DMS has added both Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions and Fleet Hire to its portfolio of contract hire and leasing companies now using its SMR Cost Analysis (SCA) tool to deliver a detailed breakdown of vehicle maintenance costs across a wide range of age and mileage parameters.

SCA is now used by the majority of the UK’s leading contract hire and leasing companies, according to DMS, to ensure price competitiveness, as well as by many motor manufacturers and major end-user fleets.

DMS director of business development Jeff Edgar said: “We believe that SCA is now the tool most used by major contract hire and leasing companies to set accurate SMR budgets.

“That success is due to the fleet industry having total confidence in the data that we are using - parts pricing, service schedules and labour rates - and the fact that the system is web-based and straight-forward to navigate with information available in tabular and graphical formats. Strong technical back-up and expert support and knowledge is also available to customers.

“The DMS hallmarks across its range of automotive data tools are simplicity in enabling users to easily find the information required and then making it equally as easy for them to utilise - both factors apply equally to SCA.”

SCA delivers SMR cost data across four distinct vehicle categories - servicing, tyres, brakes including pads and discs, and ‘others’, which includes, for example, alternators, batteries, clutches and windscreen wipers and a range of other wear items.

The tool utilises manufacturers’ parts pricing, service schedules, labour times and tyre data as well as DMS’s own burn rate data. DMS’s BurnRate tool uses component replacement data gathered from the contract hire and leasing industry compiled across more than 350,000 company cars and 35,000 vans and some 4.5 million ‘incidents’ of part replacement to provide a complete and accurate real-world view of part life.

Contract hire and leasing companies then use the data provided within SCA to set accurate vehicle leasing rates, and motor manufacturers and end-user fleets are able to fully understand real-world whole life costs on a per model basis.

Edgar added: "No other SMR data providers are utilising a tool like SMR Burn Rate so, through SCA, users benefit from the most sophisticated SMR budgeting solution available. SMR costs are critical in accurately predicting vehicle total cost of ownership figures so it is essential that users have confidence in the tools available to them."

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