Archive for January, 2010
Friday, January 15th, 2010
One of the world’s leading independently owned chauffer services has teamed up with one of the world’s biggest car hire companies in a move that is aimed at offering the customers of both a wider range of vehicle rental solutions. Dav El is an American based service which provides high end luxury vehicle to those who are attending group meetings, functions and conventions. Its fleet consists of Cadillac sedans, stretch limousines, SUVs and minibuses and it has offices in more than 550 cities around the world. With around 15,000 vehicles Dav El offers customers in almost every city the opportunity to hire a luxury vehicle along with a professional driver for any need.
Dav El’s president and CEO, Scott A. Solombrino said that he was pleased that his chauffer service will now offer extra travel options for Hertz customers. He also said that the partnership would provide Dav El with the opportunity to grow its brand around the world.
Mark P. Frissora, President and CEO at Hertz said that a partnership with one of the world’s leading chauffer companies would mean that Hertz is now able to offer its customers yet another option when it came to renting a vehicle. He also said that the fact that Dav El was already well established in many cities around the world would compliment the fact that Hertz has already established itself as one of the world’s major car hire brands. Hertz currently offers vehicle hire solutions in more than 145 countries around the globe.
Tags: car hire, car rental, chauffer, Dav El, Hertz, luxury vehicle, stretch limousines
Posted in Car Rental News | Comments Off
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
The most devastating earthquake to hit the country in 120 years has left Haiti destroyed. The poorest country in the western hemisphere is desperately trying to come to terms with the fact that millions of people are now crying out for help from around the world. The Haitian prime minister, Jean-Max Bellerive said that the death toll could be as much as 100,000 although the actual total seems to be anyone’s guess. Rene Garcia Preval, the country’s president has said he thinks the figure is around 50,000 but another official has claimed that he believes the figure is closer to half a million.
The earthquake which registered 7.0 on the Richter scale hit Haiti at dusk. Experts say that the carnage was caused because the quake was shallow and because its epicenter was just ten miles from the capital of Port-au-Prince. The capital has an estimated population of around 1 million people. Nothing seems to have been spared with the Presidential Palace destroyed and the city’s cathedral collapsed and in flames. The United Nations building has also come down as has a hospital. Heidi Annabi, chief of the U.N. mission to Haiti has been confirmed as one of the dead and many other U.N. staff are still to be accounted for. Ban Ki-Moon the United Nations Secretary General has described the results of the earthquake as a catastrophe and is urging nations around the world to come to Haiti’s aid. Many are presently answering that call by sending in rescue teams.
Tags: aid, Ban Ki-Moon, earthquake, Haiti, Jean-Max Bellerive, Port-au-Prince, quake, Rene Garcia Preval, rescue, United Nations
Posted in Political News | Comments Off
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
A recent survey of 1,000 drivers in the U.K. shows that stress brought on by the effects of the economic crisis is causing a lack of sleep, more dependence on alcohol and health problems. The poll was conducted by car hire comparison site Carrentals.co.uk and shows that money worries could be impacting on the driving capabilities of many of the country’s drivers.
Over half of the men who responded to the survey admitted that they often get behind the wheel when they know they have not had an adequate amount of sleep. 44% of women who replied also said they drove when they were too tired to do so. Gareth Robinson, managing director of Carrentals.co.uk points out that 20% of all accidents on the road come down to drivers being too tired. Residents in London reported that they were most likely not to get enough sleep whereas most people in the North East claimed to be able to manage at least seven hours per night.
Nearly 25% of those questioned admitted to turning to alcohol as a way of dealing with financial worries. Those aged between 41 and 50 were most likely to drink. Those in the age group were also most likely to have encountered an increase in their mortgage repayments, pay cuts and job losses.
Female drivers admitted that stress was causing them health problems. Headaches were the most common problem followed by panic attacks. Over 50% said that because of stress they also suffered from breathing difficulties.
Tags: alcohol, carrentals.co.uk, economic crisis, financial worries, Gareth Robinson, health problems, job losses, mortgage repayments, pay cuts
Posted in Health & Environment | Comments Off
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
Cardinus Risk Management has said that the economic crisis has forced companies to look for greener solutions when managing their vehicle fleets. Environmental fleet consultant at Cardinus, Malcolm Noyle says that as companies make more efforts to save money and cut costs they are also adopting more environmental solutions. He pointed out that firms were finding ways of better managing the use of their vehicles by cutting down on the use of fuel and doing away with unnecessary journeys and mileage. Using one government agency as an example of this Mr. Noyle said that a review of how the agency managed its fleet resulted in recommendations not just into how it could dramatically reduce the cost of running its vehicles but also how it could significantly reduce the impact on the environment made by those vehicles. Managing director of Cardinus Fleet, Marcus Noble said that companies that managed their drivers, vehicle mileage and risks effectively would be able to reduce costs and CO2 emissions.
In 2009 when almost everyone was feeling the economic pinch the government set up the Office for Low Emission Vehicles which is dedicated to providing better CO2 reduction initiatives. The Low Carbon Van programme is also geared up to promoting the use of greener vehicles such as low carbon, electrical and hybrid vehicles. The recent Copenhagen climate change summit, as well as a pre-budget report by the government also illustrate the fact that the authorities are looking to better manage vehicles in terms of their economic and environmental impact.
Tags: carbon, Cardinus Risk Management, climate change, copenhagen, emissions, environment, fleet, fuel, green, greener solutions, Low Carbon Van, Low Emission Vehicles
Posted in Health & Environment | Comments Off
Monday, January 11th, 2010
Most car companies around the world will have been extremely glad to see the end of 2009 and would probably prefer not to talk too much about it. However this is not the case for Kia who had a stunning year both across Europe and within the U.K. Kia Motors U.K. Ltd managed to break the 50,000 units mark for the first time ever and actually managed to sell 50, 636 vehicles. This is a record both for the U.K. and for Europe. Kia’s previous highest figure in the U.K. was 33,149 vehicles in 2004. 2008 car sales of 31,323 meant that Kia achieved its highest market share to date of 1.8 percent. However 2009 saw that market share rise to 2.2 percent of the non-scrappage market and 2.5 percent when scrappage is taken into account.
Managing director, Michael Cole has admitted that as with other car makers the government’s scrappage scheme has helped Kia to perform better in a difficult market. However he goes on to point out that it is also a testament to the quality of the vehicles and a higher profile with buyers that made 2009 such a good year. Looking forward to 2010 Cole has said that he expects things to get a little more difficult because of the end of the scrappage scheme. He is however confident that Kia can hold on to their share of the market. He says he is looking forward to the launch of Kia’s stylish new Venga model in February and says that he predicts overall sales to be healthy at around 40,000 vehicles for the year.
Tags: car companies, Kia, Kia Motors, sales, scrappage scheme, Venga
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Friday, January 8th, 2010
New methods of secretly profiling individual airline passengers have been condemned by civil liberties groups. Alan Johnson, the British Home Secretary has announced that he is considering putting into practice checks on passengers based on gender, age and ethnic background. These checks may be kept secret so as not to alert potential terrorists. Spokesman for the group Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti has said that such ethnic profiling was dangerous as well as irresponsible.
Proposed plans to heighten security at airports following the attempted bombing of a passenger plane bound for the U.S. on Christmas Day include more passengers being subject to pat down searches as well as tests for traces of explosive materials on their luggage as well as their bodies. Mr. Johnson has already said that new full-body scanners are to be deployed within weeks and has also promised that a greater number of sniffer dogs will be put into service in Britain’s airports. Airport staff are already undergoing additional training to enable them to better spot suspicious behavior. Transit passengers will now undergo more checks and those who are making multiple stopovers in countries that are considered risky will already be flagged up as potential security risks.
The new security measures are already causing delays at airports and some experts say that the addition of full body scanners will do little to protect airlines from the threat of terrorism. A British MP who worked on developing the scanners has said that they would not have been able to detect the explosives being carried onto the U.S. bound flight by Abdul Mutallab on Christmas Day.
Tags: Abdul Mutallab, airline passengers, Alan Johnson, ethnic profiling, explosive, full-body scanners, Liberty, security risks, sniffer dogs
Posted in UK News | Comments Off
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
Officials in the Netherlands say that they can find no evidence to suggest that Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab had any accomplices. Some passengers who were travelling with Abdul Mutallab from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day claim to have seen him with a well dressed man who was of Indian or Pakistani origin. The man was also described as elderly. Some passengers continue to assert that the man was seen arguing with airport officials and telling them that Abdul Mutallab was a Sudanese refugee traveling without a passport. However Dutch security personnel have been examining over 200 hours of security camera footage and can find no trace of a man fitting the description.
Abdul Mutallab initially boarded a KLM flight in Lagos bound for Amsterdam and was said to have been subject to all the normal security checks. Dutch authorities have confirmed that they are examining the KLM aircraft to see if there are any traces of explosive materials on board.
Since the attempted destruction of the Northwest Airlines flight as it started its decent into Detroit security measures in airports has become the subject of numerous reviews. In the U.K. the Home Secretary has announced that new full-body scanners will be in place within weeks. He has also said that more sniffer dogs will be deployed and machines put in place that are capable of detecting traces of explosive materials on people as well as on luggage. Airport staff are also undergoing extra training which will enable them to better spot suspicious behaviour.
Tags: Abdul Mutallab, airports, Christmas Day, explosive, full-body scanners, klm, Northwest Airlines, sniffer dogs, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
Nobody can claim that 2009 was an easy year for America’s car industry. In fact it was the worst in thirty years and nearly everyone involved will be glad to see the back of it. However for some manufacturers the December sales figures may just show a glimmer of hope. Ford Motor Co said that although sales for the year were down fifteen percent in 2009 it saw a jump in sales of thirty-three percent in December. General Motors have not fared quite so well and are battling against the worst sales figures in nearly thirty years. They have just released results which show an overall drop in sales of thirty-three percent for 2009 and a ten percent drop for December. Chrysler claims that even though sales for December were down four percent and even though for the first time since 1962 the company failed to sell more that one million vehicles it claims to have some momentum going into 2010 because the last month of the year sales figures had climbed by thirty-six percent on November’s figures.
Nissan has said that although sales in December were up by eighteen percent on the same month a year earlier sales for the whole year were down by nineteen percent. On a higher note Subaru of America Inc said that it had increased sales of its vehicles in 2009 by fifteen percent and that December’s year-on-year sales figures were up by thirty-three percent.
Tags: car industry, Chrysler, Ford, Ford Motor Co, General Motors, Nissan, Subaru, Subaru of America Inc
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
Car rental firm Sixt has been voted top car hire company for 2009 by Travel and Leisure Magazine. Sixt received its award alongside other prestigious travel companies such as Singapore Airlines and Virgin America. The awards are given out to those companies which excel in the travel industry and are voted for by over 300,000 professionals within the travel sector. On learning that Sixt had managed to secure the top spot the company’s U.K. managing director, Ian Lawrence was quick to point out that the award was particularly special because it was the consumer who had voted to give it to Sixt. He said that he was excited that Sixt was being presented with the award alongside a number of other extremely prestigious names in the travel industry. He went on to say that Sixt was constantly trying to make its product and its service the best it could be whether it was an executive renting a vehicle for business from them or a family wishing to spend some time together.
Malcolm Cooper from Sixt U.A.E. said that it was the confidence that customers had in the rental firm that pushed Sixt to constantly try to supply a better service to them. He said that Sixt offices around the world would be inspired to try as hard as they possibly could to deliver excellence to those wishing to hire a car through their offices.
Sixt car hire is available at over 3,500 different locations around the world in more than 90 countries.
Tags: award, car hire, car rental, Singapore Airlines, Sixt, Travel and Leisure Magazine, Virgin America
Posted in Car Rental News | Comments Off
Monday, January 4th, 2010
A new survey shows that despite the fact that most of the world looks to be emerging from the global economic recession businesses will continue to look at ways to cut down on travel costs. By employing technologies such as video conferencing and the internet to conduct meetings rather than hopping on a plane and meeting people face to face many companies hope to save money. The research was conducted by the Kotler Marketing Group alongside the Association of Corporate Travel Executives. The resulting report has been given the title 2010 Corporate-Travel Spend Plans & Tactics.
The results could be taken as bad news for the corporate travel industry as fifty-five percent of those who responded to the poll said that they intended to use electronic technologies even more in the future as a way to keep down the cost of travel. The survey also highlighted the fact that those who were already using technology to conduct meetings were seeing a positive impact on travel expenditure during 2009. Forty-percent of companies said that they intended to increase the amount of sales related travel replaced by electronic communication.
However the report also shows that respondents were not sure whether conducting meetings through technology rather than face to face was actually very effective. Many expressed doubts that the new systems would ever be able to fully replace the travel alternatives. Most people told the survey that they could not say that video conferencing was ever particularly effective. In fact only one of five typical types of meeting outlined in the survey proved to be conducive to modern technologies.
Tags: Association of Corporate Travel Executives, economic recession, internet, Kotler Marketing Group, meeting, sales related travel, technologies, travel costs, video conferencing
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
