Vauxhall tops the bill in new police vehicle supply contracts
Vauxhall Motors’ Special Vehicles has been awarded exclusive supply contracts to the Chiltern Transport Consortium and North East region constabularies across six vehicle categories. The contract entails the supply of 800 to 900 Vauxhall vehicles a year for four years to all the Police Fleets in these Regions. A broad spectrum of Vauxhall’s multi award-winning model line-up will be utilised by the constabularies including Corsa, Astra Insignia, Combo, Vivaro and Movano.
The announcements are the first of the new tender system which groups the UK’s constabularies into regions as determined by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). ACPO has been assisted in the procurement process by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) which has defined 18 categories of vehicles required by the Police, from motorised scooters to large goods vehicles. Vauxhall will supply vehicles into twelve of those categories including the ‘low performance vehicle’ which accounts for more than 56 per cent of total predicted volumes.
Head of Chiltern Transport Consortium Sam Sloan, said: “The Chiltern Transport Consortium was the first group of police constabularies to take a truly regional approach to vehicle procurement and this has now been applied across the UK. It brings substantial advantages but does demand the supply of the right mix of vehicles, the right whole life costs and the right back-up. As such, our congratulations go to Vauxhall for being successful in its bid to win the highest volume categories of the tender.”
Head of North Yorkshire Police and Chairman of the National Association of Police Fleet Managers, Richard Flint, said: “Moving forward, police vehicles need to become more standardised in terms of ergonomics and equipment for operational and cost efficiencies. However, the safety of police officers is of paramount importance and so the fitment of additional equipment required in a police vehicle must come with the same assurance as OEM features. Vauxhall has a particularly compelling and flexible offering in this regard and is to be applauded.”
Dick Ellam, manager Vauxhall Special Vehicles said: “The tender process placed all participating manufacturers’ model ranges under the same scrutiny with financial, warranty, diagnostics, technical information, parts supply, billing processes and technical evaluations all being taken into account. To be selected for exclusive supply into categories which require the highest volume of vehicles is a resounding endorsement of the value for money, whole life costs and suitability of the Vauxhall model range and turnkey options.”
During the four year contract, constabularies will also benefit from Vauxhall’s development partnership with ACPO’s Intelligent Transportations Systems Working Group on Single Vehicle Architecture (SVA). SVA provides a standardised specification to which all manufacturers and suppliers can adhere, allowing them to produce common wiring for equipment and connection points. This will allow plug and play of electronics, reducing the time needed for equipping and decommissioning vehicles.
