MANAGING 10-50 COMPANY VEHICLES
Researchers from Ford and Domino's will study how Ann Arbor, Mich., customers interact with the autonomous vehicle delivering their pizza order.
General Motors should gain market share by replacing 88% of its light-duty lineup by 2020, while Volkswagen and Korean automakers are relying too heavily on cars with consumer demand shifting toward SUVs and trucks, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst.
Innovate UK has announced that "UK Autodrive "a consortium of local authorities, the UK’s leading technology and automotive businesses and academic institutions, has won the UK Government’s £10m "Introducing Driverless Cars" competition.
Commercial fleets have been slow to add natural gas vehicles to their fleets globally due to the significant upfront purchase cost and relatively high cost of conversion, according to a new research report.
In its 2009 Annual Car Reliability Survey, Consumer Reports found that about 90 percent of Ford, Mercury and Lincoln products were found to have average or better reliability than its foreign counterparts.
Fuel costs, the largest fleet operating expense, declined dramatically in the 2009 calendar-year due to a sharp decline in worldwide fuel consumption. Also, many fleets downsized, due to widespread corporate layoffs, which lowered overall fuel spend. However, maintenance and repair costs increased in 2009, primarily due to vehicles kept in service for longer periods as a result of corporations slashing capital expenditures. Open the blog for a forecast of 2010 operating cost trends.
The number of fleets restricting personal use of company-provided vehicles decreased from 2008 to 2009.
Survey shows that 59 percent of new car buyers do not intend to shop for a new vehicle in four years or more. This is an almost 13 percent increase from a 2005 survey.
Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research, says that large businesses and government purchases are going to shrink in '09.
Building alternative fuel cars and exploring emerging markets seen as chief opportunities. Execs continue to see significant rise in bankruptcies and M&A activity.