Archive for October, 2010
Friday, October 29th, 2010
Australia’s Flexicar car sharing scheme has been acquired by US car hire giant Hertz. The deal is due to be completed at the beginning of December and will be Hertz’s first venture in the Australian market. Run out of the city of Melbourne, Flexicar currently offers rental solutions to customers in Sydney, as well. Chairman and CEO of Hertz, Mark P Frissora, said Connect by Hertz is part of the company’s overall strategy to offer rental solutions to customers around the globe.
He added that by entering the Australian market, Hertz would now be able to offer its services to an ever expanding audience. Australia is the sixth country in which the rental firm now operates.
Flexicar was set up in 2005 by its chief executive, Monique Conheady. She is to remain in her position and oversee operations in the territory. She said it was exciting to be able to utilise the advanced technology and greater access to vehicles Hertz will offer. Members of the Flexicar scheme will now join a network which includes cities such as New York, Paris, Madrid, Berlin and London.
Under Connect by Hertz, Flexicar members will be able to access vehicles at their convenience through the use of a Connect card which is smart-chip enabled. They will also have access to an audio kit which connects them directly to a customer service operator able to give help and advice.
An in-car navigation system supported by NeverLost will ensure that drivers know exactly where they are going at any time.
Tags: car sharing, Connect by Hertz, Flexicar, Hertz, Mark P. Frissora, NeverLost
Posted in Car Rental News | Comments Off
Thursday, October 28th, 2010
Ahead of this weekend’s clock change, motorists are being warned of the dangers of sun glare. In the morning and the evening, dazzle from a low sun puts drivers at risk. The Institute for Advanced Motorists claims that accident figures for 2009 prove being dazzled by the suns rays was the cause of more accidents than bad weather or headlamp glare combined.
Director of policy and research at the IAM, Neil Greig, said motorists need to take precautions when travelling in the rush hour. He pointed out that because a car’s de-mist heater tends to blow smoke and oil particles from exhausts onto the inside of the windscreen, it is important to make sure that it is cleaned regularly.
Wet roads also cause the outside of the windscreen to become quickly covered with a layer of dirt, so it is important to regularly wash it. A dirty windscreen impairs a driver’s ability to see what is ahead, especially when combined with sun glare, he added.
In 2009, 2,684 crashes were the direct result of sun glare, according to government statistics. Mr Greig said it was important to slow down as soon as soon as visibility becomes a problem, remembering to keep an eye on the car behind because its driver may be having trouble with the sun too.
Dazzle from headlamps is also a danger. Mr Greig said drivers should be ready to cope with other motorists who have their headlights on full beam. He added that drivers must remember to dip their lights when another car is approaching, and to look away from the lights to prevent temporary blindness.
Tags: drivers, headlights, IAM, Institute for Advanced Motorists, motorists, sun, windscreen
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Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
Virgin is playing down rumours that it plans to take on Eurostar by operating high speed trains from London to cities on the continent. The suggestion that it might be, allegedly came from Eurotunnel last week. However, a spokesman for Virgin has denied that there is any interest in expansion to Europe as the market is not yet large enough to sustain both Eurostar and the Virgin brand.
The spokesman added that the investment needed to operate such a service would involve purchasing new rolling stock which complied with rules stipulated by the Channel Tunnel’s safety committee; setting up the infrastructure to deal with immigration and employing staff who spoke a number of languages.
He added that although Virgin never liked to say never; at the moment such an operation was not a priority. Deutsch Bahn, Germany’s state railway, has said it plans to start competing with Eurostar by 2013; running services between London, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.
In response to Deutsche Bahn’s plans, Eurostar has announced a deal for 10 brand new trains from Siemens, the German manufacturer. It has also committed to a complete overhaul of its current rolling stock.
French manufacturer Alstom built the trains Eurostar is currently running under the channel. It lost out in the bidding process to rivals Siemens and is claiming the German trains do not meet safety standards set out for the Channel Tunnel. Alstom has approached the High Court over the matter, but Eurostar is claiming the Siemens trains meet all European safety requirements.
Tags: Alstom, Eurostar, Eurotunnel, Geutsche Bahn, High Court, Siemens, Virgin
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Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
A tourist complaining that it was a bit of a shock to see fish swimming in the sea is just one of a long list of bizarre complaints received by travel companies from their customers. Another complained of the lack of kangaroos hopping around the streets of Sydney and one woman was incensed to find a Gucci bag she had picked up for $20 in China was not in fact the real deal.
One traveller said he had never been warned that mosquitoes could bite and another complained that after seeing an aroused male elephant he had not been able to enjoy the rest of his honeymoon because of inadequacy issues.
A traveller to Greece was horrified to find that the beach he visited had stones on it and others complained that the beaches that had spent time on had had rather too much sand. A Brit eating at a restaurant in an Australian hotel was disappointed with the flavour and texture of his soup until staff explained he had been slurping down the gravy.
An engaged couple have blamed a hotel for an unexpected pregnancy. The woman said she had asked for twin beds for her and her fiancé, but had become pregnant after the room they stayed in was found to be a double.
As well as odd complaints, holidaymakers are just as adept at making bizarre requests it seems. One hotel guest asked if staff could stop it from raining and another asked if he could move rooms because the air conditioning was so noisy. An electric toothbrush in the customer’s luggage was in fact the source of the noise.
Tags: beach, honeymoon, luggage, tourist, travel companies, traveller
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Monday, October 25th, 2010
BMW has announced it will be following a handful of other European manufacturers into the short term leasing market. As vehicle ownership shows signs of declining in large cities around the globe manufacturers are looking at new ways to encourage drivers into their brands.
Daimler is already doing it with its Car2go scheme which offers customers short term rental of its smart cars and Peugeot has been expanding its Mu rental initiative across Europe.
BMW’s scheme will be offered to customers in Munich where the company has its headquarters. For €16 per hour, customers will be able to take a 1 Series compact away from BMW World, the events and exhibition centre next to the firm’s offices. A 7 Series sedan will cost €32 per hour. A spokesman for BMW said the idea was that customers who cannot afford to own a high-end vehicle will now be able to take one away for a special occasion.
Sarwant Singh, from the market-research company Frost & Sullivan explained that as populations grow in capital cities around the globe, the level of pollution and congestion will start to rise. He said the numbers of people deciding to own their own car in these centres of population was beginning to decline, so manufacturers find themselves having to tap into other revenue streams.
Singh added that as well as exploiting the drivers who currently do not own a car, car sharing schemes meant companies could market their vehicles to those who might, at some later date, decided to purchase.
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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
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
Singapore Airlines’ budget subsidiary Tiger Airways has reacted to a comment made by rival low cost carrier Air Asia that it is ‘tiny’. The comment was made to a website by Air Asia boss Tony Fernandez. Tony Davis, president and group chief executive at Tiger, said his airline intended to grow to become a top-three global airline. He added that growth had already exceeded 43 per cent this year and the carrier was recording record numbers of passengers.
On Tuesday, Tiger announced it had picked up the award for Low Cost Airline of the Year from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. On the same day, full page advertisements appeared in newspapers The Business Times and The Straits Times showing a crying tiger cub. The Air Asia ads featured a strap-line pointing out that tigers do not have wings and should therefore avoid trying to fly.
Regional head of commercial at Air Asia, Kathleen Tan, said that ads were meant as a bit of mischievous fun. She added that the ads were not meant as an attack on anyone, just a gentle assertion that Air Asia still had the best marketing department.
Thousands of Tiger passengers recently found themselves stranded as the airline cancelled a number of scheduled flights.
Mr Davis confirmed that by the end of the first quarter of next year Thai Tiger will have been set up as a low cost venture with Thai Airways. This will give both airlines the opportunity to continue their tit-for-tats at Thai Tiger will go head-to-head with Thai Air Asia.
Tags: Air Asia, Budget, flights, low cost, Thai Airways, Thai Tiger, Tiger Airways
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Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
Argentina’s flag-carrier, Aerolineas Argentinas, is to become a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. The announcement was made on Tuesday, and the airline, when fully incorporated, will become the alliance’s first South American member. Full integration is expected to be completed by 2012. Strong performance by Latin American carriers has meant SkyTeam has been looking to expand its reach into the territory.
SkyTeam is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary. It was established in 2000 by Korean Air, Delta Airlines, Air France and Aeromexico. The incorporation of Aerolineas Argentinas into the group will now give customers flying under the SkyTeam banner better access to South American destinations.
Since 2009, Aerolineas Argentinas has been restructuring in order to better compete in the American market. A five-year plan is in place to look at improving its business model. The carrier is currently concentrating on rationalizing and renewing its fleet; improving its product and working out which international and regional destinations would be viable additions to its schedule.
The SkyTeam alliance is continuing to grow. It is actively investigating other potential members from South America, South East Asia and the Indian subcontinent. In 2011, China Airlines and China Eastern are due to become SkyTeam members. Earlier this year, TAROM and Vietnam Airlines were welcomed into the fold.
Currently, the 385 million passengers flying with SkyTeam members every year benefit from staying connected to nearly 900 destinations in 169 countries. Every day, more than 12,500 flights take off and land throughout the SkyTeam global network.
Tags: Aerolineas Argentinas, Aeromexico, air france, airline, China Airlines, China Eastern, delta airlines, Korean Air, SkyTeam, Vietnam Airlines
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Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
Europcar is gearing up for the international launch of Daimler’s car2go in the spring of next year. A fleet of 300 two-seater smart cars is due to hit the streets of central Hamburg by March 2011. The new mobility concept will allow those who have joined the scheme to simply turn up, get into one of the cars and drive off whenever and to wherever they choose.
Europcar, which has the majority stake in the scheme, has already announced that the fee for an hour’s rental of one of the new vehicles will be capped at €14.90; although the cars are also available for rental by the minute at €0.29.
The car2go was recently premiered at the Motor Show in Paris. It incorporates innovative features such as a solar-power roof capable of charging the vehicle’s battery, looking after the electrics and making sure the interior temperature is always controlled. There is also an advanced car-sharing telematics system.
Mayor of Hamburg, Christoph Ahlhaus, said he was excited that Hamburg had been chosen for the international launch of the new scheme. He added that the people of the city were traditionally open to innovative ideas, and he was sure the idea would be a success.
Anja Hajduk, Hamburg’s senator for urban development and the environment, said she was pleased the scheme was arriving in the city pointing out that a reduction of the amount of traffic on the streets would be welcomed by those fed up of sitting in traffic jams; unable to find a parking space or who lived by busy roads.
Tags: car2go, Daimler, Europcar, Hamburg, parking, rental, smart cars, traffic
Posted in Car Rental News | Comments Off
Monday, October 18th, 2010
Disruption to public transport services across France is continuing as unions keep up their pressure on President Sarkozy over his controversial retirement reforms. Mr Sarkozy is standing by his position and says the country cannot afford not to revise the pension rules. The unions are signalling that they are also not prepared to back down as panic buying across the country leads to fears of a fuel shortage.
Truck drivers have announced that they will continue to cause disruption by blocking roads across the country. Transport unions have said that train services will continue to be disrupted. Around half the scheduled TGV services will be cancelled today and only a third of all other train services are due to run.
Flights in and out of Charles de Gaulle airport in the capital could soon be cancelled if fuel supplies begin to run short. France’s transport minister Dominique Bussereau is playing down rumours and saying a pipeline supplying the airport is back in service and fuel will be supplied indefinitely.
In Paris, petrol stations are already displaying sold-out signs on their pumps. Total has said up to 400 of its service stations are now not being supplied adequately. Representatives of France’s oil industry, the UFIP, claim that if the government does not grant access to emergency supplies the country could be running low on fuel by the middle of the week.
Where fuel is available the temptation will be to push the price up as demand heightens. Christine Lagarde, The country’s economy minister has warned people tempted to do this that they could face prosecution.
Tags: Charles de Gaulle, flights, Paris, petrol, public transport, retirement, Sarkozy, TGV, trains, unions
Posted in Political News | Comments Off
