The New Crafter Van from VW, through a new purchsae scheme* comes with the 1st two services free.

• Customers placing orders for new Crafter will receive two inclusive services
• Offer is part Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles’ ‘Working with You’ promise
• Services guarantee workmanship from a qualified Van Centre technician
• Offer available on vehicles ordered by 2 July 2017 (registered by 30 September)

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is offering two complimentary services to customers who place orders on a new Crafter before 2 July and register it by 30 September 2017. 

Available on all 2017 Crafter models, whether acquired through hire purchase, lease purchase, contract hire or finance lease^, the offer has been launched to help customers to minimise vehicle costly downtime and maximise value. 

Designed to give Crafter customers an extra helping hand in the initial ownership period of their new vehicle, the added value offer includes both an interim and full service. 

The offer not only frees the new owners from routine servicing bills for the first part of the vehicle’s life, but also guarantees all work is carried out by a qualified Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles technician. 

The latest offer forms part of a wider portfolio of services available to businesses in helping with the scheduling and management of servicing and routine maintenance. Schemes such as Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle Financial Service’s Driveline, which is designed to benefit customers purchasing their fleet via contract hire or finance lease, offers a dedicated 24-hour phone line, available 365 days a year to provide instant help when you need it, whether for booking services, ordering new tyres, glass repairs or breakdown and recovery services. 

James Douglas, Head of Sales Operations at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said: “We believe this is a great offer for customers and a great way to introduce new Crafter to the market. It’s not only a good deal but also demonstrates, in concrete terms, our desire to work with them, in partnership, and add value to their vehicle operation.” 

Customers wishing to extend their servicing agreement can go on to buy services 3 and 4 for £349, which offers additional interim and a full service, plus an MOT* (mileage and restrictions apply). 

FLEET WORLD - The Citroen Dispatch takes the honours as best medium van in this years ceremony.

New Citroën Dispatch has continued its award-winning ways by taking the Best Medium Van prize in the 2017 Van Fleet World Honours.

The New Citroën Dispatch has been named Medium Van of the Year in the 2017 Van Fleet World Honours. The award was won jointly with the Peugeot Expert and Toyota Proace at a prestigious ceremony earlier today at the RAC Club in Pall Mall.

This latest award in the New Citroën Dispatch trophy cabinet joins the What Van? Light Commercial Vehicle of the Year 2017 and Medium Van of the Year 2017 awards, which were presented at the end of last year. 

Van Fleet World Editor, Dan Gilkes, said; “The New Dispatch is quite simply a great mid-weight van that has taken a huge step forwards from its predecessor. 

The van is not simply a like-for-like replacement, as the addition of a third compact model broadens the line-up, opening up new opportunities and providing customers with increased choice to suit specific operating requirements.

“There’s a good choice of 1.6 and 2.0-litre engines delivering a good mix of economy and low emissions, with power and refinement. The vans can also be supplied with a very high specification, including industry first head-up display and hands-free side door opening.

“Citroën has managed to deliver strong load volume and payload capacities, while providing a comfortable, car-like driving environment in a van with perfect dimensions for urban use.”

The Van Fleet World Awards are chosen by a panel of expert journalists at the publication, who have considerable experience of the van market.

Commenting on the award, Jeremy Smith, Citroën UK’s Head of Commercial Vehicles & Business Sector Operations, said; “We thought we were on to a winner with the New Dispatch range.

The awards from What Van?, and now Van Fleet World, show that others with experience in the van sector think so too. We are delighted that the experts at Van Fleet World have recognised the strengths of the New Dispatch with this latest award.”

Well, we fear for the UK Jobs as it is confirmed that PSA WILL take over Vauxhall/Opel - Sad day, possibly !

• Establishes PSA Group as #2 in Europe. This strong and balanced presence in its home markets will serve as the basis of profitable growth worldwide
• Joint venture in auto financing with BNP Paribas to support development of Opel/Vauxhall brands
• €2.2 Bn transaction advances GM’s transformation and unlocks shareholder value through disciplined capital allocation

General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) and PSA Group (Paris:UG) today announced an agreement under which GM’s Opel/Vauxhall subsidiary and GM Financial’s European operations will join the PSA Group in a transaction valuing these activities at €1.3 Bn and €0.9 Bn, respectively.

With the addition of Opel/Vauxhall, which generated revenue of €17.7 Bn in 2016¹, PSA will become the second-largest automotive company in Europe, with a 17% market share².

Creates sound European foundation for PSA to support its worldwide profitable growth

“We are proud to join forces with Opel/Vauxhall and are deeply committed to continuing to develop this great company and accelerating its turnaround,” said Carlos Tavares, chairman of the Managing Board of PSA. 

“We respect all that Opel/Vauxhall’s talented people have achieved as well as the company’s fine brands and strong heritage. We intend to manage PSA and Opel/Vauxhall capitalizing on their respective brand identities. 

Having already created together winning products for the European market, we know that Opel/Vauxhall is the right partner. We see this as a natural extension of our relationship and are eager to take it to the next level.”

“We are confident that the Opel/Vauxhall turnaround will significantly accelerate with our support, while respecting the commitments made by GM to the Opel/Vauxhall employees,” continued Mr. Tavares.

Advances GM’s Transformation and Unlocks Value

“We are very pleased that together, GM, our valued colleagues at Opel/Vauxhall and PSA have created a new opportunity to enhance the long-term performance of our respective companies by building on the success of our prior alliance”, said Mary T. Barra, GM chairman and chief executive officer.

“For GM, this represents another major step in the ongoing work that is driving our improved performance and accelerating our momentum. We are reshaping our company and delivering consistent, record results for our owners through disciplined capital allocation to our higher-return investments in our core automotive business and in new technologies that are enabling us to lead the future of personal mobility.

“We believe this new chapter puts Opel and Vauxhall in an even stronger position for the long term and we look forward to our participation in the future success and strong value-creation potential of PSA through our economic interest and continued collaboration on current and exciting new projects,” Ms. Barra concluded.

Strengthens Each Company for the Long Term

The transaction will allow substantial economies of scale and synergies in purchasing, manufacturing and R&D. Annual synergies of €1.7 Bn are expected by 2026 – of which a significant part is expected to be delivered by 2020, accelerating Opel/Vauxhall’s turnaround. Leveraging the successful partnership with GM, PSA expects Opel/Vauxhall to reach a recurring operating margin³ of 2% by 2020 and 6% by 2026, and to generate a positive operational free cash flow⁴ by 2020.

PSA, together with BNP Paribas, will also acquire all of GM Financial’s European operations through a newly formed 50%/50% joint venture that will retain GM Financial’s current European platform and team. This joint venture will be fully consolidated by BNP Paribas and accounted under the equity method by PSA.

The transaction is another step in GM’s ongoing work to transform the company, which has delivered three years of record performance and a strong 2017 outlook, and returned significant capital to shareholders. It will strengthen GM’s core business, support its continued deployment of resources to higher-return opportunities including in advanced technologies driving the future, and unlock significant value for shareholders.

By immediately improving EBIT-adjusted, EBIT-adjusted margins and adjusted automotive free cash flow and de-risking the balance sheet, the transaction will enable GM to lower the cash balance requirement under its capital allocation framework by $2 Bn, which it intends to use to accelerate share repurchases, subject to market conditions.

GM will also participate in the future success of the combined entity through its ownership of warrants to purchase shares of PSA. GM and PSA also expect to collaborate in the further deployment of electrification technologies and existing supply agreements for Holden and certain Buick models will continue, and PSA may potentially source long-term supply of fuel cell systems from the GM/Honda joint venture.

Additional Information

Terms of the Agreement

Opel/Vauxhall automotive operations will be acquired by PSA for €1.3 Bn. GM Financial’s European operations will be jointly acquired by PSA and BNP Paribas for 0.8 times their pro forma book value at the closing of the transaction, or approximately €0.9 Bn.

The transaction has a total value of €2.2 Bn, for Opel/Vauxhall automotive operations and 100% of GM Financial’s European operations.

The transaction value for PSA, including Opel/Vauxhall and 50% of GM Financial’s European operations, will be €1.8 Bn.

In connection with this transaction, GM or its affiliates will subscribe warrants for €0.65 Bn. These warrants have a nine-year maturity and are exercisable at any time in whole or in part commencing 5 years after the issue date, with a strike price of €1. Based on a reference price of €17.34 for the PSA share⁵ , the warrants correspond to 39.7 MM shares of PSA, or 4.2% of its fully diluted share capital⁶. GM will not have governance or voting rights with respect to PSA and has agreed to sell the PSA shares received upon exercise of the warrants within 35 days after exercise.

The transaction includes all of Opel/Vauxhall’s automotive operations, comprising Opel and Vauxhall brands, six assembly and five component-manufacturing facilities, one engineering center (Rüsselsheim) and approximately 40,000 employees. GM will retain the engineering center in Torino, Italy.

Opel/Vauxhall will also continue to benefit from intellectual property licenses from GM until its vehicles progressively convert to PSA platforms over the coming years.

In connection with the transaction, GM will take a primarily non-cash special charge of $4.0-4.5 Bn.

Ongoing Pension Fund Commitments

All of Opel/Vauxhall’s European and U.K. pension plans, funded and unfunded, with the exception of the German Actives Plan and selected smaller plans will remain with GM. The obligations with respect to the German Actives Plan and these smaller plans of Opel/Vauxhall will be transferred to PSA. GM will pay PSA €3.0 Bn for full settlement of transferred pension obligations.

Closing Conditions

The transaction is subject to various closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and reorganizations, and is expected to close before the end of 2017.

Warrants

The issuance of the warrants is subject to the vote of shareholders at PSA’s General Meeting of May 10th, 2017. The three main shareholders of PSA (the French State, the Peugeot family and DongFeng) representing in aggregate 36.6% of the share capital and 51.5%⁷ of the voting rights of PSA have undertaken to vote in favor of the resolution related to the issuance of the warrants to GM. In the event the warrant issuance reserved to GM and its affiliates is not approved by PSA’s General Meeting, PSA will settle the €0.65 Bn in cash over five years.

The AA takes a further 158 VW Transporter vans over and above the 500 they took in 2016.

• Vehicles will be used across AA’s renowned recovery service fleet
• AA’s order of 500 Transporters last year is bolstered by further 158 vehicles
• New deal continues close relationship between AA and Volkswagen

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is extending its working partnership with the UK’s largest motoring organisation, The AA, with an order to supply 158 Transporters. 

The additional vehicles come on top of The AA’s order last year for around 500 Transporter vans, which were fully converted at The AA’s conversion site in Oxfordshire.

The Transporters will be used as roadside and recovery vehicles, specially-equipped with warning beacons, racking and a deployable recovery trolley. 

They will allow The AA’s engineers to provide a premier roadside breakdown repair and recovery service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Twin batteries and a higher spec driver’s seat, among other options, have been added to each vehicle. Out of the 158 Transporters, 24 have a DSG gearbox, allowing for a smoother drive and better fuel economy.

Like all Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, The AA’s new Transporters benefit from Volkswagen’s award-winning aftersales programme, and with 72 dedicated Volkswagen Van Centres and 24 Authorised Repairers across the UK, patrols will never be far away from support.

Chris Wiltshire, Fleet Engineer for The AA said: “We couldn’t be happier to continue the fantastic relationship The AA has with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. We have a vehicle that has been developed to suit our needs, and which is converted with specialist racking to accommodate The AA’s tow system, additional equipment and tools.

“The close working partnership provides services to The AA’s wider customer base and supports Volkswagen Group by providing the dedicated Volkswagen breakdown assistance service.”

The AA will continue to replace a proportion of its 2,200 strong fleet of breakdown vans, which are coming to the end of their operational life, with Transporters, which have proved to be dependable, right for the job and efficient.

Peugeot to debut the Partner Tepee Electric at the Geneva show in a few weeks time.

• Electric version of PEUGEOT Partner Tepee to join PEUGEOT’s electric mobility offering
• PEUGEOT Tepee Electric seats five with a certified vehicle range of over 100 miles
• Launch set for the Geneva International Motor Show and available to order later this year

PEUGEOT is set to expand its range of electric vehicles with the launch of an electric version of the popular Partner Tepee, the Partner Tepee Electric.

Combining the practicality of the Partner Tepee range with the low running costs and environmental credentials of an electric vehicle, the PEUGEOT Partner Tepee Electric boasts an impressive certified range of over 100 miles.

With zero emissions, PEUGEOT Partner Tepee Electric drivers will be able to drive in regulated-emissions zones and during regulated traffic times, and will also benefit from tax exemption with new VED regulations from 2017.

The new Partner Tepee Electric will be launched officially at the Geneva International Motor Show in March and will be available to order later in the year.

Connectivity is a key feature of the new PEUGEOT Partner Tepee Electric. Connected features include air conditioning and battery charging that can be remotely controlled from a smartphone or tablet, while the generous standard specification also includes driving assistance with hill-assist start, cruise control and reversing camera. 

The new PEUGEOT Partner Tepee Electric also provides worry-free maintenance. Its traction battery is under warranty for eight years or 60,000 miles.

Building on its predecessor’s already impressive practicality, the PEUGEOT Partner Tepee Electric offers the option to remove the three seats in the middle row to create a completely flat load area.

Luggage capacity remains among the best in its category, meaning transportation of large objects is simple, thanks to 1,350 litres of boot space with five passengers aboard, or 3,000 litres with the rear seats folded.

The PEUGEOT Partner Tepee Electric joins an already comprehensive sustainable mobility offering, which includes PEUGEOT’s electric-assist bikes, in addition to cars and LCVs.

David Peel, Managing Director at PEUGEOT UK commented: “The PEUGEOT Partner Tepee Electric demonstrates our intention to make sustainable mobility accessible to all.

“Whether for personal or business use, the Partner Tepee Electric stands out thanks to its blend of practicality and efficiency. The vehicle offers an impressive range and is easy to run and maintain, making it a highly attractive option for those looking to switch to electric.”

UK SALES JANUARY - FORD - The Blue Oval moves ahead in Jan' with many segment leaders.

Ford total UK sales exceeded 30,000 and led the industry in January, with a 7.4 per cent increase over January 2016. Ford CV sales increased to over 8,000 for the month, the highest January sales volume since 1990, and market share increased to 35.8 per cent.

Highlights of the January sales figures issued today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) include:

• Ford total vehicle sales 30,586, up from 28,466 in January 2015
• Ford total vehicle sales share 15.6 per cent, 7.5 percentage points ahead of nearest rival
• Ford CV record highest January sales volume since 1990
• Fiesta is the UK best seller; Transit Custom and Transit, 1st and 2nd in CV segment
• Fiesta, C-MAX, Ranger, Transit, Transit Custom, Transit Connect, Transit Courier and Fiesta van all lead their respective segments

Andy Barratt, Ford of Britain chairman and managing director, said:  “In January more than 30,000 UK car and van drivers picked up new Fords, delivering 15 per cent of the market – our highest share in two and a half years.  Having enjoyed our biggest January volume since 1990, we’re now looking at another sales peak to come in March.  

With the Vehicle Excise Duty – or road tax – system changing significantly from April, we anticipate another strong month as buyers move fast to avoid the tax increase.”

According to the official SMMT figures, January car sales in the UK were up 2.9 per cent at 174,564 registrations, compared with January 2015.  

Ford sold 22,560 cars in January, up 2.7 per cent, compared with January 2016.  Ford’s car sales lead over its nearest rival was 8,752, an increase of 30 per cent, compared with January 2016.

Ford remains the clear leader in retail car sales, which most accurately reflect the preferences of private buyers.  At 12.6 per cent, Ford’s January retail car sales share was 4.5 percentage points ahead of its nearest rival. 

The Ford Fiesta has been the best-selling small car in Europe for four years and the UK best-seller for eight years.  

It remains the best-seller in the UK by a significant margin with 8,495 sales and a 4.9 per cent market share in January, 3,040 sales and 1.8 percentage points of market share ahead of its nearest competitor.  Fiesta also leads UK retail sales with 4,568 registrations, 2,035 ahead of its nearest rival.

The strength and breadth of the Ford model range is demonstrated by Fiesta (1^st), B-MAX (4^th), Focus (2^nd), C-MAX (1^st), EcoSport (5^th), Kuga (3^rd), Mondeo (5^th), Galaxy (2^nd)  and Mustang (2^nd) all featuring near, or at, the top of their segments in January.

UK commercial vehicle sales in January were up 1.2 per cent at 21,363, compared with January 2016.  Sales of Ford CVs were up 22.4 per cent at 7,709, compared with January 2016.  

Ford’s CV market share in January was 36.1 per cent, up from 29.8 per cent in January 2016 and marks Ford highest CV share since January 1990.

Ford is entering its 52^nd year of UK CV market leadership and it has been confirmed that in 2016 it was also the most popular CV brand in Europe.

Ford’s fresh and extended CV range is delivering record levels of CV sales with CV registrations more than double those of its nearest rival.  Fiesta Van (1^st), Transit Courier (1^st), Transit Connect (1^st), Transit Custom (1^st), Transit (1^st) and Ranger (1^st) are all placed first in their respective market segments.