The European Commission has decided that non-franchise outlets will soon be able to provide authorised service and repair facilities as long as they meet criteria set down by each manufacturer.
Paul Ashton, sales director of Pendragon Contracts, said: 'Most contract hire and leasing companies spread their maintenance spend across a wide number of dealer groups.
'The standards of work are good but there is no opportunity to negotiate pricing. Under the new rules we could see ourselves dealing with a much smaller group of national multi-franchise service, maintenance and repair (SMR) companies.
'This would allow us to concentrate our spending power and, of course, drive down prices for our customers.'
His views are echoed by John Britcliffe, managing director of Overdrive Business Solutions, who believes the rule changes will bring innovation to fleet services.
He said: 'The servicing, maintenance and repair (SMR) market will become more competitive for services and prices, and new concepts in vehicle funding and mobility provision could take the place of contract hire.
'Outlets will have to try harder to attract SMR work. I think we will see large, multi-franchise SMR specialists dealing with large geographical areas.
'Collect-and-return and valeting of cars will be standard for all customers, and it's likely that outlets will aim to locate close to retail parks or supermarkets so that non-business customers can shop and eat while their cars are serviced.'
Ashton added that the block exemption changes could also diminish the importance of franchise-specific service history when it comes to protecting residual values.
He said: 'There will always be certain specialist marques where having a full manufacturer service history is critical to good residual values, but if non-franchise SMR outlets establish a good reputation over a number of years, it will probably cease to be important for mainstream cars.'
Login to comment
Comments
No comments have been made yet.