Articles by Fleet News - Page 932

Common business sense means that contract hire and leasing companies do not want to make a loss on service, maintenance and repair (SMR) costs so it is vital that they undertake a robust risk assessment and measure and manage the lifecycle of individual vehicle components.

In most contract hire companies someone is responsible for obtaining new vehicle data, someone else negotiates discounts with dealers and someone else obtains VRB details and negotiates tactical deals with manufacturers.

Leasing companies place more than a quarter of their SMR business with independent companies rather than franchised dealers, new research has shown.

The long-awaited revised Exposure Draft (ED) on lease accounting was published by the IASB on 16 May 2013 and addresses a number of the problems identified by respondents following the initial Exposure Draft published in 2010.

Business confidence is rising among leasing companies as profitability improves and growth expectations increase in response to stronger fleet customer demand.

Leasing companies have praised manufacturers for their efforts to improve relationships with the industry in the past year – and they have set out four priority areas to improve levels of support still further in future.

Nearly a quarter of fleets say they are currently reviewing their fuel card supplier, according to the Fleet Barometer.

Fleets have been venting their fury or singing suppliers’ praises as they review their best and worst recent experiences with manufacturers and leasing companies in the past month.

Proactive, flexible, knowledgeable, inquisitive, honest and adaptable: these are some of the key qualities fleets want to see from their leasing and fleet management companies.

Drivers are increasingly moving away from cash allowances and back into company cars, according to fleet operators.