Author Archives: Van Rental

Nissan ousts Citroen from PH Jones fleet after 4-week trial

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PH Jones Nissan NV200 fleet

Vans from PH Jones’ 227-strong fleet of Nissan NV200 vans, which replaced the firm’s previous Citroen Berlingo and Dispatch vans.

Nissan’s efforts to expand its UK van business appear to be paying off, after the firm managed to replace Citroen as the main provider of vans to British Gas subsidiary PH Jones, which recently took delivery of 227 Nissan NV200 SE vans.

The decision to switch from Citroen Berlingo and Dispatch vans — both favourites with SMEs — to the NV200, a relative newcomer, came after PH Jones undertook a four-week trial of a NV200 SE, complete with full racking, to test whether the van would be the appropriate vehicle for its fleet daily usage patterns.

Drivers praised the NV200 SE for its comfort plus its ability to safely house all of their repair tools and equipment.

The new vans are all in PH Jones livery and will cover around three million miles per year. Commenting on the decision, on Marshall, PH Jones fleet manager said:

“This is a very large order for us so it was important we undertook an intensive vehicle trial to ensure the vans would be fit for purpose. As well as being a hit with the drivers thanks to the handling and air conditioning, the support from Nissan throughout has been excellent and we look forward to continuing to work together in the coming months.”

Originally established in 1963 as a local heating contractor in the North West and Wales, PH Jones has expanded to become a social housing provider to homes across the country providing central heating installations, heating service and repair and electrical services.

Strong residuals key factor in North Lanarkshire Council switch to VW

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Volkswagen has secured a deal to provide North Lanarkshire Council with 224 commercial vehicles. The new agreement will see Volkswagen supply nearly 45% of the council’s 500-strong fleet of vans and will include a combination of Caddy, Transporter and Crafter models.

Volkswagen supplies 224 new vans to North Lanarkshire Council

Volkswagen supplies 224 new vans to North Lanarkshire Council

Past experience and an excellent reputation helped Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles secure the deal. The council’s procurement team also considered the excellent reliability, attractive service, maintenance and whole life costs when choosing a fleet partner.

Other operational benefits for the council include a range of quiet, fuel-efficient engines with low CO2 emissions, which help cut fuel costs and reduce the fleet’s impact on the environment.

The deal, which comprises Crafter, Transporter and Caddy panel vans, will also include a Crafter Luton van with built-in tail lift from Volkswagen’s Engineered-to-Go scheme.

Kenneth Wilson, Head of Land Services at North Lanarkshire Council, said:

“We needed to replace a significant proportion of our van fleet in line with our vehicle replacement programme, and I’m pleased to say that Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has been successful in winning the majority of the business.

“What tipped the balance in their favour is the fact that their products are so flexible in terms of allowing us to customise them to meet our needs. Similarly, they have extremely strong residual values compared to the rest of the market, which mean the vans are very good value for us.

“The Volkswagen vans that have arrived so far have been a welcome addition to the fleet and feedback from our drivers has been very positive.”

Alastair Hemmings, National Fleet Manager at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK, added:

“We are delighted that North Lanarkshire Council has decided to convert nearly half of its fleet to Volkswagen after trialling a small number of our vans. The power of our residual values means we are highly competitive and able to offer our customers outstanding value for money.”

It’s good to know that even in today’s price comparison age (guilty as charged, m’lud), if you get your marketing, brand image and product quality right, you don’t have to be the cheapest in order to do well.

Used van prices could fall by Christmas, says CAP

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The rise and rise of used van values

The price of a typical SWB Transit has risen by 48% since 2010 — but CAP believes prices may go into reverse later this year (image courtesy of CAP Automotive)

I’ve commented on the seemingly unending rise of used van values many times over the last couples of years.

After all, when the average value of a used van at auction rises by 24% in two years, despite an increase in average mileage and age, something must be out of balance, in terms of supply and demand.

What’s more, imbalances like this can only continue for a limited period before something happens to correct them — in this case, a rise in supply that should finally start to satisfy strong demand.

Tim Cattlin, a commercial vehicles forecast values expert at automotive information specialist CAP Automotive, has stuck his neck out and suggested that the boom in used values is likely to slow by the end of 2014. Since CAP publishes the price guides used in the trade to value vehicles, his predictions might be worth more than most.

Cattlin says that the rise in values for used vans was sparked by the collapse in new van sales when Britain fell into recession. This led to a dramatic reduction in the number of used vans available in the market and as economic recovery began to gather pace, demand quickly outstripped supply.

Since September 2010 the CAP Red Book independent benchmark value of a 3 year old short wheelbase Ford Transit, with 60,000 miles, has rocketed from £4,800 to £7,100 – an increase of 48%:

“Nobody in the industry, including ourselves, anticipated the rate at which demand has increased”, says Cattlin. “Economic recovery has therefore unleashed serious pent up demand into the auction halls and onto the trader’s pitch.”

Now Cattlin believes the recovery of new van registrations in 2011 spells an impending end to the rise in van values as early as the end of 2014. A growing number of these vehicles will begin to return to the used market and help to rebalance supply and demand:

“We believe the market for used light commercial vehicles will remain buoyant for the next few months but values will begin to ease later in the year.

“Quite how pronounced this softening will be, remains to be seen, but a pivotal point may well be the typically quiet period over Christmas. We will therefore be watching particularly carefully to see if the normally strong recovery in January is as pronounced as usual.”

We will be watching too, and will publish the latest data here as soon as they become available.

Citroën conversion programme recognised with industry award

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Citroen Ready to Run range

Citroën’s Ready To Run range has won the VansA2Z One-Stop Shop Award for the second consecutive year.

Citroën’s ‘Ready to Run’ specialist vehicle programme has won the VansA2Z ‘One-Stop Shop’ award for the second consecutive year.

Ready to Run enables Citroën customers to buy readybuilt conversions, directly from Citroën dealers.

The firm’s programme is the most comprehensive in the UK market, and enables businesses to purchase conversions for Nemo, Berlingo, Dispatch and Relay vans, including:

  • Dropside trucks (Relay)
  • Luton vans (Relay)
  • Temperature-controlled (chiller/freezer) vans (Nemo, Berlingo, Dispatch & Relay)
  • Tippers (Relay)
  • Glass carrying vans (Berlingo, Dispatch & Relay)
  • High-cube, low-loading vans (Relay)
  • Minibuses (Relay)

Jeremy Smith, Citroën’s Head of Commercial Vehicles & Business Sector Operations, says that the Ready to Run programme:

“continues to attract new Citroën LCV customers, particularly in the Small, Medium Enterprise (SME) sector.”

This makes sense — while larger companies might prefer to arrange for bulk orders to their specifications from commercial bodybuilders, for smaller companies, the cost and time of doing this isn’t so attractive, and they won’t be able to benefit from volume discounts, either.

“Untouchable” Ford vans claim six trophies at 2014 VansA2Z Awards

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The new Ford Transit

Ford dealers are now taking orders for the all-new Ford Transit, which romped away with the Van of the Year title at the recent 2014 VansA2Z Awards.

Ford’s van range has scooped six major trophies at the 2014 VansA2Z Awards, including the overall Van of the Year title with the all-new Transit.

The all-new Ford Transit was crowned Van of the Year and claimed victory in the Large Panel Van of the Year category, while the all-new Ford Transit Custom secured Diesel Eco Van of the Year and, for the second year running, the Small Panel Van of the Year title.

Ford’s all-new Transit Connect – International Van of the Year 2014 – was voted Light Van of the Year and the Ford Fiesta Van claimed Small Van of the Year for the second consecutive year.

Ford has good form at the VansA2Z awards — last year it scored a straight six, and the blue oval earned a hat-trick of trophies the previous year.

The firm’s conspicuous success — not least in displacing the Sprinter from its long-running slot as ‘Best Large Panel Van’ — is a result of Ford’s significant global investment into the all-new four-vehicle Transit family, which is being rolled out to UK customers over just 18 months.

Neil McIntee, VansA2Z editor, said:

“We’re delighted to award the all-new Transit Best Large Panel Van and the overall Van of the Year title. Ford has continued to raise the bar in the commercial vehicle market, with the introduction of Transit Custom, Transit Connect and new Transit – all of which boast dynamic looks, are superb to drive, and loaded with practical Ford technology and functional design features. At the moment, the Ford range is untouchable.”

Although Ford vans aren’t built in the UK anymore, it is encouraging to know that the majority of the design and engineering work on the new Ford commercial vehicle range was conducted at Ford’s Dunton Technical Centre, Essex, which is the global centre of excellence for the company’s commercial vehicles and powertrain development.

Warwickshire removals firm offers purpose-built van hire for movers

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Brittania Squab self-drive removals van

One of Brittania Squab’s new self-drive removals vans

Most van rental companies offer standard luton box vans for removals customers, but these aren’t what professional removals firms use — and with good reason.

Standard lutons have a completely flat load floor with no wheel arch intrusions, but the price you pay for this is that the load floor of the van is above the wheels, and quite high off the ground.

This means that a tail lift is required for loading and unloading — a heavy piece of kit that is time-consuming and awkward to use for home movers, and which reduces the available payload of the van.

While a completely flat floor is essential for freight, which may be palletised or large, it is not a requirement for home removals, which usually consist of many, smaller items. As a result, purpose-built removal vans have low rear floors that usually have an internal step up to the mainload area.

Speaking as someone who moved house using one of these vans recently, I can confirm that they make loading and unloading DIY removals a lot easier and safer than with a conventional luton — but their specialist nature means that the majority of van hire companies can’t justify offering such vehicles, as they need their luton vans to suit the requirements of business users as well as home removals.

To address this gap in the market, Britannia Squab Group, which is based in Leamington Spa, in Warwickshire, has launched a new self-drive van hire service aimed at first-time home movers. Instead of standard lutons, the firm will offer purpose-made small removal vans, which offer similar size box bodies to lutons but have a low rear floor level that means a tail lift is not necessary — although a ramp is included for heavier items.

Britannia Squab’s vans also include tie rails to secure larger items and the firm will provide blankets and sack trucks, too. Emlyn Evans, managing partner of the Britannia Squab Group, said:

“The vehicle fills a gap in the small domestic removals market. There are plenty of vans available for hire but few suppliers can provide a suitable sized vehicle for the specific purpose of removals. Our vehicle has been specially equipped for removals to help safeguard our customers’ possessions.”

Self-drive van hire is available now and an online booking service is to be launched soon at www.squab.co.uk.

Renault promises new van debuts & a ‘surprise’ at CV Show

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New 2014 Renault Trafic

The new 2014 Renault Trafic will make its world debut at the 2014 CV Show

Renault is promising to deliver one world debut, one UK debut, and a surprise in the heavy van category at this year’s CV Show, which takes place at the Birmingham NEC from 29 April to 1 May.

The firm’s sand in Hall 5 will occupy 800 square metres, and will include the world premiere of the all-new Renault Trafic, about which I reported a few days ago.

The new Trafic is due to launch in the UK later this year, and will break new ground for its class by downsizing from a 2.0-litre diesel engine to a 1.6-litre unit — unlike Ford and Volkswagen, for example which have chosen to persist with 2-litre units in the latest Transit Custom and Transporter models.

Renault is also hoping to trigger some new interest in the Twizy Cargo, on which I reported last summer.

Renault Twizy Cargo

The Renault Twizy Cargo

Order books are now open for this innovative and unusual urban single-seater electric delivery vehicle — although I’d hesitate to call it a van, I can certainly see how it could find a niche for itself in major European cities.

Indeed, the Twizy Cargo’s price tag of £6,241 +VAT makes it competitive with the cheapest of small vans — so perhaps pizza delivery firms, document couriers and other urban express delivery specialists will take it to heart?

Finally, Renault is promising a ‘heavy van surprise’ at the CV Show. Presumably this will relate to the firm’s Master model, which was last updated in 2012 — but beyond that, I’ve no idea.

Volkswagen launches most efficient Transporter van – ever

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Volkswagen Transporter BlueMotionVolkswagen has launched the most fuel efficient and low-emission variant of its Transporter panel van, ever.

The Transporter BlueMotion boasts class-leading combined fuel economy of 48.7 mpg and emissions of only 153 g/km — an improvement of 3.9 mpg and 13 g/km on the previous model Transporter BlueMotion.

These gains have been generated by modifications to the engine management system and gearbox, as well as the use of low rolling resistance tyres, a start-stop system, a battery regeneration system and cruise control.

The Transporter BlueMotion is powered by the popular 114 PS 2.0 TDI diesel engine, and could, in theory, be driven for 850 miles on a single tank of fuel.

New Volkswagen Transporter BlueMotion

The new Volkswagen Transporter BlueMotion achieves combined cycle fuel consumption of 48.7mpg

The new Transporter BlueMotion is now available to order from UK VW dealers, with prices starting at £19,245 +VAT.

EXCLUSIVE: Save 10% on Hertz van rental ONLY with VanRental.co.uk

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UK CV manufacturing down by 22.1% in February as slump continues

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The UK’s commercial vehicle manufacturing industry continued its dizzying descent in February, with volumes down by 22.1% compared to the same period last year, and by a stomach-churning 36% since January 2012, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT):

CV manufacturing Feb-13 Feb-14 % Change YTD-13 YTD-14 % Change
Total 8,005 6,235 -22.1% 15,827 12,916 -18.4%
Home 4,165 2,963 -28.9% 8,361 6,408 -23.4%
Export 3,840 3,272 -14.8% 7,466 6,508 -12.8%
% export 48.0% 52.5% 47.2% 50.4%

Data courtesy of SMMT (www.smmt.co.uk)

CV manufacturing output has now fallen for eight consecutive months. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes tried to put a positive spin on the figures by continuing to blame them on subdued demand and industry restructuring, but the numbers increasingly don’t add up — UK CV manufacturing output is down by 18.4% so far this year, but CV registrations are up by 9.9% so far this year.

For whatever reason, UK and European buyers aren’t buying British-made CVs as much as they used to, either because vehicles that used to be made in the UK aren’t made here anymore (like the Ford Transit) or because the vehicles that are made here don’t satisfy buyers’ requirements as well as they used to. In either case, the news isn’t good, as these two graphs illustrate:

SMMT CV output February 2014

CV output rolling year and year-to-date (l-r) (courtesy of SMMT)

One possible glimmer of hope is the new Vauxhall Vivaro, which will be built at the firm’s plant in Luton and could trigger an uplift in sales as customers focus on what will be, albeit briefly, the newest van model on the market.