ZENITH Vehicle Contracts has won another major fleet management contract with a blue chip client. The Leeds-based operation has clinched the £15 million deal to manage accountancy and consultancy giant Arthur Andersen's 560-vehicle fleet over the next four years. The deal is the largest single piece of business Zenith has won since its inception seven years ago.

EMPLOYEE-sponsored personal leasing and contract purchase schemes are set to boom - but the taxman may challenge schemes such as the Whitechapel Car Scheme, according to Hertz Leasing managing director Len Clayton. He believes that as employees appear to benefit from the bulk buying arrangements of their employers, the Whitechapel arrangements are 'a form of tax evasion'.

MORE than a dozen of Britain's biggest fleets have introduced an innovative car scheme which removes employees from car scale charge tax. The scheme - effectively employer-sponsored 'personal leasing' - is the brainchild of Whitechapel Corporate Services, a subsidiary of Sedgwick Group, the international insurance brokers.

MOTABILITY Finance Limited - the privately owned funding arm of the disabled mobility charity - has again come under fire. The workings of Britain's largest fleet buyer and the secretive funding organisation behind it were the subject of an in-depth report by Channel 4's Dispatches programme.

THE Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association is warning its members against slashing labour rates to win insurance company business.

BLUE chip companies like Microsoft and Pfizer are among the front-runners in The Times-Lease Plan Company Car Driver of the Year competition. In the most recent heats - held in Maidstone and Oxford - Malcolm Cooper of Direct Line Insurance and Richard Crow of Pfizer emerged on top in Maidstone, while Microsoft's Kevin Gemmel and the Decision Group's Kevin Roberts were triumphant in Oxford.

MERCEDES-BENZ engineers have developed an intelligent cruise control to prevent drivers from getting too close to the car in front.

HYUNDAI predicts that demand for the Lantra Estate will leap by 25% thanks to the arrival of its new entry level model. The 1.6 LSi is priced at £10,999 and provides the most luggage space in the upper medium sector.

THE quest for individuality has boosted sales of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's personalised registration numbers through the £200 million sales barrier. The DVLA has sold more than 400,000 personalised number plates since the scheme was launched in 1989 and fleets have been buying them to 'get noticed'.

RISK management specialist Town and Country is offering fleet operators two free risk analysis reports a year to help companies drive down their insurance premiums. The reports take into account all vehicle accidents and thefts above and below the excess limit and break down incident details and compare them with a database compiled from a large number of fleets.

FLEET Cost Management has won the contract to supply fuel cards to London Electricity's fleet. The capital's largest power provider chose FCM's fleet card to cash in on the savings afforded by the petrol price war currently being waged by the major retailers.

PEUGEOT dealers have launched an initiative that will raise £45,000 a year for BEN - the Motor and Allied Trades Benevolent Fund. The dealers will donate 30 pence to the charity every time they sell a new Peugeot. For an average dealer selling 400 units a year it will cost just £10 a month.

COWIE Financial Holdings, which comprises Cowie Interleasing, has signed a five-year loan facility of £200 million to be used in funding its growing contract hire, finance and leasing operations.

PEUGEOT has announced prices for the facelifted 106 range which hits UK showrooms next month. The new-look supermini is 11 cms longer than its predecessor and features an extensively reworked front end from the windscreen pillars forward (Fleet News, May 10).

RENAULT'S Megane Classic - the saloon version in the six car range - will go on sale in the UK in the first quarter of next year at the same time as the Scenic - the MPV version of the Megane. At 4.40 metres in length, the saloon is long for its class and (for non-metric types) nearly a foot longer than the hatchback version. The boot has a capacity of 18 cu ft. Engines for the Classic will be the same as the hatchback but without the lead-in 1.4 petrol model.

ROAD rage is nothing new - despite the spate of recent newspaper reports - according to driver training specialists Drive & Survive. Although recent research shows company car drivers feel more vulnerable than ever at the wheel (Fleet News May 24), Drive & Survive managing director Paul Catlin said the phenomenon has been around for years.

SUPERMARKET group Asda has shaken the petrol retailers with a promise that all its hypermarket petrol is to be sold at cost price. The company's declaration of the 'profit-free zones' was immediately attacked by the major fuel companies as a 'PR stunt' and they said that they would not be cutting prices to retaliate.

TOP GE Capital Fleet Service's sales executive Barry Monks has been rewarded for achieving 58% of his annual target in the first quarter of 1996.

CAP Motor Research has launched a stinging attack on van and truck manufacturers for failing to fit adequate security devices to their vehicles. It claims the cheapest cars offer drivers substantially superior anti-theft devices to those found on commercial vehicles which means commercial drivers, vehicles and loads are being unnecessarily put at risk.

THE UK leasing industry can breathe a sigh of relief following HM Customs & Excise's failure to establish leasing companies' liability for their customers who exploited a loophole in VAT regulations in the run up to the August 1, 1995 changes.

DIAL Assure, the accident management arm of the Dial Contracts Group, has won a 510-vehicle contract from Norsk Data. The company will provide a comprehensive service, ranging from 24-hour driver rescue and vehicle recovery to claims administration, repair management and invoice vetting and processing.

ROVER has realigned dealer margins as part of its ongoing programme of improving customer satisfaction levels across its dealer network. The manufacturer refused to confirm the exact details of the move, but it is believed that retailers were told that margins would be reduced by 1% to 9% at Rover's annual dealer conference.

NORTHGATE Motor Holdings has bought Yorkshire lcv-hire specialists Ember Rentals for £1.44 million. The acquisition consists of five depots and 900 vehicles and takes Darlington-based Northgate's total fleet size above 12,000 vehicles.

ADT Auctions has continued to increase its shareholding in CMA Auctions in the run up to CMA's acquisition by Independent Car Auctions. It is understood that ADT has increased its stake to 28.2% of CMA, enough to block ICA's plan to gain 100% control.

THE August 1, 1995 VAT changes had little or no effect on the company car leasing market as business volumes remained virtually static according to new figures from the Finance and Leasing Association.

THE RAC has joined forces with the UK's leading diesel fuel management company to offer preferential rates for Keyfuels and Diesel Direct fuelcard customers when they sign up for RAC fleet membership.

MAJOR car makers are sticking to their policy of restricting supply of fast-churn vehicles and prompting a significant change in the used car market according to experts at CAP and Glass's Guide.

COMPANY car drivers who are site-based with no permanent place of work could obtain tax relief on their journeys under new proposals by the Inland Revenue.

ROVER is to become the first of the 'big four' manufacturers to scrap separate delivery charges and adopt on-the-road pricing in the face of mounting pressure on car makers for an all-in list price. From Monday (June 3), all Rover pricing literature will feature two figures - a delivered price including VAT, delivery, number plates and initial servicing and an on-the-road price including a year's road tax.

THE fleet industry has drawn-up a seven-point company car action plan for a future Labour government and called on it to implement a long term transport strategy.