Automotive Fleet News

Despite a recent streak of falling gasoline prices, and predictions of future lower prices, they’re on the way up again, with the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline hitting $3.58 on Monday, May 13.

Tags: fuel spend, AAA, gas prices

Black Book recently released a new analysis of vehicle depreciation rates, noting that April generally is the end of the spring buying season for used cars and that this was the case last month.

Tags: depreciation, Black Book, used vehicles

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released its annual Medium-Term Oil Market Report (MTOMR). It notes the primary new sources of oil in the U.S. are light tight oil (LTO, oil from shale or tight sandstone formations) and oil sands in Canada.

Tags: Oil, International Energy Agency

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) said the 2014 Subaru Forester is the first vehicle to earn top scores in the organization’s new small overlap front crash test. IIHS said the 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport earned “acceptable” ratings in the test.

Tags: IIHS, crash tests, IIHS Top Safety Pick, IIHS Top Safety Pick+

Volvo is beginning production of the different engines in its previously announced new four-cylinder family. The new Volvo Engine Architecture family engines are set to be introduced in production models between 2013 and 2015.

Tags: Volvo, four-cylinder, executive vehicles, engine downsizing

ARI, a leading global fleet services provider specializing in complex car and truck fleets, was named as a finalist in the Tech Innovation of the Year category by the 2013 American Business Awards.

Tags: Stevie Awards, ARI

The 2013 Fleet Safety Conference, scheduled for June 25-27 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, in Schaumburg, Ill., will feature four educational sessions that focus on getting company colleagues on board with a fleet safety program.

Tags: driver safety, fleet safety, 2013 Fleet Safety Conference

The Hertz Corp. announced April 16 it has agreed to invest in China Auto Rental (CAR), acquiring a 20-percent stake in the company and taking a seat on its board of directors. CAR is China’s domestic market leader in short- and long-term car rentals.

Tags: Hertz, China Auto Rental Inc.

Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf announced new efforts to enhance government efficiency and performance, part of which is a new Fleet Management Policy designed to reduce incidents of misuse of government-owned vehicles.

Tags: personal use, fleet management, Africa, Liberia

The new factory has an annual production capacity of more than 3,000 units and can build a range of units, including excavators, wheel loaders, and backhoe loaders.

Tags: Hyundai, construction equipment, Brazil, Hyundai Heavy Industries

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan found that compression ignition technology will dominate in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) truck market.

Tags: Medium-duty trucks, Frost & Sullivan, heavy-duty trucks, LNG vehicles, CNG vehicles, Natural Gas Vehicles

Emirates Gas LLC (EMGAS) is hosting the Compressed Natural Gas – Natural Gas Vehicle ANGVA Forum 2013, which focuses on promoting the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) and natural gas vehicles (NGVs), May 14-16, at Raffles Dubai.

Tags: CNG, Natural Gas Vehicles, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Emirates Gas LLC

Emkay, Inc. announced that they have been selected as finalists for the 2013 American Business Awards in the several categories.

Tags: Emkay, award, American Business Awards

There are some challenges faced by Romanian fleets, particularly, the poor quality of services provided by workshops and undeveloped network of suppliers.

Tags: LeasePlan Romania, Romania

According to the companies, they selected Geely’s Emgrand EC7 model as the base vehicle that will receive the electric drive system and plan to co-brand the EC7-EV with a “Detroit Electric – Technology” badge.

Tags: Detroit Electric, electric vehicle, Geely Auto, Emgrand

A potential steering problem has prompted the recall of 5,379 2013 model-year Outback and Legacy vehicles.

Tags: Subaru, NHTSA, Subaru Legacy, Subaru Outback, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, vehicle recalls

Chrysler Group is issuing three separate recalls affecting a total of 301,283 vehicles. The largest of the three recalls affects 295,345 Jeeps.

Tags: Jeep, Dodge Ram, NHTSA, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Wrangler, Chrysler, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, vehicle recalls, Chrysler Group LLC, Ram 1500

The National Transportation Safety Board on May 14 voted to recommend that all 50 states lower the blood-alcohol content (BAC) DUI threshold from 0.08 to 0.05.

Tags: drunk driving, National Transportation Safety Board, Highway Fatalities

These driver education courses provide safety managers and business owners with a way to constructively engage and coach their drivers to be safer behind the wheel, according to the company.

Tags: driver safety, Driver Training, NexTraq, online training

Here's a AAA video that explains the risks involved when drivers procrastinate a trip to the fuel pump and "roll the dice" by letting the fuel gauge get close to "E."

Tags: driver safety tips, driving safety, Fleet Safety Tip of the Week