AA to launch breakdown-preventing app for businesses later this year

The AA is to launch an app which it says has already helped predict and prevent breakdowns for tens of thousands of car drivers across the UK into the business sector later this year.

CarGenie has already undergone trials across more than 10,000 vehicles and analyses telematics data to assess the probability that a fault code will lead to a breakdown and when an alert needs to be sent to the customer to arrange maintenance.

The AA says this enables proactive decision-making about repair and maintenance scheduling and helps to negate the risk and associated costs of breakdowns.

Jennie Hill, director of business services at the AA, said: "Preventative maintenance systems are not new to the marketplace.

“However, we believe that what sets CarGenie apart is the rigorous product trials and testing we’ve undertaken to ensure the product is tailored to our business customers.

“CarGenie takes a significant burden away from fleet managers and allows them to focus on other aspects of their role.

"Not every fault code requires a vehicle to be taken off the road immediately – indeed some just go away by themselves - and the system has been designed to only alert customers when the fault is dangerous or likely to cause a breakdown.

“The AA is an organisation that focuses on guaranteeing business mobility, whatever the circumstances, and our service is second to none.

"We’re confident in assuring our customers that our tool will predict up to a third of breakdowns, preventing the inevitable downtime and loss of revenue that come with taking a vehicle off the road for a day, or perhaps even longer.”

The device can be installed into a vehicle’s onboard diagnostics port, from where it analyses the diagnostics in real time, with information then conveyed to the CarGenie app which is available on both iOS and Android.

The telematics system can also provide data on driver behaviour.