Mazda regenerative braking system

Mazda has developed a vehicle regenerative braking system that reduces fuel consumption by 10% and will showcase their new i-ELOOP system in the TAKERI concept car, at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show. The TAKERI concept is the next-generation mid-sized saloon that also features a range of SKYACTIV Technology and the Japanese company’s “KODO-Soul of Motion” design theme.

A regenerative braking system uses an electric motor or alternator to generate electricity as the vehicle decelerates, which then recovers a proportion of the vehicle’s kinetic energy, to power climate control systems, audio and numerous other electrical components. The capacitor in the i-ELOOP system can also store large volumes of generated energy as well.

In stop-start driving conditions, Mazda is estimating the new i-ELOOP system (working in conjunction with Mazda’s “i-stop” idling stop technology) will cut fuel consumption by 10%. The name i-ELOOP stands for “Intelligent Energy Loop” and the first Mazda vehicle in the UK market to feature the full range of SKYACTIV technologies will be the Mazda CX-5 compact SUV, which should be launched in the spring of 2012.

BMW 3 Series

The UK’s largest vehicle reliability survey has been conducted by Fleet News with the top FN50 vehicle leasing companies (by fleet size), who run in excess of 1.2 million cars and vans. This annual analysis asks the leasing companies to rank the best vehicles and manufacturers for reliability, with tables then created for a top 10 for cars and a top 5 for vans (see below).

German brands have dominated the results this year for both the car and van category, with the BMW 3 Series the most reliable car (and top car brand), the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter knocking the Ford Transit off the top spot for most reliable van, with Volkswagen leaping ahead of Ford overall, in the van reliability league table.

Fleet News Editor, Stephen Briers, said, “BMW has built on its position as most reliable car manufacturer supplying the UK’s largest contract hire companies, adding another attribute to low CO2 emissions, modest overall running costs and rewarding driver behaviour and making its cars more desirable to fleet operators”.

Volkswagen vans

On vans, Stephen said,”Van reliability is arguably more important than car reliability as vital supply chains can be disrupted through unnecessary vehicle downtime. Volkswagen has demonstrated with its leading position as a van manufacturer, and high placing for its models, that fleet operators can choose its vehicles in confidence”

Most reliable cars according to top FN50 leasing companies

1. BMW 3 Series
2. Honda Accord
3. Volkswagen Golf
4. Audi A3
5. Toyota Avensis
6. Nissan Qashqai
7. Volkswagen Passat
8. Audi A4
9. Mazda6
10. BMW 5 Series

Most reliable car manufacturers

1. BMW
2. Audi
3. Honda
4. Volkswagen
5. Toyota
6. Nissan
7. Mercedes-Benz
8. Ford
9. Lexus
10. Skoda

Most reliable vans

1. Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
2. Ford Transit
3. Volkswagen Caddy
4. Ford Transit Connect
5. Volkswagen Transporter

Most reliable van manufacturers

1. Volkswagen
2. Ford
3. Mercedes-Benz
4. Fiat
5. Renault 

Hyundai i40

The new Hyundai i40 has just won the 2011 EuroCarBody Golden Award at this year’s conference which was held near Frankfurt in Germany. The EuroCarBody awards were judged by over 500 attending delegates with industry experts from across the world.

The Hyundai i40 was praised by the judges for its comprehensive engineering, effective development of materials as well as the car’s production efficiency, scoring 37.98 out of a possible 50 maximum points. The closest competitor to the i40 was the Audi A6 which scored 35.86 with the Mercedes-Benz B-Class in third place at 34.66. Other competitors included car models from BMW, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Opel, Land Rover and Volkswagen. 

The Hyundai i40 is currently available in the Tourer model, with the saloon car due out next year, and benefits from Hyundai’s Five Year Triple Care package. This consists of a five-year unlimited warranty, five year’s roadside assistance and five year’s of vehicle health checks. Hyundai Contract Hire has a superb offer on the i40 Tourer on the site at present, for the Hyundai i40 Diesel 115 blue Drive Active 5-door Tourer, which starts from £196.77+VAT per month.

If you are thinking of leasing your new car for the new 61 Plate,which comes out on the 1st September,you may want to check the vehicle availability and lead time for your chosen car.

Vehicle waiting lists at some manufacturers are typically an average 10-14 weeks with some model order times stretching to five months and even longer meaning that delivery of a new car ordered today may not be until Christmas 2011 or even into 2012.

For fleets the lack of availability of a new company car can prove costly, while for drivers such delays are frustrating. The options facing businesses are typically to defleet on schedule and then hire a vehicle for the interim period or extend the replacement cycles which, for outright purchase fleets means a lower second hand value on the current vehicle or, for leased fleets, paying to extend the contract.

Some manufacturers recognise this is a major problem and Mazda for example has just launched a fast-track delivery service for all their mainstream cars like the Mazda3 1.6D 5dr TS² with CO₂ emissions of 117g/km and the Mazda6 2.2D 5dr TS 129ps with CO₂ emissions of 138g/km.

Minagi Concept

Mazda will be unveiling a new compact crossover SUV at the Geneva Motor Show, called the Mazda Minagi. This new concept car features its all-new SKYACTIV technologies and shows off a new design theme (KODO -Soul of Motion). This exciting new concept now gives another insight to Mazda’s future new products and the evolution of the brand.

The Mazda Minagi is fitted with a SKYACTIV engine, transmission and chassis, all of which have been designed to offer driving pleasure with outstanding environmental and safety performance.

Minagi Concept

In addition to the Minagi Concept, Mazda will also be showing off the Mazda SHINARI, plus the latest Mazda2, Mazda3, Mazda5, Mazda6, Mazda MX-5 and Mazda CX-7 models.

BMW 3 Series diesel

Last year there were several makes and models of cars that were really popular on Comparecontracthire.com. Contract hire essentially provides you a fixed monthly rental to lease your car and can cover most of the costs of ownership, including vehicle depreciation. You may find therefore that cars that cost the same to buy, may have widely differing contract hire monthly rental costs as a result.

For example, an Audi 2.0 TDI 2.0 TDI 136bhp 4-door saloon (Start/Stop) has a manufacturer list price of  £24,485

The Alfa Romeo 159 diesel saloon 2.0 JTDM Lusso 4-door saloon has a manufacturer list price of £24,429.47

On a three year, non-maintained contract hire rental, on 10,000 miles per annum, payment profile 3+35 rentals, the Audi rental is £314 plus VAT and the Alfa Romeo is £339.32 plus VAT per month.

That’s just over a £25 per month difference for two cars that basically cost the same to buy. The best way to see what is the best car you can get for your money, is to use the contract hire vehicle shopper and select your body style (i.e. saloon car), favourite manufacturers and then how much you want to spend. You may be surprised by some of the results and could find a car that you never thought you could afford.

The 2010 list of top contract hire models is below

1. BMW 3 Series Diesel Saloon
2. Audi A3 Diesel Sportback
3. Volkswagen Golf Diesel Hatchback
4. Nissan Navara Diesel
5. BMW 5 Series Diesel Saloon
6. Audi A4 Diesel Saloon
7. Audi A3 Diesel Hatchback
8. BMW 1 Series Diesel Hatchback
9. Volkswagen Scirocco Diesel Coupe
10. Volkswagen Scirocco Coupe
11. Mercedes C Class Diesel Saloon
12. BMW 3 Series Diesel Touring
13. Volkswagen Golf Hatchback
14. BMW 1 Series Diesel Coupe
15. Audi A4 Diesel Avant
16. Jaguar XF Diesel Saloon
17. Mazda Mazda6 Diesel Hatchback
18. Audi A5 Diesel Coupe
19. Audi Q5 Diesel Estate
20. Nissan Qashqai Hatchback

Mazda tops Customer Service

Every six months, the Institute of Customer Service asks 26,000 people (twice a year) what they think about the service levels they received from the UK’s major companies and then collates the information into the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI).

Mazda has once again come top scoring 80.6% satisfaction, which is five points above the overall UK average. The top five results in the car manufacturer part of the survey are as follows;

1. Mazda 80.6%
2. Honda - 80.3%
3. BMW/MINI – 80.2%
4. Toyota -79.6%
5. Mercedes-Benz -79.0%

Mazda was ahead of the overall manufacturer car company average and the highest score in any sector was 88% for both Waitrose and John Lewis. The twice-yearly survey covers more than 150 companies in the retail, financial, tourism, telecoms, transport and automotive sector.

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Used Car Expert, the leading used car magazine, has undertaken an analysis of the depreciation of small family hatchbacks (1.6-litre petrol or comparable engine) and has discovered some interesting results. They looked at the resale value of three year old values against their new price, with 30,000 miles on the clock.

They found that many new car buyers will have lost up to 50% of their money in this time. Depreciation is never on most people’s minds when they buy a new car and this is why business car leasing is becoming more popular with many small businesses, as the risk around depreciation is with the vehicle leasing company.

• New car prices are an approximate guide price of the price paid for a new car 3 years ago

Audi A3 diesel Sportback

The most popular cars that customers have asked to lease in 2009, has featured many makes and models, however German brands still favour highly for small businesses. Having strong residual values, these manufacturers will have attractive contract hire rentals, as the residual value set by the leasing company is the biggest factor in how the leasing rental is set.

Diesel cars are also very popular as you can see from the list below due to their fuel economy and lower CO2 emissions.

The top models for SMEs in 2009 are as follows

The UK’s top car leasing companies, operating nearly 900,000 cars have voted the BMW Group as the most reliable manufacturer. The survey was conducted by Fleet News and financial consultants Grant Thornton and covered 840,000 cars.

The car leasing companies were asked to assess the reliability according to the number of breakdowns per model on their fleet. BMW had three entries in the top ten cars namely BMW 3 Series (2nd), BMW 5 Series (5th) and the MINI (8th).

FN50 survey results

Most reliable car manufacturer according to FN 50 car leasing companies

1. BMW
   
2. Honda
   
3. Audi
   
4. Toyota
   
5. Volkswagen
   
6. Mercedes-Benz
   
7. Ford
   
8. Mazda
   
9. Nissan
   
10. Skoda