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Archive for February, 2012

The European LEZ

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

It seems like the van market is forever evolving with new models coming out on a weekly basis. This is exactly the sort of thing we love here at VanQuoteDirect as it encourages the market to continue growing and also encourages further competition between manufacturers, which again will encourage the market to keep on the upward trend.

The LEZ Impact

We have previously blogged about the current van market and how it has boomed in recent months and years and this year we are all very much expecting to see further increases in the number of sales as the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) has become more stringent which has meant that many van drivers will have upgraded their van.

So far the only city in the UK that has implemented the LEZ is London, however, there are plans for Oxford and Norwich to adopt the LEZ in the coming weeks, months and even years. We’ve talked a lot about the LEZ in the UK, but what about Europe? Many van drivers make trips to mainland Europe for a whole variety of reasons and services, yet we have not, on this very blog, outlined the main areas in Europe where the LEZ is enforced. Furthermore, if you are going to be making a trip into mainland Europe, it will be worth checking your commercial vehicle insurance policy to make sure you are covered for European driving.

European Locations

The LEZ doesn’t appear to be in place yet in France or Spain, however it has been implemented throughout much of the rest of Central Europe.

The closest large city to home that has implemented the LEZ is Amsterdam, Netherlands. Other notable Dutch cities to have enforced the LEZ are Rotterdam and Eindhoven.

Germany, due to its greater size, has rather more areas where the LEZ has been enforced. These include Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Dortmund, Hannover and Stuttgart amongst several other German cities and towns. Italy is another European mainland country with a stringent and diverse spread of low emission zones. Cities include Rome, Pisa, Bologna and Livorno amongst many others.

Those of you that envisage driving in and around Europe may well have already come across such zones; however it is certainly worth being aware of them if you are planning on embarking on another trip to Europe.

Are you yet to come across these low emission zones? Have they affected you both here in the UK and abroad?

Tags: commercial vehicle insurance, European LEZ, LEZ, Low Emission Zone
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Fiat Ducato Tecnico

Monday, February 27th, 2012

Fiat are to offer a new special series Ducato Tecnico van which will be largely based on the Ducato 35. However, this new van will come with a whole range of added gadgetry in order to dazzle prospective owners. With the LEZ also having a bearing on commercial vehicle owners, many may be looking to upgrade their van. Will this new Fiat be the perfect choice?

Gadgets

The new Ducato will come complete with new manual air conditioning, front fog lights, Blue&Me with controls on the steering wheel, eco:Drive Professional telematics software, a TomTom sat nav, Start&Stop, special wheel trims and reverse parking sensors. All this fantastic kit comes as standard!

With so many more gadgets freely available in the Ducato Tecnico, a commercial van insurance quote will be all the more important!

Engine and Price

The Ducato will come with the 2.3 litre, 130bhp peach of an engine that the original Ducato 35 is fitted with, which provides more than enough grunt and power for hauling heavy goods around and a six speed manual gearbox for making your way up and down motorways. The van will also offer a long-wheelbase and high roof.

The Ducato Tecnico will begin at a promotional price of £16,995 OTR, excluding VAT, which is truly fantastic value! This price will offer potential customers a 26% price advantage over the normal price of standard specification versions, which is sure to be a great incentive for those that are looking to upgrade their van.

Fancy One?

Furthermore, the proud Director of the Fiat Professional UK group, Sebastiano Fedrigo, has been explaining: “In these times when customers are seeking out extra value in their purchasing decisions, the new special series Ducato Tecnico provides customers with great value for money and also with the perfect business van to meet their requirements.”

The new Ducato Tecnico certainly looks good on paper and the price, for what you get, is also quite remarkable. Fiat are confident the van will absolutely fly off the forecourts and showrooms and, when considering how much van you get for such little money, it is not surprising why!

Will you be snapping up the new Ducato Tecnico?

Tags: commercial van insurance, Fiat, Fiat Ducato Tecnico
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Vans Named for Plug-in Grant

Friday, February 24th, 2012

This week, the Transport Secretary, Justine Greening, has unveiled seven light electric commercial vehicles that will all benefit from the £8000 Plug-in Van Grant. This is the scheme that new electric commercial vehicles will have up to £8000 taken off the retail price.

What Vans are Eligible?

The vans that have been named in the scheme thus far include the Azure Dynamic’s Transit Connect Electric, the Daimler Mercedes-Benz Vito E-Cell, the Faam ECOMILE and the Faam JOLLY 2000, the Mia U, the Renault Kangoo ZE and the Smith Electric Smith Edison.

The most popular choices from this list are almost sure to be the Renault and the Mercedes.

Kangoo Popularity

The Kangoo ZE has already proven that it sells well across Europe and now with such a large grant being offered here in the UK many users may indeed now look to swap their previous Kangoo van for the new electric model. The initial grant will save owners a huge lump of cash while the nature of the vehicle will massively reduce fuel costs and may also lead to cheaper van insurance.

Added Uses

Furthermore, the Vito, of course, has proved to be popular amongst commercial vehicle users. The Vito is used not just as a van to haul heavy duty loads around, but as a taxi too. So we may well see large taxi firms trading their Vito fleets for the new electric version in order to again reduce costs by a substantial margin.

The electric vans seem to be particularly attractive for those that carry out local services due to their range limitations as after 60 miles they’ll need to be recharged, which is obviously not ideal for those that will be making longer journeys or trips up and down motorway networks.

With the commercial vehicle market somewhat booming last year, it will be interesting to see if the Plug-in Grant enables further sales.

Tags: Cheaper Van Insurance, electric Vans, Plug-In Van Grant, Van Insurance
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A New Transit To Be Unveiled in March

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

Talk about good timing, last week we were singing the praises of the Ford Transit and this week it was announced that a new commercial van from Ford will be revealed at the Geneva Motor Show next month. The Ford Tourneo Custom Concept is to premiere in Switzerland and it will offer a glimpse of what the next generation Ford Transit will look like.

New Styling

The new model has been styled in the same way as the current Ford car range with the “Kinetic Design” philosophy Ford has adopted recently. And it basically means the new Transit will look less like a normal, everyday, van.

Furthermore, upon moving inside the Tourneo Custom Concept, it is evident to see that changes here have been made too. There is leather upholstery and a sculpted, driver focused, instrument panel similar to the one that can be found in recent Focus models. It would seem that Ford are trying to make the most popular van in the world even more driver friendly!

New Technology

The new van will also come with ECOnetic fuel saving technology. This will greatly reduce emissions and Ford hope that they will become the class leader in terms of fuel efficiency and economy. This, of course, would be a huge feat and a massive selling point for what is already sure to be an extremely popular choice for future van drivers. With such economical features being implemented the new Transit is also sure to save money on commercial vehicle insurance, which again will be a selling point in this day and age as we all attempt to save money wherever possible.

As you can imagine, due to the fact that the Tourneo Custom Concept is only a concept model, there are very few actual details about what the next generation Transit will include. However, more is sure to be revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in March and we will be on hand to deliver the best news and views from the event.

Will the next generation Transit dominate the future van market? We have a sneaky suspicion it might…What do you think though? Let us know by commenting below.

Tags: commercial vehicle insurance, Ford, Ford Tourneo Custom Concept, Ford Transit, Geneva Motor Show
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Growing Van Market

Monday, February 20th, 2012

Recent commercial vehicle news articles have revealed that new registrations in the EU in the final month of 2011 amounted to 166,739 units, or 7.5% more than in the same month in 2010.

It appears that France is the country that uses the most vans, remaining as the largest market in the EU with 482,823 newly registered commercial vehicles and an expansion of 5.6% in 2011. Just behind the French is Germany with 334,822 new units registered – so I say ‘just’ but in all honesty they are substantially behind France in terms of the number of units sold.

And here in the UK there were 306,488 new commercial vehicles registered which represents a growth in 2011 of 17.6%. That is a significantly larger number of van insurance policies that would have been taken out on new models last year.

Booming Markets

It would seem that these particular markets are currently booming. The fact that France and Germany have seen the highest growth over the previous year could be related to the fact that their economy has remained relatively resilient in comparison to, for example, the Italian and Spanish economy. To back this up, the Italian and Spanish markets both contracted by -3.4% and -6.6% respectively. There’s no surprise there when considering the state of both countries’ economies.

The UK has also struggled…

However, our economy here in the UK has taken quite a battering too in recent times, yet the van market continues to grow. This could perhaps be because more and more people, in such difficult financial times, have taken to courier jobs and general tradesman jobs. Many firms may also have purchased fleets of vehicles in order to broaden their services in order to attempt to see further returns on such investments.

Furthermore, because of the Low Emission Zone coming into force at the start of this year, many firms will have looked to buy new vans throughout the course of 2011. Also, during economic difficulties, many small businesses may well have prospered as more people look to save money by hunting around for high quality, yet reasonably priced, tradesmen and other general services, this could therefore, in turn, lead to a booming commercial vehicle market as the aforementioned tradesmen are able to expand their business.

Have you, or your business, prospered during the financial difficulties? And were you one of the many that bought a new van last year?

Tags: Commercial Vehicle Market, Van Insurance, Van Market
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Van Drivers Suffer Exhaust Thefts

Friday, February 17th, 2012

It would appear that the new craze for scrap metal thieves is stealing exhausts from vans. If it isn’t internet lines and catalytic converters, then it’s van exhausts. So, this blog post today is to act as a warning to all van drivers out there! Please be aware of the thefts that have taken place, and look to keep your van protected.

Protecting Your Van

Now whilst a comprehensive van insurance quote may indeed cover you, provided your van is parked where it should be overnight for example, there are other measures you can take to protect your van. For example, if you own a garage then it may be an idea to park your van in the garage over night as a precaution. It will also be important to report any suspicious behaviour and to be vigilant when leaving your van.

Reports

It was reported that exhausts were stolen in Stretford and Urmston and officers are now warning van drivers to be very vigilant when parking their van just about anywhere. Last month there were 11 catalytic converter thefts in Greater Manchester. It seems they were a popular target for petty thieves because they can fetch up to £1,000 for such an item.

Police Involvement

Pc Steve Bryant, of Operation Alloy, the Greater Manchester Police campaign set up to tackle scrap metal crime, has been commenting that scrap gangs were now going after vehicles left on the street. He was quoted saying: “Because of the size of these items, people probably will have seen suspicious activity during early hours. These are large items which have to be removed with a saw. If you are removing a full exhaust system, it takes some time. If anyone has seen suspicious activity I’d ask them to call the police.”

The police have also stated that they are curious as to why it is Mercedes Sprinter vans that have been particularly targeted. Pc Bryant went on to add: “We are still building our intelligence picture but we would like help from the public.”

If you do have any information then please do report it! These crimes must be brought to a stop as quickly as possible! Who’s with me?

Tags: Crime, Mercedes Sprinter, Stolen Exhausts, Thefts, Van Crime
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A VanZoneBlog Favourite – The Ford Transit

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

Today we are talking about the much loved Ford Transit. The reason for this is that they are not only one of our favourite vans of all time, but they are also one of the all time greats within the world of vans and commercial vehicles.

After, all, you don’t achieve a production figure of six million units without the van being popular!

The Transit van has been in production for around 40 years, and is by far the most popular van of all time.

In the Beginning

The Transit name was actually first used on the Ford FK 1000 that was introduced in 1953 and from 1961 the vehicle adopted the name of Taunus Transit. Production then ceased on the vehicle in 1965, at which time the Mark 1 Transit was born in the UK.

Now, of course, Ford is an American Motor Company, however they have always had a strong tie with the UK, and particularly the Transit has dominated the van market in Europe. The first Transit was produced at Ford’s Langley facility in Berkshire before production was then moved to a Southampton factory. Transit’s were also produced in Genk, Belgium, as well as in Turkey. This enabled easy distribution throughout Europe, and perhaps is one of the many reasons why the Transit has been such a hit across the continent.

Subsequent Models

The Mark 2 Transit was released in 1978. It introduced the Pinto engine that was from the Cortina along with a 1.6 litre Xflo engine. Such engines are popular today with retro Ford enthusiasts as they love to tinker with their classic Escort’s and Cortina’s, and so on.

The Mark 3 came soon after in 1986, with the Mark 4 then launching in 1991. The Mark 5 was released in 94 and the Mark 6 in 2000 with a Mark 7 becoming available in 2006. The six millionth Transit was produced in early 2010, quite a feat!

Increasing Popularity

Transit vans have proved to be so popular because of their size, reliability and rugged approach. They also come with a variety of engines which will undoubtedly offer a variety of fuel efficiencies and van insurance quotes.

Furthermore, since 2006 the Transit has also been produced and sold in China, which is, of course, an enormous market to try to tap into. The Transit is also planning to go Stateside as of 2013.

Ford seemingly want to spread the Transit’s popular to all corners of the globe!

It would be great to hear from some Transit owners! Let us know about yours. How long have you owned it? Are you happy with it? (Although we think we know the answer to that one already).

Tags: Ford, Ford Transit, van insurance quotes
Posted in Van Insurance | 2 Comments »

Citroen Dispatch, Dispatched

Monday, February 13th, 2012

Citroen vans are much loved on this blog, as are most vans, and the French company has now expanded their light commercial vehicle range by launching the all new Dispatch Crew Van. This new van is to be part of the Business Class programme.

Stats

The Dispatch is powered by a 123bhp HDi engine and comes fitted with a six speed manual gearbox. The Crew Van will emit 179g/km of CO2 and Citroen have claimed it will achieve an economy of 41.5mpg. Impressive economy indeed from what is sure to be a good, honest van. Such great economy is also likely to save owners on their fuel bills, as well as hopefully driving down the cost of commercial vehicle insurance.

The Crew Van also offers six seat transport for companies and those that require it. Taxi firms, for example, may indeed take advantage of the Crew Van in coming weeks and months.

Clever Spatial Awareness

The Dispatch will also offer twin sliding side loading doors and a very clever use of space which has resulted in the Dispatch being able to afford plenty of carry space for, not only people, but equipment too. Beneath the rear bench there is a 310mm deep x 1,100mm wide gap which gives a maximum floor length of 2,110mm in the rear load compartment. The main load area is also 1,700mm long. Therefore, there is certainly plenty of space in the rear of the clever van.

CV Efficiency

Scott Michael, the Commercial Vehicle Operations Manager at Citroen, has been commenting on the efficiency of the van: “Duty of care considerations and rising fuel prices are among the key reasons why businesses are increasingly specifying crew vans. With its combination of 1,067kg payload, six seats and a large load compartment, the Dispatch Crew Van meets most operator needs in this growing LCV market sector.”

He then added: “Most importantly, as the Dispatch Crew Van has a payload of over 1,000kg, it is possible for VAT-registered business customers to reclaim the VAT paid on the vehicle.”

The new Citroen is sure to be popular amongst individuals and businesses, and Citroen will look forward to seeing an influx of sales for their fantastic new van.

Will you be turning to a new Dispatch?

Tags: Citroen, Citroen Dispatch, Citroen Dispatch Crew Van, commercial vehicle insurance, Efficiency
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It’s a Snowy UK Today

Friday, February 10th, 2012

So, it’s snowed yet again these past two days and there is more snow forecast next week too. Much of the UK will therefore be covered in snow, which will inevitably lead to icy and dangerous roads. The chance of many commercial vehicle drivers experiencing disruption or heavy traffic jams at such times is therefore quite high, and it will be very important to take care on the roads during such times.

Black Ice

For many van drivers, their vehicle is, in some respects, their office, so it will be crucial to drive carefully to avoid damaging it! Over recent weeks, the snowy UK has seen commercial van insurance claims increase, along with general vehicle insurance claims too as many drivers are caught out by unseen black ice caused by freezing temperatures.

Simply driving through small high streets it is clear to see that cars have been abandoned and, in some cases, badly damaged during the snow storms due to drivers sliding off the roads. Many vehicles have also broken down and the AA and RAC have recorded a very high number of call outs during the blustery, snowy weather.

Authorities have been gritting and salting roads up and down the country, with some 500 tonnes of the stuff being scattered throughout the UK’s capital alone overnight and on my way to work this morning, I personally had no trouble once I was on the main roads. There was, however, black ice present on the quieter side streets.

Snow Differs From Area to Area

As the day has gone on the snow, from where I’m sitting has thawed quite quickly, however, in many parts of the UK this is unlikely to be the case. What’s it like where you are?

Hopefully next week’s flurry of snow will only be a small one that will cause minimum disruption for those that need to be out on the roads plying their trade.

Tags: AA, commercial vehicle insurance, Icy Roads, RAC, Snow, vehicle insurance, weather
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Want to Win a £150 Screwfix Voucher?

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Calling all van drivers, tradesmen, handy Andy’s and well, just about anyone who likes a bit of DIY, we at VanZoneBlog are giving away £150 worth of Screwfix vouchers for you to spend how you wish. So, do you need a new drill, or a new pair of boots? Or do you just need some odd bits and bobs? Well Screwfix will be able to tend to all your needs!

How do I enter?

To enter such a great competition, all you have to do is simply Follow & Retweet us. It really is that simple and you can find a link to our Twitter account below. You’ll then go into a prize draw after the closing date, and the winner will be randomly selected from those that have entered the competition.

The closing date will be 5pm on the 16th February – so you only have around a week to get following and retweeting!

The winner will be contacted soon after the closing date.

Good Luck to all those that take part, and to that one lucky winner – enjoy those vouchers!!

Twitter: @VanZoneBlog

Tags: Competition, Screwfix
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