AT&T To Spend $565m To Update Its Fleet
Do we want to place bets on how soon Chrysler will shift its sales strategy back towards fleet sales? Unfortunately for Americas struggling automakers, $565M in low-profit sales probably isn’t enough to make much of a difference to anyone’s bottom line. Especially considering that the expenditure is set to take place over the next ten years. On the other hand, AT&T is only replacing about 15,000 vehicles, meaning the average price per vehicle is budgeted at about $37K, which is pretty decent for fleet costs. So who will benefit? Ford, hybrids and natural gas, says Automotive News [sub]. The Telecom giant plans on buying about 8,000 compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles from Ford, and will fill out its portfolio with hybrid and “other advanced technology power system” vehicles. Sorry, ChryCo!
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A few different things... If anything, Chrysler is trying to expand their fleets sales OUTSIDE OF RENTAL CARS. Go read about the new business centers they're opening, or the updates to their class 2-5 Rams from the Chicago Auto Show. The Uplander is gone. I believe that the Caravan C/V is the last of its kind (unless there's a Sienna or Odyssey cargo van that I'm missing). And I've seen a couple businesses use a NITRO for their vehicle once (for simple courier work). Point? Not all business owners are smart.
I'm pretty sure it isn't $37k per vehicle but an average of $37k per vehicle. That would share the cost of those bucket trucks and other expensive add ons across the entire fleet.
According to the fleet sales manager at my local Ford dealer, these trucks are going to run on propane, not CNG. Roush Performance will do the conversions for $8,000 per vehicles. See www.roushperformance.com for more details.
Roush may be doing some, but BAF in Dallas already has a contract for the initial shipment of CNG E-250s. BAF was the only converter that offered a CARB certification, which will not be required in some other states. It looks like there will be a few companies with EPA certified systems. There's also a good system coming for the Transit Connect. CNG can be MUCH cheaper that gasoline, plus all the tax incentives and environmental benefits. That's what I burn in my 08 Silverado and 08 Focus. I love it.