • Simple card management (with options to select card PINs) • Generate bespoke smart alerts ...and more!

Visit www.euroshell.co.uk to find out how easy it is to become a euroShell card customer and start saving now!

Live Traffic Info

SAP CarbonTrack

A live stream of breaking and unfolding traffic incidents and roadworks, provided via Highways Agency and organised into regional data or just highlighting issues on the route ahead.

Price: Free from Google Play, iTunes Store

While it’s designed for demonstration purposes, CarbonTrack calculates an overview of the CO2 and cost implications of your business’s activities, with an indication of how much can be saved.

Price: Free from iTunes Store

GreenRoad Smartphone Edition

Shell Motorist

Using the phone’s on-board sensors, GreenRoad has developed an app which can offer real-time driver feedback via a simple traffic light system, replacing an installed telematics device.

Price: Free from Google Play, iTunes Store

Containing directions to thousands of its fuel stations across the UK and abroad, Shell’s own app also offers helpful on-road guidance for motorists and live information from its loyalty scheme.

Price: Free from Google Play, iTunes Store

Google Maps

TomTom

The essential navigation app, with a vast database of businesses, street-level imagery, turn-by-turn navigation and incredibly accurate real-time traffic data for accurate, efficient planning.

Price: Free from Google Play, iTunes Store, Windows Phone Store

All the features of TomTom’s most advanced portable devices, in an app.

Over-air updates mean maps are always up-to-date, while IQ Routes and HD Traffic save fuel-wasting delays.

Price: From £29.99 from Google Play, iTunes Store

Waze

ParkRight

Social media for people on the move, Waze is a growing network where drivers can send and receive live information about the route ahead, underpinning accurate real-time navigation.

Price: Free from Google Play, iTunes Store, Windows Phone Store

Using live data from 3,000 infra-red sensors in parking spaces across London’s West End, ParkRight can locate a vacant slot and send the location to many other navigation apps.

Price: Free from Google Play, iTunes Store, Windows Phone Store

Gas Cubby

Parkopedia

As well as tracking and generating reports showing fuel economy and expenditure, Gas Cubby can log maintenance costs across multiple vehicles, with reminders for servicing too.

Price: £1.49 from iTunes Store

Reduce aimless hunting with this userupdated database, with 38 million parking spaces in 52 countries and the option to filter results based on the price, payment options and opening hours.

Price: Free from iTunes Store fleetworld.co.uk / 57

FEATURE Taxation & Funding

Understanding more about PCP Professor Colin Tourick explains how personal contract purchase has flourished among cash takers, and what the dangers are if the financial climate changes.

O

58 / fleetworld.co.uk

continue forever. It wasn’t so many years ago that at the end of their PCP agreements consumers found they had no equity in the car and therefore no deposit to put into a new car.

There were even articles in the press about consumers who felt they had “lost their deposit” and who were asking “where’s my deposit gone?”

The best way to consider this is to look at an example. This chart shows how the balance in a funder's books declines when a customer enters a 36 month PCP on a £20,000 vehicle, pays a £1,250 deposit and then pays 35 monthly payments of £400 in arrears with a final balloon amount of £7,500. The interest rate is 6.9% p.a. nominal. Let’s assume this agreement started on 1 August 2011.

HOW THE BALANCE REDUCES IN THE FUNDER'S BOOKS 20,000

Amount £

ver the last few articles we have compared a number of different financing products including contract hire, salary sacrifice and employee car ownership schemes (ECOS) and last time we looked at personal contract purchase (PCP).

PCP isn’t a fleet product but it is used by many thousands of employees who receive a cash allowance in lieu of a company car, so arguably a fleet manager might want to know about it and what is happening in the PCP market.

We described PCP last time. It allows a consumer to buy a car by paying a deposit and a series of monthly instal‐ ments followed by a final lump sum (‘balloon’) payment. At the end of the contract they also have the option to return the car instead of paying the balloon. If the car is worth more than a pre‐estimated amount (the guaranteed minimum future value or GMFV) the customer has ‘equity’ in the car that they can take as cash or use towards the deposit on a new PCP agreement.

Sales of PCP contracts have been booming and PCP now accounts for the majority of car finance agreements signed up on dealers’ premises. Most customers who entered into PCP agreements three or four years ago will have been delighted by their PCP. When the agreements ended most customers will have discovered that they have very signifi‐ cant amounts of equity available – thousands of pounds in some cases – to put towards a deposit on a new PCP agree‐ ment. Many PCP customers will have been approached part way through the agreement by their funder or dealer with an extraordinary offer: you can swap out of your car now and we will give you an identical brand new one on a new PCP contract at exactly the same monthly payment.

This is good news all round and everyone wins.

However, it is quite important to understand how this situ‐ ation has come about because it wasn’t always like this and there’s no particular reason why this situation should

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At the outset the funder assumed the car would eventually be worth £8,600 so they included a £8,000 balloon because this would leave the customer with some equity to go towards a deposit on the next car. The funder would have liked to put in a lower balloon but this would have driven up the monthly payment and made it less affordable.

Used car prices have risen steadily in recent years, as this chart shows. Over the three years from August 2011, aver‐ age 36 month/60,000 mile fleet car prices rose by 18%.

AVERAGE DISPOSAL VALUES – TOP 100 FLEET CARS 10,000

6,500 01.03.05

01.03.06

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01.03.08

01.03.09

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01.03.11

01.03.12

01.03.13

01.03.14

01.03.15

Date

Let’s assume that our example car enjoyed the same percentage increase in market value. This would mean that rather than being worth the expected £8,600 after three years it would have been worth £10,148. After paying the £8,000 balloon, the consumer would have been left with a whopping £2,148 of equity to put towards a deposit on a new car. They would have been very pleased indeed.

With this much equity building up in the car the funder would have been able to invite the customer to swap into a new car at the same monthly price well before the end of the agreement. For this to be possible two other things would need to happen: interest rates would have to be as low as they were when the original agreement was entered into, and the price of new cars should not have increased significantly.

This of course is exactly what has happened. Interest rates have been very low since 2009. General inflation is low, and car prices are particularly competitive because of the strength of Sterling.

In some respect we could say that there has been a perfect alignment of the stars – rising used car prices, low interest rates and strong Sterling – which have created this happy situation where there is so much equity in PCP deals towards the end of the agreement.

So the question is; what will happen when one or more of these stars moves out of alignment?

If interest rates rise or Sterling weakens it will make it more difficult for funders to offer clients an early switch into a new car on a new PCP agreement.

The same can be said of used vehicle prices. If they were to fall we could rapidly get to the stage where early switching becomes a thing of the past and equity disappears, leaving your employees moaning that they have to find another deposit for their next PCP agreement.

In fact, used vehicle prices don’t have to fall for this to happen. Even if they remained static we could see early switching and high equity disappearing. That is because high equity doesn't come about because prices are high, it comes about when prices are rising at a rate that was not antici‐ pated when the GFMV was being set.

Used vehicle prices are at high levels today. If they were to stay static for three years, PCP customers can expect to have some equity at the end of their PCP agreement, but only the amount that the funder initially anticipated (£600 in the above example). Prices would need to have risen faster over those three years than the funder anticipated for any more equity to be created, or for there to be a chance of the funder offering to switch the customer into a new agreement before the end of the agreement.

So, is PCP a good product? For the consumer, yes. It’s much better than conventional hire purchase, because PCP includes the balloon amount which reduces the monthly payment (and isn’t payable at all unless the customer wants to retain the vehicle). It gives the consumer a ‘heads they win, tails they can’t lose’ bet on the used car price. But there is no guarantee that the consumer will get their deposit back.

fleetworld.co.uk / 59

MARKET OVERVIEW Fleet Management Software

Bynx

Chevin Fleet Solutions

Bynx is a market-leading developer of software solutions for vehicle management. bynxFLEET enables leasing, fleet management and rental operators to manage vehicles, contracts, transactions and drivers and control inlife costs. Customers are able to retain asset value and engage with stakeholders online. bynxFLEET provides a platform, plus the tools and applications required, to run every aspect of a vehicle business whether the fleet is owned or managed. The product utilises functionality to automate and streamline processing and enables greater productivity, efficiency and utilisation. bynxNET improves the user experience and communication between dealers, customers, suppliers and drivers by bringing it all online.

With 25 years of fleet management software expertise, Chevin Fleet Solutions provides fleet operations with the right tools to effectively manage their vehicle, asset and driver information, streamlining processes into one intelligent integrated solution. Their award winning software, Chevin FleetWave®, has one of the most comprehensive module offerings available on the market. Increasing the visibility of KPI’s, paired with advanced control of procedures, clever automation, alerts and reminders. Extremely flexible configurations are designed to meet the demands of any operation from any sector looking for solutions to significantly improve their operational efficiency, reduce administrative resource, ensure compliance and risk requirements, and highlight ongoing cost savings.

Contact: Gary Jefferies sales @bynx.com

Tel: 01789 471600 www.bynx.com

Drive Software Solutions Limited

Civica UK Ltd Tranman fleet software has a proven track record for enabling fleet managers to achieve cost and utilisation benefits through improved management information and analysis. With over 500 customers built up over 30 years, Tranman is a leader in a number of markets.

Customers include large commercial fleet operators, 90% of police forces, 40% of fire brigades and over 100 local authorities.

Contact: Jonathan Roberts jonathan.roberts@civica.co.uk www.civica.co.uk/tranman

Tel: 07773 814277

Jaama’s market leading, multi award winning Key2 system is a totally integrated vehicle, asset and driver management solution covering everything from owning to disposing of vehicles, plant and asset related equipment. Recent enhancements include: EDS – a repository for fleet information allowing drivers (company car and grey fleet) to submit expense claims on-line and keep personal and vehicle data up to date as well as reducing administration for fleet managers and providing a fully auditable duty of care trail. Jaama continue to invest heavily to ensure the world’s only web based fleet system to use next generation .Net Microsoft ‘Smart Client’ technology – Key2 – remains visibly and functionally years ahead of the market. Designed for all fleet sizes and budgets, Jaama links users live to data providers, customers, suppliers, vehicle telematics and the DVLA.

60 / fleetworld.co.uk

DRIVE Fleet Management and Leasing software is a single generic product applicable to vehicle management requirements worldwide and which represents over 150 man-years of development by our software experts.

DRIVE is a proven product our policy of continuous product enhancements and DRIVE’s modular structure enables it to be configured to meet the precise and unique needs of each of our clients. This has been enhanced with our managed service host offering DRIVE-Direct.

DRIVE is used throughout the world by leading vehicle leasing companies, major vehicle manufacturers, and other operators of large fleets to whom we continue to provide additional services and on-going 24/7 support.

Contact: Simon West-Oliver Tel: +44 (0)1438 317731 simon.west-oliver@drivesoftwaresolutions.com www.drivesoftwaresolutions.com

Jaama

Contact: Ellie Whiten enquiries@jaama.co.uk

Contact: David Gladding Tel: 01773 821992 David.gladding@chevinfleet.com www.chevinfleet.com

Tel: 0844 8484 333 www.jaama.co.uk

Friday 23rd October 2015 www.vanfleetworldlive.co.uk

FLEETW RLD

Do you offer software that calculates EV wholelife costs (inc work/home charging) ?

Is your system suitable for multiple-user networking?

Do you provide on-line P11D submissions to HMRC?

Does your system permit electronic download of data from suppliers?

Does your fleet software provide electronic supplier invoice reconciliation?

Does your system include a vehicle order tracking function?

Does your fleet software provide on-line grey fleet management?

Does your system include a fuel management module?

Does your system allow users to design their own reports?

Does your system use exception reporting?

Does your system integrate with external telematics systems?

Do you offer a KPI dashboard?

Is it smartphone and/ or tablet compatible?

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Chevin Fleet Solutions

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Drive Software Solutions Limited

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Sofico NV

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Sofico NV Sofico is an international software provider with 27 years of experience in the industry. Sofico manages to make a difference through innovation and technological leadership. We have a solid reputation in the market due to our extensive know-how.

Through continuous strategic investment our software solution, Miles, always evolves with the market both in terms of technology and functionality. Sofico employs 175 people across its offices in Belgium, France, Australia and Japan and has customers in 17 countries. Our systems help manage over 1 million vehicles worldwide.

Contact: Jan Bouckaert cm@sofico.be

Tel: +32 9 210 80 40 www.sofico.be

Teletrac, a Trafficmaster Company Teletrac’s Fleet Director® is the most advanced and interactive fleet automation software on the market, equipped with easy-to-use navigation and safety capabilities. With innovative features that include on-board navigation, lane guidance and two-way messaging, it is the premier software for fleet tracking intelligence. Tracking more than 250,000 vehicles globally, Teletrac saves fleet owners time and money while reducing their carbon footprint. Teletrac customers report up to 30% lower fuel usage, an average of 15% less driver overtime, 12% higher productivity and less unauthorised vehicle use.

Contact: Mark O’Neill fleetsales@teletrac.co.uk

Tel: 0345 604 8813 www.teletrac.co.uk

fleetworld.co.uk / 61

advertisement feature

Delivering your servicing, maintenance, and repair needs With over 500 independent garage and bodyshop vendors spread across the UK, ARI’s Masterserve network offers many business benefits for both end-user fleets as well as vendors.

R

enowned for its client-focused and innovative fleet services across the globe, ARI is also becoming increasingly distinguished for its UK network of independent garage and bodyshop vendors, branded Masterserve.

Founded in 1948 by Holman Automotive Group, ARI has grown into the largest privately held vehicle fleet management services company in the world. With offices throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the UK and Europe, ARI manages more than 1.1 million vehicles in these countries and, combined with its global associates, more than two million vehicles worldwide.

In line with its distinguished heritage, Chippenhambased ARI offers a comprehensive fleet services portfolio, marked out by award-winning fleet control and reporting technology.

This includes the Masterserve network, which provides service, maintenance and repairs for cars, commercial and specialist vehicles.

For end-user fleets, the service can bring numerous time and cost-saving advantages backed up by the security of dealing with approved and audited vendors. To qualify for Masterserve approved status a vendor must pass the company’s stringent assessment process and adhere to its Masterserve Fair Trade Charter.

ARI’s continued investment in Masterserve allows it to deliver the highest levels of performance against the most stringent service levels and KPIs, whilst minimising downtime, maximising cost savings and ensuring the best levels of satisfaction.

From the client perspective, there are numerous benefits to the service, including vastly reduced administration compared to managing SMRs in-house. These include:

1. Masterserve Assist (breakdown and recovery).

2. Single phone number for bookings.

3. In-house control centre open 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.

4. Mobile servicing.

5. Masterview remote visual verification.

6. Industry standard timing.

7. Annual safety checks.

8. MOT/O licence administration.

9. Consolidated invoicing.

10. Guaranteed full compliance with manufacturers’ service and repair schedules.

“For end-user fleets, Masterserve can bring numerous time and cost-saving benefits.”

As fleets continue to focus on driving down costs, Masterserve can also provide numerous cost-saving initiatives including fixed price labour and parts, free collection and delivery plus agreed authorisation parameters, ensuring that fleets remain in control of their own maintenance costs.

The network also provides key benefits for independent garage and bodyshop vendors looking to sign up a service renowned for its focus on customer service, quality, reliability and professionalism.

For more details, please contact us at 0844 8000 700, email us at vendorrelations@arifleet.co.uk or visit vms.arifleet.co.uk

our fleet Audi Q3 1.4 TFSI SE CoD 150hp S-tronic

THE SUV phenomenon intrigues me. My experience over the years suggests that passengers really like them, probably because the longer travel suspension than conventional cars gives them a comfortable ride, while friends of my teenage offspring describe the Q3 as “cool”. I know someone else who recently bought a very similar spec Q3 for himself and someone else who is thinking of downsizing his Mercedes CLS and has the Q3 on his shopping list of potential replacements.

The key to the Q3’s appeal is probably that it had a good chassis in the first place. I remember its impressive road behaviour at launch a few years ago. So if you take the combination of a car that handles well and add in a few more comfort features then the chances are that you can keep driver and passengers happy and that’s what the Q3 can do.

Mileage has now exceeded 5,000 and they have proved to be fairly effortless, or as effortless

as you want them to be. When I want to take control of the gear changes, I can choose manual mode and use the paddle shifts to pick my own gear changes. Or I can choose sport mode for brisk performance, or efficiency mode when I want to do my bit to save the planet. The TFSI engine can trickle along on a whiff of throttle or deliver the necessary punch when needed. Cylinder-on-demand makes a noticeable difference to consumption when it cuts in, but it doesn’t take much of an incline to switch back to four-cylinder operation.

I got into a discussion with another journalist recently about Audi’s MMI for controlling the infotainment system and we both agreed that it’s probably one of the best. Touchscreens have their benefits but the drawback is the finger marks that rapidly accumulate. No such problem with the Audi.

John Kendall

OTR PRICE £26,275 POWER 150bhp @ 5,000–6,000rpm TORQUE 184lb.ft @ 1,500–3,500rpm 0-62MPH 8.9 seconds TOP SPEED 126mph COMBINED MPG 47.9mpg CO2 138g/km (22% BiK)

the figures

Kia Carens 1.7 CRDi “2” Manual A recent work event gave me a rare chance to sit in the back of our Kia Carens, letting a colleague take over the driving seat instead.

And whilst I spent most of the journey scrabbling around to tidy the car of the various detritus left behind by my kids, it

did give me a chance to appreciate the space in the rear. Even with a taller driver behind the wheel, there was plenty of leg and headroom, and it wasn’t even too much of a squash with three in the back.

Thankfully though I didn’t have to demonstrate my courteous side and sit in the rearmost seats, as I know from experience that these are best left to the kids. However, just in case we gained any extra passengers, I’d cleared the boot out from the buggy and various other paraphernalia that I always carry around to cater for any emergencies. I am always

very appreciative of the Carens’ 492-litre boot (rising to 1,650) that swallows anything and everything that I throw at it.

The low loading sill is also a bonus. And I like the fact that despite its passenger and load-carrying abilities, the Carens never feels cumbersome to manoeuvre.

I’ve still not made much of the flipdown centre seat in the second row though – not only does this feature cupholders and a table on the rear that could come in pretty handy but its ability to separate two permanently warring kids could provide blissful as well.

Natalie Middleton

fleetworld.co.uk / 63

our fleet BMW 330d M Sport Auto IN this sector, it’s increasingly obvious there’s a battle between two separate philosophies.

On the one hand, you have the Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which although they might claim otherwise (no doubt you’ll find the words ‘sporty’ and ‘agile’ liberally

sprinkled through promotional material), are steady, comfortable cars.

On the other side, there is the new Jaguar XE and BMW 3 Series, which are genuinely fun to drive. In fact, the Jaguar is a revelation on this front.

Thing is, what do company car drivers really crave? They might claim to want sportiness, but on those long drags from meeting to meeting along interminable motorways, comfort and the latest infotainment tech become much bigger priorities.

Having driven this 330d for a few months, I reckon BMW has the balance just about right. It is fabulous fun for those

very rare moments, but for day-to-day living, it rides beautifully, the powertrain is smooth and flexible, the seats are exemplary and at your fingertips is ConnectedDrive, and all the benefits that brings.

Bearing in mind the fact the 3 Series is due an imminent facelift, the two areas in which it could really do with an upgrade are the dash –against the C-Class and Jag it looks a bit fussy and dated – and BMW needs to regain its lead in CO2 output. Halfway through its life, there really is very little that needs fixing with the 3 Series, and in a sector of huge strength, it goes to show what a superb car it is.

Steve Moody

Mazda CX-5 THINKING back to a decade ago, to the era of the anti-4x4 movement, and it’s incredible thinking how much the market has changed with the arrival of the crossover. Granted, the latest generation are essentially raised hatchbacks usually sold without four-wheel drive, but they’re now an essential part of a model range.

At the end of April, the one millionth CX-5 left its production line, just under three and a half years since it began manufacturing the car. Still competitive on fuel consumption and CO2, it’s also a huge part of the brand’s rising fleet sales – particularly with user-choosers – in the UK. I’m definitely in line with market tastes in that – given the choice – I’d always opt for the higher driving position of a crossover compared to the low-slung agility of a conventional hatchback.

What’s really impressed me with Mazda’s offering is that I’m getting similar fuel economy to the Mazda3 it replaced, and it feels as stable on the road.

64 / fleetworld.co.uk

the figures But Mazda has form making its larger cars feel driver focused. In Sport Nav spec, the added trick the CX-5 pulls is benchmarking a higher standard of cabin aesthetics than previousgeneration Mazdas were best known for.

Our car is in Sport Nav spec and, at over £27,000, it has to make a case for itself against the German premium brands, as well as volume models and aggressively priced Koreans. Softtouch plastic in the dashboard and excellent seats, trimmed in soft cream leather in our car, mean it really does feel like an upmarket product.

Particularly as it’s also generously equipped.

So a few months into my time with it, and I’m finding the CX-5 fulfills all requirements. It’s bigger than the 3, I love the high driving position, and yet it lacks none of the fun factor which made the Mazda3 a pleasure to travel with. No wonder it’s selling so well.

Anne Dopson

OTR PRICE £27,195 POWER 148bhp @ 4,500rpm TORQUE 280lb.ft @ 1,800–2,600rpm 0-62mph 9.2seconds TOP SPEED 126mph COMBINED MPG 61.4mpg CO2 119g/km (19% BiK)

Peugeot 308 SW Blue HDi 120 Active

Lexus NX 300h Luxury FEW people actually enjoy driving in heavy traffic. But there are certain factors that can make it – if not entirely agreeable – then at least bearable. The petrol/electric drivetrain on our Lexus NX 300h is an example of this.

Fitted to a CVT automatic gearbox, the hybrid system makes the most of the electric motor in Stop/Start situations and its smoothness and refinement are a real bonus in a long jam. Add the fact that as well as being very quiet, it’s burning no fuel and hence not emitting harmful gases, and you have the brought virtue to an otherwise unpleasant experience.

Ross Durkin

Renault Captur Dynamique dCi 90 I think deputy editor Grant was right in his assertion the other day that the Captur is just as good, if not better to drive, than the latest, greatest Clio, which is high praise indeed.

It also goes some way to explain why the compact crossover is proving a successful seller for Renault in the UK. That and the 76.3mpg possible from its frugal 1.5 dCi diesel engine and the resultant 17% BiK and 95g/km of CO2. In fact, the only downsides to our Dynamique are the lack of parking sensors (it’s very easy to park anyway) and no heated seats, which isn’t an issue this time of year anyway.

Luke Wikner

EVEN before the so-called ‘demonisation of diesel’ took hold, driven by concerns over NOx and particulates emissions, there was a growing sense that modern petrol engines were enjoying a new lease of life in the fleet sector.

While diesel may still hold the trump card for outright fuel economy, petrol units are closing the gap, and their cheaper front-end prices often mean that they make more financial sense for certain company car drivers.

Take our 308 SW Active long-termer, powered by a Blue HDi 1.6-litre diesel engine. With claimed fuel economy of 88.3mpg (we’ve averaged 55mpg during our time with it) and CO2 emissions of 118g/km, it ticks the boxes in terms of frugaility. But for £1,200 less, I could be driving a petrol-powered equivalent in the form of the 1.2 PureTech 130 model. While fuel economy is lower (a claimed 60.1mpg), this clever little threecylinder unit is still fairly clean, emitting 128g/km. The latter figure means both models fall into the 16% benefitin-kind tax banding (the diesel has a 3% surcharge), so the petrol 308 works out at £37 a year cheaper in company car tax. Granted, that’s not a vast amount in the grand scheme of things, but every penny helps...

And while the petrol may have the slight edge for tax (it is also £25 a year cheaper in terms of Employers’ Class 1A National Insurance Contributions), it also delivers a better drive on the road. In place of the diesel’s low-end ‘surge and shift’ driving style, the petrol 308 feels zingy and agile, helped by the off-beat sound of its threecylinder engine. It makes for a more relaxing companion in urban driving, which is ideal for the sort of low mileage driver who would be more suited to the petrol.

As for the high-mileage drivers, the diesel still has the edge and the 1.6 unit in our 308 has proved to be refined and fairly frugal – as mentioned, our average has been 55mpg but it’s time with us has seen a marked split between its high-mileage, motorway-bound first keeper and myself, who has driven the car a lot more on shorter, start-stop urban journeys.

Julian Kirk

fleetworld.co.uk / 65

our fleet Volvo V40 D4 R-Design Lux Nav OUR V40 has almost every option fitted, but after six months and more than 10,000 miles, what boxes would we tick?

The D4 diesel engine comes with a fullfat 190hp, which gets the thumbs up. Fleet managers might be nervous about that output in a small family hatch, but it really is a peach, with effortless acceleration at any speed.

Volvo claims up to 74.3mpg should be possible, though a high of 57.5mpg with three adults and luggage on board was fine by me. In local use the V40 regularly hits low to mid-50s and a commendably low 99g/km of CO2, results in just 17% BiK. R-Design Lux spec might cause an intake of breath, but it is very well equipped, with leather trim, climate, cruise, Active Bending

Xenon lights, 17-inch alloys and a host of safety aids. The Lux Winter Pack (£350) is also a must, with heated front screen and front seats.

The Xenium Pack (£2,000) is a little harder to justify, offering rear parking assist, Park Assist Pilot, a fixed panoramic roof and powered seats with memory for the driver.

Duty of care might push your pen towards the Driver Support Pack (£1,900) though, including BLIS blindspot warning, cross traffic alert and rear collision mitigation, plus LDW+DAC active high beam and adaptive cruise control. We would give the exterior styling kit (£645) a miss.

Volvo’s V40 is a very comfortable way to cover the miles, without taxing the wallet too much. But you do need to watch those options.

Dan Gilkes

SUPPLIER

DIRECTORY electric vehicle charging Ensto UK Ltd Tel: +44 7432 701524 ensto.com/chago

accident management Total Accident Management Tel: 0845 078 4157 www.totalaccman.co.uk

Selsia Vehicle Accident Centres Ltd

Tel: 0845 468 6800 www.selsia-vac.co.uk

fast fits & tyres

Volkswagen Golf GTD STOP all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead Scribbling on the sky the message “The Golf GTD is gone.”

Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves, Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

It was, quite literally, our North, our South, our East and West, Our working week and our Sunday rest, Our noon, our midnight, our talk, our song; We thought that love would last forever: We were wrong.

might say lazy) way to file a final report on our long-term VW Golf GTD, yet somehow it resonates how we actually feel about losing this trusted and loyal member of the team.

A year ago, when we were first given custodianship of this five-door hatchback, our expectations were possibly higher than other cars we currently run on our fleet. After all, the Golf is not without one or two pieces of silverware in its trophy cabinet. But now, over 15,000 miles later, not only has it exceeded all our expectations, the legacy it leaves behind will be difficult to match or even better.

So farewell Golf GTD, you served us well and your presence will be sorely missed.

Danny Cobbs

ATS Euromaster Tel: 0870 066 3624 www.atseuromaster.co.uk

fleet insurance insureFLEET Tel: 0333 202 3133 www.insurefleet.com

Bond Lovis Insurance Brokers Tel: 08000 113 444 www.bondlovis.co.uk

Bluedrop Services Ltd Tel: 01706 658608 www.bluedropservices.co.uk

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one, Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun, Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Meddling around with WH Auden’s lament for the dead may seem like a cheap (and some

66 / fleetworld.co.uk

driver licence checking Jaama Tel: 0844 8484 333 www.jaama.co.uk

FLEETW RLD SUPPLIER DIRECTORY contract hire, leasing & finance Lex Autolease

Tel: 0845 769 7381 www.lexautolease.co.uk Total Leasing Solutions for your business

daily rental

risk management

fleet management software

Budget Rent-a-Car Tel: 0844 5338 08701544 56 56 56 www.budget.co.uk

ARI Fleet UK Tel: 0844 8000 700 www.arifleet.co.uk

Chevin Fleet Solutions Tel: 01773 821 992 www.chevinfleet.com

Arnold Clark Car & Van Rental Tel: 01786 468 700 www.arnoldclarkrental.com

MAC GB Ltd Tel: 01745 828180 www.reduceroadrisk.com

Bynx Tel: 01789 471600 www.bynx.com

Thrifty Car & Van Rental Tel: 01494 751 550

AA DriveTech Tel: 01256 495732

www.thrifty.co.uk

www.AAdrivetech.com/fleetsafe

Civica Tranman Tel: 01454 874002 www.civica.co.uk/tranman

Telephone 0113 250 0060

www.jct600vehicleleasingsolutions.co.uk

Arnold Clark Vehicle Management

Contract Hire a Car Tel: 0370 218 8015 www.contracthireacar.com

Tel: 0845 603 4590 www.acvm.co.uk Vehicle Management

Promote your company here and online for just £500/year.

Fleet Alliance Tel: 0845 601 8407 www.fleetalliance.co.uk

Pendle Vehicle Contracts Tel: 08456 025697 www.pendlelease.co.uk

Zenith Tel: 0844 848 9311 www.zenith.co.uk

DriveTech

Europcar Tel: 0116 217 3530 www.europcar.co.uk

Interactive Driving Systems Tel: 01484 551060

Enterprise Software Tel: 0161 925 2400 www.essl.co.uk

www.virtualriskmanager.net

sgfleet Tel: 0845 154 0721 www.sgfleet.com

Maxxia 020 7520 9450 www.maxxia.co.uk

www.volkswagengroupleasing.co.uk

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tel: 01784 221 300 www.enterprise.co.uk

IAM Drive & Survive Tel: 0870 120 2910 www.iamdriveandsurvive.co.uk

Venson Automotive Solutions Tel: 08444 99 1402 www.venson.com

Full listings online at fleetworld.co.uk

Roadmarque Tel: 01792 824438 www.roadmarque.com

Volkswagen Group Leasing Tel: 0870 333 2229

Drive Software Solutions Tel: 01438 317731 www.drivesoftwaresolutions.com

Sofico Tel:0121 288 5935/07815 601622

www.soficoservices.com

SMR Alphabet (GB) Limited Tel: 0870 50 50 100 www.alphabet.co.uk

Tel: 0845 815 0019 www.dayscontracthire.co.uk

FLEETW RLD FLEETW RLD November 2014

November 2014

All that matters in

the world of fleet

All that matters in the world of fleet

Autoserve Limited Tel: 0844 888 3001 www.autoserve.co.uk

Cardinus Risk Management Tel: 01733 426015 www.cardinus.com

Jaama Tel: 0844 8484 333 www.jaama.co.uk

Full listings online at fleetworld.co.uk

Bill Plant Ltd Tel: 01765 645023

Full listings online at fleetworld.co.uk

interview

Michael O’Shea of

interview Michael O’Shea of Volkswagen

Volkswagen

stopping power

Why fleets should

stopping power Why fleets should check their brakes

check their brakes

www.billplant.co.uk

fuel management

misfuelling MODE MODEL PUPIL LPUPIL Behind the wheel

of Tesla’s remarkable

Model S

Behind the wheel of Tesla’s remarkable Model S

2014 2014 MPG Marathon 100mpg in real-world driving from a C-segment estate? The UK’s premier economy event sees if it’s possible...

MPG Marathon

100mpg in real-world driving from a C-segment estate?

The UK’s premier economy event sees if it’s possible...

AFF Tel: 0844 879 4770 www.autofuelfix.com

For more information, please contact Tracy Howell on 01727 739160 or email

The Fuelcard Company Tel: 0845 073 0873 www.fuelcards.co.uk

fleetworld.co.uk fleetworld.co.uk

tracy@fleetworldgroup.co.uk

telematics & tracking

BOX Telematics Tel: 0330 333 4118 www.boxtelematics.com

Tel: 0845 055 8555 Ctrack www.ctrack.co.uk

TRACKER Network UK Limited Tel: 0845 602 3981 www.TRACKER.co.uk

BP Oil UK Ltd Tel: 0845 603 0723 www.bpplus.co.uk

Teletrac, a Trafficmaster company Tel: 0345 604 8813 www.teletrac.co.uk

Trakm8 Tel: 0330 333 4120 www.trakm8.com

Telogis Tel: 0203 005 8805 www.telogis.co.uk

Promote your company here and online for just £500/year.

Shell Fuelcards Tel: 0800 915 6021 www.shell.co.uk/euroshell

Navman Wireless UK Ltd Tel: 0845 521 1188 www.navmanwireless.co.uk

Fleetmatics Tel: 0800 975 4566 www.fleetmatics.co.uk

Quartix Ltd Tel: 0870 013 6663 www.quartix.co.uk

MiX Telematics Europe Tel: 0121 717 5360 www.mixtelematics.co.uk

Esso Fuel Cards Tel: 0800 626 672 www.essocard.com

fleetworld.co.uk / 67

WE KEEP INNOVATING SO YOU KEEP GOING.

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VAN

July 2015

FLEETW RLD

p74 Despite the similar looks the sixth generation Transporter is heavily revised beneath the skin.

at a glance driven...

Volkswagen Transporter

plus...

Risk management, driver licence checks INTERVIEW Andy Lawson, Mercedes-Benz Vans

Friday 23rd October 2015 ArenaMK

Register for the show at... vanfleetworldlive.co.uk vanfleetworld.co.uk

inbusiness

inshort bitesize stories from a month in the van fleet world...

VC3 shows carbon cost

Ford delivers fuel boost

F

ord is to introduce a Euro 6 stan‐ dard 1.5‐litre TDCi diesel engine in Transit Connect, promising fuel economy of up to 74.3mpg and emis‐ sions of just 99g/km in ECOnetic trim.

That represents a 6% improvement over the current 1.6‐litre engine.

The engine will be launched first in ECOnetic trim this summer, offer‐ ing 100hp and 250Nm of torque, up from 95hp and 230Nm on the current model. In the Spring of next year additional power ratings will be offered to replace the existing 1.6‐litre engines that currently deliver 75hp, 95hp and 115hp.

Ford will continue to offer the 1.0‐litre EcoBoost petrol engine, producing 100hp and 170Nm. Transit Connect will also be the irst van in the Ford line‐up to be offered with a host of new technologies.

These include: • Traffic Sign Recognition, to provide the driver with speed limits and over‐ taking restriction information.

• Blind Spot Information System, to alert the driver to passing vehicles on either side of the van that might be hidden in the blind spot.

• Lane Keeping Alert and Lane Keep‐ ing Aid, working together to prevent the driver drifting out of lane.

• Auto High Beam, automatically switching between high and dipped beam headlights.

• SYNC 2, using a high resolution six‐ inch colour touchscreen with voice activation of audio, navigation, climate control and mobile phone functions.

• My Key, allows fleet operators to programme a key to restrict the vehi‐ cle’s top speed and reduce maximum audio volume.

Caddy pricing shows added spec

V

olkswagen has announced pricing for the new Caddy van range, ahead of its UK introduction in September. Prices start at £13,500 for the C20 Startline model with a 75hp engine. Caddy will be available in three trim levels, Startline, Trendline and Highline in both short wheelbase and Maxi bodies.

All models have electric windows and heated electric wing mirrors, DAB+ audio with Bluetooth connectivity and a five‐inch touchscreen, a lockable glove box plus front, side and curtain airbags for both driver and passenger.

Trendline prices start at £15,670, adding wheel covers, body colour bumpers, door handles and wing mirrors, rear parking sensors, cruise control, driver’s lumbar support, underseat storage and a multi‐function display.

The range‐topping Highline models start at £16,650 and come with alloy wheels, front fogs and daytime running lights, air conditioning, a heated front screen, auto dimming rear‐view mirror, Cat 1 alarm and rain sensing wipers.

Caddy will continue to be offered with three Euro 5 engines offering 75, 102 and 140hp. A 2.0‐litre Euro 6 102hp engine will also be available from launch.

70 / vanfleetworld.co.uk

Cenex, the UK’s Centre of Excellence for low carbon technologies, has released an online tool that computes the economic and environmental performance of diesel, electric, gas and stop-start van technologies. Called Van Cost & Carbon Calculator, or VC3, it aims to help fleet decision makers to assess the feasibility of incorporating low carbon vans into their fleets.

VC3 allows users to specify van size, driving habits, annual mileage and ownership period, providing a cost and carbon comparison relative to a diesel van. Fleet managers can access VC3 at www.vc3.cenex.co.uk/compare

Revised van insurance groups The insurance group rating system for LCVs is to be restructured next year, with an increase to 30 groups.

Thatcham Research, which administers the insurance rating process on behalf of the Association of British Insurers, will change from the existing 20 group system to 30 groups on January 1, 2016.

The move reflects a similar change in car groups in 2009, and will allow each van model to be more accurately banded with vehicles of similar characteristics. This will make it easier to reflect additional factors including the presence of driver assistance systems such as Autonomous Emergency Braking.

“The new system takes into account all pertinent factors and also now seeks to encourage and reward manufacturers for the standard fitment of innovative crash avoidance systems,” said senior group rating manager Howard Barron.

“This new technology is already proving to be effective in reducing accidents for cars where standard fitment is increasing.”

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Volkswagen Transporter Improved fuel consumption and car tech boost VW's sixth-generation Transporter, says Dan Gilkes.

T

he latest Volkswagen Transporter may look very similar to its prede‐ cessor, but beneath the sharper exte‐ rior, with its hewn from solid lines and sparkly LED lights, the company has made some big changes. The main one of course is the arrival of Euro 6 engines, though until they become compulsory next September, the company will continue to offer the existing range of Euro 5 motors at 84hp, 102hp, 140hp and in bi‐turbo form, 180hp.

However all engines now come as stan‐ dard with BlueMotion Technology, includ‐ ing Start/Stop, regenerative braking and low rolling resistance tyres. This results in up to a 15% fuel saving compared to the previous model.

There will be a 102hp Euro 6 engine on offer from launch however, as the 102hp currently accounts for 75% of UK sales, adding £1,020 to the price. This delivers 47.9mpg against the Euro 5 engine’s 42.2mpg, dropping CO2 emissions from 176g/km to just 153g/km.

Euro 6 engines use Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR), with a 13‐litre AdBlue tank accessed through the same flap as the diesel tank. To offset the additional weight of the tank and the dosing system, VW has dropped the fuel tank size from 80 to 70 litres, though the larger tank will be avail‐ able as an option. Given the 15% improve‐ ment in fuel consumption, this shouldn’t have a major effect on operating range.

Next year there will also be a 150hp Euro 6 engine to replace the 140hp and the range‐topping 180hp motor will become a 204hp at Euro 6. Lower powered engines

74 / vanfleetworld.co.uk

what we think Despite the similar looks the new Transporter is heavily revised beneath the skin. A host of driver assistance tech and a cleaner, more powerful driveline should keep demand high.

specification MODEL T28 102hp Trendline SWB Euro 6 BASIC PRICE £21,175 ENGINE 4-cyl/1,968cc FUEL INJECTION Common-rail POWER 102hp @ 3,000–3,750rpm TORQUE 250Nm @ 1,500–2,500rpm Weights (kg) GVW 2,800 KERB WEIGHT 1,887 PAYLOAD 913 MAX TRAILER WEIGHT 2,200 Dimensions (mm) LOAD SPACE LENGTH 2,572 LOAD SPACE WIDTH 1,700 LOAD SPACE HEIGHT 1,410 LOAD VOLUME 4.3m3 Cost considerations COMBINED CO2/MPG 175g/km/42.2 mpg

have five‐speed manual gearboxes, while the two more powerful engines come with a choice of six‐speed manual or seven‐ speed DSG transmissions. The 140hp and 180hp engines can also be combined with 4Motion all‐wheel drive if required.

Transporter also bene its from much of the latest technology seen in Volkswagen’s cars, with Active Cruise Control (ACC), Lane Change Assist, Automatic Post‐Collision Braking and High Beam Assist all making an appearance for the irst time in a Volkswagen van.

There are also Kombi double cab models, while the more car‐like Caravelle and Shut‐ tle minibus get Euro 6 engines across the board from now.

If the van looks familiar at the front, things are pretty much unchanged in the working end. Volkswagen continues to offer Transporter in two wheelbases, with three roof heights and two seating combinations, delivering load volumes of 5.8‐9.3m3 and payloads of up to 1,331kg.

You can also have the Transporter in dou‐ ble cab Kombi configuration, with two wheelbase options and two seating layouts.

Load volumes are 3.5‐4.4m3, with a maxi‐ mum payload of 1,224kg.

The van retains the same internal dimen‐ sions as the previous model and racking should be transferable from old to new.

Volkswagen will continue to offer the vans in Startline, Trendline and Highline trim levels, with a UK‐specific Sportline expected to join the line‐up later.

All models now come with Bluetooth, DAB with a five‐inch touchscreen and USB connectivity.

INTERVIEW Andy Lawson, Mercedes-Benz Vans

Star Treatment Following a successful Van Experience Live, Dan Gilkes talks to Andy Lawson, head of strategic accounts at Mercedes-Benz Vans.

W

ith over 200 vans available to test drive, both on and off the road, this year’s Mercedes‐Benz Van Experi‐ ence Live welcomed more than 2,000 visitors over a two week period. It provided a chance for customers to try the full LCV line‐up and an opportunity to find out more about Mercedes‐Benz Finance and the many aftercare services that the company has to offer.

“We’re moving away from being simply a transactional manufacturer, to being a partner. Customers are looking to see what Mercedes‐Benz can do for their business,” said Andy Lawson, strategic accounts manager at Mercedes‐Benz Vans.

“We’re helping our customers to serve their customers better.”

Up to 75% of the company’s vans are sold to fleets, in the UK with Sprinter in particular a popular choice for business users.

Indeed nine of the top 10 parcel delivery companies use Sprinter and every UK ambulance trust has Mercedes’ biggest van on its fleets.

On a warm summer’s day, Mercedes‐Benz Vans’ managing director Steve Bridge was also delighted to report that appar‐ ently eight out of 10 ice cream vans are now based on a Sprinter chassis too. More importantly, Sprinter is also making in‐roads into construction, plant hire and a number of less traditional market sectors.

Mercedes remains keen to push both new Vito and Citan into the fleet sector too. Improvements in fuel economy are seeing growing interest in the new Vito in particular, but there are plenty of opportunities for the company.

“We’ve still got a lot of customers buying Sprinter, but not Vito and Citan,” said Mr Lawson.

“Citan is still an area of focus for us. But benefits in fuel economy are making whole life costs more competitive and there is a lot of high profile interest in new Vito. Even rental companies are saying that the fuel economy is good and that puts us in a market that can compete with Transit Custom and Transporter.”

However Mercedes’ focus is not just on the vehicles. The company, which has put all of it’s LCV staff through the FTA’s Van Excellence programme, is set to partner with the Freight Transport Association to offer a range of driver training pack‐ ages. These would start with e‐learning modules, with one‐day training lessons available at a later date.

“I can see a driver package, a company package and a market

segment package being available,” said Mr Lawson.

Mercedes has already sponsored a driver training academy at frozen food provider Iceland, and Lawson would like to see this eventually leading to a food distribution ‘passport’ that would allow drivers to move between providers without having to re‐train each time.

Mercedes’ dealers are also very much involved in providing this improved service to customers. Many of the dealers are working towards the firm’s VanPro Centre accreditation, with seven market areas covered at present and up to 14 areas due to be covered by the end of the year.

Mercedes‐Benz Finance now funds one in three of the company’s vans, lending more than £253m to UK customers in 2014, up from £53m in 2007. In April of this year Mercedes‐Benz Vans also took used van sales in‐house, away from the irm’s truck division, delivering improved budgeting for customers.

The company is building upon its repair and maintenance service across the UK too, with parcel delivery company DPD recently putting 3,500 Sprinters into service contracts thanks to the improved levels of back‐up on offer.

“It’s been a bit of a shock to the system for dealers, as histor‐ ically they were just retail or big fleet businesses. Now they have to be more proactive,” said Mr Lawson.

“But dealers are really embracing it. We and the dealer network are making the initial investment, but we’re seeing added loyalty and we will see additional sales. Now we need to take that to the next level and increase our ‘share of wallet’.”

VITO - benefits in fuel economy are making whole life costs more competitive.

vanfleetworld.co.uk / 75

NO JOB TOO BIG

MOVANO FACTORY CONVERSIONS Whatever your trade demands, no job is too big for the Vauxhall Movano.

With tipper, dropside and Luton models available, the Movano is big on choice.

And because every Movano comes with a full 3 year/100,000 mile warranty, whichever model you choose, it will be fit for purpose.

COMMERCIAL VEHICLES The Wheels of Business 3 Years Warranty up to 100,000 miles. The warranty will expire when the vehicle has reached either 3 years or when the mileage limit has been exceeded, whichever occurs first. The warranty includes Vauxhall’s tear and serviceable items, and the vehicle has to be serviced in accordance with the manufacturer’s servicing schedule. Terms and conditions apply. Available at participating Retailers only. Warranty only available

WI N N E R Best Van Chassis Derivative

For more information call 0845 740 0777 or visit www.vauxhall.co.uk/vans standard Customer Care Commitment of a one-year unlimited mileage manufacturer’s warranty and a second and third year manufacturer’s warranty with 100 000 mile limitation. The warranty excludes wear and on vehicles sourced from General Motors UK Limited. Full details available from your Vauxhall Commercial Retailer.

FEATURE Rental

Paper pains Does the abolition of the paper counterpart to the UK driving licence change the way in which you hire a van? Dan Gilkes checks the small print.

A

s promised, the Government axed the paper coun‐ terpart of the UK driving licence on 8 June, an event closely followed by the inevitable meltdown of the DVLA website the following day. This in turn caused panic among holidaymakers, worried about picking up a hire car at the airport without a paper counterpart to prove their lack of points.

To be fair, from 8‐14 June the DVLA’s View Driving Licence website received 264,000 hits, generating 133,000 codes that week. So teething problems aside, the paper part of the licence is no more and companies wish‐ ing to check drivers’ penalty points and licence entitle‐ ments will need to access that DVLA database before handing over the keys to a van or truck.

Fleet managers will have systems in place to check their own drivers for company‐owned vehicles or for rental vehicles that are covered under their company insurance.

Potential difficulties may arise however from agency driv‐ ers, or when spot renting vehicles to supplement the fleet, for instance in the run up to the Christmas delivery rush.

Accessing information All of the information contained on the paper counter‐ part, such as penalty points, is now replaced by an online service, which puts the onus back on to the driver to make their information accessible.

To do this, the driver must choose to share his or her licence with the person requesting to see it, via the driv‐ ing licence section at Gov.uk, which will generate a one‐ off check code. This code can then be shared with people who need to see the details. A summary document can also be printed.

Checking service Licence Bureau is reminding compa‐ nies that online licence checking is vital to ascertain an employees’ entitlement to drive. By having access to real time licence data online, through the DVLA portal, this forms a solid foundation for a fleets’ approach to road safety and risk prevention.

The firm claims that switching to all‐online licence checking could also encourage fleets to similarly refresh related HR policies. This will ensure that all relevant information is managed and stored safely and securely, allowing Duty of Care obligations to be adhered to.

78 / vanfleetworld.co.uk

However Licence Bureau says that if the employee doesn’t consent, employers should not use the View Driv‐ ing Licence service by using other private employee infor‐ mation. Doing so is a serious offence under the Data Protection Act 1998, without the explicit consent of the data subject.

Employers can obtain written consent from the employee, although in companies with over 10 drivers, this can cause further problems with data collation and is not cost effective. An external third party provider can warrant a smooth transition, while ensuring driver data is up‐to‐date and regularly checked.

“The abolition of the paper counterpart raises further awareness that verifying an employee’s entitlement to drive is crucial and fleets need to do everything possible to minimise unnecessary risk,” said Malcolm Maycock, managing director at Licence Bureau.

“Moving to an all‐online platform should question a company’s approach for licence checking and other in‐ house HR duties. Using a third‐party provider, such as our Compliance Managed Services portal, to securely carry out regular and efficient checks, allows fleets to reduce unnecessary administration hours.

“In any case, both employers and employees need to be fully aware of their responsibilities when performing licence checks.”

Rental reassurance The BVRLA believes that the transition to online checking has gone reasonably well, with the majority of members reporting that they are happy with the service.

Hertz UK’s van fleet customers have the possibility to sign an undertaking whereby they are responsible for checking the driving licences of those employees who will drive vans. As a result, they do not have to present their licence at time of rental.

With many of the firm’s customers renting on a long‐ term basis, it then becomes part of the fleet managers’ duty of care responsibilities to check that their drivers’ licences remain valid on an ongoing basis.

“We fully understand that the recent changes to the UK driving licence can result in an added headache for our van fleet customers and their drivers,” said Laura Moran, commercial vehicle director at Hertz UK. “Whilst we cannot ignore the legislation, we have come up with a solution that will hopefully help us to make the transition more seamless.”

Natalie Mottershead, assistant manager at Lex Autolease, added: “It is important to note that changes to the driving licence will not impact any car and van rental customer hiring a vehicle under their own company insurance in the UK and Northern Ireland.

“Those customers that do request a rental company damage waiver for UK rentals will need to use the new online service from the DVLA, Share Driving Licence, for validation of their driving record.

“Customers should check with individual companies about the documentation they will need to hire a vehicle.

If they are asked for evidence of what vehicles they can drive, or confirmation of any penalty points, the Share Driving Licence service allows them to share their details or download a summary of their driving licence record by generating a unique code. The code is valid for up to 72 hours and will allow the hire companies to make any necessary checks,” she said.

“Alternatively, they can call the DVLA and leave permis‐ sion for their driving record to be checked verbally by a nominated hire company. This also applies if they have a paper licence that was issued before 1998.”

“These changes represent another upheaval for the motorist, and my fear is that it will be the small business owners that are once again hit hardest,” said Steve Bridge, managing director of Mercedes‐Benz Vans.

“Drivers need to remember that they must get their checking code or printable summary in advance of being asked the information. If you run a business, this is the responsibility of your driver to sort, but remember you have final responsibility if you put a driver in a company vehicle and they do not have the correct licence.”

“The abolition of the paper counterpart raises further awareness that verifying an employee’s entitlement to drive is crucial and fleets need to do everything possible to minimise unnecessary risk.”

Malcolm Maycock, Licence Bureau.

Haulage headache There are additional problems for companies that employ overseas drivers, as non‐GB licences cannot be checked on the same system. Indeed the only way to check is to call a premium rate number during normal office hours.

“Far from reducing the burden, FTA believes this new system will be more cumbersome for employers,” said Ian Gallagher, FTA’s lead on DVLA. “FTA members who employ hundreds if not thousands of drivers, have complained to us that the proposed system adds time to the licence checking process, forc‐ ing many to look for a cost alternative.”

The association is disappointed that, despite prolonged dialogue, DVLA has failed to develop a suitable online alternative which would provide an employer with the ability to check driver details in bulk, instead relying on a system which requires the licence holder to go online obtain a PDF or access code and provide that to their employer within 72 hours.

FTA says the agency has also failed to recognise that not all employees are domestic drivers. Given the short‐ age of vocational drivers in Great Britain, many opera‐ tors employ drivers from Europe. These drivers are encouraged to obtain a counterpart, so that points can be attributed to an individual’s licence.

Unfortunately, despite continued requests that this information be made available through the online systems, DVLA has failed to provide a facility other than a telephone number, which is only available during work‐ ing hours for employer to check licence details.

“This is completely unacceptable,” said Mr Gallagher.

“DVLA has had fair warning of this requirement and it will mean that some non UK drivers reporting for work will be sent home if their licence details can’t be verified.

This information must be made available on the proposed checking systems at the earliest opportunity."

The association is urging DVLA and the Government to rethink its approach to licence checking and introduce a system that provides an employer with mandated authority from the driver to check licence details as and when required in bulk and free of charge.

vanfleetworld.co.uk / 79

MARKET OVERVIEW Risk Management AA DriveTech Employers have a duty of care DriveTech for staff who drive for work.

As one of the UK leaders in road risk management and driver education, AA DriveTech works with you to deliver driver risk management solutions throughout the UK. This includes ‘driving for work’ programmes, actions plans, licence validation, driver assessment (paper, on road and online) as well as in­vehicle work workshop training for all vehicle drivers including Driver CPC. Visit our website to find out what customers have achieved from implementing occupational road risk strategies with us.

Case studies include: • Center Parcs • Cordek • Feedwater • Thatcham – The Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre • Sainsbury’s Online • Shred­it

Contact: Sam Harris-Jones tellmemore@AAdrivetech.com www.AAdrivetech.com/fleetsafe

Tel: 01256 495732

ARI ARI is the largest privately held fleet management company in the world.

With a workforce of 2,400 skilled professionals, it now manages over 1.1 million vehicles worldwide. ARI provides a wide­range of fleet solutions from its UK headquarters, including its award­winning driver management service Riskmaster.

Riskmaster has delivered safe driving, lower accident costs and increased productivity for numerous clients. ARI’s experience in designing tailored solutions that combine driver assessment processes with flexible training programmes will lead to a quantifiable ROI. ARI is committed to developing innovative technologies that will continue to set the benchmark for driver management in the UK.

Contact: Jason Chamberlain jason.chamberlain@arifleet.co.uk

Tel: 0844 8000 700 www.arifleet.co.uk

ALD Automotive The ALD Automotive group is the second largest vehicle leasing operation in Europe and manages over 1 million vehicles across 40 countries worldwide. Within the UK ALD is widely recognised as one of the industry’s leading service providers, with a proven portfolio of award winning products for major plc’s, small businesses and individual drivers alike.

As an integral part of ALD’s product range, their award winning DriveSafe programme offers a straightforward, practical and cost effective solution to help establish a lasting road risk reduction programme for all employees who drive on business. Utilising the expertise of specialist partners, DriveSafe provides a comprehen­ sive and co­ordinated solution, all managed under ‘one roof’ and uniquely delivered via ALD’s threesixty online portal.

IAM Drive & Survive Ltd

Contact: Helen Fisk helen.fisk@aldautomotive.com www.aldautomotive.co.uk

Contact: Dan Tyler Tel: 0870 120 2910 Daniel.tyler@iamdriveandsurvive.co.uk

Tel: 0870 00 111 81

Interactive Driving Systems Interactive Driving Systems provides research­led fleet risk management solutions.

Our Virtual Risk Manager tool is proven ­ with 1,000,000+ car, heavy and light commercial, bus, two wheeler and lift­truck drivers registered across 70+ countries.

Organisations of all types and sizes are supported to build road safety into their DNA. Participants in our freely available Fleet Safety Benchmarking program (www.fleetsafeybenchmarking.net) saved £11+ million in direct collision costs over 3 years through claim rate and cost per vehicle reductions.

We continue to lead developments in the industry. Proven E­ Consent and new risk­based E­Learning modules are amongst the latest innovations.

Contact: Andy Cuerden Tel: + 44 (0) 1484 551070 andy.cuerden@virtualriskmanager.net www.virtualriskmanager.net

80 / vanfleetworld.co.uk

For nearly 60 years, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has been delivering post­ test driver training and coaching and for 25 years its commercial division, IAM Drive & Survive, has been helping business drivers to be safer and more skilled and their employers to run compli­ ant and efficient fleets. With a range of driver risk management solutions available, including driving licence verification, driver risk assessments and e­learning modules, plus targeted on­road driver training, IAM Drive & Survive assists companies with fleets of 10 or 10,000 vehicles and drivers. Contact us today to discuss your own driver risk management programme.

ROADMARQUE® Reduce risk, protect your people, save money.

These are the benefits you can realise by using Roadmarque®.

We understand that no two organisations’ requirements are the same. We focus on delivering the best return on investment for you, following an analysis of your objectives.

Roadmarque® contains a number of elements: Compliance (licence check and grey fleet management), Mileage logs, communication, factual Driver Survey, Aptitude Assessment, Training recommendations / implementation.

We don’t impose a fixed programme, but provide the flexibility for you to achieve your aims and comply with legislation.

We work with organisations of all sizes delivering practical and effective solutions. As an independent provider working with many partners we guarantee that we won’t sell you what you do not need. Contact us now to find out more.

Contact: Dr Gerhard Manogg hello@roadmarque.com

Tel: 01792 824438 www.roadmarque.com

Do you offer psychometric driver profiling?

Do you offer risk assessment for LCV’s as part of your programme?

Do you offer an on-the-road LCV driver training programme?

Do you offer a classroom-based LCV driver training programme?

Do your instructors provide a demonstration drive?

Do you offer operator licence training?

Do you offer CPC Training?

Do you offer Driver CPC Periodic Training?

Do your instructors carry out a driver eyesight test?

Do you offer a licence checking facility?

Are your training programmes Insurance Company approved?

Do you offer Post Accident Investigations training?

Do you offer e-training as part of your programme?

Key to services

Do you offer on-line LCV driver appraisal?

VAN FLEETW RLD

AA DriveTech ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

ALD Automotive ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

ARI ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ ✔

IAM Drive & Survive Ltd ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

Interactive Driving Systems ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

ROADMARQUE® ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

✔ ✔

✔ ✔

✔ Service provided

Service unavailable

FRIDAY 23RD OCTOBER 2015

MILTON KEYNES

www.vanfleetworldlive.co.uk

VAN SUPPLIER DIRECTORY FLEETW RLD daily rental

contract hire, leasing & finance

racking systems

tail lifts

fleet management software

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tel: 01784 221 300 www.enterprise.co.uk

Fleet Alliance Tel: 0845 601 8407 www.fleetalliance.co.uk

Sortimo Central Tel: 0121 511 2303 www.sortimo-central.com

Penny Hydraulics Tel: 01246 811475 www.pennyhydraulics.com

Bynx Tel: 01789 471600 www.bynx.com

Budget Rent-a-Car Tel: 0844 5338 08701544 56 56 56 www.budget.co.uk

Alphabet (GB) Limited Tel: 0870 50 50 100 www.alphabet.co.uk

Tevo Limited Tel: 01628 528034 www.tevo.eu.com

Ratcliff Palfinger Ltd Tel: 01707 382880 www.ratcliffpalfinger.co.uk

Civica Tranman Tel: 01454 874002 www.civica.co.uk/tranman

Europcar Tel: 0116 217 3530 www.europcar.co.uk

LeasePlan UK Ltd Tel: 0844 493 5810 www.leaseplan.co.uk

Bott Ltd Tel: 01530 410600 www.bott-group.com

DEL Equipment (UK) Ltd Tel: 01993 708811 www.del-uk.com

Chevin Fleet Solutions Tel: 01773 821 992 www.chevinfleet.com

Avis Rent A Car Budget Rent-a-Car Tel: 0844 5000 08701544 56 56 56 www.avis.co.uk www.budget.co.uk

Zenith Tel: 0844 848 9311 www.zenith.co.uk

Teletrac, a Trafficmaster company Tel: 0345 604 8813 www.teletrac.co.uk

Mycompanyfleet Tel: 0845 077 7760 www.mycompanyfleet.co.uk

automatic transmissions

Arnold Clark Vehicle Management

TRACKER Network UK Limited Tel: 0845 602 3981 www.TRACKER.co.uk

fast-fits & tyres

Stephens Engineering Automatics Limited Tel: 01920 462530 www.stephensengineering.co.uk

Tel: 0845 603 4590 www.acvm.co.uk

UKVANLEASING

Full listings online at

fleetworld.co.uk Full listings online at

Clarks Vehicle Conversions fleetworld.co.uk Tel: 0845 319 2787 www.van-conversion.co.uk

Lex Autolease

Tel: 0845 769 7381 www.lexautolease.co.uk

Tel: 0845 055 8555 Ctrack www.ctrack.co.uk Trakm8 Tel: 0330 333 4120 www.trakm8.com

Navman Wireless UK Ltd Tel: 0845 521 1188 www.navmanwireless.co.uk

Promote your company here and online for just £400/year.

ATS Euromaster Tel: 0870 066 3624 www.atseuromaster.co.uk

vehicle data International Decision Systems Tel: 01256 302 000 www.idsdata.co.uk

risk management Volkswagen Group Leasing Tel: 0870 333 2229

STEPS

TomTom Business Solutions Tel: 020 7255 9774 www.tomtom.com/business

Vehicle Management

Tel: 01708 511071 www.ukvanleasing.com

conversions

telematics & tracking

www.volkswagengroupleasing.co.uk

fuel management

Esso Fuel Cards Tel: 0800 626 672 www.essocard.com

IAM Drive & Survive Tel: 0870 120 2910 www.iamdriveandsurvive.co.uk

Shell Fuelcards Tel: 0800 915 6021 www.shell.co.uk/euroshell

Roadmarque Tel: 01792 824438 www.roadmarque.com

AVS Steps Ltd

Tel: 01939 235900 www.avssteps.co.uk

Venson Automotive Solutions Tel: 08444 99 1402 www.venson.com

BP Oil UK Ltd Tel: 0845 603 0723 www.bpplus.co.uk

insurance Bluedrop Services Ltd Tel: 01706 658608 www.bluedropservices.co.uk

Full listings online at

fleetworld.co.uk

vehicle ventilation

accident management

Flettner Ventilator Ltd Tel: 020 8200 2321 www.flettner.co.uk

Total Accident Management Tel: 0845 078 4157 www.totalaccman.co.uk

82 / vanfleetworld.co.uk

VAN FLEETW RLD SUPPLIER DIRECTORY For more information, please contact Tracy Howell on 01727 739160 or email tracy@fleetworldgroup.co.uk

All-New

Renault KADJAR Unbeatable costs With a predicted resale value of 43% after three years or 60,000 miles, the All-New Renault Kadjar holds its value.

In addition to the fantastic resale value, it also comes with low insurance rates and an efficient engine for low fuel consumption and taxation.

On top of that, it is competitively priced as well, starting at just ÂŁ17,995.

All-New

Renault KADJAR Start living To find out more, visit renault.co.uk/business or call 0800 731 7066 to make an appointment with a Renault Account Manager.

The official fuel consumption figures in mpg (l/100km) for the All-New Renault Kadjar Signature Nav dCi 110 are: Urban 67.3 (4.2); Extra Urban 74.3 (3.8); Combined 47.9 (5.9). The official CO2 emissions are 103g/km. EU Directive and Regulation 692/2008 test environment figures. Fuel consumption and CO2 may vary according to driving styles, road conditions and other factors. Model shown is All-New Renault Kadjar Signature Nav dCi 110.