Author Archives: Van Rental

Fiat Goes Large With Doblo XL

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Fiat Doblò XL

The new Fiat Doblò XL

Fiat has extended its Doblò Cargo van range with the Doblò XL, a long wheelbase, high-roof version of this not-so-small van.

The Doblò XL’s combination of a long wheelbase and high roof provides a load volume of 5.0 m3 and a payload of 1,000kg, providing customers with a new proposition previously unavailable in this segment. The Doblò XL is the latest non-standard variant of the Doblo, following on from the Work Up, a pick-up version introduced last year.

The new Doblò XL Cargo versions are powered by a choice of three Euro 5 turbodiesel engines: 1.6 MultiJet 105 hp, 1.6 MultiJet 90hp MTA and 2.0 MultiJet 135hp. Combi versions will be available with the 2.0 MultiJet 135hp only.

The Doblò XL is likely to appeal to a  variety of customers, including utilities, service vehicles (with ladder stored internally), converters and wheelchair-accessible transport for example. Its small van cost and medium van 1,000kg payload mean that it might well appeal to van operators looking to downsize and save money.

The New Doblò XL will be available in Cargo and Combi (people carrier/crew cab) versions and as with the existing Doblò Cargo and Combi range, the Doblò XL will be available in two trim levels. In addition, Combi M1 versions will have side airbags and ESP as standard equipment. Options include Blue&Me with steering wheel controls, Blue&Me TomTom navigator and eco:Drive Professional software.

The New Doblò XL is available to order now with pricing starting at £15,765.00 (basic) for the Doblò XL Cargo Base 1.6 MultiJet 16v Diesel 105, rising to £19,045.00 (basic) for the Doblò XL Combi SX M12.0 MultiJet 16v Diesel.

For more information visit www.fiatprofessional.co.uk.

Vauxhall Movano Scores Two New Fleet Deals

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Vauxhall Movano Police Protected Support Units or riot vans

Vauxhall Movano Police Protected Support Units

Vauxhall has won two new fleet deals for its large van model, the Movano.

The Luton-based van manufacturer has sold a batch of 24 Movanos to National Windscreens and has been selected by the Welsh Police Authorities to provide a number of new Police Protected Support Units (PSUs) — what most of us would call riot vans.

I predict a riot

The specification for the Movano Police PSU vans includes ballistic windscreens, a radiator protector, rough road package, deployable windscreen protection, Tyron run-flat tyre bands, and a double cell.

The PSU order is part of a larger deal with the Welsh Police Authorities to provide around 9,000 new vehicles to North Wales Police, Dyfed Powys Police, South Wales Police and Gwent Police over the next four years.

Chipped but not cracked

Two of National Windscreens' new Vauxhall Movano vans

Two of National Windscreens' new Vauxhall Movano vans

National Windscreens is the UK’s largest independent automotive glass fitter and operates nationwide. It has recently ordered 24 Movanos to supplement those already on its fleet.

Six of the 24 Movanos in L1 H1 FWD 2.3 CDTi (100ps) manual specification have already been supplied by Vauxhall retailer Drive Central Bristol and are already on the road, serving customers around the country. Another six vans will be delivered, along with six Vauxhall Astra 1.7 CDTi Active models.

The Movanos include optional rear parking sensors and have been supplied in white before being racked out internally and feature the new National Windscreens livery following the company’s recent rebrand.

“We are delighted with the Vauxhall Movanos already on our fleet,” said Phil Lomas, director of National Windscreens.  “After an in-depth comparison exercise for our fleet vans, it was clear that the Movanos offered incredibly good whole life costs and provide a flexible and very usable load space suitable for our bespoke requirements. In addition, driver visibility is excellent, which makes low speed manoeuvres much easier.

“The reliability of the Movano is very impressive and reduces vehicle downtime, which is costly for a business like ours. The support from Vauxhall and the local retailer has been superb, including its aftersales offering.”

For more information on the Vauxhall Movano, visit www.vauxhall.co.uk.

Mercedes Citan City Van: UK Launch Model Details

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Mercedes-Benz Citan

Mercedes-Benz Citan

It’s been a long time since Mercedes-Benz sold a small van — but the company is about to put that right with the launch of the Citan, a joint venture model that’s based on the Renault Kangoo and is billed as an urban delivery van.

The Citan is scheduled to receive its public unveiling at the 2012 IAA Commercial Vehicles Show in Hanover, Germany, in October, but Mercedes has now released some more information about launch models in the Citan range.

Engines

Mercedes’ turbodiesel direct-injection OM 607 1.5-litre engine will be supplied in three different output levels:

  • Citan 108 CDI, output 75 hp, torque 180 Nm
  • Citan 109 CDI, output 90 hp, torque 200 Nm
  • Citan 111 CDI, output 110 hp, torque 240 Nm

The diesel range will be complemented by the turbocharged M 200.71 petrol engine, which has a capacity of 1.2 l:

  • Citan 112, output 114 hp, torque 190 Nm

The Citan 108 CDI and 109 CDI are available now; the Citan 111 CDI and Citan 112 variants will round off the range in the summer of next year.

BlueEFFICIENCY

Mercedes’ BlueEFFICIENCY economy package will be standard on the petrol Citan and optional on diesel models. Fuel consumption for the 108CDi and 109CDi in BlueEFFICIENCY guise is 65mpg on the official combined cycle — no doubt real life will  be lower but economy should be impressive nonetheless.

CO2 emissions will be low, too, with the 108CDi and 109CDI — likely to be the most popular models — specified as having CO2 emissions of just 112g/km. Low emissions and fuel consumption in urban work should be helped by the van’s ECO Start/Stop system, which is part of the BlueEFFICIENCY package.

Three sizes

The Citan will come in three lengths; Compact, Long and Extra Long, providing a wide range of load capacities:

  • Compact: 1.36m long, 2.4m³, approx. 500kg payload
  • Long: 1.75m, 3.1m³, approx. 650kg payload
  • Extra Long: 2.13m, 3.8m³, approx. 800kg payload

As well as these panel van variants, the Citan will also come in Mercedes’ Dualiner and Traveliner variants — basically a crew cab and people carrier respectively.

The Citan will complete Mercedes’ range of vans and allow its customers to choose from a full range of van sizes, from 1.8t to 7.5t.

The new Citan looks to be an attractive package and Mercedes-Benz is going to some pains to try and convince would-be buyers that it is a true Mercedes, not a rebadged Renault.

Pick-ups Play Catchup In Safety Stakes

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New Isuzu D-Max Pick-Up driving through water

The new Isuzu D-Max has been awarded a 4-star Euro NCAP safety rating

The new Ford Ranger has a five-star Euro NCAP rating — the best possible.

The latest Isuzu D-Max and the Volkswagen Amarok pick-up both have four-star ratings.

Yet it wasn’t always like this. Just a few years ago, the story was quite different.

One-Star Safety

If I told you that some quite recent pick-up models did very badly in Euro NCAP safety tests, you might be surprised. I know I was.

You’d be even more surprised if you read what Euro NCAP says about collisions on its website:

In real life, when two cars collide the vehicle with the higher mass has an advantage over the lighter one. Generally speaking, vehicles with higher structures tend to fare better in accidents than those with lower structures.

Source: Euro NCAP, Comparable Cars

Since pick-ups are generally the heaviest, largest and highest cars on the road, surely they ought to be amongst the safest?

Apparently not. In Euro NCAP’s pre-2009 tests (which have since been made tougher), several popular pick-up models scored just one star in some categories.

The 2008 Mitsubishi L200 and Isuzu D-Max/Rodeo scored just one star in the pedestrian safety category. The Nissan Navara scored one star in the adult occupant category while the 2008 Ford Ranger and Isuzu models could only manage two stars.

It wasn’t pretty. Although it’s easy to understand how pick-ups might score badly on pedestrian safety, it’s hard to understand why they were so dangerous to their own occupants. Thankfully things are now improving, with new models scoring highly for both occupant safety and pedestrian safety.

It just goes to show that being rough and tough doesn’t necessarily make a vehicle safe in a crash.

Paralympic Route Network Now Active In London

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Two weeks after the Olympic Route Network was dismantled, the Paralympic Route Network has gone live and is now in force.

The Paralympic Route Network will be in operation from 06:00, Wednesday 29 August, and will be operation between the hours of 06:00 and midnight.

However, the good news is that the Paralympic Route Network only covers 8.7 miles in London and these Games Lanes will be opened to normal traffic when Paralympic traffic is low.

There is a separate Games Lane on the M4, also part of the PRN and operated by the Highways Agency, which is already in operation.

Here is the latest advice from Transport for London:

During the Paralympic Games, motorists are urged to avoid driving around the PRN routes and venues, particularly around the Olympic Park in Stratford and on the A102 approach roads north and south of the Blackwall Tunnel.

The A2, A12 and A13 routes into London are also expected to be busier than usual, particularly in the morning peak.

For more information on all games-related traffic and travel issues (not just road travel), visit www.getaheadofthegames.com.

Save 20% On Europcar Van Hire

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Europcar logoEuropcar is offering a generous 20% discount on van hire this autumn.

Anyone booking a van before the end of September 2012 for a hire before 16th December 2012 can save up to 20% on Europcar’s standard van hire rates.

No discount code is required, just click on the button below to be taken to Europcar’s website:

Save 20% Europcar Van Hire

Bookings must be made by 30/09/2012 for hires by 16/12/2012. Terms & Conditions apply*.

Europcar UK boss Ken McCall says its the perfect deal for parents helping their children to move back to university:

“When it’s time to head back to University, there’s always the challenge of getting everything in the family car – or having to do several trips” explained Ken McCall, Managing Director, Europcar Group UK. “So rather than overloading the car, Mum and Dad can opt for van hire to ensure everything that’s needed can be transported in one easy trip.”

Although Europcar’s minimum van hire age is 25, some companies will hire vans to drivers aged 21 and upwards, meaning that older students will be able to drive themselves back on a one-way hire, rather than having to get Mum and Dad to do the driving and return the van.

*Terms and conditions apply. See Europcar website for full details.

Glasgow Van Hire: Car Rental Scotland

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I’m very happy to welcome our newest advertiser, Car Rental Scotland, to vanrental.co.uk.

Car Rental Scotland is based in Glasgow East at the Jim Neary Self Drive location on Blairtummock Road, close to junction 10 of the M8 and near to the A8 Edinburgh Road.

Car Rental Scotland offers the following types of van for hire:

  • Small vans (e.g. Ford Transit Connect)
  • Medium vans (e.g. Ford Transit)
  • Long wheelbase vans (e.g. Ford Transit LWB)
  • Luton vans

Pickup can be arranged from Glasgow Airport, Prestwick Airport and Edinburgh Airport as well as at the branch. Delivery and collection may also be possible by arrangement.

For more information, contact Car Rental Scotland direct:

If you’d like to advertise your van or minibus hire business on vanrental.co.uk, click here to visit our advertising page.

TNT Continues 5t Trials With Volkswagen Crafters

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Volkswagen Crafter TNT 5-tonne box van

The 5-tonne VW Crafters purchased by TNT for its trial

Back in March, I reported that parcels operator TNT was trialling 10 5.2-tonne Iveco Daily box vans at its Bradford and Nottingham depots, with a view to using them instead of 7.5t trucks.

TNT is continuing to trial 5 tonne box vans and has now announced a further trial of 1o 5-tonne Volkswagen Crafters at its Bristol depot.

The vans have received a box conversion by Altrincham specialists Cartwright, to the specific requirements of TNT. The Crafters will be based at TNT’s Bristol depot, and were purchased through Volkswagen’s Van Centre in Manchester.

Commenting on the company’s plans to consider a move to 5 tonnes, Steve Davis, National Engineering Manager TNT Express Services UK & Ireland, said that the company would make a decision in the next 12 months:

“Once a decision was made to re-evaluate our current fleet we researched the market place to find manufacturers of five-tonne vehicles that fit the company’s requirements.

We will be monitoring the cabs over an average annual mileage of around 30,000 miles and hope to make decisions about our van capacity and vehicle range in the next 12 months.

As with all our fleet vehicles, the Crafter will be assessed on a variety of points including fuel economy, operational activity, ease of maintenance and driver evaluation.”

TNT delivers up to 150 million items per annum and has the largest individual share of the national market. I don’t know how many 7.5-tonne trucks it currently runs, but the contract to replace the majority of them with 5-tonne box vans would be a big win for any manufacturer, even if it was split into several tranches.

As I’ve discussed previously, rigid sales in the 3.5t – 6.0t and 6.0t – 16t weight categories have seen big increases this year; it will be interesting to see whether the search for lower costs and more careful compliance (in terms of overloading) drives ongoing popularity for the van-sized 3.5t-6.0t class.

Hertz Launches Basingstoke Van Supersite

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Hertz logoHertz has opened a new van supersite in Basingstoke, bring the total number of supersites around the UK to 20. The van supersites are designed to serve the needs of fleet market — a growing proportion of which is choosing long-term van rental rather than ownership or traditional leasing.

A full range of vans including Luton box vehicles, tippers, crew cabs and customised vehicles will be available at the Basingstoke supersite. Neil Cunningham, General Manager for the UK, unveiled the official, new Van Supersite at Exhibition Court, Armstrong Road in an opening ceremony today.

As with all Hertz Van Supersites, the Basingstoke Supersite will support both bespoke and standard van rental requirements. Customers will have access to commercial vehicle expertise, service and maintenance support, and efficient repairs of both warranty and non-warranty vehicles. In addition, Hertz Van Supersites provide innovative fleet management services that enable fleet managers to streamline vehicle usage, cut down pool fleet numbers, and effectively reduce administration costs.

“Van rental offers an unbeatable alternative to investing in vehicle ownership.  It reduces the financial commitment companies have to put into everything from breakdown cover and insurance to getting a fleet of vehicles taxed and ready for the road,” said Michel Taride, President of Hertz International.

“The trend for van fleet rentals instead of purchases is increasing, and this shift in behaviour has created a requirement for our van business to expand. We are excited to be investing and expanding in the local area and also increasing the number of people we employee in Basingstoke,” he added.

The opening of the Basingstoke Van Supersite is part of Hertz’s 2012 plan to supersize its Van Supersite network in the UK, which now features 20 locations strategically placed throughout the country.  The Supersites have been specifically built to meet the demands of fleet managers who operate large commercial fleets. Located to enable quick and easy access to motorways, the network enables a rapid response to the needs of fleet managers across a large operating area.

In order to customize vehicles for specific business purposes, Hertz Van Supersites provide body conversions, welfare vehicles or specialist vehicle wrapping. Customers can also benefit from a comprehensive list of services that covers everything from exterior wrap/livery, interior racking and shelving and tow bars, to beacons, cages, speed limiters, flood lights, hand wash units (hot and cold) and reversing cameras/sensors.

Across the UK, Hertz operates a 5,000 strong van fleet with vehicles of up to 3.5 tonnes. Vans available at the Basingstoke location include:

In addition to its network of Van Supersites, Hertz operates an extensive network of standard van rental branches around the UK — you can find a full list here.

Click here to visit the Hertz website.

Renault Launches Updated Master Van

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The new Renault Master

Renault has updated its Master large van range with improved fuel consumption, reduced emissions and uprated towing capacity.

The current version of the Renault Master was launched two years ago. Although it’s not a huge seller in the UK, it has a 15% share of the large van segment across Europe, making it an important model for Renault.

Given that, it’s not surprising that an updated version is about to hit showrooms.

Save money, save the planet

All Masters come with the same 2.3dCi engine, which is available in three different power outputs(100hp, 125hp and 150hp).

Renault has left these unchanged but has managed to improve fuel consumption by up to 3.8mpg, depending on your choice of model. CO2 emissions are also down and now start at 194g/km, offering an average saving of 16g/km across the range.

To achieve these savings, Renault’s engineers focused on the following areas:

  • Thermal management: an improved water circuit for even faster starting;
  • New oil and power steering pumps;
  • Low fuel-consumption tyres;
  • New gearbox lubricant.

Musical upgrades

The changes extend inside the cab, too. A selection of new, easier to use and better-equipped radios are now available and bluetooth and USB connectivity are now standard features across the range. The flagship Sport version comes with a CD player and MP3 playback, as well as a separate display.

Riding on air

Lorry enthusiasts of a certain age will remember when air suspension in lorries was new and impressive enough to be worth boasting about.

That time now seems to have arrived for vans, which are increasingly being offered with air suspension to improve full-load stability and to make loading and unloading easier on uneven surfaces.

Air suspension was previously only available on rear-wheel drive Masters but is now also available on most front-wheel drive models as a £2,000+VAT option. Although it might seem overkill for many van applications, air suspension does offer several benefits:

  • Maintain a constant ride-height irrespective of load;
  • Correct differences behind the left- and right-hand sides of the vehicle (e.g. uneven/asymmetrical loads);
  • Permit the vehicle’s ground clearance or rear clearance angle to be raised temporarily;
  • Drop the rear suspension to achieve a lower rear sill height (450mm);
  • Manually adjust the deck height at the rear by +70mm or -60mm.

Upgraded towing capacity

The final upgrade to the Master is the option of an uprated towing capacity on rear-wheel drive chassis cab models. The These can now be specified with a 3.5t towing capacity, providing a 7 tonne train weight. Previously the maximum towing capacity was 3t, giving a 6.5t train weight.