Arval has revealed a number of digital-based product developments including a telematics solution, fleet management software and upgrades to its mobile offering as part of a ‘One Arval 2015-2017’ strategic programme.

The leasing provider believes that technology will be a key differentiator in the contract hire sector and says the trend towards digital tools is accelerating. Around one-third of its SME customers find the company via its digital tools.

A key point in Arval’s digital strategy is the fact that the product developments are global projects. This means that fleets operating in different countries are able to use the same platforms with the same tools and the same reporting structure. Arval believes this consistency and uniformity will appeal to multinational organisations.

The product potentially of most interest to fleets is Active Link, an integrated telematics solution which Arval says will help fleets better control total cost of ownership through maintenance, fuel and safety. It is also intended to link into Arval’s own insurance policy, offering significant savings for fleets.

Arval will not charge fleets for the equipment or installation – it hopes to have the units in all risk cars by 2020 – but customers will have to pay to use the services.

For three euros per vehicle per month (around £2), they get basic information about fuel consumption, mileage and theft or accident alerts. Arval will also use the system for proactive servicing.

Three additional modules are available, each costing two euros per vehicle per month (around £1.40):

Active Routing shows the real time position of the vehicle linked to GPS for every trip, which can be plotted on a map. The information identifies poor behaviour and can be used to help drivers perform better at the wheel.
Active Journey registers locations for mileage recompense and also validates that drivers are authorised to undertake the journey. Mileage reports are submitted to the business and the data is HMRC compliant.
Active Sharing is an upgrade for the management of pool cars.

Fleets can reconfigure the dashboard to display key information.

Benoit Dilly, Arval UK chief executive, believes there is no reason for any fleet to say they do not want the system.

“What’s unknown is how hard we will have to work to explain the benefits,” he added. “We believe 50-60% uptake should be possible – we see the interest. The next step will be to fit it to non-funded cars.”

Philippe Bismut, Arval chairman and chief executive officer, added: “Telematics is a win-win – it benefits us which we factored in by our decision not to increase the lease price for the equipment and its installation, and it benefits the fleet manager for fuel consumption, safety, theft and insurance premiums.

“The equipment will be activated to give us data and we will reap the benefit of this which will keep the rental unchanged.”

And if a fleet refuses to allow the system to be switched on? “We see this as unlikely,” Bismut replies. “If they do, the equipment will still be installed because it’s our car, but it will remain idle. But the client will have to know that there is a price for it.”

Arval also unveiled Analytics and Fleet View online reporting software. Fleet View provides at-a-glance information on fleet size, monthly rental, spend, SMR history, fleet term and mileage, and emissions/fuel consumption.

Analytics gives a three-year view of trends, including orders, emissions, usage, total cost of ownership and contract mileage. It also enables fleets to compare their performance against KPIs from Arval’s international customer base.

However, the system will not currently import non-Arval funded cars or fuel figures from fuel cards, although this functionality is likely to be added in future evolutions.

Arval has updated its Mobile+ allowing drivers one-touch access to update their business/private journeys if their fleet is signed up to Active Link. They can also input popular addresses to save time, while fuel data is provided as long as the fleet uses AllStar.

The most popular function on Mobile+, according to product manager Peter Leavy, is service booking.

A revamped Arval website went live this week which is now responsive across all platform formats, from desktop to mobile. Embedded within the website is a new Webstore section targeting the SME market.

It enables fleets to configure vehicles with live pricing updates, receive quotes online and compare like-for-like models and package. They can search in multiple ways, including make/model and monthly budget.

According to Paul Courtois, Arval marketing director – SME, the website enables manufacturers to adjust their offers to improve the competitiveness of their models.

However, fleets are not able to actually transact online. “It’s complementary,” said Courtois. “Our experience shows that to choose the right car and to understand all the requirements, it needs the sales approach.”

Webstore is already available in France and has tripled the volume of leads and sales in the SME market. Dilly is confident of a similar uplift in the UK.

“The first day Webstore went live in the UK someone phone us without any promotion,” he said. “So it is lead generation from day one.”

He added: “Webstore will also help to change the view about contract hire versus outright purchase because it’s transparent on pricing. It will help SMEs to understand the rationale of contract hire and the rental fee with the impact of SMR and mileage.”

Bismut said Arval’s digital strategy would affect how the company interacted with its fleet customers.

“Our strategy has two legs: digital and people. We have rethought the whole organisation to be more focused on clients and all the advances in technology go along with maintaining a link with the client.

“We have autonomised a lot of data reporting and repositioned our tem into a more value-added approach. We want our teams to be more knowledgeable, to provide advice and consultancy for clients.”

Dilly added: “It will change the momentum of our discussions and our teams will have to be trained to react to that. It changes the conversation – we’re not starting from ‘’what are your needs?’; they are already educated in the market. We want to bring trust to the table.”