Leasedrive Velo Blog

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

Vehicle recalls are grabbing the headlines these days and not always for the right reasons. There has been a wave of media hysteria over the recall of seven Toyota models in the UK, subject of potential accelerator pedal related problems. Matters need to be put into proper context and the risk is that things will eventually spiral uncontrollably into trial by media, as with so many facets of society. The Fourth Estate has a responsibility to keep things in proper perspective as does the US Transportation Secretary who irresponsibly advised owners of recalled vehicles to stop driving their cars, later claiming he was misquoted!

Earlier this week I was asked by one media outlet for any comment I may care to make on the predicted imminent further recall of Prius models for an unrelated recall. This is what I stated: “Carefully laid down procedures are in place for vehicle manufacturers to follow in the event that they have to recall a model for any particular reason. We are confident that Toyota will follow the necessary course of action should this be required in the case of the Prius. The Japanese manufacturer is already handling a major recall campaign for several of its models in a well publicised voluntary recall involving a potential sticking accelerator pedal. What should always be borne in mind in these cases is that all vehicle manufacturers take their recall responsibilities extremely seriously and customer safety is always of paramount importance to them.”

Vehicle recalls are the subject of a code of practice recognised as the benchmark standard in Europe. All vehicle manufacturers have signed up to it and work closely with the relevant government agencies, the DVLA and VOSA, to ensure that owners of affected vehicles are contacted and followed-up.

Post recall investigations may highlight that the manufacturer might have acted more swiftly but we should not prejudge the case.

The irony in all this is that those vehicles affected are of Japanese manufacture, for decades held up as being among the most reliable cars built. The Honda recall announced this week underlines this irony.

For a US Transportation Secretary to have said what he did, sending Toyota shares plunging eight per cent is absolutely irresponsible and highlights a typical knee-jerk American reaction.

One could almost think that it is a planned conspiracy against the might of Toyota, having overtaken GM as the world’s largest vehicle producer, by an administration who are desperate to get the great American public to buy ‘great’ American cars – any small move in that direction would send Copenhagen commitments up in a cloud of smoke, or should I say CO2!

I recall in the Eighties, Porsche was prosecuted for having designed and manufactured a dangerous vehicle, in this case a Porsche 911 Turbo. Notoriously tail happy when driven at its limits it was no more dangerous than other high performance cars of the time. The reason for the prosecution? The drunken driver had been involved in a fatal accident having driven at speeds in excess of 90mph in a residential district. Enough said! It’s just like the case of microwave ovens having to carry an extra warning after a pet owner killed her cat by trying to dry it in the said item!

The fact is that from all accounts the Toyota accelerator problems develop over time, are not sudden, and have affected only a comparatively handful of cars. Let common sense prevail and, as fleet management providers, we have our part to play as ‘intermediaries’ between vehicle manufacturer and our fleet clients and their drivers. After all, collectively, we are the biggest new vehicle customers in the UK.

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

Funny how times change, and with it the fates of two prancing horses – Porsche and Ferrari.

The prancing horses of the two famous marques are indeed quite similar.

The one on the Ferrari badge was originally the emblem of Italian WWI flying ace Francesco Baracca, whose parents persuaded Enzo Ferrari to use the logo of their late son on his Alfa Romeo race cars, later transferred to the road and race cars bearing his name. Meanwhile, the Porsche badge represents the coat of arms of the city of Stuttgart, where the company has its headquarters. The city was apparently built on the site of a stud farm, hence the horse: the antlers and red and black stripes are from the coat of arms of the state of Wurttemberg, where Stuttgart is located.

Not so long ago Porsche, one of the prancing horses, was the world’s biggest automotive manufacturer by value. The other prancing horse, Ferrari, was dominating successive F1 World Championships with Schumacher (five drivers’ titles) and Räikkönen (one driver’s title). Now Ferrari is fighting behind Brawn and Red Bull.

While the fortunes of a race team will inevitably go up and down, the fall from grace of Porsche has been nothing short of spectacular. Just under four years ago, the Stuttgart sports car marque started an audacious bid to take over Europe’s largest automotive manufacturer, the VW Group. This culminated in it acquiring a majority stake but at a cost, little known at the time.

To gain its 74.1% stake, via share ownership and share options, Porsche had built up an unserviceable debt of £7.8bn, while bringing various hedge funds to their knees in the process.

When things started to unravel, it looked as if Porsche would merge with VW. However, the Porsche family should never have discounted the management acumen of another member of the Porsche dynasty, the former designer of the infamous Porsche 917 race car, VW chairman Dr Ferdinand Piech.

A political king maker, Piech will now oversee the absorption of Porsche into the VW Group. What had always looked on the cards some 16 years ago will finally come about. Porsche, the once fiercely proud independent sports car manufacturer, forever associated with its multiple Le Mans 24-hour victories, will now become part of an integrated ten-brand car manufacturing group. As Ferrari is part of the Fiat Group. The star of the world’s most profitable vehicle manufacturer has burned out in spectacular style. Essentially, a reverse take-over will now take place.

Yet another example of one deal too far. Now doesn’t that sound familiar. As former Porsche head Wiedeking thought himself untouchable, so did Goodwin. Heads have rolled, and so with it brand reputations.

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

The one thing I always never try to forget is how privileged many of us are who work in the fleet industry.

Not only is it the best sector of business to work in with some great people, but we get to test so many different types of car. That can leave us feeling a bit blasé about yet another luxury demonstrator to drive home in, but I do sometimes pinch myself and think, does it get any better than this?

I normally like to be a wee bit controversial in my blogs but this week I’m going to break a personal rule. I’m not one to single out any particular manufacturer’s product but I’ve just been so excited by one car that I’ve driven I’ve just got to talk about it in a blog.

Why? Because it, and the cars like it that will surely follow, represent the future.

The car in question? Not some luxury executive saloon but a new take on the city car concept.

I just think it’s brilliant in every respect. It’s packed with standard equipment, including air conditioning, can transport four adults in comfort, drives nicely, turns on a sixpence and has bags of safety features.

It’s sub-100g/km, so is exempt from road tax, and returns 65mpg. For everyday driving, it’s all you could ever want. It might not be your preferred option for a long journey, but my wife, 80-year-old mother and 17-year-old son were more than impressed with it when we went out to Sunday lunch.

I’m convinced that this car, and others like it that will surely follow, represents the fleet car of the future, certainly in ten years or so. No, it will not replace the family car but as everyday transport it will be hard to beat.

And the car? Well take a bow, the new Toyota iQ.