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Today in Fleet: Wednesday 17 May

By / 7 years ago / Latest News / 1 Comment

All the key news in fleet…

Black and white image of row of cars

Grosvenor Leasing says fleets could be leaving themselves exposed by their lack of interest in grey fleet and risk management.

Grey fleet down the list of priorities for companies

Online fleet management report and daily rental rank highly for companies using contract hire and fleet management providers but grey fleet is far less of a priority.

The poll, carried out by Grosvenor Leasing with more than 100 customers, found that 92.7% of companies that use a contract hire or fleet management provider to assist with the running of their fleet deem it as vital for their business with 57.4% of respondents saying online fleet management reporting is either ‘Important’ or ‘Very Important’. This was followed by daily rental (47%), easi-Lease, for hires over 28 days (44%), online driving licence checks (40.4%), direct day-to-day contact with drivers (39.6%), accident management (35.8%) and fuel cards (18.5%).

In contrast, 57% of companies felt grey fleet management was either ‘Unimportant’ or ‘Very unimportant’ (with 36.7% remaining impartial to the benefits), and only 17.3% saw the value of risk management with 52% rating it as either ‘unimportant’ or ‘very unimportant’.

Police accident sign

According to DfT data, road crashes in 2015 cost the British economy an estimated £35.55bn including human costs and lost productivity.

ICFM Masterclass to look at real-world cost of crashes

The vital topic of road risk management and the real-world business cost of crashes is to come under focus in a forthcoming ICFM Masterclass.

The second in the Masterclass series, the event will explore how improving road safety is about reducing crashes and the associated cost savings will be reflected in company profits – the government-backed Driving for Better Business campaign has calculated that based on a 10% return on sales, businesses would have to sell £60k worth of goods to cover the cost of a £3k crash.

Free for both members and non-members, the Masterclass will be held on Tuesday 6 June from 10am to 1pm at the International Centre, Telford, alongside the Emergency Fleet Exhibition and the National Association of Police Fleet Managers’ Conference. To book a place at the seminar email [email protected].

Gary Smith, UK managing director of Europcar

Gary Smith, UK managing director of Europcar

Diesel still preferred choice for rental

The majority of drivers using Europcar’s ‘Model Guaranteed’ service still prefer diesels.

The analysis by the rental firm finds that nearly two-thirds of motorists (63%) said they would prefer diesel when hiring a car and 78% said they would not want to hire electric.

Gary Smith, managing director, Europcar UK Group, said: “It appears that UK motorists are wise to the fact that the newest diesels – Euro 6 – which make up all of the Europcar UK fleet are widely regarded as delivering great fuel economy as well as reducing CO2 emissions.”

He added: “Some people want to book a model with which they are already familiar for a stress-free drive; others want to know that their hire car will give them the capacity – for people and luggage – that they need.”

MINI cockpit instrument design

The MINI model range is being updated with an enhanced cockpit instrument design.

Tech updates for MINI range

MINI’s model line-up is getting a range of update this summer, covering design, functionality and infotainment improvements.

From July, all new MINI models will feature an enhanced cockpit instrument with a new night design and a fuel level display that offers greater precision. Operation of MINI Driving Modes and MINI Head-Up Display will also be revised. And marking a first for the brand, MINI Clubman and MINI Countryman will offer Apple CarPlay and an alertness assistant will be introduced on MINI 3-door Hatch, MINI 5-door Hatch and MINI Convertible models.

For more of the latest industry news, click here.

Natalie Middleton

Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.