All the key news in fleet…

Demand for UK-manufactured vehicles rose 10.6% in March.

UK car manufacturing boom as exports drive demand

Exports continued to drive British car manufacturing in March, as demand rose 10.6% in the month, according to figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

170,691 cars were built in the UK in March, up 7.3%, with overseas buyers ordering more than 76% of output.

Overseas demand also helped push overall production to a 17-year high in Q1, to 471,695 units – an increase of 7.6%. This helped offset a decline at home, with demand down -4.3% in the quarter.

75 charging points are planned to be operational by the end of 2017.

£18m scheme to deploy 300 rapid charge points in London

Transport for London (TfL) has taken the first steps in a new scheme that will see 300 rapid charge points deployed in the capital by 2020.

The £18m project, intended to provide an extensive rapid charging network that will incentivise drivers to switch to electric cars, will see the first stations operational within the coming months, with 75 points planned by the end of this year and 150 by the end of 2018 under new deals signed with the Centrica Consortium, BluepointLondon, Chargemaster, Electricity Supply Board (ESB) and Fastned.

James Dower, senior Black Book editor at cap hpi.

Lower medium and city car values slide in April

According to latest figures published by cap hip, used car values dropped by 1.6% overall during April, but the lower medium and city car sectors saw the biggest slide with 2.5% and 1.9% at three years and 60,000 miles, respectively.

Analysis shows that the switch of customer appetite towards SUV derivatives are a determining factor in the easing of values across this lower medium and city car sector.

Commenting on the trend James Dower, senior Black Book editor at cap hpi said: “The overall volume of city car stock grew as the month developed, with significant numbers of part exchanges hitting the market and supply began to outweigh demand considerably.  While still a great stock proposition for used car forecourts, until retail demand starts to increase prices may remain subdued.”

Superminis also felt some pressure through April and saw reductions in the value of 2.0% at three years 60,000 miles.

The new tool provides a web-based and tablet-optimised solution.

New Repair Estimate tool to replace GlassMatix

Glass’s is introducing a new Repair Estimate solution that it says will provide fast, straightforward and accurate repair estimating.

Already in use by European customers of parent company Autovista Group since 2013, the tool replaces GlassMatix and provides a web-based and tablet-optimised solution that offers a custom PDF Report builder and XML Export functionality for systems integration.

National Grid is incentivising employees to use GreenRoad’s driver behaviour technology.

National Grid trials GreenRoad in UK

National Grid’s UK Capital Delivery division is incentivising employees to use GreenRoad’s in-vehicle driver behaviour technology on a volunteer basis.

The move is intended to boost company safety initiatives and reduce work-related injuries.

Paul Kiddle, National Grid project manager for the GreenRoad initiative, said: “We reviewed a number of different methods for improving our approach to safe driving, and the key to the success of our GreenRoad initiative has been the positive rewards based culture that it facilitates. Many meetings now start or end with people comparing their GreenRoad scores, as our volunteers for the app have really embraced it.”