ARVAL UK is warning fleets to prioritise forward planning in 2022 as fall-out from the pandemic and a world shortage of semi-conductors continues to impact vehicle and parts supplies.
The fleet management specialist is advising fleet managers to allocate time to plan ahead for vehicle orders, particularly if they are looking to order electric vehicles. This forward planning should extend to rentals, service, maintenance and repair needs.
Arval UK Commercial Director, Paul Hyne, said the company is working tirelessly behind the scenes using its strong relationships with manufacturers and supply partners to make sure that customers’ vehicle orders and service, maintenance and repair needs are met. However, he warns, the impact of the pandemic is here to stay for the foreseeable future – and the industry needs to change to stay ahead of the situation.
We’re working with manufacturers to secure bulk orders of vehicle stock, so if we know a customer needs a particular type of vehicle or there are a number coming up for a service, MOT or repair, we will proactively work with our supply chain to ensure that there is limited downtime or that a rental vehicle is available where possible.
Hyne said the pandemic and semiconductor shortages have placed the industry in a position where forward planning is a necessity rather than a nice-to-have. With almost 180,000 vehicles on its UK fleet, Arval UK has significant market presence and its dedicated teams in operations, procurement and customer services are working collaboratively to help its customers.
We’re finding that manufacturers are prioritising electric vehicle orders and that’s good news for fleets, with the favourable benefit in kind rates today. We’d urge customers, if they know they need larger numbers of a particular type of EV or they’re keen to transition to a particular electric van, to let us know in advance and we’ll forward order them where possible, as we know there’s such a need right now,” said Hyne.
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