THE John Lewis Partnership is introducing the Whitechapel employee car ownership scheme for its 580 company car drivers.

IVECO has extended warranties on all Daily City Trucks from two to three years/100,000 miles, including vehicles bought from the beginning of this year.

MITSUBISHI is contacting owners of 41,000 Shoguns purchased between 1990 and 1999 after a series of steering failures.

DRIVERS opting out of company car schemes can take advantage of fixed insurance premiums for three years, irrespective of subsequent claims experience, through a policy offered by a London Jaguar dealership.

FIFTY Chrysler Neons will be supplied to Northampton-based Pentland Corporation to put its entire sales force behind the wheel of the US-built saloon.

A LEADING fleet manager is warning companies they could struggle to manage their fuel costs without investing in fuel cards.

THE Inland Revenue is undertaking a huge defensive driver training programme for its staff, awarding the training contract to Driving Services.

Further evidence of diesel's rise is witnessed with the first UK track appearance of a diesel-powered racing car.

UK companies are in line for a VAT windfall on short-term daily rental cars, following a relaxation of VAT rules by HM Customs & Excise.

PSA Peugeot Citroen and Toyota have pledged their commitment to producing 300,000 small 'affordable' cars per year for the European market.

MINI is confident of boosting its European sales with the launch of a new diesel engine in Europe next year.

CITROEN'S new small car, the C3, will be priced from under £9,000 when it goes on sale on May 1.

THE first Fleet News Drive event at Brands Hatch was hailed a success by the hundreds of people who attended, saying it gave them the ideal chance to assess manufacturers' latest offerings.

A FIRM of chartered accountants claims clients are successfully cutting their company car tax bills by switching to off-roaders that have been converted to vans

TWENTY companies in Edinburgh are to take part in an 18-month trial of Ford's environmentally friendly TH!NK City electric car.

THE typical salary at which a company car is provided is £32,500 and the business mileage threshold is about 10,000 miles, according to Monks Partnership.

A MAJOR UK fleet is applying a chemical windscreen treatment to its 650 company cars in a bid to improve safety.

Eleven teams from across the fleet industry battled it out in a drama-packed heat two of the Kwik-Fit Fleet National Karting Challenge in association with Fleet News.

FORD has announced prices for its new high performance Mondeo ST220,which goes on sale next month.

CLAIMS that repair costs estimating firm Audatex is losing bodyshops money and potentially pushing up repair costs because of an omission in its repair estimate system have prompted head-to-head industry talks to quell the row.

THE AA has given the go-ahead for its entire fleet of patrol and recovery vehicles to be equipped with route guidance systems, in a bid to speed up response times for its fleet.

LEXUS has launched a new corporate sales initiative through 48 Lexus Centres to improve its focus on the fleet market.

INTERLEASING has given its backing to the electronic procurement of new cars by installing the 1Link system for buying from dealers.

BMW has launched long-wheelbase versions of its new 7-series which will go on sale in the UK in May.

Fleetlease UK has won the annual Mitac Landmark Award Account Management survey for the third time.

NISSAN'S revised Terrano has gone on sale with a choice of the existing 2.7- litre turbodiesel or the 3.0- litre direct injection turbo diesel from the Nissan Patrol GR.

MOTOR assistance provider Mondial Assistance has won the contract to provide roadside assistance to the Daihatsu Depend approved used car programme.

VEHICLE refurbishment and logistics specialist EuroFleet has opened a new pre-delivery inspection facility at its site in Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire.

ECONOMIC confidence is fuelling booming fleet sales, with no indication that the new company car tax system is persuading drivers to move to cash-for-car alternatives.

SALES of light commercial vehicles were 3.9% ahead during the first three months of 2002, despite weaker demand in March that saw sales slip by 5.5%.