Fleet decision-makers have evolved from simply showing an interest in electric vehicles to actively pursuing them for their car and van policies – that’s the biggest difference a year has made at Company Car In Action, according to Iain Montgomery, UK fleet sales director, Peugeot, Citroen and DS, at Stellantis.
“The conversations have changed; confident in the electric product and infrastructure has grown and we are seeing customers that recognise they need to make decisions,” Montgomery said.
“There is a reality that it’s happening with the (2030) deadline (banning the sale of new petrol/diesel cars and vans) and we have gone from having to convince customers to have a go to having them approach us about making the switch.”
The clamour to transition to electric has increased with diesel pump prices rising, making it a easier total cost of ownership decision. Stellantis field teams are continuing to educate companies on the improved reliability and reduced maintenance and repair requirements, which greatly reduce downtime, particularly for vans.
“We are also helping customers to understand their real-world fleet utilisation which is important to identify the opportunities for electric,” said Montgomery.
Stellantis, with its Vauxhall, Citroen, Peugeot and FCA brands, is now able to offer customers a range with “full depth and breadth for cars and vans”, he added.
“We are running it as one business unit with lots of separate brands. We have seen with some customers where we have used our relationship on LCVs to start a conversation on cars and we are getting some success with that.”
While the company is seeing car timelines return to manageable levels, typically six months, vans remain on longer delivery schedules. However, Montgomery is confident supply will begin to free up towards the end of this year and into the early part of 2023.
“We have to work with our customers to manage expectations on costs and timescales,” he said. “But residuals are still strong and that is helping us to manage the cost of the contract.”
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Bauer B2B group editor Stephen Briers has been an automotive business journalist since 1995. He has been editor of Fleet News since 2009 and before that was editor of Automotive Management for almost seven years. He now oversees both brands, as well as RAIL magazine.
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