Slowdown starts affecting world's luxury carmakers |
The US economic slowdown has hit the world's two largest luxury carmakers.
Daimler and BMW reported falling profits in the first quarter and both had to take charges because of lower selling prices for used cars in the US.
Daimler did this only for its former Chrysler subsidiary - in which it still holds a 20% stake - and not for its flagship Mercedes brand.
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1 million cars still being illegally scrapped every year |
More than a million scrap cars a year could be reaching landfill complete with harmful oils, tyres and with airbags intact. That's despite End of Life Vehicle Regulations which came in to force in 2003, requiring cars to be properly de-polluted and recycled at licensed Authorised Treatment Facilities. |
Fuel costs are Fleet Managers biggest concern |
Rapidly rising fuel prices are becoming the over-riding concern for fleet managers. With petrol prices predicted to hit £1.50 a litre by September and diesel expected to hit that level even sooner, the cost of fuel is now having a massive effect on fleet policy decisions and company car selection. Despite this, the use of fuel cards, one of the most useful tools in controlling fuel costs, is falling. In a new report , 97% of fleet decision-makers mentioned fuel prices, up 11.2% year-on-year, as the factor likely to affect their fleet policy in the next 12 months. According to the quarterly Company Car Trends report from GE Capital Solutions, Fleet Services, the soaring price of fuel is now the single most rapidly growing factor influencing the number of business miles drivers will cover in the next 12 months. However, despite these levels of concern, the number one management tool available to company car operators for controlling fuel use is falling in popularity. Just 41.2% of respondents said they used dedicated fuel cards – down a significant 9.6% year on year. Rich Green, managing director at GE Capital Solutions, Fleet Services, said: “It is difficult to reconcile these trends. “It is fair to say that they have now reached a level where many employers believe that fuel costs need to be managed on a day-to-day basis through some control over vehicle use. “However, the most effective tool for bringing increased levels of control over fuel spend and fuel use is falling out of use in the market at a fairly dramatic rate. Fuel cards bring a number of positive advantages.” |
Firm escapes Corporate Manslaughter charge |
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has confirmed it will not prosecute a company that was criticised by a crown court judge for putting one of its drivers under too much pressure to get to appointments. The driver, David Griffin, crashed into and killed an 81-year-old pensioner while he was speeding from one appointment to another while working for Bolton Care Services in Lancashire. Mr Griffin was travelling close to 44mph in a 30mph zone. He was late for an appointment to collect a patient when he hit and killed the Second World War veteran. In court, he pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and received a 10-month suspended jail sentence. In defence, Mr Griffin’s barrister, Iain Simkin, said: “His employer left no time for him to get from job to job.” The was accepted by Judge Stephen Everett, who said: "The company you worked for gave no leeway between you seeing one patient and another. "It put pressure on the employee to take short cuts either with his patient's time, or sadly to drive too quickly to get to another appointment.” However, while being heavily critical of Bolton Care Services, the judge said that Mr Griffin had to take ultimate responsibility for his actions. The HSE confirmed that it would not prosecute Bolton Care Services. “In conjunction with the police investigation of the road traffic collision involving Mr Griffin, the HSE investigated further issues under the working time regulations and concluded that there was no evidence of a breach of these regulations by Bolton Care Services,” said a HSE spokesman. He said the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter Act earlier this year would not have altered its investigation’s focus. “The police had primacy in the investigation of the case, and this would be the same situation had the incident happened after the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter Act. "This Act…did not introduce any new duties on those who manage health and safety. It also had no impact on the working time regulations, which was the focus of HSE's investigation,” he said. |
Big Increase in Diesel Prices |
Diesel prices have risen by the highest month-on-month increase this century. Meanwhile, rises in the cost of petrol are the second highest since the start of the millennium. Between mid-April and mid-May, the price of diesel shot up 6.76 pence per litre, from 117.41 to 124.17 pence per litre. This has added £3.38 to the cost of filling a typical 50-litre fuel tank. The previous record rise, of 5.6p per litre, was between October and November last year. The average price of petrol has also risen significantly 4.49p per litre in the past month, from 108.06 to 112.55p per litre. This narrowly misses the 4.6p record monthly increase in petrol prices between March and April 2006, according to the AA. A significant gap has opened up between what supermarkets charge for fuel and the price at non-supermarket outlets. Comparing average prices by brand, supermarkets are 2.5p cheaper for petrol and more than four pence less expensive for diesel. London remains the most expensive region to buy petrol, while Yorkshire and Humberside remain the cheapest. “The price rises in recent days were of a magnitude only exceeded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when the price of petrol rose almost 3.5p in a week,” said Edmund King, AA president. “What alarms us most is the stream of comments coming from the industry and producers saying that oil is over-priced – the finger of blame being pointed at market speculators. "Oil prices have doubled since last year and this is not just due to strong demand from China and other nations. "While huge profits are made in the financial centres, an increasing number of car-owners are becoming desperate and businesses suffer from the hit on consumer spending.” |
Police call for lowering of drink drive limit |
The police want the drink-driving limit lowered. The Association of Chief Police Officers head of roads policing, chief constable Steve Green said the limit should be lowered from 80 milligrams of alcohol in the bloodstream to 50 milligrams, in line with much of Europe. It would be difficult, he added, to reduce the figure to zero as some people carry a residue of alcohol in their bloodstream. "We thought we had got the message across, particularly to young people, that drink driving is unacceptable but we need to refresh that now," he said. "In terms of random breath testing, I believe the police have always been able to do this. "It is possible to stop a vehicle for any number of things and if an officer smells alcohol on the breath of the driver then they can ask them to take a breathalyser." |
Flexible working hours will impact on company car fleets |
The introduction of carbon pricing and a growing appetite for alternatives to the nine-to-five culture are set to drive significant changes in the way company car fleets operate. The average daily commute now amounts to 29 days of wasted time a year for many workers. In London, the figure is 96 days each year. This equates to 1.1 billion wasted man hours just getting to and from work. And estimates suggest that by 2025 congestion will cause some £22 billion worth of wasted time in England alone each year. It is these statistics that are driving the behavioural changes by companies and their employees in relation to how and why they travel to and from work and while at work. “We believe that a 60% improvement in CO2 reduction could be achieved through behavioural change,” Edmund King, the AA president told last week’s Work Wise UK Summit. He stressed that initiatives that alter the way we travel to work and how much we travel when we are there need to be introduced. “Smarter choices can reduce traffic levels by 11% in ten years,” he said. “But we need Government leadership.” Environment minister Hilary Benn warned that the imminent introduction of carbon pricing and carbon trading will put added pressures on companies to reduce their carbon emissions. And one of the main areas this can be achieved is through less work-time journeys. Once a price has been set for each gram of carbon a company uses, the focus on fleet acquisition and use will come even more to the fore. Alternatives to work-time travel are already here – home working, teleconferencing and remote offices – and they work. Nearly 3.5 million people already work from home in the UK - an increase of 600,000 since 1997, according to TUC figures. The AA for example now has 300 home workers. By not commuting, they save 360 litres of fuel a day, travel 620,000 fewer miles each year and save 212.5 tonnes of CO2 annually. BT, another advocate of the Work Wise philosophy, now saves at least 97,000 tonnes of CO2 annually through the use of teleconferencing, rather than making employees get into company cars and drive to meetings. The company has also saved £500 million in reduced office costs by introducing flexible working. “The nine-to-five working culture is a thing of the bygone age,” said David Lennan, chairman of Work Wise UK. Fleet News, 22 May 2008 |
Rural road deaths warning from DfT |
The Department for Transport is warning drivers to take extra care when driving on rural roads. An awareness campaign will be broadcast on radio stations throught the country this month. 325 car users were killed on rural roads last year while speeding or driving in an unsafe manner throughout. The Dft wants to remind drivers that the same level of judgment must be used when driving on rural roads as built up areas. Figures show drivers are three times more likely to die on rural roads than urban routes. Factors such as fewer vehicles on the road and a near total lack of pedestrians can tempt drivers to go faster and therefore when sudden hazards appear – such as sharp bends or restricted visibility then reaction time is limited. |
Are you hungry? |
More than three-quarters of female motorists drive while hungry, despite the fact that nearly half admit it causes them to lose concentration. For 40%, it increases their tiredness on the road. The research by Sheilas’ Wheels found that most women who drive while hungry do so because it ‘slips their mind’ to eat. |
Foreign Driver Crashes Soar |
The number of crashes involving foreign drivers is rising at an alarming level, according to a new report. Data from the Motor Insurers Bureau shows that insurance claims involving foreign drivers have grown every year from 2001 to 2006. Taking into account the cost of these crashes and potential congestion caused by the increasing number of foreign vehicles on British roads, the Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates that the cost to the economy will total £795 million in 2008. The number of drivers from other EU countries who are now resident in the UK has risen from 534,000 in 2001 to 804,000 in 2007. With 88% of that increase coming from 2004 onwards, the report’s authors attribute that increase to the accession of the 10 countries joining the EU that year and the further two that joined in 2007. In addition, the number of foreign HGVs using British roads has increased by a third. Now, one in seven HGVs on UK roads is from another EU country. In parallel with this increase, the number of crashes involving foreign drivers or foreign-registered vehicles has also risen significantly. “One particular problem we as an insurance industry, and therefore motorists, suffer is the ability to resolve a claim quickly when it involves a vehicle from outside the UK,” said John O’Roarke, managing director of insurer LV=, who commissioned the report. “We believe the tightening of driving standards across the EU should now be a Government priority,” said Mr O’Roarke. Drivers from Poland top the crash table, with 16.6% of all claims. |
