RAC renews Partnership with Proton

RAC has extended its contract with Proton Cars (UK) Ltd for three-years to provide roadside assistance to Proton vehicle drivers.

The deal will see RAC providing roadside, recovery and at home cover for around 7,000 vehicles. All new Proton vehicle sales, including the new dual fuel vehicles, will be covered as well as used and extended warranty vehicles.

The new contract extends an existing six-year partnership and Brian Collier, managing director Proton Cars (UK), said: “We closely monitor the level of service RAC gives our customers and we are very pleased with the consistent level of achievement. This made our decision to renew the contract very easy.” (RAC: July 1)

Six companies ‘consider’ LDV investment

Administrators for Birmingham van maker LDV have said at least six organisations are still considering whether to invest in the company.

An announcement is likely at the end of July over the firm’s future and exactly how much supplier creditors will receive, according to administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers.

A total of 230 supply companies have been waiting to see how much of the £20 million they are owed will be given back.

Administrators gave an update on the van maker’s financial position at a meeting at Birmingham Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

LDV went into administration earlier in June with the loss of more than 800 jobs at its Washwood Heath plant. (BBC.co.uk: June 30).

Volvo plans sub 100 g/km C30 model

Volvo could introduce a car with a sub-100 g/km CO2 figure as soon as next year, according to Volvo’s CO2 director Peter Ewerstrand.

The vehicle manufacturer’s first 99 g/km car is expected to be a C30 and could be shown at next year’s Geneva Motor Show in March.

Speaking during the launch of the Swedish firm’s latest generation of Driv-e low-CO2 cars, Mr Ewerstrand said the reason the latest Driv-e versions of the V50, S40 and C30 were identical, at 104 g/km, was that more work had been done to the larger S40 and V50 than to the C30.

“When we revealed the cars at the Geneva Show [in March] only the C30 was badged 104 g/km, the S40 and V50 were shown as 107 g/km. But we soon realised we could do better and get them to 104 g/km.

“There was not the point to lower the C30 by the same amount. However, we could do below 100g/km with a bit more work. Hopefully that is something we could show next year,” he said.

Volvo’s launch of front-drive XC60 and XC70 models powered by a 2.4 litre 175 PS diesel give the firm their sixth and seventh Driv-e models leaving only the C70 and XC90 without.

Commenting on this, Mr Ewerstrand said: “The effort to do a C70 Driv-e is very small, so it comes down to a business case and at the moment there’s not the market for it. But we could do a sub-130 g/km with the 1.6 from the V70 and S80.”

An XC90 Driv-e model is unlikely any time soon, but he hinted a sub-200 g/km car would be possible. (BusinessCar: July 1).

Future in auctions despite online sales growth, says SMA boss

Scottish Motor Auctions boss Bob Anderson has said car auctions will continue to be successful despite growth in online car sales.

While SMA uses web technology to enhance its services including broadcasting live auctions online, Mr Anderson believes his company’s ethos ‘encompassing good old fashioned business values – providing clients and customers alike with an unrivalled level of service’ – is key to its success.

Mr Anderson said: “We’ve embraced the very latest technology and new working practices to further improve our service, but the truth is nothing will ever replace the exciting, cut and thrust, atmosphere of an auction room. To suggest otherwise is simply nonsensical.

“While the web, and all the new innovations it brings, is certainly part of our industry’s future, I firmly believe our continued success is borne out of relatively simple work ethics; to work hard to deliver an unrivalled service to both sellers and buyers in the most cost effective manner.”

The company has seen year-on-year sales growth of more than 10 per cent and auctions around 25,000 cars per month from its sites in Kinross, Livingston, Newcastle and Leeds. (AM-Online: June 30).

AA backs North East’s electric future

The AA has joined an international consortium to support the development of a world-class electric vehicle infrastructure in the North East of England.

The AA joins Tesco, British Gas, CE Electric, and Capital Shopping Centres together with the Regional Development Agency One North East as it aims to place the region at the forefront of global electric vehicle development.

The group will provide high-profile locations for charging points, along with vision and technical advice and vital promotional work and leadership for the North East, as the region moves towards a low-carbon economy.

It is intended that this strategic approach will help the region show the world how to roll out electric vehicle infrastructure.

One North East will install 750 charging points over the course of 2010 and 2011. The first 40 of these are already being installed in Newcastle and Gateshead.

The announcement follows the North East being named as one of the UK Government’s Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator areas. The £10.7million project will see an initial 35 new electric passenger vehicles developed in the North East, including 15 Nissan cars, 10 Smith electric taxis, five Smith people carriers, a Smith executive minibus, two AVID saloon cars and two Liberty urban Range Rovers.

Tesco is supporting the project by installing electric car charging points at selected supermarket locations in the region. (AA: June 30).

Saab regains lease footing

Lease companies are relaxing their stance over writing new Saab business, which saw many of them stop offering the marque.

Saab went into the Swedish equivalent of bankruptcy in March, leading to lease companies reassessing their policies.

Some, such as Masterlease, which owns Saab Contract Hire and is part of GM’s financial service arm, stopped writing all new Saab business, while others revised their Saab residual value forecasts.

Now an agreement has been reached between General Motors and the Swedish sports car maker, Koenigsegg, which should see Koenigsegg take control Saab within weeks. As a result, lease companies here are revising their Saab policies again.

“We are writing business on Saab,” confirmed Mark Sinclair managing director of multi-marque provider, Alphabet. “We have reconsidered our stance recently and have improved our rates accordingly.”

A similar softening has been seen at ING. “We have now recommenced quoting on Saab as we are now more comfortable with their financial position,” explained managing director, Ian Tilbrook. “So far there has been no adverse reaction to the brand.”

But not all lease providers are following suit, preferring instead to wait until the deal is secured before upping residual values, which in turn will reduce lease rates.

“We are reserving judgement about what to do until we have met with Saab and understand in detail the nature and the structure of the new company,” explained Andrew Cope, chief executive of Zenith Provecta.

“If we can get comfortable with the long-term future for Saab, particularly around the funding of the business, then we will look favourably about getting back to a normal business footing.” (Fleetnews.co.uk: June 30).

Motorpoint criticises Ford price rises

Car supermarket Motorpoint has criticised Ford for its latest price hike, claiming it made a ‘mockery’ of the car scrappage scheme.

Ford recently announced it was raising its new car prices for the third time in 2009, blaming the weak pound and strong euro.

Ford warned that price-inflationary pressure would continue to be an issue for all UK-based businesses whose costs were incurred in euros.

Ford managing director Nigel Sharp said the company had no choice but to raise its car prices if the company was to ‘maintain a viable business’.

Even with the recent strengthening of the pound, Mr Sharp warned that the need to recover this accumulated revenue loss could lead to further price increases.

But Motorpoint managing director David Shelton said: “While Ford may blame the weakness of sterling for the latest price hike, the fact remains that the increases in its list prices cancel out the savings available through the car scrappage scheme.

”As a consequence, some people going to their local Ford dealer with a 10-year-old car are likely to find themselves paying them for the privilege of scrapping it, making an absolute mockery of the scheme.” (Motor Trader: June 30).