Ford Focus

The all-new Ford Focus was voted the Best Medium Car at the 2012 Diesel Car Awards by Diesel Car magazine. The economical Ford Focus was named as the “one to beat” in the mid-size family sector and saw off the likes of the Volkswagen Golf and Hyundai i30.

Its fuel efficient powertrain with the 1.6 TCDi engine offers you 67mpg and CO2 emissions at 109g/km plus the forthcoming Focus ECOnetic which comes to the UK next month goes even better, at an estimated 83.1 mpg and CO2 emissions as low as 88g/km.

The Ford Focus has been a popular model for Ford with over 1,500,000 sales since its launch in 1998 and the latest model offers you style, an attractive cabin and is packed with the latest innovative Ford driver assistance technology. The other models that were acknowledged at the awards ceremony were the Ford Fiesta, Mondeo and S-MAX, all of which were runners up in their own categories.

Chevrolet Trax SUV

The Chevrolet Trax will make its debut at the Paris Motor Show and this all-new small SUV (sport utility vehicle) joins the existing car range of Spark city car, Aveo, Cruze, Orlando, Captiva and the new Chevrolet Volt. The Trax has a muscular exterior design and wide stance and inside the interior quality is comparable to standards found in more expensive vehicles.

It has space for five adults and generous luggage space and should be in Chevrolet European showrooms by the spring of 2013. This new model will go on sale in over 140 countries worldwide and Chevrolet is promising great fuel economy and car-like-handling in the ever competitive small SUV segment.

Seat Alhambra

The Seat Alhambra is a versatile people carrier has just been awarded the accolade of Diesel Car magazine MPV for the second year running. This comfortable seven-seater MPV comes in three trims, S, SE or SE Lux and a range of turbocharged petrol or diesel engines, coupled to either a six-speed manual transmission or DSG auto.

The Alhambra received great feedback on its value for money and flexibility from Diesel car magazine who also said “Everything about the Alhambra is planned for total convenience”. The Seat Alhambra has collected ten awards since its launch from some of the UK’s other leading publications like Fleet News, Fleet World and What Car, who all voted it their top MPV too.

BCA auctions

British Car Auctions, one of the UK’s largest used car and van auction sites, has released data from their BCA Pulse survey on how the used car market reacted to the post-Easter period, with values falling on average by £375 (6.2%). They also reported that values of used vehicles fell in every sector, however ex-fleet and lease vehicle values experienced the lowest drop at 1.9%.

Used cars averaged at 94.6 of CAP Clean in April (CAP is the leading company in vehicle valuation), compared to just over 97% in March. Interestingly the age of the vehicles also rose to nearly 64 months and mileage on those vehicles climbed above 60,000, which may explain the drop in value. However seasonally, April is a month where seasonal pressures also have an impact on used vehicle values.

This is usually a time of year when demand is lower as many families are thinking about their summer holidays and there are a lot of distractions for consumers this year, for example the London Olympics and The Diamond Jubilee, diverting attention from buying and selling cars.

Personal contract hire

The Ford Fiesta is the UK’s best seller and the Ford Fiesta 1.25 Style 3-door hatchback is on offer on Ford personal contract hire from only £150.56 per month (including VAT) on a three-year deal. This is for non-maintenance contract hire, 10,000  miles per annum, with a payment profile of 6 initial months rental and 35 subsequent payments.

The Fiesta 1.25 returns 51.4 mpg and emits only 124g/km of CO2 so is highly economical to run. Other terms are available direct from our car finance partner so fill out a Contact Form for further details.

New Jeep accessories website

Jeep has just launched a bespoke website for their iconic 4X4 range of muscle cars, where any Jeep enthusiast can buy any Jeep official accessory and various Jeep gift ideas. Some of the most popular items searched for are leather key rings, rubber floor mats, roof bars, mudflaps and other protection items for your Jeep 4X4.

The new website has been divided into easy-to-use model-by-model sections and you can search for the exact accessories for your car. Jeep has also catered for previous Jeep models including the Cherokee, Commander and Patriot as well as the current range of Compass, Grand Cherokee and Wrangler.

The new accessories website can be found at www.jeep.co.uk or alternatively you can visit the bespoke website direct at http://accessories.jeep.co.uk

Nissan e-NV200 TEST CAR

British Gas has been undergoing test trials with Nissan’s new e-NV200 TEST CAR  at its Leicester and Newbury depots. They are working with Nissan to put the test electric vehicles through their paces, in real-life situations with British Gas engineers.

The company has an ambition for 10% of its LCV fleet to be electric by the end of 2015 and the e-NV200 van was run at maximum gross vehicle weight during the trial, covering around 1,200 miles. It gave the opportunity for the British Gas engineers involved to try out an electric vehicle as part of their daily job.

The attraction of the Nissan e-NV200 TEST CAR is its reduced running costs as fuel prices continue to rise. This can really appeal to commercial fleet operators, provided the van meets the needs of the driver and their daily duties. Nissan has had experience with this vehicle with other commercial fleet operators, as they have also been running test trials with the Japan Post Service and FedEx.

Diesel Car magazine

Diesel Car magazine has just announced the winners of their Diesel Car, Car of the Year Awards 2012. If you are thinking of leasing a new diesel car it might be worth seeing what the experts at Diesel Car magazine voted by each sector.

The cars have been judged by Diesel Car’s road testers and they have put every brand new car through its paces to come up with the list of winners in the ten different segments. The ten winners were selected from a shortlist of 30 vehicles and the awards were sponsored by Celtic Tuning (a leading company in diesel tuning).

The overall winner for the Car of the Year 2012 goes to the Range Rover Evoque (another one for the trophy cabinet) and many of the other winners have been voted before, like the Ford Focus winning the Best medium car for the second year.

The full list of winners is below and the Award issue of the magazine goes on sale this Friday (11th May 2012), available online at their website @ www.dieselcaronline.co.uk , from all good newsagents, plus it is available for your iPad via the Apple App Store.

The 2012 Diesel Car of the Year Awards winners

Best small car – Kia Rio

Best medium car – Ford Focus

Best large car – Citroen DS5

Best executive car – BMW 3 Series

Best crossover – Range Rover Evoque

Best 4X4 – Land Rover Discovery 4

Best sports car – Peugeot RCZ

Best eco car – Chevrolet Volt and Vauxhall Ampera

Overall Car of the Year 2012 – Range Rover Evoque

Best estate car – Skoda Superb

Best MPV – SEAT Alhambra

Free Company Car Tax guide app

Toyota and Lexus has just launched a new Company Car Tax guide which is available free of charge as an app for iPhone, iPad or Android smart phones, tablets and PCs. The guide should be invaluable to any fleet manager, or a company car user, interested in finding out more about UK company car taxation.

It details how business cars and vans are treated as a P11D taxable benefit and allows you to calculate your own BIK (benefit-in-kind) and your NIC (National Insurance Contributions), based over a three year period and is the first app of this kind developed by a UK car manufacturer.

For further information visit the link below or visit Google Play for Android or the App Store for iPhone/iPad;

www.toyotalexusfleetservices.co.uk

IAM website

The IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) has launched a new website to help motorists stay safe this summer. The new website is packed with driving advice, traffic updates, weather forecasts, cycliing tips, what to do about the Olympics congestion, loading your car and even driving abroad too.

The IAM is the UK’s largest independent road safety charity and has over 100,000 members in the UK and Ireland with more than 200 volunteer groups.

According to the IAM there are more road accidents in the summer (than winter) and more fatal accidents too. This is due to a number of factors, however many more drivers take to the roads on day trips, taking advantage of the long summer evenings. However too many have a drink in their hand, reflecting in a larger number of incidents.

The new website address is http://www.drivingadvice.org.uk/