A round-up of this week’s UK and European fleet stories including BVRLA on EV audits, appointments at Lex and Infiniti plus numbers, deals and cost savings.
BVRLA wants lessors to take EV cost audits
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The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) wants fleet lessors to put customers forward for an electric vehicle (EV) cost-benefit analysis to help boost green fleet numbers.
The association recently held a joint workshop with the Energy Saving Trust (EST) to brief its members on the EST’s Plugged-in-Fleet Initiative (PIFI) which assessed the cost-benefit of EV fleets for 20 UK firms.
John Lewis, chief executive of the BVRLA, described the PIFI report as “the most robust guide yet to real-world plug-in vehicle running costs.”
Lewis added: “It is really encouraging to hear that, even with high list prices, residual value uncertainty and a lack of long-term user incentives, it is still possible to make a business case for running plug-in vehicles, in the right circumstances.”
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By GlobalDataThe EST has been awarded government funding to undertake a further 100 PIFI audits and the BVRLA wants the rental and leasing industry to participate, either directly or by putting their customers forward.
Caroline Watson, knowledge manager at EST, said: “Support from BVRLA enables us to reach a wide range of lease companies and their clients who will be vital in the fleet market’s transition to electrification.”
Chessman to Lex
Fleet leasing and management firm Lex Autolease has promoted Mark Chessman to corporate sales director.
Chessman will head Lex’s 270-strong UK team which manages a fleet of 270,000 vehicles.
Chessman joined Lex, then known as Lloyds TSB Autolease, in 2002 as finance director, becoming deputy managing director, then commercial director at the firm.
Hannah Bishop to Infiniti
Premium Japanese brand Infiniti has appointed Hannah Bishop as fleet manager for Europe’s North region.
Bishop, who joined the company from Peugeot where she was national fleet key account manager, will be responsible for building Infiniti’s fleet business in Holland and the UK, and will report to regional director Tony Lewis.
She said: “It is great to be starting with Infiniti when it is still such a relatively young company in Europe. You don’t often get these opportunities in your career to make an impact within the industry and as the premium brand starts to build its corporate profile I will be aiming to enhance and grow its position within the Fleet industry.”
Citroën UK fleet up by a fifth
French carmaker Citroën recorded 2,740 fleet registrations in January.
The figure marks 19.39% year-on-year growth and 3.32% share of the UK fleet market for the month.
LCV fleet sales were up by 10.6% year-on-year for January to 1,627 registrations and 9.89% market share.
BMW lands Prestige deal
Car rental firm Europcar has agreed a deal with BMW to supply 3 and 5 Series cars to its Prestige fleet, available from February.
Europcar’s Prestige selection features options over and above standard vehicle specification. The BMW 3 Series will include options ranging from the latest media gadgets to heated seats while the 5 Series M Sport Saloon will come with an eight-speed automatic transmission.
The BMWs will be part of a global fleet of 190,000 vehicles operated by Europcar across 140 markets.
LeasePlan posits cost savings
The UK arm of LeasePlan has said the fleet industry could save £400m a year by improving technical support, including the automation of servicing, and by better selection of vehicle replacement types which would reduce time spent with vehicles inactive.
Following an evaluation of 133,000 leased vehicles, LeasePlan also said companies should review their funding plans and tax efficiency to cut expenditure.
By these means LeasePlan estimated its clients could save £50m, or £390 per vehicle. Extrapolated to the entire UK fleet market, this would mean £400m of savings.
