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Friday, October 22nd, 2010
The world’s largest manufacturer of cars, Toyota, has issued a recall for vehicles it suspects may have problems with brakes and starter motors. In the last year, Toyota has had to recall around 10 million vehicles around the globe because of a variety of problems.
In the UK the Department for Transport is helping to locate the owners of 17,500 faulty Lexus vehicles, and will be giving advice to owners on how to fix the problem.
One of the problems is a fault in the fuel pump. This could cause the vehicles’ engine to stop suddenly. The other fault is in the braking system. Toyota claims it is extremely unlikely that a leakage of brake fluid would occur, but if it does, it could result in a loss of braking power. The manufacturer said that in the event a warning light would illuminate and the driver would still have 200 miles worth of safe driving.
Toyota is not a stranger to recall issues. In 2008 it was hit with a class action claiming faulty accelerators were the cause of around 100 road deaths in the US. An independent study found that rather than sticky peddles, human error may have been to blame.
IHS Global Insight automotive analyst, Paul Newton, points out that recalls are not exactly rare in the car industry. He said that Toyota was suffering bad press because it did not treat initial complaints seriously enough. Now, every recall Toyota announces grabs the publics’ attention, even though other car makers are probably issuing similar recalls, he added.
Tags: brake, Department for Transport, engine, Lexus, recall, Toyota
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Friday, October 15th, 2010
Guests at Waikiki’s Hilton Hawaiian Village are being told where they can find clean towels as around 1,500 employees walk out on strike. Workers at the island’s largest resort are protesting over new contracts they claim are unfair. Guests have been informed by the hotel’s management that services such as restaurants, housekeeping, valet parking and room service will be suspended.
The union representing the workers, Unite Here local 5, said it had received a vote in favour of industrial action from 95 per cent of its members on 15 September. The old contracts expired on 30 June. Cade Watanabe, a spokesman for the union, said an agreement was still to be reached on issues including working conditions and wages.
One of the resort’s housekeepers, Luciana Dupio, said she was in support of the strike because she wanted to protect the rights of the community. She added that she would not be bowed by firms on Wall Street and that she was a hard worker with a family to support. She went on to point out that as a worker at the hotel she saw that business was good and Hilton was doing well.
If the union and Hilton cannot come to some agreement over the new contracts, it is likely that the hotel will have to cancel the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans conference which is due to take place from 14 November.
Around 10,000 guests are expected to visit Hawaii and cancellation will cost the Hilton resort 9,230 room nights.
Tags: guests, Hawaii, hilton, hotel, strike, Wall Street
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Friday, October 1st, 2010
Enterprise Holdings has reported strong performance across all of its operations for the 2010 financial year. Ending 31 July, the car rental giant reported revenues of $12.6 billion for its worldwide business, a 4 per cent increase on 2009’s $12.1 billion. In February this year, because of a strengthening of the company’s financial profile, Standard & Poor upped its long term rating for Enterprise from BBB to BBB+. S&P said the improved rating was due to the firm’s debt reduction, improved cash flow and stronger credit ratios.
Andrew C Taylor, Enterprise Holdings’ chairman and chief executive, said a continued focus on cost reduction and customer service had helped see the company through the tough economic conditions of the last few years.
Improved results are a reflection that the National and Alamo brands, acquired by Enterprise three years ago, have been successfully integrated into the firm. Taylor said that the purchase of the brands was paying off in the long-term and that he believed the company had the momentum to continue to grow through the next financial year.
Enterprise currently has a network of 6,000 offices across the US in airports and at neighbourhood locations. This means that 90 per cent of the population is within 15 miles of an Alamo, Enterprise or National outlet.
Taylor said that the size and structure of the Enterprise network meant it was able to react quickly to any changes in demand by moving vehicles between airports and neighbourhood offices as well as between towns and cities.
Tags: airports, Alamo, car rental, Enterprise, National, Standard & Poor
Posted in Car Rental News | Comments Off
Friday, September 24th, 2010
Avis South Africa has committed 21 vehicles to support the drivers and teams taking part in this year’s South African Solar Challenge. Competitors yesterday began a race around the country which will cover 4,000 miles and take 10 days to complete. All vehicles will be relying completely on the South African sun.
The event has been organised by the Advanced Energy Foundation in partnership with the Innovation Hub. As well as promoting science and technology within the country the organisers hope the event will promote sustainable and alternative methods of vehicle power to the motor industry.
Chief executive at Avis, Wayne Duvenage, said the event fitted well with the firm’s own commitment to resolving energy issues. He explained that over the last four years Avis had been investing in ways of recycling the water it uses at its car wash facilities. He said Avis was now saving 75 million litres of water every year at a cost saving of R1 million.
Among the 21 vehicles being supplied by Avis, six are Toyota Prius hybrids, known for their efficiency and low emissions.
Having left Pretoria, the teams will be making for Cape Town. From there the solar powered vehicles will turn east to the mountains of Kokstad passing through Bloemfontain and Beaufort West on the way. Then it is on to Richards Bay via Durban before a race across Mpumalanga to the finish line back in Pretoria. In 2008 a team from Tokai University, Japan were first to see the chequered flag. The same team is the favourite to win this year’s event.
Tags: Advanced Energy Foundation, Avis, Innovation Hub, low emissions, Solar Challenge, Toyota Prius
Posted in Car Rental News | Comments Off
Friday, September 17th, 2010
Chinese car hire service providers, China Auto Rental, is to be taken over by investment firm, Legend Holdings. The announcement was made at a recent press conference where Legend Holdings confirmed that in exchange for more than 50 per cent of the rental giant it would be pumping 1.2 billion yuan of investment in with additional cash promised to assist with the company’s future growth.
This is the first foray into the service industry for Legend Holdings; better known for its investments in the IT sector and real estate. Legend’s executive vice president, Zhu Linan, said the goal was to make China Auto Rental the firm’s new core asset.
China Auto Rental is a car hire firm with operations stretching across the Chinese domestic market. It currently has more than 300 outlets spanning 41 cities. It has nearly 6,000 vehicles in its rental fleet and more than 500,000 private customers. It also has more than 400 corporate customers.
Zhu said that by acquiring such a well established business he hoped to be well on the way to making Legend Holdings a major listed investment company. He added that he hoped this would be achieved within the next seven years. Zhu went on to predict the vehicle rental market in China would grow to 38 billion yuan by 2014.
Zhu also predicted that across China the number of rental cars available would be in the region of 400,000 by 2014. Because of its dominance over its rivals, especially in major cities, Zhu felt that now was the perfect time to acquire China Auto Rental.
Tags: car hire, China Auto Rental, Legend Holdings, rental fleet, service industry, vehicle rental
Posted in Car Rental News | Comments Off
Friday, September 10th, 2010
British legal firm, Ashworth, has been hired by rental car supplier, Avis, to chase up its unpaid car hire debts. Most commonly, the outstanding bills are related to customers’ not paying for any damage a rental car may have received while in their care. The Harrogate based firm has worked with Avis in the past, but on a much smaller scale.
Talking about the new appointment, co-founder of Ashworth, Matthew Cobley, said Avis was already aware of the company’s success rate in tracking down and recovering debts. He added that the firm would now be responsible for pursuing Avis clients who have not paid the excess stipulated in their contracts following an accident; as well as those who have had an accident but who never bothered taking out any insurance to begin with.
Cobley said that the firm would be chasing debts, not just in the UK, but throughout Europe. According to Ashworth, of the 700 cases they are currently looking into on behalf of the rental firm, around 30 per cent are related to businesses.
The rest are individual clients. Cobley explained that it was usually easier to get businesses to accept liability, once it had been proven that damage had been done whilst a vehicle contracted out to them. He said it was harder to get individuals to admit responsibility adding that they usually fought to get out of making a payment by whatever means possible.
A spokesman for Avis said the company was the same as any other business and would pursue debts where appropriate.
Tags: accident, Ashworth, Avis, car hire, contract, debts, insurance, legal firm, rental car
Posted in Car Rental News | Comments Off
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
A new European Union commissioned study could see a hike in levies on fuel for British drivers as well as the introduction of road pricing across the UK. The 99-page document has been slammed by British motoring organisations for being an attack on UK sovereignty.
Edmund King, president of the AA, said that it was entirely inappropriate that the EU was telling UK drivers that they may have to part with more cash at a time when they were trying to deal with the effects of a recession. He added that British drivers were already paying some of the highest taxes on fuel in the whole of Europe and had already voted against any sort of road pricing.
AEA, the climate change consultants who conducted the report for the EU, claim that an ambitious policy is needed to reverse the damage being done by transport to the environment. Researcher Sujith Kollamthodi said transport is currently one of the producers of greenhouse gasses with the fastest growing trajectories.
The report claims that a combination of non-technical and technical solutions are needed to effectively combat the problem. Along with electric vehicles, development of biofuels and improvements in vehicle efficiency; the report claims there is a need for heavier fuel taxing and the introduction of road pricing.
The Association of British Drivers said such solutions would do little more than penalise those who need a car in order to get to work because they live in remote areas of the country. The Department for Transport confirmed that, at present, it has no plans to introduce a system of road pricing.
Tags: AA, biofuels, British drivers, climate change, Department for Transport, electric vehicles, environment, recession, road pricing, tax
Posted in Health & Environment | Comments Off
Friday, August 27th, 2010
As Britain gears up for the August bank holiday weekend, the Highways Agency claims it will be making life easier for those who take to the country’s roads by either completing or suspending miles of roadworks. It said that by Friday it would have finished 280 miles of traffic works at 83 locations and intends to clear lane restrictions and works at another 24 locations.
Work is not set to resume until midnight on Monday at the very earliest. The Agency will be deploying traffic officers who will be on hand to tackle any problems should they arise. Information will also be provided by the Highways Agency for those wishing to plan their bank holiday travels in detail.
Philip Hammond, the UK’s Transport Secretary, said 98 per cent of the country’s roads would be free of roadworks and speed restrictions. However, lane and speed limits would have to remain in force at 32 sites around the country where it would be dangerous to lift them.
Last night there was some disruption caused on the M5 close to Exeter due to a pile-up. Emergency services were deployed and the road had to be closed in both directions. No fatalities were reported, but a number of people were cut out of their vehicles and taken by helicopter to hospital, some with serious injuries, according to reports.
Good news has been delivered by UK weather forecasters who believe the weather over the next three days will be mostly fine. On Monday, in some areas, temperatures are set to hit 20C.
Tags: bank holiday, Highways Agency, holiday, Philip Hammond, roadworks, travels, weather
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Friday, August 20th, 2010
Known only to a handful of people, the true identity of one of motoring’s most illusive personalities could soon become known to all, as The Stig prepares to publish his autobiography. Top Gear’s stunt driver has reportedly already written a draft of his memoirs and also found a publisher.
If he does decide to go ahead and reveal himself, The Stig could find himself in a legal battle with the BBC. He is contractually forbidden from telling anyone who he really is, including the celebrities he trains to take part in the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car section of the show.
Lawyers say that although the BBC would have a case against The Stig based on clauses of his contract, he would also have a strong case based on basic human rights. Head of media law at the firm Taylor Wessing, Niri Shan, said article 10 of the Human Rights Act gave The Stig the right to free speech.
According to sources, The Stig is not happy about the fact that the other presenters on the show are able to make lucrative publishing deals, as well as endorse products, because they are so well known with the public. Top Gear is currently one of the most popular television shows around the world.
The identity of The Stig is a much mooted subject. Racing personalities such as former Formula One champion Damon Hill and former Formula Three driver Ben Collins have been touted as possible candidates. Last year Michael Schumacher was unmasked as The Stig on the show, but it was later confirmed that it was just a hoax.
Tags: BBC, Ben Collins, Damon Hill, Formula One, free speech, human rights, Michael Schumacher, The Stig, Top Gear
Posted in Celebrity News | Comments Off
Friday, August 13th, 2010
If consumers are going to be encouraged to invest in electric vehicles they will have to be shown that they can have confidence in the cars’ batteries, according to analysts. A recent report predicts alternatively-powered vehicles will make up more than 20 per cent of all those sold in 2020.
Analysts at the firm Eurotax Glass’s say that in 2020, the sale of electric cars will overtake the sale of hybrid vehicles, but that manufacturers are going to have to provide consumers with guarantees on the life-span of batteries as well as depreciation.
In order to meet tough targets to reduce CO2 emissions, vehicle manufacturers are going to need to encourage consumers to adopt more hybrid and electric vehicles according to managing director of Eurotax Glass’s, Andy Carroll. He said that in order to encourage people to move over to electric powered cars, makers should come up with ways of reducing what he called the ‘residual value risk’ of the cars battery from the customer.
In the report, Glass’s suggests long warranties on batteries are provided, perhaps eight years or more. It also suggests that buy-back schemes are set up so that customers can exchange batteries as technology improves. This will allow early investors in electric car technology the confidence of knowing that as better batteries are produced they will not be stranded with out of date technology.
Carroll said that the car industry was still trying to work out the best ways of dealing with residual impact including what to do at the end of a batteries life.
Tags: batteries, buy-back schemes, CO2 emissions, electric vehicles, Eurotax Glass's, hybrid vehicles, technology
Posted in Health & Environment | Comments Off
