IMS and Sogo sign risk management contract

Insurance and Mobility Solutions (IMS) has partnered with Sogo to supply telematics solutions focused on asset protection and collision detection.

Sogo launched November last year, provides SMEs, micro-businesses and corporates with leases from one month to four years. It aims to build a fleet of around 5,000 vehicles by the end of 2021, and all vehicles will be installed with IMS telematics devices before they are delivered to customers.

IMS, part of Trak Global Group, will use telematics data and artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor and identify potential theft, misuse and collisions involving Sogo vehicles, and provide recovery and repatriation services through its partnership with W4G.

Leon Hurst, CEO of the IMS Mobility Solutions division, says that the IMS approach will ensure Sogo vehicles are safeguarded and returned in good condition at the end of the lease period, in turn preserving their residual value in the used car market when de-fleeted.

Hurst said: “Flexible leasing is an exciting growth sector, and the close, continuous asset management that our technology enables will bring extra efficiency to the business model.

“This is a great opportunity for us to work hand in glove with a dynamic, customer-centric business that is hungry to grow in a sector that, in the wake of COVID’s impact, is dealing with rapid changes in customer requirements.

“We will track all of the vehicles that Sogo plans to lease in 2021 and beyond, and we will also work in close partnership with their experienced leadership team to explore ways in which our connected technologies can enhance the Sogo customer experience across multiple touchpoints.”

IMS recently appointed Sharyn Morley as head of vehicle security services at the mobility division.

Sogo also announced two new hires to support its ambitious growth plans, at the end of December last year.

Karl Howkins, managing director of Sogo said: “Our partnership with the Mobility Solutions team at IMS will give Sogo a class-leading approach to risk management, and in turn make it possible for us to better service our customer requirements with innovative support packages specifically for those businesses and organisations that will be the bedrock of this country’s post-pandemic economic recovery.”

“The COVID pandemic has rapidly accelerated change in the mobility space, on a global scale. Developments that would previously have evolved over years are now taking shape in months

“This includes flexible working, changes to commuting behaviours and a reduction in field sales operations - and flexible leasing has been handed a huge opportunity as a result.”

“Connecting the Sogo fleet through IMS gives me added confidence that 2021 will be a successful year of growth for our business, as we will be better placed to make data-driven decisions around asset management on the back of the real-time information their technology provides”.