Our weekly round up of fleet news from around Europe: This week the German fleet market expands, NATO gets a different type of fleet to normal and Lex helps get people connected. By Brian Cantwell and Jonathan Minter
German fleet market grows 12.1% in August
There were 49,994 passenger cars registered for fleets in Germany in August 2014, according to German auto research firm Dataforce.
This was 12.1% above the 44,608 vehicles registered in August 2013. Taking into account workdays alone, however, the increase grew to 17.1%.
Vans for fleets registrations grew 17.7% year-on-year, up to 15,101. Ignoring non-working days, growth was 23.4%
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NATO summit moves in style
Jaguar Land Rover is supplying 135 vehicles for the British government during the two day North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit at Celtic Manor in Newport.
The firm says it hopes the vehicles will showcase the company’s British design, engineering and manufacturing to the world.
As one of the UK’s largest exporters, Jaguar Land Rover said it generates in the region of 85% of its revenue from exports and invested circa £3.5bn in its products and facilities in the UK in the financial year to March 2015.
Lex wins 80 vehicle Telecoms contract
Lloyds Fleet provider Lex Autolease has won a contract to provide telecoms provider Clarke Telecom with its fleet.
The contract will cover the vehicle costs of Telecom’s 80 strong fleet throughout its lifespan.
The fleet is to consist of Vauxhall Astra, Insignia and Mokka models, which Lex claims will reduce the company’s fleet carbon foot print by a third.
Fleet Alliance £1.8m move to SkyPark
Vehicle funding and fleet management specialist, Fleet Alliance, has relocated to new state-of-the-art offices in Glasgow’s Skypark to support its continued expansion.
Fleet Alliance said it has seen growth in all areas of its business operations so far this year, including SME, corporate fleet and daily rental, along with a 20% increase in staff numbers.
Managing director Martin Brown said; "We are growing at a faster than anticipated rate and the move to Skypark, in the centre of Glasgow, gives us a 20% increase in office space and represents a £1.8m investment for the company."
Snuffling green initiatives for Tusker
Contract hire and salary sacrifice provider Tusker has introduced new green initiatives for fleet clients including advice on ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV) and enhancements to its carbon offsetting commitment.
Tusker has partnered with carbon offsetting specialists, Carbon Footprint, to have only carbon neutral cars on the road within the next three years.
Tusker chief commercial officer, Iain Carmichael, said; "This is a unique added benefit for our customers who are then able to utilise this carbon offsetting under business travel as part of their carbon management plan. To date, we have offset over 20,000 tons of carbon and we expect this to reach 30,000 tons by the end of this year, with a target of 60,000 tons during 2015."
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By GlobalDataCarbon compensation programme from Alphabet
BMW’s fleet services arm Alphabet has launched a carbon compensation programme.
The programme involves encouraging users to integrate electric vehicles into their fleets using tools such as its AlphaElectric eMobility tool, and also consulting with customers on car policy or through the provision of eco driver training courses.
Alphabet is also working with carbon offsetter First Climate to bring a carbon compensation plan into play in every market it operates in.
The plan will cost fleets approximately 1% of fuel outgoings in order to buy carbon-reduction certificates. Users can then choose from a number of carbon-reducing projects to fund.
Chevin release fleet replacement tool
Chevin Fleet Solutions has introduced a Smart Fleet Replacement Tool in order to help fleets adopt flexible life cycles.
The tool tracks individual vehicle age and mileage, as well as possible additional attributes such as fuel usage, maintenance spend and depreciation.
An assessment is then regularly made using the selected factors to suggest a replacement date for each car or van.
Managing director Ashley Sowerby said; "This tool enables fleet manager to look at their worst scoring vehicles and consider their utilisation on the fleet. This may mean changing their operation or replacing them completely."
iVendi launches cloud based FCA compliance programme
Fleet service provider iVendi has launched a cloud based tool named iVendi Platform to provide motor finance infrastructure for dealers.
The tool allows dealers to manage all showroom and online finance traffic from lenders, and is designed to aid dealers struggling with FCA compliance.
The tool integrates with iVendi’s existing Quoteware and Car Finance checker online tools, and can be used on computers and mobile devices.
iVendi director James Tew said; "The possibility of helping to ensure FCA compliance is especially attractive to potential customers."
Burnt Tree expands Lyreco fleet
Burnt Tree is to provide office product distributor Lyreco with 57 Mercedes 513 5 ton vans.
The vans have been provided on a full five-year contract hire deal that includes Burnt Tree’s online fleet management tool FleetForce.
Burnt Tree has been the principle supplier of vans for Lyreco since 2010.
