Euro 2016 has well and truly started – that great football tournament that’s second only to the World Cup.
From a domestic point of view, it’s great to have England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the finals – with one clear omission, obviously. But despite the non participation of my own home team, the event has already proved to be a fabulous festival of football.
While I was sticking up the Euro 2016 wall chart in the office, we started talking about what the Euros would look like if they were cars.
Would Turkey be a Ford Transit, for example, because that’s where they are made – and the team can really deliver when on the ball?
There were some fairly wild suggestions (thanks team!), but here is my edited guide by group to the Euro 2016 championship.
Well this has to be the hosts, France – represented by Renault. The team plays safe like all their Euro NCAP five star cars, but has moments of real flare, like the new Kadjar. Expect superstar performance from Anthony Martial, Manchester United’s brilliant forward, the Megane Renault Sport 275 Cup?S of the side.
This has to be England, despite the presence of Wales in the same group. With Vauxhall sponsoring the Home Nation teams, England must be a Vauxhall, that brilliant staple of fleet business delivering low cost motoring with well-built cars. Striker Jamie Vardy is the GTC VXR of the side, providing all the fizz, while Joe Hart is the Vivaro of the side, able to defend a big open space.
Sorry Northern Ireland, it must be Germany – purveyors of fine premium motoring to UK fleets via Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Germany is nothing but efficient – a bit like the zero tailpipe emission latest BMW i3 with its extended range battery power – while in Thomas Muller they have a striker that is ruthlessly effective up front – the Mercedes-AMG GT of the team.
Spain are the current European Champions, with their relentless passing game that eventually exposes the weakness in their opponents. If it’s Spanish, then they must be represented by Spanish automaker SEAT. Watch out for Andrés Iniesta, their brilliant defensive midfielder, the SEAT Ateca SUV of the side.
Sorry Republic of Ireland, I have to pick Sweden for this group – with Volvo as dependable as the Swedes are at playing good football. Look out for that superstar striker – Zlatan Ibrahimovi?, currently with Paris St Germain but likely heading for Man Utd – as the Volvo XC90 Twin Power SUV. Cool as any Swede, the XC90 can switch from pure electric power to scintillating 0-62mph in 5.6 secs hybrid power – which fairly sums up Ibrahimovi?’s devastating footballing ability.
Hungary is my team for Group F, a country that has a rich automotive history. And it’s where Audi makes it awesome new TT RS roadster, powered by its tuneful five-cylinder turbocharged engine: goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly might not have quite the same pace – at 40 he is vying to be the oldest player to feature in the Euros – but his hands have the grip and safety that comes standard with Audi’s quattro four-wheel drive on the TT RS.
Euro 2016 has well and truly started – that great football tournament that’s second only to the World Cup. From a domestic point of view, it’s great to have England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the finals – with one clear omission, obviously. But despite the non participation of my own home team, the event has … Continued
Seems like new London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has barely had the keys to City Hall for five-minutes, but he has still found time to have a look at London’s clean air proposals. One of his policy suggestions is a vastly-extended ultra-low emissions zone, with additional charges for the most polluting vehicles, while also floating the … Continued
My five five-star Chinese crackers from the Beijing Show So the Motorshow merry-go-round has moved on to China and the capital Beijing. But, it’s not all about the home-grown copycat car makers (although, I admit from what I’ve seen of the show coverage there were still some odd cars!) – the Chinese market is critical … Continued
You might think that most of our fleet work revolves around cars – but we also do a significant amount of commercial vehicles. Our most recent account partner is the Bristol-based catering equipment company Nisbets, whom we now supply with a mixed fleet of cars and commercials. So with the CV Show in full swing … Continued
Tricky how to put this…but I suspect those of you who run a company car will find the taxman has lightened your salary a smidge come the end of this month. Larceny? Perhaps. It’s only right to pay your due tax? Probably. Or time to get out of the company car? Hmmm… Possibly not. But first, … Continued
Woo hoo! We’re winners again. #MiniFistPump Yes, for the second year in a row, I’m so very pleased to announce that Fleet Alliance has been voted the UK’s top choice for customer service in the Experteye awards. For those of you that aren’t in the know, The Fleeteye CSI remains the benchmark survey in … Continued
I waver over drones. Part of me thinks they are nothing more than buzzy and annoying propeller-powered flying things, mostly used for action flying photography. And then part of me thinks I’m being a luddite when I happened across an article about the Drone Championships in Dubai which was won by a British teenager (some of … Continued
OK George Osborne, you may have curtailed my socialising by increasing the cost of my favourite bottle of wine… However, personal grievances aside, let’s get down to the business of the Budget which in general was good news for fleets. The headline bit was that the unpopular fuel duty remains at 57.95p per litre for … Continued
IT’S that time of the year again when manufacturers decamp to the home of cuckoo clocks and chocolate and wheel out the hottest new metal they think is going to be big in 2016 and beyond. Anyway, I’ve saved you the shoe leather of wandering around the Palexpo site and picked out what I think … Continued
Not got a low-emission model on your fleet? Hmmm…. Research gained from our 18,400 strong Fleet Alliance vehicle fleet, means you’re in the minority. We’ve seen carbon levels fall to a tax-saving all-time low of 119g/km per vehicle for new cars ordered in 2015. What’s more, one in five of all new cars ordered was sub-100g/km compared … Continued