Fleet Assist launched its new courtesy car programme to independent service outlets at its biennial open day.

Joint managing director Mike Smith explained that contract hire and leasing companies and their customers - end-user fleets - increasingly expected service outlets to offer courtesy car provision.

While franchise garages in the Fleet Assist network typically have their own courtesy car arrangements with their respective manufacturer partners, the same is not true for independent service outlets.

The courtesy car programme gives service outlets access to a full range of new vehicles from city cars to MPVs across a wide range of marques at competitive rates. Vehicles can be acquired on one or two-year operating lease agreements with a range of mileage parameters.

The Cambridgeshire-based company provides contract hire and leasing organisations with a nationwide network of more than 8,000 service outlets which undertake service, maintenance and repair work on vehicles supplied to customers across the UK.

During the panel sessions, management level representatives of Fleet Assist contract hire and leasing company customers’ Agility Fleet, Alphabet (GB), Lex Autolease, Pendragon Vehicle Management and Tusker were quizzed by service outlet representatives.

They heard that provision of a courtesy car service was one of the key requirements to securing fleet service, maintenance and repair work from leasing companies alongside factors such as competitive labour rates and providing a vehicle collection and delivery service.

Smith said: “We believe our new courtesy car programme will prove to be extremely popular as it is clear that offering the service to independent service outlets is essential to their long term business success.”