A FRIEND of mine who runs his own business asked me to look around for competitive contract hire quotations for him. He was after a BMW, so I set to on my task.

I was surprised – no, make that a little disappointed – that many of the quotations that came over to me were not as easy to understand as they might be. A case of the system spewing out the quote that suited the system, rather than thinking about the customer trying to understand what was in front of him or her.

But one stood out in particular for its clarity of detail. And that was from our partner FleetLine which, incidentally, seems to be doing some rather good deals on BMWs at the moment. You can see an example based on a VW Passat opposite.

I mentioned this in passing to Richard Bunn, the boss of the leasing company that specialises in providing cars for the SME market, when we talking the other day.

Richard said that he was glad I had noticed – the firm had spent some time creating their current quotations to be as clear as possible. So full marks to them.

Perhaps FleetLine should receive the contract hire and leasing equivalent of the plain English award?

TAGS: contract hire

SO what do we think of this then? Audi's all-new A7 Sportback. A grown-up hatchback for the executive car class.

It promises coupe-style class and driving; hatchback practicality; and executive car luxury. I rather like the look of it.

In many ways it's trying to break the mould in the executive car class in the same way that Mercedes attempted with the swoopy Mercedes CLS model - a four-door coupe-style S-Class (but without the connotations of being a chauffeur car).

The difference of course - apart from the saloon v hatchback configuration - is the starting price: £48,400 (CLS) v £42,925 (A7).

The Audi A5 Sportback concept has taken a while to take off in the class below the new A7 - but it appears business buyers are getting the message now (see Richard Crosthwaite's appraisal of prestige used cars A5 Sportback shakes off shaky start; Jag XF leads sector).

While the debate will inevitably be focused on the new A7's appearance, there are lots of interesting new areas of technology that help reduce emissions and boost economy.

For example, I rather like this, which made its debut in the luxury A8: MMI navigation plus. Detailed route data from the sat nav can be used to factor corners into the automatic transmission's shift strategy and avoid unnecessary, fuel-sapping gear changes.

Another option are energy efficient all-LED headlights. These units look incredibly distinctive, and incorporate special cornering, all-weather and motorway light configurations.

A further option is a GPRS module which can be fed with news and weather information from the web by internet service provider Google, and will make it possible for drivers to plot detailed routes on a home computer and download them to the navigation system when they start a trip.

An optional UMTS module will also enable Google Earth images to be beamed to the MMI monitor in 3D for navigation purposes, and through its wireless WLAN link will make full internet connection available to passengers using their own computers.

I know it's something that BMW owners have benefited from for some time - but it's about time Audi drivers can tap into this system. Those that have used it tell me it's brilliant.

For more on the Audi A7, read our news story Audi's all-new A7 Sportback.

TAGS: Audi A7

THE movement towards electric cars and hybrid technology seems unstoppable at the moment. While Toyota is trialling plug-in Prius hybrids in London, sports car maker Porsche has been developing both electric Boxster roadsters and the next cars in its hybrid line up.

At the moment, Porsche is preparing three all-electric drive Boxsters to undertake practical tests as part of the Stuttgart Model Region for Electromobility - Stuttgart being Porsche's HQ. The trials commence in 2011.

Porsche says it wants to use the test vehicles provide further findings on the infrastructure required for electromobility, user behaviour and the demands made of future products.

According to Michael Macht, Porsche's president and ceo, this electric fieldwork evaluations is critical: "We will definitely be offering an electric sports car in the future. But such a concept only makes sense if it offers product qualities typical of a Porsche."

We've already seen some of Porsche's thinking in the astonishing 918 Spyder concept it showed at the Geneva Show earlier this year. The Porsche 918 Spyder combines a high-performance mid-engined sports car with plug-in hybrid technology: the result is 600hp but emissions of just 70g/km of CO2 and fuel consumption of 94.1mpg (three litres per 100km).

Of course, the 918 Spyder was a technological showcase, but being Porsche, the company then put hybrid technology into a racing version of the 911 - the GT3R Hybrid - which took part in the Nurburgring 24 Hour race. The GT3R Hybrid uses two 60 kW (82hp) electric motors on the front axle which boosts the 480hp six-cylinder power unit at the rear. Replacing conventional batteries is an electrical flywheel power storage system that is re-charged whenever the driver applies the brakes.

And, more recently, we've seen the first production hybrid in the Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid 4x4 sports SUV. I've tested the car; it is brilliant to drive. Eerily quiet when you start up on the electric motor, it can be driven as a sporting SUV too making full use of its 380hp and crisply responsive V6. This same set up will also come to the Porsche Panamera S Hybrid four-door GT model next year, and promises exceptional performance and economy - I'm looking forward to it.

The future is looking increasingly electric. But it's not just populated with those slightly odd vehicles such as the G-Wiz. On the horizon are genuinely interesting cars that, combined with hybrid technology, will make excellent business cars.

If you wish, you can read more about Porsche's Cayenne S Hybrid, and a conversation with Porsche's Wayne Darley, in this blog here: 457 - Rising VAT rates, efficient driving and Porsche Cayenne hybrids.

TAGS: Porsche 918 Spyder, Porsche 911 GT3R, Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid, Porsche Panamera

MY INDUSTRY insiders tell me that Land Rover is, to use a phrase more normally associated with her husband's profession, 'over the moon' with Victoria Beckham's input to the iconic 4x4 brand.

To fill you in slightly, Land Rover is launching a brand new smaller Range Rover called the Evoque – see news story Land Rover targets 19% company car tax.

With that news came the announcement that Victoria Beckham, the former Spice Girl who launched her own fashion brand three years ago, was linking up with Range Rover to help launch the model.

Land Rover MD Phil Popham has been rather breathless about it, regarding it as 'much more than a publicity stunt' and that Mrs Beckham was 'showing genuine interest in what she can bring to the male-dominated world of Land Rover and its products'.

Apparently Mrs Beckham will work two or three days a month for Land Rover and not just on the Evoque. There's the prospect of limited edition models, bespoke Victoria Beckham interiors and not just on Evoque but also Freelander are some of the more obvious routes to take, gushed Mr Popham according to my sources, before adding that David Beckham is also a Range Rover fan.

Quietly, you might be rather bemused by all of this. Certainly I was. It doesn't have quite the right tone for this quintessentially British and aristocratic brand. Until you understand the following – the influence of global markets.

Victoria Beckham is immensely popular in China and the US, both key markets for Land Rover; Mr Popham expects China to overtake the US quite quickly as the brand's second biggest global market after the UK. In both the US and China, Victoria Beckham's every move is followed voraciously by just the sort of woman who Mr Popham hopes will become Evoque customers.

"Two Chinese journalists said to me after the unveil that Victoria's presence would ensure it will be a hit in their country," he said as an example of the Victoria effect.

Closer to home, the team at Land Rover reckons that the Evoque will bring a whole new customer base to Land Rover. Which is something I can believe – the appeal of a baby Range Rover is immense.

"We expect the Evoque to appeal to people with MINIs or Audi TTs or people wanting to move out of premium segment saloons," added Range Rover brand manager Paul Butterworth.

"It's difficult to judge but we expect very few Evoque buyers to trade out of models like Range Rover Sport," he said. Evoque prices are expected to end at around £43,000, the starting price of Sport.

Victoria Beckham or not, this baby Range Rover sounds very, very exciting.

TAGS: Land Rover Evoque

I COULD have done with this when I had my Audi A4: a fuel filler neck that prevents you from misfuelling. As it was, my wife Alison kindly filled the car for me the day before I was due to go to a meeting and inadvertently poured petrol into the diesel tank.

It's easily done. Some 150,000 drivers do it every year. The AA even has specialist units that attend to members that have misfuelled.

Yet car makers such as Ford have been providing the technology for years on their cars – but now Audi is playing catch up. Which will be especially good news for any business owner or business car driver living in a multifuel family (one car is diesel, the other petrol) where the majority of misfuelling mistakes occur.

For all business car buyers in a 2011 Model Year Audi A4, Audi A5 and Audi Q5 will now have a new preventative system built into the fuel filler neck.

The neck has been redesigned to incorporate contact points that open an internal fuel flap only when the larger diesel pump nozzle applies pressure on them. The smaller diameter petrol nozzles do not make contact, ensuring that the filler flap remains closed to prevent access to the reservoir.

Audi says the rest of its range will be equipped like this in the future as the feature spreads throughout the car maker's range.

A little late for me – the cost of draining the tank is around £200 on average. Most insurance companies don't cover the cost of such an error. But with these new Audis, such expenditure won't be required in the future.

Editor's note: Here's a useful advice piece if you do fill up with the wrong fuel: What to do if you put the wrong fuel in your car.

TAGS: misfuelling

ANY SMALL business owner - or company car driver - should rejoice at the news of Ford's latest round of Blue Tag pricing. Originally limited to its larger cars - such as the Mondeo - Blue Tag pricing has now been extended to include the Ford Focus, Ford Kuga and Ford Fiesta.

But a little explanation first, starting with Blue Tag. The term Blue Tag has been coined by Ford to explain its new pricing structure. For the past 30 years Ford has dominated company car sales - mainly the big fleet stuff - by offering large discounts to bulk buyers. While this might have been welcome to the big companies, it affected their company car drivers, because the company car benefit-in-kind tax is based on the list or P11D price; NOT the discounted amount paid. It also disadvantaged the smaller business that only wanted five Fords not five hundred.

Blue Tag has swept all that history under the corporate fleet carpet. It reduces the list price of a Ford to what was the transactional price paid. It stops distorting the market, and makes Ford cars more affordable for small businesses and for company car drivers in terms of tax.

I managed to catch up briefly with Kevin Griffin, Ford's fleet director, who has been, somewhat understandably, a busy man.

"Most of my time has been spent in communication with the dealer base," Kevin explained. "We had three or four discussions with the dealers on the appropriate levels for pricing. There needs to be a trading margin for them, because they are businessmen who need to make judgements on sales. So it took a while to get it right.

"I have to say they were very receptive. They realised the way we were going to market wasn't appropriate. And they've been very positive.

"Prior to this we needed to have a base of summer offers - Blue Tag starts August - that were equal or better than the current prices. The dealer base - as well as us here in Ford HQ - didn't want the customer to feel short-changed."

I asked Kevin how his fleet customers had taken the news. "The only real comment I had was - 'why hadn't we done it earlier!' So reaction has been very positive. The amount of capital businesses have to pay for our cars has been reduced; and company car drivers pay less in company car tax. So it's been very good."

Having explained Blue Tag pricing, the action doesn't stop for Ford. Which is excellent news for small businesses and business car managers. Next up for Ford, said Kevin, was the C-MAX compact (five-seater) and Grand C-MAX (seven-seater); followed by the facelifted Mondeo; and then in the new year, the all-new Ford Focus.

Plenty of reasons to keep an eye on new Ford product - and not just for Blue Tag pricing.

Note: to read the story on Blue Tag price reductions to the Focus and small car Ford range, click on Ford lower-price Blue Tag pricing for Focus and Fiesta.

To read the story on Blue Tag prices reductions to the Mondeo and large car Ford range, click on Cheaper Ford prices for company car drivers.p>

TAGS: Kevin Griffin, Blue Tag pricing