DVLA launches new memorable vehicle tax line

DVLA has launched a new memorable 0300 telephone line for motorists to tax their vehicles. The new number, 0300 1234 321, is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and takes less than 4 minutes to use. The service automatically checks that correct insurance and MOT documents are in place.

The popularity of the environmentally-friendly phone and online service is growing, with more than half of last month’s vehicle tax renewals completed this way.

Andrew Rhodes, DVLA’s director of products and services, said: ‘We listened when our customers told us they wanted to have the option to interact digitally with DVLA, and we are constantly aiming to improve our services. By providing a new memorable renewal number we hope to make it even easier for motorists to tax their vehicle.’ (DVLA: October 30).

Twenty per cent increase in 4×4 leases seen by Equalease

A 20% increase in the number of new 4×4 leases was seen by medium-term leasing specialist Equalease in October as fleets moved to equip drivers with vehicles for the winter months.

The company says that the increase over September, which also saw a similar rise compared to August, is becoming an established seasonal variation in medium term leasing for fleets that regularly change vehicles.

Managing director Paul Ashton, explained: ‘It is not surprising that, as the winter months approach, some drivers and fleets prefer to be using 4×4s, sometimes simply because they are more confident facing tougher weather conditions in an all-wheel-drive vehicle but also sometimes because there is a genuine job need for a bigger vehicle with proper off-roading ability.

‘What is new in this situation is the way that medium term leasing creates a situation where drivers can have a 4×4 for the winter months and then a choice of conventional cars for other times of the year. Our customers are learning that they can swap vehicles to match their seasonal needs.’

Equalease is one of just a handful of companies that has developed 3-12 month car leases as a specialist product, and says that it has a group of customers who are willing to pay a premium to change vehicle regularly.

Ashton continued: ‘We certainly have customers, often owners or directors of their own successful businesses, who are willing to pay the premium of around 20% or so that medium term leasing costs over an industry standard three year lease because they to change their car every quarter.

‘Sometimes this is based on personal preference – the customer wants a convertible for the summer months, a 4×4 for winter and a prestige estate at other times. However, their thinking can also be based around a pragmatic approach to business travel – when they are covering a lot of miles, they want a safe and comfortable motorway car but, if they know they will be office bound for a few months, they will instead opt for something smaller.’

Ashton said that current 4×4 favourites on the Equalease fleet included the Volkswagen Touareg 3.0TDI Altitude, priced at £499 plus VAT per month.

Vehicles provided by Equalease on 3-12 month leases are taken from its fleet of cars, all of which are less than two years old. Leases include a standard annual mileage allowance of 15,000 miles a year or 1,250 miles a month and include all maintenance, breakdown recovery and road fund licence. (Equalease: October 30).

Study on car manufacturers launched

Findings from a study of the sustainability of car manufacturing of 17 of the world’s leading car companies have just been published by a leading European research team.

Key findings from the study Sustainable Value in Automobile Manufacturing include, how Asian car manufacturers are outperforming their North American, and many of their European counterparts, in using their economic, environmental and social resources more efficiently.

The report, which covers the period between 1999 and 2007, has been created by researchers at Queen’s Management School in Belfast, alongside colleagues from the Euromed Management School, in Marseille, and the Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT) in Berlin.

It provides a full account of the societal impacts of car production, including issues such as the volume of greenhouse gas emissions from production facilities and the number of work accidents recorded by a company.

In the report Asian car manufacturers including Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan, Honda, and to a lesser extent, Suzuki have all out-performed their North American competitors.

In stark contract to the Asian manufacturers, both North American carmakers Ford and General Motors (GM) lie well into negative territory, with GM showing the most striking downside trend.

There is a mixed picture among European manufacturers. While BMW tops the ranking of all 17 manufacturers in most of the years assessed, other European carmakers PSA (Peugeot, Citroën), Renault, Volkswagen and DaimlerChrysler/Daimler AG only occasionally keep pace with the industry leaders. FIAT Auto consistently falls behind throughout the entire review period.

Professor Frank Figge, of the Queen’s Management School and one of the study’s authors, said: ‘Economic crisis, energy crisis, climate crisis and recent global developments have affected the automobile industry like few other sectors. Never before has it been as important for car manufacturers to employ their economic, environmental and social resources wisely – and efficiently.’ (fleetnews.co.uk: October 30).

CAP sees stabilisation of market

The question that topped the list of media enquiries to CAP in the last few months was where the used car values upturn was heading. That has now been answered with stabilisation of the market in October. The extent of the upturn surprised observers at CAP, with an unexpectedly strong market well into September.

But October finally saw average values reach a plateau. More typical seasonal movements were seen with slight reductions in average values for superminis, city cars and small executives. Driving this has been a slight increase in supply.

One of the ways dealers are responding is by reverting to their customary stock profiles, rather than the unusual mixes that were forced on them during supply shortages by the need to fill their forecourts.

Dealers will welcome the increase in supply, particularly from rental sources.

There is also evidence that disposers are taking greater care in the presentation of stock, with minor damage repairs making it more attractive. This should remove some pressure on workshops and help margins.

Many dealers have complained that the soaring values of trade stock, combined with savvy consumers who know the retail value of the products they want, has meant severely squeezed margins.

But others have been celebrating the ignorance of customers who had no idea that the value of their trade-in had been increasing. This enabled those dealers to enjoy their best margins for some time. This situation is unlikely to be maintained, however, given the publicity around this issue during September.

CAP’s view of the immediate future is that the market will remain far more stable than it has been in this period during recent years. Dealers will be wary of liquidating stock toward the end of the year because many paid a very heavy price for doing so last year, some being forced to buy back what they had sold at inflated prices.

This year we expect to see the reverse of de-stocking in the form of more speculative purchases. Looking further ahead, the economy remains very shaky and there is still the risk of a deep consumer recession to follow the dip that has damaged business so badly.
With the spectre of unemployment rising to three million this must remain a distinct possibility.

But on the positive side, long term it seems we have seen the last of the endemic over-production that created such instability in the market, with SMMT forecasts of a new car market stabilising in time to 1.8 – 1.9 million registrations.

And in the short term, scrappage has taken several hundred thousand cars – many of them perfectly serviceable – out of the frame.

This is likely to cause a ripple effect by forcing some consumers to choose cars further up the value chain thanks to a shortage of ‘bangers’. (AM-online.co.uk: October 30).