Fleet, a once"dirty" word, and business, in the automotive industry has turned into a multibillion-dollar battleground for U.S. automakers, led by Ford Motor.
"There's much more of an emphasis now on profitability and how fleet can help that," said Mark Hazel, S&P Global Mobility associate director of commercial vehicle reporting." are looking at how they strategically go about this. It's been a very targeted approach with how they deal with fleets."Many fleet sales, especially daily rentals, have historically been viewed as a negative for auto companies.
"Breaking apart the fleet channel, we see that Commercial sales have been the weakest. And zooming in further, there are just two that appear especially challenged: STLA and, to a lesser extent, GM," Wolfe Research said in an investor note Wednesday. GM, citing third-party data, claims it outsold Ford last year in a segment of fleet sales: commercial vehicles sold exclusively to businesses and not individual buyers.
But automakers, including Ford, also see fleet operations as a key driver in other ways, including for electric vehicle sales, as well as reoccurring revenue options such as software and logistical services. "It's a highly profitable business. Not only on the product side, but on the services side," she told CNBC during a media event last week."Software and connected services are really a significant growth opportunity for us as well.
Sandor Piszar, vice president of GM Envolve in North America, said the Detroit automaker views the business as a competitive advantage not just to sell vehicles but to create reoccurring revenue and relationships with businesses.GM Envolve, formerly known as GM Fleet, reorganized the automaker's business to be a one-stop shop for fleet customers — from sales and financing to fleet management, logistics and maintenance.
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Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »