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The start point for the best source of fleet information |
David Motton assesses the big names' current efforts in our annual review of the top 20 fleet brands' websites
The highlight of Mazda's site is the tax calculator. It's one of the most sophisticated and clever number crunchers around, including results for 50% tax payers and making fuel-benefit calculations. The dealer finder facility is excellent, and we had a reply to our email in 20 minutes. But there's no TWITTER feed and we'd like BIK rates for every model given in the price list.
Merc's clean and elegant site is brighter and more involving than it used to be. There's plenty of content, with one of the better tax calculators and a long list of extra features. The dealer finder is good, and it's easy to find phone numbers for individual members of the fleet team. A shame though, the model-specific price list doesn't give BIK rates.
MUST TRY HARDER
Put 'Mini' and 'fleet' into Google and you'll struggle to find this site, which shows it favours private buyers. Also, don't get a brochure if you want to compare tax bands, and Comcar found an error in the basic tax calculator. The dealer finder is sophisticated though.
Unfortunately, Nissan's flashy animations and unconventional layout make navigating the site too hard, and the link from the home page to the business area isn't prominent enough. That's a shame, because the dealer finder works well, there's a fleet-specific freephone number and we had a prompt response to our email.
Peugeot's PR Twitter feed hadn't been updated for months, but otherwise we're impressed. The tax calculator is comprehensive, and we had a response to our email within half a day. If the brochure had BIK rates, Peugeot would have earned a better score.
If there weren't mistakes in the tax calculator Renault would be challenging for top spot. In just about every other respect this is an excellent site, with attractive design, clear navigation and a useful list of extras. The price list is a lesson to other car manufacturers too.
2010 WINNER
There's no obvious weakness in Seat's site. The tax calculator is accurate, price lists include CO2, BIK and P11D, and the dealer finder works well. And we had a reply to our email in under 30 minutes.
Navigating this colourful site could hardly be easier, and there's lots worth finding. The tax calculator is good, the 'let us help' feature gives a shortlist of cars, and there are direct phone numbers for fleet sales team members. But we've had no reply to our email.
If Toyota had a tax calculator, like almost all its rivals, this site would be much closer to the top of the results table. The difficulty in finding the fleet section from the home page also holds it back. But the downloadable business sales guides are excellent, and we had a very quick response to our email.
MOST IMPROVED DESIGN
Vauxhall's design now features bolder colours and high-quality images, and it's hard to miss the fleet link on the home page. The downloadable P11D price guide is further proof the site has the fleet manager and driver in mind.
If the tax calculator gave results beyond the end of this tax year, VW's site would be at the sharp end of this year's table. An 11-day wait for a reply to our email is the only other failing. Otherwise, we like the PDF guides and price lists that include P11D and BIK.
www.Volkswagen.co.uk/fleet
Volvo's latest design has made the fleet area harder to find, and there were basic errors in the tax calculator. The fleet-specific price and spec guides don't give each model's BIK, either. But the dealer finder is excellent and Volvo replied to our email within half a day.
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