All the key news in fleet from the last week…

The manifesto pledges to ban diesel car and van sales by the end of 2025, with tax reform to support EV uptake.

Lib Dems to ban diesel car and van sales

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to ban the sale of diesel cars and small vans in the UK, while reforming tax incentives to promote plug-ins, according to their 2017 manifesto.

Meanwhile Labour has said that it will “invest in a modern, integrated, accessible and sustainable transport system that is reliable and affordable”, with its pledges including targeting a transport network with zero deaths, reintroducing road-safety targets, renationalising the railways and scrapping the Severn Bridge tolls.

The Conservative party’s manifesto reaffirmed its plans to invest in electric vehicles and transport infrastructure.

For a round-up of the parties manifestos, click here.

Michelin tests at its Ladoux proving ground have shown that on wet roads, some worn tyres can perform as well as some new tyres.

Changing tyres at 3mm “unnecessary”, says Michelin

Fleets and drivers changing tyres earlier than the legal tread limit are wasting money, harming the environment and potentially impacting on the tyre’s safety performance.

That’s the view of Michelin as it rejects calls from parts of the tyre industry to increase the minimum legal tread depth from 1.6mm to 3mm and calls on industry test bodies and consumer organisations to start comparing and testing tyres when they are worn to the legal limit.

For more details, click here.

PVS says there is ‘no one size fits all’ solution for fleet fuel choices and companies need to look at vehicle whole-life costs.

Don’t default to diesel, fleets told

Fleets are being urged to rethink their vehicle selection strategies as a new white paper says there is no definitive right fleet fuel anymore.

Puddy Vehicle Solutions (PVS) founder Marcus Puddy argues that while diesel, petrol, pure electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars all have their merits there are also drawbacks, financial and operational, that have to be taken account when determining a fleet policy.

For more details, click here.

Audi’s range updates see the A4 get leather heated seats from the Sport trim upwards.

Audi range revisions focus on ‘consistency and simplicity’

Audi is introducing a range of revisions across its line-up in a move to enhance “consistency and simplicity”.

Announced at the ACFO Spring Seminar, the move sees all cars gain cruise control and rear parking sensors as standard. In addition, all models – bar the A1 and Q2 – are upgraded with the auto dimming mirror, which is a key requirement for many option packs.

For more details, click here.

Vehicles meet mandatory emission limits but in the real world produce 2.3 times NOx emission limits for light-duty diesel vehicles.

Excess diesel NOx kills 38,000 per year, study claims

New research finds that 38,000 people a year are dying as a result of the global failure of diesel vehicles to meet NOx official limits in real-world conditions.

The research, carried out by the International Council on Clean Transportation and Environmental Health Analytics LLC and published in Nature, finds that laboratory-certified vehicles meet mandatory emission limits but in the real world produce 2.3 times NOx emission limits for light-duty diesel vehicles and 1.45 times limits for heavy-duty diesel vehicles, on average.

For more details, click here.

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.

For more details, click here.

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.

For more details, click here.

SEAT’s Ateca FR will feature all-wheel drive as standard on all 2.0-litre engines.

SEAT Ateca FR pricing and specs revealed

SEAT’s new Ateca FR model will be priced from £24,960 OTR when it goes on sale on 3 July.

The line-up brings 4Drive all-wheel drive as standard on all 2.0-litre engines and also offers bespoke styling features including FR front and rear bumpers, side skirts, rear spoiler and 18-inch alloys as well as progressive steering and the SEAT ‘Drive Profile’ adjustable settings for driving.

For more details, click here.