Company Cars

(Making Suggestions: Comparatives and Superlatives)


The Problem

You are the Purchasing Manager for your company.


You are responsible for buying cars. Within the next few weeks you have to buy cars for the following people:


Elizabeth Sinclair takes important mail between branches within a 20-mile radius. Recently the rapidly increasing costs of this service have been examined by the finance department and you have been instructed to control further increases.


John Shaw is a salesman. He travels long distances each year carrying large quantities of samples. The sales department have also asked you to keep down costs as much as possible.


Henry Baker drives important visitors to and from the station and the factory every day. There is no other company car available for this important service for your visitors.


Phillip Lucas is the new Finance Manager. He joined the company to implement the new economy campaign. He frequently finds that he has important discussions with visitors in the car while he is driving to another factory.


In Groups discuss the characteristics of a car which would be suitable for each of these employees and fill in the worksheet.

Worksheet

Elizabeth Sinclair

Reliability____________________________________
Noise_______________________________________
Seats_______________________________________
Luggage Space________________________________
Running Costs_________________________________

John Shaw

Reliability_____________________________________
Noise________________________________________
Seats________________________________________
Luggage Space__________________________________
Running Costs__________________________________

Henry Baker

Reliability_____________________________________
Noise________________________________________
Seats________________________________________
Luggage Space_________________________________
Running Costs__________________________________

Phillip Lucas

Reliability_____________________________________
Noise________________________________________
Seats________________________________________
Luggage Space__________________________________
Running Costs__________________________________

Action

Now you will be given a summary of the relevant characteristics of 6 possible cars. Look carefully at the characteristics of each car.

The discuss with your group how each car fulfils you list of characteristics and decide which car the group would recommend for each person.

Car Information Sheet

The following information is based on surveys published in The Car Buying Guide,
Published by Which Magazine.
.
Car: Vauxhall Cavalier1.6 Saloon
Reliability: Average
Noise: Engine Noise
Seats: Comfortable
Luggage Space (litres): 460/860
Fuel consumption (mpg): 34
Running Cost per week: 26
.
Car: Renault 211.7
Reliability: Average
Noise: Good in the front Noisier inthe back
Seats: Soft,Fairly comfortable
Luggage Space (litres): 465/675
Fuel Consumption (mpg): 35
Running Cost per week: 27
.
Car: Ford Sierra 1.6
Reliability: A little below average
Noise: Not excessive
Seats: Confortable
Luggage Space (litres): 400/775
Fuel Consumption (mpg): 31
Running Cost per week: 27
.
Car: Honda Accord 1.6
Reliability: Above average
Noise: Quiet
Seats: Well-shaped,Limited headroom in the back
Luggage Space (litres): 445
Fuel Consumption (mpg): 32
Running Cost per week: 30
.
Car: Mazda 626
Reliability: Better than average
Noise: Volume not great
Seats: Comfortable limited legroom in the back
Luggage Space (litres): 400/880
Fuel Consumption: 34
Running Cost per week: 26
.
Car: Audi 80 1.8
Reliability: Much better than average
Noise: Good in the front noisier in the back
Seats: Not much headroom or legroom in the back
Luggage Space (litres): 305
Fuel Consumption: 31
Running Cost per week: 32
.
Notes:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________