Author Archives: Van Rental

Van registrations rise by 21.7% in January

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New van registrations rose by 21.7% in January, compared to the same period last year, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The truck market also returned to growth — after the distortion caused by the introduction of Euro 6 emissions legislation and Type Approval Regulations — with sales rising by 38.6% in January compared to January 2014.

UK van and truck registrations: 2015 and % change on 2014

January % change Year-to-date % change Rolling year % change
Vans 22,049 21.7% 22,049 21.7% 325,613 19.2%
Trucks 2,518 38.6% 2,518 38.6% 42,170 -23.5%
Total 24,567 23.2% 24,567 23.2% 367,783 12.0%

Source: Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT)

Mike Hawes, the SMMT’s chief executive, said the gains were a return to business as usual and indicated growing confidence in the economy:

“The truck market posted a strong return to form in January. Changes to Euro Standards and Type Approval Regulations in 2014 affected demand last year, and now we are starting to see a return to business as usual,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive.

The number of vans registered this month has once again increased, reflecting raised levels of business confidence and demand for a range of efficient, well equipped models. Successes in both markets have seen the total commercial vehicle market grow significantly for a ninth consecutive month.”

As the graph below shows, new van registrations have now risen by around 80% since the start of 2010:

SMMT CV registrations January 2015

Graph courtesy of SMMT

Which vans are the big sellers?

As usual, growth in van sales was not evenly distributed. The biggest gains in percentage terms were in the 2.0-2.5t category, where new registrations rose from 2,458 units in January 2014 to 4,006 units last month.

Large vans in the 2.5-3.5t category were also strong sellers, adding 1,428 units, or 13.9%, to take total registrations to 11,702 during the first month of 2015.

What about the second-hand market?

The obvious question, of course, is how many of these new sales — if any — are stealing sales from the used van market.

I’ve been speculating on this issue for a while, and although I believe the majority of new van sales are to large buyers who only purchase new, I suspect that a percentage of these gains does represent smaller businesses switching back from used to new, as the economy — and their business outlook — improves.

The other question, of course, is if new sales are rising, are supplies of second-hand vans? The combination of this plus a greater percentage of buyers choosing the new option could end up weakening demand for used vans, although I don’t think this will happen for a little while longer.

One to watch.

Volkswagen launches telematics service for vans

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Volkswagen introduces telematics serviceVolkswagen has launched a new telematics service targeting fleet customers across the UK.

VW says that the new service is suitable for fleets of any size and will work with all types of vehicle, enabling companies to manage mixed fleets with one system.

The firm says that the new telematics system is being offered in partnership with the RAC — suggesting to me that it could be a rebadged and tweaked version of the RAC’s own telematics service.

Volkswagen says the service will be available from February and will have a monthly contract fee of £12.50+VAT for each telematics unit. Features available from the new service include:

  • Location tracking
  • Driver behaviour
  • Vehicle diagnostics
  • Odometer
  • Geo-fencing
  • Fuel and CO2 monitoring
  • ‘Driverline’ concierge service

Real-time data and reporting is available through a customisable online portal, which is compatible with smartphones, tablets and laptops.

The service is also intended to ensure that fleet vehicles are properly maintained: the Driverline concierge service will prompt fleet operators to book maintenance and scheduled service visits at Volkswagen Van Centres when required.

It’s interesting to see that by offering a universal solution suitable for all makes and types of vehicle, Volkswagen has taken a different approach to some other manufacturers, such as Citroën, which fits its own-brand telematics solution to vehicles.

As I’ve written before, I believe telematics will become ubiquitous in all fleets over the next 5-10 years.

Even in daily rental fleets, where fleet operators are not directly responsible for fuel costs or driver management, the benefits telematics can offer in terms of tracking, diagnostics and compliance are very useful. At least one major UK van hire company, Practical Car & Van Rental, has already taken the plunge and fitted telematics to its 7,000-strong fleet.

Preston van hire: Easirent.com Car and Van Hire

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Easirent.com logoI’m very pleased to welcome our newest advertiser, Easirent.com in Preston, to vanrental.co.uk.

Preston Easirent is part of the Easirent group and offers a wide range of vans and 7.5t lorries for daily hire, including models with tail lifts.

Here’s a summary of the vans and trucks available from Easirent in Preston:

  • Small vans (e.g. Peugeot Partner)
  • Medium vans (e.g. Ford Transit SWB w/ medium roof)
  • Long wheelbase vans (e.g. Ford Transit LWB w/ high roof)
  • Extra-long wheelbase vans (e.g. Volkswagen Crafter w/ high roof)
  • Luton tail lift vans (e.g. Ford Transit luton)
  • Crew cab tipper vans (e.g. Ford Transit crew cab)
  • Dropside vans (e.g. Ford Transit flatbed/dropside with single cab)
  • Crew cab panel vans (e.g. Ford Transit crewbus)
  • 7.5t box lorries with tail lift (e.g. Iveco 7.5t w/ 20ft box)

As you can see, this is a pretty comprehensive selection that should satisfy virtually all van hire requirements!

If you have any questions or want a quote, contract Easirent’s Preston branch directly at:

  • Web: Easirent.com (online chat available)
  • Tel: 01772 886888

 

If you’d like to promote your van or minibus rental business on vanrental.co.uk, check out our advertising options.

Hertz Van Rental from just £11 per day in February [EXPIRED]

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Hertz Van Rental from £11 per dayIf you missed out on the Hertz Winter Van Rental Sale — which ended on Friday — then don’t worry.

From today, Hertz is offering van hire from just £11 per day until the end of February:

  • Hertz Van Rental from just £11 per day
  • Valid from: 2nd February 2015
  • Offer ends: 30th February 2015

** THIS OFFER HAS NOW EXPIRED **

This really is a seriously good deal and is the lowest daily rental price Hertz has offered for a long time — so don’t miss out:

 

Terms and conditions may apply: see Hertz website for details.

New SsangYong Korando Sports pick-up offers excellent value

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The pick-up market keeps on growing in the UK, so it’s no surprise that budget contenders are starting to appear. First, there was the Great Wall Steed, and now there’s the a brand-new version of the SsangYong Korando Sports.

SsangYong Korando Sports pick-up

As you’d expect from SsangYong, the Korando Sports majors in value and practicality — with prices starting at £14,995, these trucks are unlikely to be status purchases and are instead likely to be workhorses.

SsangYong’s five-year, unlimited mileage warranty will apply to the Korando Sports, even when purchased for business use, and the pick-up’s upgraded 1-tonne payload means it is now treated as a commercial vehicle for tax purposes. Out behind, a 2.7 tonne towing capacity means that the Korando Sports should be able to handle the biggest caravans, horse boxes and fully-loaded vehicle transporter trailers, while staying within the law.

SsangYong Korando Sports 1-tonne payload

As you’d expect from an Asian budget model, the Korando’s standard specification is generous. There are only two models to choose from — the SX and the more upmarket EX.

The SX includes 16” alloy wheels, tinted glass, air conditioning, leather covered steering wheel, remote central locking, Kenwood MP3 CD & RDS radio with a USB & auxiliary port and Bluetooth connectivity as well as speed sensitive power assisted steering.

The EX has 18” alloy wheels, and features leather upholstery with heated front seats, powered driver’s seat, heated, electrically adjustable and power folding door mirrors and rear parking sensors.  6 speed automatic transmission with cruise control is also available as an option.

Under the bonnet

The Korando Sports is powered by a 2.0-litre diesel, which — on paper — compares very well to the entry level engine offering on the Volkswagen Amarok:

Korando Sports Amarok
Power 155PS 140PS
Torque 360Nm 340Nm
Combined cycle mpg 37.7mpg 36.2mpg

Our verdict?

Perhaps tellingly, SsangYong didn’t include any interior photos in their press release. I’d expect it to be less sophisticated than its Japanese and western peers inside, and the handling probably isn’t as sharp as current premium models, either.

On the other hand, who cares? At this price, the numbers stack up in favour of the Korando Sports, especially given SsangYong’s impressively comprehensive 5-year warranty (check the the detailed comparison versus Hyundai and KIA here).

If you want a proper pick-up for a mixture of on and off-road use, towing, load lugging and general abuse, the SsangYong Korando Sports could be a very sound buy.

Lightweight luton highlights payload gains available to 3.5t operators

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Bevan lightweight luton body

Bevan’s lightweight luton body gives a payload of 1,250kg when fitted to a 3.5t Sprinter chassis (pictured)

I wrote recently about the issue of payload (maximum load weight) in 3.5t vans — and highlighted how a luton van will typically have a slightly lower payload than the equivalent panel van.

Using a luton van — especially with a tail lift — is typically a trade off between gaining a wider, completely flat load deck and losing a little payload. Unsurprisingly, van bodybuilders are constantly trying to minimise the weight of their luton bodies without sacrificing any durability or strength.

One of the best payloads available currently appears to come from Bevan Group’s lightweight luton body, which when fitted to a 3.5t Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis, provides a payload of 1,250kg.

I’m not sure if this is the very best in class, but it’s certainly a very competitive payload for a 3.5t luton, although it’s worth noting that this is (I think) without a tail lift, which would knock around 200kg off this payload figure.

Passport to approval

Bevan is one of the bigger names in the UK bodybuilding industry and has capitalised on its scale to create a very efficient process for obtaining whole vehicle type approval (WVTA) for its new models. Since the WVTA rules were changed last year, Bevan has already secured 140 approvals, thanks in part to having a dedicated approvals team, which works closely with the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), which is part of the Department for Transport.

The firm is now extending this concept further with its Bevan Passport scheme, which makes the services of Bevan’s WVTA team available to smaller bodybuilders, who don’t have access to the same kinds of resource and may not find it easy to complete the WVTA process efficiently themselves.

The end result is a Bevan Passport, which “proves that a vehicle meets or exceeds all of the requisite environmental, safety and security standards”, according to Lee Dimmock, Bevan’s Group Operations Director and the leader of the firm’s WVTA team. 

14,550 London cyclists can’t be wrong: Met Police launches new Merc safety truck

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Met Police Exchanging Places cycle safety truck

The new Mercedes-Benz Actros that will be used by the Met Police as part of the Exchanging Places cycle safety programme.

Although van blind spots are pretty trivial compared with those that can exist alongside an HGV, awareness of what you can — and cannot — see is an important part of being a safe driver.

Far too many accidents happen in UK cities each year because cyclists get into the blind spots of large commercial vehicles — and then get injured, sometimes fatally.

Of course, other road users, especially cyclists, have a responsibility in this regard too — and that’s where the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Cycle Safety Team comes in. The MPS team have been running a programme called Exchanging Places since 2007.

Today, the team launched its new Mercedes-Benz truck today, which will be used as a core part of the Exchanging Places programme.

One of the main highlights of this award-winning programme is the opportunity it provides for cyclists to sit in the driver’s seat of a truck and realise exactly how difficult it is to see cyclists who may be slipping down the inside of a truck in heavy traffic.

Collisions involving a heavy goods vehicle are the most common cause of serious injury and death to cyclists. The programme gives cyclists the opportunity to sit in the driver’s seat of an HGV to see for themselves how difficult it can be to see a cyclist riding close to the truck. Experienced traffic police officers explain how this type of collision often happens, and talk through several ways of avoiding them.

Police Sergeant Simon Castle, Roads and Transport Policing Command, said:

“The feedback from these events is overwhelmingly positive with 97 per cent of cyclists saying they would change their riding as a result of sitting in the driver’s seat, and 99 per cent would recommend it to a friend.

“I urge cyclists to watch the Exchanging Places film on the MPS Youtube website and also arrange to attend an Exchanging Places event. It is invaluable and a potential life saver.”

More than 15,000 cyclists have taken part in the programme since 2007, which my maths suggests means that 14,550 have understood that their behaviour — as well as that of HGV drivers — is key to keeping them alive and safe.

Here’s the video Sergeant Castle refers to above:

You can find out about planned Exchanging Places events here.

Note: In case you’re wondering, the Mercedes-Benz Actros is funded by Mercedes-Benz and Transport for London and is not costing the Met Police anything except fuel costs. This truck will only be used for demonstrating the issues around cyclist and pedestrian safety, and will not be used for patrols or enforcement.

Small businesses are milking electric van opportunity: is yours?

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Grimshaw Lane Dairy Nissan e-NV200 electric vanThis is exciting — in fact I can’t find words to describe how big the opportunity is in the UK van market for electric vans.

Yet another (small) example crossed my desk this week, in the form of a press release detailing how a Lancashire dairy is saving £900 per month in fuel bills on just four vans, thanks to making the switch to all-electric Nissan e-NV200s.

Although you might think I’m being funny — after all, milkmen were using electric milk floats before I was born — I’m not. Milkmen don’t use electric milk floats anymore — they use diesel vans.

The milkmen at Grimshaw Lane Dairy, in Ormskirk, cover around 50 miles a day — a similar mileage to a great many fleet vans (think Royal Mail, utility meter readers, urban delivery vehicles).

Such a usage cycle is perfect for electric power, and switching back to electric is not only environmentally friendly, but it is proving to be cost efficient, too, now that a suitable mass produced electric van is available to the UK market.

A case in point

Grimshaw Lane Dairy in Ormskirk has taken delivery of four e-NV200 vans from Crosby Park Nissan in Liverpool and is using them to make its daily deliveries to homes and businesses in and around the town. The four vehicles have replaced a fleet of aging diesels and each covers around 50 miles a day making roughly 500 deliveries apiece.

Managing Director Andrew Brown, who plans to swap his two remaining diesel vehicles with e-NV200s in the coming months, says that he is already saving £900 a month in fuel bills.

What’s more, the generous spec’ and smooth drive of the e-NV200 means driver morale is now at an all-time high and residential customers are happy as early morning deliveries, which start at 1.30am, are now made in near silence.

Commenting  on the change, Andrew said:

“Switching to the Nissan e-NV200 was a no brainer for us. Basically the savings we’re making on the fuel have paid for the contract hire on the vans and we’ll be saving on the maintenance too.

“We’ve effectively got four new vans for what we’d have been spending on fuel.”

Driver satisfaction was also a major consideration, but equipment levels on board the e-NV200 – such as twin side-loading doors, together with the ability to defrost their vehicles from an app on their phones before getting up to start their shifts in the early hours – has proved an instant hit.

Launched last year, the Nissan e-NV200 combines the NV200 – a former International Van of the Year – with the proven technology of the record breaking Nissan LEAF – the world’s bestselling electric car. Nissan claims running costs of just two pence per mile, and says that low maintenance costs mean that the total cost of ownership is £1,200 less than for a conventional diesel van over four years.

Citroën polishes off competition with Morelli order

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Morelli Group Citroën vansHot on the heels of Citroën’s dominating performance in the Business Van awards last week comes news of a new fleet renewal and expansion deal for the firm.

Automotive refinishing products specialist, the Morelli Group, has taken delivery of 15 new Citroën Dispatch L2H1 HDi 125 6-speed manual Enterprise vans.

The new vehicles have been ordered to meet growing demand and to replace older vans being de-fleeted, and the Enfield-based firm will base the new vans at depots throughout the UK.

The majority of the Morelli Group fleet are DS and Citroën models, totalling 48 Citroën vans and 27 cars, and Robert Cohen, the group’s financial director, says that this isn’t a coincidence:

“We like the way Citroën offers its vans with defined trim levels, rather than a large number of options, which makes ordering vehicles easier. Citroën’s LCVs are ideal for our intensive, high-mileage operation, providing excellent driver comfort and safety, along with reliability and low cost of operation.”

The 1200kg payload Dispatch L2H1 Enterprise models are powered by an HDi 125 engine, which has excellent combined cycle fuel economy of 44.1mpg and low CO2 emissions of just 168g/km. Standard specification includes air conditioning, rear parking sensors, a Connecting Box (including Bluetooth® hands free and a USB socket), electrically folding heated door mirrors and a full steel bulkhead. In addition, the Dispatch also comes with Teletrac intelligent satellite navigation and Trackstar stolen vehicle tracking.

How long can a van last?

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Dreams Mercedes-Benz SprinterMost car owners I know, especially younger drivers, seem to get nervous if their cars are old enough to be out of warranty or have more than about 60,000 miles on the clock.

Many commercial vehicle operators also like to run a new fleet — and there’s no doubt it gives a smart impression and saves on a certain amount of hassle.

However, it wasn’t always like this — the constant drive to replace perfectly serviceable vehicles seems to be part of the ‘newness’ culture that prevails today: no one wants anything if it isn’t new.

Yet many vehicles can deliver far more service than we’ve been conditioned to expect.

Take the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. Bed retailer Dreams is currently in the process of replacing its 10-year old fleet of Luton-bodies Sprinters. These vans have seen some use — according to Shaun Bullock, Dreams’ Distribution Controller:

“Some of our older Mercedes-Benz vehicles have clocked-up well in excess of 400,000 miles, yet they’re still going strong. Indeed, they have proved over the last 10 years to be brilliant workhorses and we’ve every confidence that our new fleet will be just as reliable and cost-effective to operate.”

Yes, that’s 400,000 miles. Admittedly the kind of usage Dreams vans get is probably relative easy — weights are low, the vans don’t do courier-style multidrop work, and they don’t get the kind of hammering they’d get in the construction business, for example.

Even so, Dreams’ experience suggests that many vehicles are disposed off well before the end of their useful, reliable life.