Paul Williams, the Chairman of the RMIF, has called upon the Government to reverse the new VED changes that come into force in January 2009.

From the 1st January 2009, dealers will not be able to apply for refunds on vehicles they have taken in a part exchange. Only registered keepers will be allowed to apply for refunds and as dealers rarely become the registered keeper they will be unable to reclaim this money.

This change is reported to cost the industry in the region of £70-£80m a year at a time when many dealers are finding trading very tough in the current economic climate.

Paul Williams said ” The new VED refund rules will remove a major income stream from dealers when they can least afford it”. Mr Williams predicted that dealers would have to recover the shortfall by staff cuts and went on to say ” All dealers will be affected by this and we will continue to communicate to Government how damaging the move could be, especially at this time”.

Of course when you part exchange your vehicle to buy a new one this will be an issue for consumers or small businesses, as if the dealer knows they will not be able to recover the VED refund, they may consider offering you less for your vehicle as a result.

These are some of the risks in the ownership of a car or van so before you buy your next car or commercial vehicle have you ever considered contract hire?  Contract hire is a form of long term rental and offers fixed cost and risk free motoring to all drivers and small businesses.

Comparecontracthire.com is the UK’s first contract hire price comparison site and provides live rentals, on line, from up to 12 finance companies. Everything you need to to know about business or personal contract hire can be located at www.comparecontracthire.com

The SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) reports new car registrations fell 36.8% in November to 100,333 units. The year to date volume is down 10.7% to 2,023,104 units. The private market was down 45.1% in the month – a particularly weak result.

However the diesel market share achieved a record high of 47% in November proving how popular diesel models now are. Paul Everitt, the SMMT chief executive said ” November has been another difficult month for the motor industry and whilst some consumers may have delayed their purchases to take advantage of the recent VAT reductions, overall demand continues to fall”.

The new Ford Fiesta was the UK’s best selling model in November. Year to date the top 10 best sellers are as follows.

1) Ford Focus – 96,032 units

2) Vauxhall Corsa-93,252 units

3) Ford Fiesta- 87,785 units

4) Vauxhall Astra -85,636 units

5) Volkswagen Golf – 61,285 units

6) Peugeot 207 -51,564 units

7) BMW 3 Series – 46,755 units

8) Ford Mondeo -42,007 units

9) Vauxhall Zafira – 40,782 units

10) Vauxhall Vectra – 38,553 units

If you are thinking of financing your new car have you ever thought about contract hire?

Contract Hire is an effective way of financing a vehicle as it offers fixed cost and risk free motoring which is attractive in these uncertain times. Comparing prices is made easy by using www.comparecontracthire.com the UK’s first business and personal contract hire price comparison site. Quotations are available on line from up to 12 finance companies. There is also lots of information about a variety of motoring related subjects.

M1 roadworks misery to end after three years

The ten miles of roadworks on the M1, which have brought congestion misery for motorists for three years, are finally coming to an end.

The M1 between the interchange with the M25 at junction 6a to junction 10 near Luton has been widened from three lanes to four in each direction. The carriageways will be opened stage by stage with the M1 fully open by Friday (December 19). The work has cost nearly £300 million; and it is estimated that 160 million journeys have been disrupted.

For those drivers in too much of a hurry, points have been added to more than 35,000 licences after having been caught by the average speed tracking cameras.

Comparecontracthire.com has tried to help drivers plan their journeys by linking up with Trafficmaster. Trafficmaster provides live UK road traffic and speed restriction information thereby helping drivers save time and reduce their carbon footprint. By planning ahead you can also reduce your stress levels by avoiding areas where you know there is a problem.

The live traffic map is located at www.comparecontracthire.com together with live contract hire quote engines comparing prices from a panel of finance companies.

You know you want to contract hire your next vehicle. So where do you go or where do you look to get your prices?

Well Google “Contract Hire” and you will see 2.7m results. Lots of companies offering special offers and deals. How many do you call?  How easy is to see what the “special offer” is?  Does the “special offer still exist?”

Many companies will also ask you for your personal details before providing you quotes – why should you give out your details until you are ready?

Are you also comparing like for like on the following as all of these affect the rental that is being offered?

1) The exact make and model?

2) The length of the contract?

3) The annual mileage set?

4) The payment terms including the initial rental?

5) Is maintenance included?

6) Business or personal contract hire?

You can spend hours searching for the exact vehicle that you want, on the exact terms, that you want…..

Well not anymore, as Comparecontracthire.com aims to make life easy for small businesses and consumers. You can easily compare prices on www.comparecontracthire.com by the exact model, by £ per month, by CO2 g/km or by combined MPG.  You can even do a vehicle search and see an image, the options, the standard accessories and the technical data on any make or model.  All to help you save you time and money and no need to register any personal details to get instant quotes compared on line.

We have twelve finance partners providing live pricing, namely Arval, Days Contract Hire, Masterlease, Hitachi Capital, TCH leasing, Grosvenor Contracts, Fiat Auto, Alfa Romeo Contract Hire, jamjarcars, Chevrolet Lease, Saab Contract Hire and Vauxhall Leasing.  Deal direct with one of these companies once you have narrowed down your choices.

Comparecontracthire.com helps small business and consumers compare contract hire prices easily on the same terms and explains the product and provides useful information on other motoring related services.

Avis Rent a Car has added the new funky Fiat 500 to its rental fleet just in time for Xmas.

This iconic car is available for a limited period and is also perfect for trying out the benefits of living with a smaller vehicle by a test drive for a day or two.

” Fiat is aware of the value rental offers in the case of getting new people into our cars for the first time and that is why we are putting a small fleet of 500s into some high rental volume Avis stations” said Adam Pumfrey, Fiat’s Group fleet and remarketing director.

The Fiat 500s will be available to rent at Avis locations in London, Birmingham, Manchester,  Glasgow and Edinburgh. 

Before you buy why not think about long term rental? That is what contract hire is and everything you need to know about business or personal contract hire is explained at www.comparecontracthire.com .

You will also be able to quote on any Fiat 500 and see prices compared from our finance partners including Fiat Auto Contracts.

If you are convinced you want a smaller car but are not bothered what it is and the price per month is all that matters, try the ” Shopper Quote Engine at www.comparecontracthire.com/quote/shop-by-price.php

You can choose cars or vans, select “all manufacturers” or tick your favourite brands. Then choose how much you want to spend per month. Finally select business or personal contract hire and you will see your results displayed.

You will be amazed at the difference in contract hire rentals, not only between the different manufacturers but also between the finance partners.

Confused.com, one of the UK’s leading price comparison sites, has now joined forces with Comparecontracthire.com to offer contract hire price comparison prices to its 1.0M monthly site visitors.

This ground breaking partnership brings the benefit of vehicle contract hire to a much wider audience. Contract hire is an effective way to acquire your next vehicle as it offers fixed cost and risk free motoring – essential in these uncertain economic times.

Confused.com launched its full insurance price comparison site in 2003 and has since extended the products and services it offers. Comparecontracthire.com will become Confused’s contract hire and personal contract hire partner with its innovative new quote engines being offered to all Confused.com site visitors, many of whom run cars or vans.

Prices are compared from a panel of contract hire suppliers including Arval, Days Contract Hire, Grosvenor Contracts, Hitachi Capital, Masterlease, jamjarcars.com, TCH Leasing, Chevrolet Lease, Saab Contract Hire, Vauxhall Leasing, Fiat Auto and Alfa Romeo Contract Hire.

Robert Wastell, Managing Director of Comparecontracthire.com said ” Confused.com has a great brand name and a huge number of monthly visitors, so this partnership takes our site to the next level of its development. It also opens up a completely new sales channel to our finance partners”.

Greg Steel, Product Manager at Confused.com says ” Confused.com is interested in developing new channels to compliment its existing proposition. Vehicle finance is one area where we see our existing vehicle insurance customers benefitting from this new partnership and we believe this is a new growth market for us. The finance partners on Comparecontracthire.com are all well known brands in their own right and should offer an excellent service to our customers”

The link to the site is www.comparecontracthire.com/confused

What Van? has awarded the Vauxhall Corsavan “Small Van of the Year”. Small vans have never been so popular and according to What Van? , Corsavan is the best of the lot.

Steve Bryant, Vauxhall Commercial Vehicle Brand Manager said” the small van market is growing more and more important as businesses look to keep their costs under control. The fact that Corsavan shares so much with the multi-award winning Corsa car means we have a van that offers class-leading levels of quality, dynamics and roadside appeal”.

You can obtain live contract hire prices at www.comparecontracthire.com the UK’s first contract hire price comparison site from our panel of 12 finance companies including Vauxhall Leasing.

The Mitsubishi L200 and the Outlander 4Work win “Best Pick Up” and ” Best 4X4″ at the prestigious What Van? awards. Lance Bradley, Sales and Marketing Director said” the Outlander Commercial is continuing to show its true qualities as an affordable addition to their commercial fleet”.

Full contract hire pricing is available at www.comparecontracthire.com where prices are easily compared on line from up to 12 finance companies.

The new Fiat Fiorino,which launched in May of this year, was crowned overall Van of the Year and top choice in Light Van of the Year, by What Van?  Van of the Year Awards. The Fiat Scudo collected the Small Panel Van of the Year.

Gerry Clarke, Managing Director of Fiat Professional said “this is wonderful news for us, to receive just one accolade in these prestigious awards is good, but to get three, including the main Van of the Year title is fantastic”.

You can compare contract hire quotations on all Fiat commercial models at www.comparecontracthire.com and see prices from all our finance partners including Fiat Auto Contracts.

The latest Ford C-Max MPV delivers the lowest CO2 emissions in its segment, reports the Ford Motor company. The 1.6 TDCi models emit just 119 g/km of C02.

This drive to reduce emissions sits quite nicely with the new VED bands which come into force in April 2009. C-Max is one of over 50 Ford models emitting under 120 g/km CO2.