Department of Internal Affairs Signs Contract With BMW

The Department of Internal Affairs has signed a contract with BMW Group New Zealand to replace the existing chauffeur-driven VIP Transport Service fleet with a cleaner, more energy-efficient model.

The Department, which administers the VIP Transport fleet through its Executive Government Support branch, will purchase 34 government-model BMW 730Ld's over the next three years to replace the current fleet of mainly Ford Fairlanes and Holden Statesmans.

The chauffeur-driven fleet is used to transport visiting guests of government including royalty, heads of states and invited dignitaries. There were more than 67 overseas "guest of government" visits in 2006 and 51 in 2007.

The fleet is also used by the judiciary (including Supreme Court, Appeal Court and High Court judges), the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Parliament, the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and Ministers of the Crown.

Tenders for the fleet were required to meet mandatory requirements in regard to fuel consumption, emissions, safety and fit-for-use criteria. Whole-of-life costs (rather than just purchase price) criteria have been included in this process.

"This is the first time that sustainability principles have been applied to the process for replacing the fleet, based on recommendations in a Ministry of Transport review carried out a year ago," said VIP Transport Service national manager, Rex Ambler.

"The BMW 730Ld was selected as best fitting all requirements and also represents excellent value for money, with a cheaper whole-of-life cost than the models it is replacing."

The chosen model outperformed all others in regard to energy efficiency and was in the top two in terms of emission standards. The MoT review called for less than 9 litres of fuel use per 100km and less than 220gr of CO2 emissions per kilometre. The BMW 730Ld rated 8.01 litres fuel per 100km and 212gr CO2 per km. This compares with the ratings of the current Ford Fairlanes of 10.21 litres fuel per 100km and 260gr CO2 per km.

Thirteen of the new cars are due to be in operation by June next year, with the remainder phased in as part of the scheduled replacements over the next three years.

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