An increase in the number of motor manufacturers offering vehicle service packs, national pricing and even longer warranties has been predicted by a fleet expert.
Steve Huddart, service, maintenance and repair (SMR) leader, GE Capital, made the forecast at this year’s ACFO Conference.
“Selected manufacturers are now offering service packs as well as introducing national pricing policies in a bid to retain SMR work within their franchise dealer networks and there will be a point in time when every manufacturer is offering service packs or national pricing,” Huddart predicted.
Additionally, the advent of longer warranties - Kia offers a seven-year warranty - could continue with Huddart forecasting other manufacturers will follow.
“Longer warranties give us the opportunities to make sure that more SMR work is covered under warranty,” he explained, with the benefit for fleets being that SMR costs could be more accurately forecasted.
Meanwhile, one of the biggest challenges facing vehicle leasing companies is to ensure that company car and van drivers have their vehicles serviced on time in accordance with manufacturer schedules.
“The sooner the vehicle is serviced costs will be mitigated,” he said. “It is a big challenge to get vehicles in for service on time; the onus is on the driver.”
Huddart also revealed the top complaints received by GE from customers in relation to SMR:
• Complaint against garage 25%
• Vehicle reliability 18%
• Vehicle individual fault 12%
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