Drivers’ personal details to be handed over to EU

The personal details of nearly 40 million motorists will be open to abuse when they are ‘automatically’ trawled by foreign states, an internal police report has admitted.

Sensitive information such as driver’s address, motoring convictions and medical history will be exposed to routine sifting by police, traffic wardens and other officials across Europe when European Union data sharing plans come into force in 2011.

The ‘restricted’ document raises fears that the foreign traffic police and other bureaucrats on the continent will be able to hunt down British drivers years after they return home for reasons such as unpaid parking fines.

When the agreement was signed in 2007, ministers said it was part of a campaign against ‘serious crime, terrorism and illegal immigration’.

But the report reveals that the government now believes the database run by the DVLA will be routinely accessed even for minor offences. (Sunday Times: December 13).

Supermarkets launch pre-Christmas petrol price war

Two of Britain’s supermarkets have sparked a price war as they cut the cost of fuel.

Asda and Tesco have both dropped the price of their unleaded petrol and diesel by up to 3p a litre, saying they are passing on a cut in oil prices.

But the AA said the supermarkets were a ‘bit slow’ in bringing the prices down and that they could have done it weeks ago rather than just before Christmas.

And the motoring organisation warned January’s VAT rise back to 17.5% would put the price back up.

Asda said drivers filling up at its 179 forecourts across the UK would pay no more than 103.9p per litre for unleaded and 105.9p for a litre of diesel.

Recently, average UK pump prices were standing at 108.99p for petrol and 110.26p for diesel.

Meanwhile a Sainsbury’s spokeswoman said: “We price on a local level and in any local level we would aim to remain competitive.” (BBC.co.uk: December 12).

Owners of rural fuel stations beg EU for help

Representations of the UK’s 6,000 rural and independent fuel stations have written to the European Union Competition Commissioners urging her to investigate a potentially devastating hike in business rates that could lead to hundreds of forecourts closing.

Sue Robinson, director of the Retail Motor Industry Federation’s Petrol Retailers’ Association has written to Neelie Kroes asking her to examine next April’s likely increase and raise it with HM Treasury.

Hundreds of rural forecourts face closure if the increase in business rates is pushed through on April 1, owners have warned.

They argue that the methodology used to calculate the new rates is flawed. Owners argue that they are being placed at a potentially-fatal disadvantage against high street convenience stores because the rateable value of a fuel station is based on a relatively high turnover.

Conversely, stand-alone convenience retailers, such as Tesco Express, have their rateable value calculated on their square footage. This means that the fuel station owners have a far higher rateable value and potentially face steeper increases.

The RMI has also tabled questions in the House of Commons through Labour MP Lindsay Hoyle. (Daily Telegraph: December 14).

Grit stock shortages ‘could cause road chaos’

Half of the UK’s local authorities only have enough road salt for six days of continuous freezing, according to the AA.

The motoring organisation said it has been told that local councils have 250,000 tonnes less road salt in stock than they would have had a decade ago.

The AA said last winter’s heavy snow meant stocks had dwindled and some councils had to ‘borrow’ from others. The AA said it had been informed of the shortage by industry sources.

The organisation added local authorities’ reliance on ‘just in time’ deliveries left too many of them vulnerable to a lengthy big freeze or major snowfall.

AA president Edmund King said: “Around 1,000 people are killed or seriously injured on snowy and icy roads each winter and hospital casualty departments are often inundated with people who have slipped and fallen.

“We accept that not every road can be treated, but we must do a lot more to keep the wheels of the economy turning in winter emergencies and ‘routine’ winter weather. That means getting enough salt stocks in place now.”

But Councillor David Sparks of the Local Government Association – which represents councils in England and Wales – rejected the AA’s claims. He said: “It is ridiculous scaremongering for the AA to suggest that councils are not prepared for prolonged winter weather.”

Gritting motorways and trunk roads is the responsibility of the Highways Agency in England, Transport Scotland and the three trunk roads agencies in Wales. Other roads are the responsibility of local government in Britain and the Northern Ireland Roads Service. (BBC.co.uk: December 14).

Saab in technology co-operation deal with Chinese motor manufacturer

Chinese motor manufacturer Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation has acquired some of the assets of struggling Saab that will see it produce 9-3 and 9-5 models.

Additionally, the deal gives BAIC access to other powertrain technology that the company will use in its own models. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed.

Jan Åke Jonsson, managing director of Saab Automobile, which parent company General Motors said it would wind down at the end of the year if the company could not be sold, said in a statement: “This arrangement is excellent for both parties, now and for the future. We have developed a good relationship with BAIC and look forward to working with them to integrate this Saab technology into their future vehicles.”

It is understood that BAIC is continuing to talk to GM about further assets and potential co-operation but it is unclear if the Chinese company is interested in buying the whole of Saab. (General Motors: December 14).

Demand forces Hyundai customers to wait four months for vehicles

Hyundai dealers have been forced to ask customers to wait up to four months for deliveries of i10 and i20 models due to demand created by the scrappage scheme.

Tony Whitehorn, managing director, Hyundai UK, said: “This year we will end up selling around 55,000 vehicles; that’s not bad considering our best ever year was 37,000. We’re looking at holding on to those volumes next year.”

The increased demand has also impacted staffing levels with Mr Whitehorn estimating that the Hyundai network now employs 20% more staff than last year with most of the new recruits bolstering sales teams.

“The network has been struggling with the number of people coming into showrooms. While that’s a great position to be in it has been a major issue for them. This is very unusual – it’s like a prestige manufacturer situation,” he said. “Next year we’ll try desperately to hold on to the volume that we’re doing this year,” he said.

After only launching the i20 this year, the brand will be stepping up its new product offerings next year which should help it satisfy some of its volume aspirations.

A facelift of its Santa Fe 4×4 goes on sale in January followed by the ix35 in March, an all-new crossover which the brand hopes will compete against Ford’s Kuga. The i10 will receive its first facelift and a small MPV arrives in late 2010.

Hyundai is looking for significant rates of growth in fleet sales in 2010 on the back of the October appointment of Oliver Lajara as head of European fleet sales. (Motor Trader: December 14).

Car boss predicts 20% drop in dealer numbers

Fiat Group Automobiles managing director Andrew Humberstone believes UK franchised dealer networks will decline by a fifth.

He forecast that weaker dealers will struggle when the scrappage scheme comes to end in early 2010 and it will be ‘very difficult’ for them.

For its part, the Fiat network has lost a quarter of its network – 40 dealers – over the past two years but new appointments have brought the network back to 163. Mr Humberstone aims to grow this to 185 by year-end and 200 by the close of 2011.

Meanwhile, he would like some of the dealers in the network to increase the size of their showrooms to display more of the Fiat range. He said up to 35-40% of dealers in the network had the potential to expand. (Motor Trader: December 14).

Mercedes reveals ‘green’ car plans

Mercedes will start series volume sales of fuel cell models from UK car dealers in 2015, the manufacturer has confirmed.

Board member Thomas Weber says that Mercedes is ‘quite far ahead of competitors’, and is ready now to begin series production of fuel cell cars.

However, such is the extent of its leadership, he says, it will instead ramp up to mass-market sales slowly, by leasing models over the next few years.

This will help the hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, vital to the success of fuel cell motors, to develop.

The B-Class F-Cell, which will begin leasing trials next year, already has a range of 250 miles – and can be filled from empty in three minutes.

The staged growth will also give car dealers the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the specific requirements of such futuristic models. (Car Dealer Magazine: December 14).

Used car sales decline in 2009 Q3

Used car sales fell by 4.9% during Q3 this year, according to the latest statistics from Experian, the global information services company.

The biggest casualties in the used car market during Q3 were the mini and lower medium segments, which saw sales fall by 5.2% and 5.8% respectively compared to Q3 2008.

The scrappage scheme is the reason for the decline, with new car sales of the mini and lower medium segments soaring in the last quarter as car buyers switch their focus away from secondhand models.

Mark Nuttall, general manager of Experian’s automotive business, said: “Although demand for used cars over all has declined, cost savings and value for money are certainly still focusing the minds of car buyers. Cars that are cheaper to run, such as electric, diesel and hybrid, are continuing to see sales rise.

“Smaller used cars were the most affected as buyers took advantage of the scrappage scheme and bought new. Used sports cars, however, are bucking the trend, with demand for diesel models in particular seeing a 75% increase in sales.”

The only segments that saw a year-on-year rise in the third quarter were MPVs (3.1%), sports cars and luxury cars (0.3% increase). The luxury segment was the only one to see a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter increase in sales.

The used sports segment saw the highest year-on-year increase with an 8.1% rise – the first increase during Q3 for this segment over the last three years – but the second highest quarter-on-quarter decline (down 7.8%). (AM-Online: December 14).