FORD CUSTOMER ADVICE ON NEW ROAD TAX GOES INTO OVERDRIVE
Ford is leading its biggest customer care exercise of the decade to prepare for changes in road tax due in under four weeks’ time. From April 1, Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) will first be calculated from a car’s CO2 emissions. Te majority of cars will move to a standard rate of £140 annually from the second licence. Cars with zero emissions will be exempt from new, while others priced over £40,000 will be charged an additional £310 a year, on top of the standard rate, for the following five years. As market leader with the most customers to guide through the transition, Ford began advising its car buyers last year on the changes. Te customer liaison necessary, by Ford HQ and dealer staff, is at a level not seen since the government’s scrappage scheme in 2009.
Ford’s most sought-aſter models such as Mustang, RS and Edge have longer leadtimes, meaning that those buyers were made aware first of the March 31
deadline to register cars against lower outgoing VED bands. All become more expensive to tax from April – apart from coupé Ford Mustang
V8s, which become almost £200 a year cheaper over six years. Right-hand drive 5.0-litre Fastbacks, costing well under the new system’s premium rate £40,000 threshold, become £995 more tax efficient in this period. Te zero VED rate currently applies to 93 per cent of new Ford Fiestas – Britain’s best-selling car – thanks to emissions under 131g CO2/km emissions. February and March’s introduction of the new 17-plate are set to prompt a surge in Fiesta sales ahead of the new annual VED levy of at least £140 on every model in the range. From April 1 free road tax will apply to zero-emission vehicles, including the Ford Focus Battery Electric Vehicle. With a 140-mile range and 30-minute fast charging, the Focus BEV is part of Ford’s £3.5 billion investment in electric vehicles in the five years to 2020.
2017 FLEET WORLD AWARDS SHOW AUDI A3 AND A4 MEAN BUSINESS All-round appeal of Audi premium compact hatchback and compact executive saloon is recognised by top fleet title
Best Premium Lower Medium award for Audi A3, Best Compact Executive Award for Audi A4 presented in London at annual Fleet World Honours ceremony
more space for passengers and an interior good enough to suit cars costing twice as much. Factor in a line-up of fleet- friendly diesel, and now petrol, engines, a versatile estate and rugged Allroad versions, and it’s a great offer for fleets.” Head of Audi Fleet Sales James Douglas welcomed the excellent result for these two vitally
important Audi fleet
Factors such as efficiency, connectivity, premium quality and range variety feature particularly prominently in the decision making process for fleet managers, and it is against these and many other key criteria that the Audi A3 compact hatchback and A4 compact executive saloon have been judged best-in-class in the 2017 Fleet World Honours. Presented yesterday at the RAC Club in London, the Fleet World Honours include a total of 20 car-focused award categories, each
requiring the models within them to be
assessed not only on the basis of ‘real world‘ attributes such as performance, refinement, economy, accommodation and connectivity, but also on their ‘on-paper’ viability from a fleet perspective. Te importance of the A3 in carving out the compact hatchback segment wasn’t lost on the judges, and nor were the many benefits of the significant revisions the three- door hatchback, five-door Sportback, Saloon and Cabriolet underwent
in mid-2016. 24 - Friday 3rd March 2017 – Cardiff & South Wales Advertiser In
summarising their decision they wrote: “Audi created this
segment with the original
A3, but it hasn’t rested on its laurels. Refreshed last year, the A3 now features the latest connectivity and safety features, as well as two compelling petrol alternatives to the default diesel engines. Peerless cabin quality, and trims to suit all tastes and needs, mean it’s still leading the way.” Te judges were even more emphatic in their praise for the A4, describing the compact executive Saloon and Avant as “a revolution in its segment”. Tey went on to pronounce it “better than ever to drive, with
sector contenders, saying: “Fleet World is a respected title with a specific focus on director level fleet decision makers, so the appearance of two of our most compelling company car offerings at the forefront of their respective Honours award categories could potentially have far-reaching positive implications
for us. Fleet
managers take endorsements such as these seriously, and so do my team and I – we thank Fleet World for showing such confidence
in the viability
of these two heartland Audi ranges.” Te Audi A3 ranges received a raſt of important updates in 2016, taking on board new features such as the Audi
Smartphone Interface and standard Xenon or LED lighting and introducing numerous new driver assistance and infotainment options from the larger classes including Matrix LED headlamps, the fully digital Audi Virtual Cockpit and Audi Phone Box wireless charging and connection. A new three- cylinder 1.0 TFSI engine also added to the already highly economical range of four- cylinder TFSI and TDI engines, one of which – the 1.4 TFSI with 150PS – works alongside a powerful electric motor to deliver 166mpg and 38g/km potential in the A3 Sportback e-tron plug-in hybrid. A completely new A4 range encompassing Saloon, Avant, allroad quattro and S quattro models became available in the UK in late 2015, and quickly distinguished itself by way of near luxury class levels of refinement and quality, exceptional in-car technology and a range of extraordinarily efficient
four and six-cylinder
TDI and TFSI engines contributing to a highly cost effective ownership proposition.
www.cardiffandsouthwalesadvertiser.com
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