This week’s round-up of fleet news focuses on a large VW van deal, Hitachi’s move into Poland and a new appointment at Fleet Alliance. By Jonathan Minter and Mike Cobb
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VW to supply 224 vans to North Lanarkshire council’s fleet
Volkswagen UK’s commercial vehicle arm has agreed a fleet deal with North Lanarkshire Council to supply more than 200 vans.
The agreement will mean that VW Commercial Vehicles will supply 224 of the council’s 500 strong fleet of vans.
The VW vans were chosen for their reliability, the brand’s excellent service and whole life costs, including maintenance.
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By GlobalDataVW will supply a mix of Caddy, Transporter and Crafter models with some coming from the manufacturer’s Engineered-to-go scheme which adapts vehicles for the client’s needs.
Kenneth Wilson, Head of Land Services at North Lanarkshire Council, said: "What tipped the balance in their favour is the fact that their products are so flexible in terms of allowing us to customise them to meet our needs. Similarly, they have extremely strong residual values compared to the rest of the market, which mean the vans are very good value for us.
Hitachi Capital UK acquires Polish fleet management company
Hitachi Capital UK has agreed to acquire 90% of the shares of Polish car fleet management company Corpo Flota Sp, making it a majority owned subsidiary.
Corpo Flota operates a number of fleet management businesses in Poland, including auto leasing, maintenance and fleet management. For the financial year ending 31 December 2013, it had total revenues of approximately PLN 30m (7.18m), and total assets worth approximately PLN 48m.
Hitachi said it has been conducting market research in a number of European countries, and the move into Poland is the first part of a planned European expansion.
Fleet alliance focuses on large fleets with new appointment
Fleet alliance, the fleet manager and funder, has appointed Rob Wentworth-James to the newly created position as corporate sales director and member of the board of directors.
In his new role he will be responsible for expanding Fleet Alliance’s mainstream corporate fleet management business by targeting larger fleets than the company has traditionally focused on.
Previously Fleet Alliance had focused largely on the SME sector but recently was beginning to win contracts with larger companies such as Gala Coral.
Wentworth-James was previously head of sales and marketing at CLM, a rival fleet management company based in Newport Pagnell, prior to that he was with GE Capital Fleet Services as a new business manager.
BVRLA welcomes HGV levy
The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) has welcomed the introduction of the UK’s HGV road user levy which came into affect on 1April.
The levy, which affects vehicles over 12 tonnes using UK roads, charges £10 (12) a day or £1000 a year and was introduced to eliminate a perceived imbalance between UK based road users, who paid vehicle excise duty, and those from overseas.
Jay Parmar, legal and policy director at the BVRLA, said: "This levy will help redress the unfair competition that UK hauliers have faced from their European counterparts, but it is vital that the new regime is robustly enforced across the UK,
"The government responded to our calls for tougher penalties for non-payers, but we feel that increasing the fine from £100 to £300 will not be enough of a deterrent to stop some hauliers chancing their arm.
"We would also like to see the Driver & Vehicle Services Agency (DVSA), Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA) and police being given more resources to enforce the new levy," he continued.
