A Club With No Cars
June 22, 2009 by admin
Filed under All News, Industry News
A Club With No Cars
Is there anything more morbid, lonesome or drear … than a club with no cars? Perhaps that is an overreaction, it’s not like we’re talking about a pub with no beer… In fact, a Hertz car club may just be a clever alternative to ownership when more and more people are finding it difficult to keep a roof over their heads, let alone a car in their garage.
The Hertz car club targets city drivers, and on the surface appears to be the rental car company turning its back on it car manufacturing suppliers, by encouraging people to stop buying new cars. Hertz is one of the world’s largest car customers and buys 550,000 cars every year, and in 2009 plans to offer an alternative to car ownership, not to mention create a new way to grow their brand.
The global car club market is worth one billion US dollars (£667 million) and over the next ten years that figure is predicted to hit ten billion. Currently car club appeal to those who live in the big cities and still need a car occasionally, but don’t want to deal with the hassle of actually owning one. So, with more and more people migrating towards the cities, car clubs, and other pay as you go transport will soon experience even more growth.
With vehicle manufacturers already struggling, some say this shift towards hire vehicles will only hit them harder. However, while you are making the most of being in a car club like Hertz, brought together by your absence of a vehicle, Hertz and other clubs like it are still updating and increasing their fleets. The Hertz car club plans to operate in London, Paris and New York, offering members who have paid a membership fee, access to their all vehicles in their fleet, whenever they need them – booked in advance of course.
Hire cars in London are not a new concept and car clubs have been operating for many years in the mainstream. Of course ordinary rental cars are not the only options for those wanting to be part of a club but don’t have the wheels for it. In fact, being part of the limousine or coach hire circles in big cities like London, Manchester or Birmingham gives you access to only luxury vehicles, all without the membership fees too.
Driven by the New BMW 650i
June 22, 2009 by admin
Filed under All News, Industry News
Driven by the New BMW 650i
Most of us would love to have a chauffeur driven luxury car or limousine on hand to drive us wherever we needed to go without ever having to worry about the mundane concerns of having to control the car we are riding in. Well unfortunately not everyone has the opportunity to have their own hired help on hand around the clock, but what you can have instead is the new BMW 650i which can drive you around almost as effortlessly as a chauffeur.
The latest technology to make it into the BMW 6 Series is Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go Function. This means that – in theory – you can drive around town in your new luxury car, without having to worry about any fancy footwork, or any footwork at all.
The system works by focussing on the vehicle in front and maintaining a safe distance which driving, and pulling up to a stop behind that vehicle when required too. The BMW’s system does of course fall down when there are no vehicles in front of you, and for example, when you are taking a tight corner and your car can no longer see the car in front of it because it has rounded the bend.
However, in steady traffic is has been found to be possible to drive across cities without ever having to worry about a brake or accelerator pedal, if you can handle it. Since the new BMW’s automatic braking and accelerating system is constantly working out its speed and measurements, it knows the exact amount of time it needs to successfully brake, which can sometimes be considered less time that would be allowed by most drivers.
But while the 650i may seem to live dangerously, it can be impatient and if it sits in traffic at a complete stand still for more than two seconds, it will revert to manual operation, but this can be simply reset again when you get on the move. There are also safety features which will correct for other contingencies, for example if the car detects any understeer for example, it can take care of that too.
However, if this all sounds a little too technical, and a little too much like hard work – you do still have to steer after all – there are still plenty of chauffeur driven BMWs out there for hire.