Held along with the AGM at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire on Thursday 16th May, the event included talks from a host of fleet experts, including Steve Huddart, service, maintenance and repair (SMR) leader, GE Capital.

Huddart made the prediction that motor manufacturers are to put SMR in the spotlight with new measures, commenting: ‘Selected manufacturers are now offering service packs as well as introducing national pricing policies in a bid to retain SMR work within their franchise dealer networks and there will be a point in time when every manufacturer is offering service packs or national pricing.’

Additionally, the advent of longer warranties – Kia offers a seven-year warranty – could continue, with Huddart forecasting other manufacturers will follow. 

‘Longer warranties give us the opportunities to make sure that more SMR work is covered under warranty,’ explained Huddart, adding that the benefit for fleets is that SMR costs could be more accurately forecasted. 

Meanwhile, one of the biggest challenges facing vehicle leasing companies is to ensure that company car and van drivers have their vehicles serviced on time in accordance with manufacturer schedules.

‘The sooner the vehicle is serviced costs will be mitigated,’ he said. ‘It is a big challenge to get vehicles in for service on time; the onus is on the driver.’

Huddart also revealed the top complaints received by GE from customers in relation to SMR:

Complaint against garage             25%

Vehicle reliability                         18%

Vehicle individual fault                12%