SME Fleets Should Be Aware Of Aftersales Challenges Of New Car Makers Entering The UK

SME Fleets need to be aware that service, maintenance and repair (SMR) is becoming increasingly complex as new manufacturers enter the UK market, according to i247 Group, the leading outsourced fleet management provider.

The Poole-based company, responsible for maintaining over a million UK vehicles, is flagging SMR challenges caused by some of these new manufacturer entrants, who have yet to develop their fleet aftersales processes.

It says that these new car makers often have limited aftersales garage networks that are able to accommodate fleet maintenance requirements. In turn this leads to challenges handling maintenance and warranty work, causing significant complexity for SME fleets and their drivers.

The insufficient infrastructure is further complicated by the fact that some new car makers, and the aftersales maintenance solutions they have in place, are not always accessible on fleet industry authorisation platforms.

These platforms – 1link is typical – are critical for coordinating SMR activity for maintained vehicles, says i247 Group. The knock-on effect for fleets is that, without the ability to authorise maintenance and payments, processes become manual and therefore slower.

i247 Group is reporting that these problems are leading to SMR delays and increased fleet vehicle off road time across EV models.

Other newcomers to the fleet space bring their own challenges, specifically around SMR bookings, where fleets must utilise the manufacturer app to schedule appointments as opposed to calling fleet maintenance helplines. The result means some fleet users receive a very different maintenance experience, depending on the brand of vehicle they drive.

i247 Group says that it is vital that the current SMR infrastructure problems are considered by new manufacturers to avoid further impacts to fleets. i247 is concerned that the challenges will be exacerbated as more new vehicles join the UK roads and additional brands enter the market.