The telematics industry across Europe is forecast to grow from £1.85bn in 2008 to £6.4bn in 2013, a growth rate of almost 22%, according to new research. 

And a new generation of fleet telematics services will enable contract hire and leasing companies to improve profitability and residual value management and increase standards of customer service and retention.

The predictions are contained in a study into the European telematics market, including the leading markets of the UK, France and Germany, by industry analyst Frost & Sullivan. 

The study was commissioned by Eagle-i and involved feedback from some of Europe’s leading contract hire and leasing companies. It found that net cost savings (after accounting for the cost of telematics services) of £122 per vehicle per year were achievable by using telematics data to drive improvements in service, maintenance, repair and residual value management. 

The improvement in pre-tax profit per vehicle is shown to come from all types of vehicles – fleet cars and light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles – and calculated to come from lower costs of mileage capture and administration, better service anticipation and service monitoring, reduced maintenance costs and more effective contract management.

Ian Walmsley, CEO of Eagle-i Holdings, said: “This research shows the true potential of telematics-enabled vehicle leasing and the significant profit and differentiation opportunities that are available to vehicle leasing and fleet management companies. 

‘We are confident that the profit implications for leasing companies are significant.”

Case study - Organic retailer aims to cut carbon footprint via telematics

Abel & Cole, the organic food retailer, is aiming to cut its carbon footprint by using a Cybit telematics system on its fleet. The firm will use the system on all home delivery vehicles across its six national depots – making the distribution of its produce more efficient. 

Ben Reardon, head of logistics at Abel & Cole, says: “Our home delivery network has grown over the past 20 years from just going door-to-door to now having nearly 100 vehicles across the country. 

As a supplier of locally sourced organic produce, we feel we must also reduce our own impact on the environment. We have been trialling the use of plant oil as a fuel with Regenatec Biofuel systems – and strategically implementing vehicle telematics will further cut our footprint by focusing on efficiency in our operation.”

Cybit’s Driver ID module – part of the Fleetstar-Online solution – will provide visibility of fleet activity by employee to help the firm manage driver behaviour from a duty-of-care perspective. Abel & Cole will also deploy Cybit’s Data Analyser solution to provide long-term analysis of fleet performance and measure the effectiveness of management programmes over periods of weeks, months and years.

John Wisdom, sales and marketing director at Cybit, adds: “The vehicles typically make 60 to 100 separate drops every day. We are providing them with the tools to dynamically manage the entire fleet, ensure delivery schedules are adhered to and managed most effectively. 

“Online visibility and activity reports allow Abel & Cole to take steps to reduce its carbon footprint.”