Spire Automotive has seen a decrease in accidents and greater visibility of dealer-owned vehicles while trialling In-Car Cleverness telematics.

The multi-franchise dealer group began using the system in July 2013 and is now seeking to use the technology on a longer-term basis.

The company says In-Car Cleverness has enabled Spire to manage risk and gain full visibility across its courtesy, demonstrator and pool vehicles. 

Installed in 620 cars and vans across its 18 sites in London, Hertfordshire and Essex for a period of 20 months, Spire was able to monitor the location, condition, performance and driver inputs across all vehicles.

Darren Guiver, managing director of Spire Automotive, said: “In only a short period of time, we’ve seen a clear positive impact in terms of our owned vehicle operations. The benefits of a connected fleet is demonstrably superior to traditional methods alone.”

In one incident, a liability dispute was avoided when the account of a Spire employee was ratified by analysis of the ICC data, while post-accident claims decreased sharply across demo and courtesy fleets.

Managers reported an improvement in driving standards, with several staff members receiving cautions and at least one member of the sales team being identified as the driver when the vehicle was caught speeding.

In another case, the OnBoard app was used to locate and recover a vehicle that was not where it was supposed to be.

An In-Car Cleverness spokesperson, said: “Spire’s positive experience is similar to that of other dealers who’ve installed our leading-edge system. Given the size of its fleet and its professionalism, Spire is something of a benchmark and has provided invaluable feedback. We look forward to continuing our partnership.”

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