Author page: Nick Sharpe

First pictures of new Toyota Yaris

New Toyota Yaris Mk4

THIS is the all-new Toytota Yaris supermini. The fourth generation Fiesta/Corsa rival will be powered by a new 1.5-litre three-cylinder hybrid engine. Toyota says the new hybrid unit is 20% more efficient and can drive in urban conditions for longer in electric only mode. CO2 emissions are 85g/km. The styling of the Mk4 is certainly more aggressive than the current model with…

Lifestyle changes sees surge in 5k annual mileage terms

Audi received more enquiries than any other brand in June on the Leasing.com aggregator website

CHANGES to lifestyle brought about by the COVID-19 epidemic have been behind the dramatic surge in enquiries for 5000 mile a year lease rentals. The aggregator Leasing.com said it had witnessed a 40% increase in demand for car leasing deals with a 5000 annual mileage allowance since lockdown restrictions eased. It added that 8k mileage enquiries were also up 14% while 10k…

Clean Air Zones force fleets to change policy

Fleet impact of Clean Air Zones

CLEAN Air Zones (CAZ) and the London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) are impacting fleet car choice. The change in policy depended on business size: above 1000 employees and with a wider operational footprint saw most impact on change, whereas companies with fewer than 10 staff saw less requirement for change. The research was carried out by Arval for its Mobility Observatory…

Lesley Slater appointed CCO at Daimler Fleet Management

Lesley Slater joins Daimler Fleet Management as cco

FORMER LeasePlan director Lesley Slater has joined Daimler Fleet Management as the leasing company’s chief commercial officer. Vastly experienced at director level – she was LeasePlan’s operations and business development director – Slater will be part of the Daimler Fleet Management team that migrates the company to Athlon Leasing as it goes fully multi-marque. Slater commented on her appointment: Joining Daimler Fleet…

New-look logo for Toyota

New Toyota brand logo

TOYOTA is introducing a new version of its brand logo throughout Europe.  The company said it was part of its transition from a car maker to a mobility provider. Toyota says the new design language operates fluently across all digital and physical touchpoints and has been shaped by four key principles: forward-thinking, mobile-ready, more premium feel and consistency across all business units…

Qashqai meets Leaf in new Nissan Ariya

Nissan Ariya

LEASING brokers will no doubt be rubbing their hands at the prospect of the all-electric Nissan Ariya crossover. The new Ariya is very much a case of Qashqai meets Leaf, offering prospective customers the appeal of a crossover with the greeness of the Leaf. The new Ariya is certainly striking in appearance and offers plenty of lounge-like interior space. It will also…

Live chat boost in lockdown

Man on laptop using live chat

THE live chat website feature proved a hit with automotive customers wanting information fast during lockdown. With face to face engagement impossible, and phone lines unable to cope with call volumes, the live chat facility proved extremely popular and resilient to lockdown. According to provider Moneypenny’s internal data, there were more live chat users in April or May than there were prior…

BMW reveals its all-electric iX3

BMW iX3 revealed

TODAY BMW revealed its all-electric iX3 model in an online world premiere. The new electric SUV will come to the UK in summer 2021. It is the first X model from BMW that is fully electric. The zero emission SUV will have a range of 285 miles, and the ability to add 0-80 per cent of its battery charge in 34 minutes…