Controlling the cost of servicing and maintenance is the top concern for almost two-thirds (64%) of businesses when choosing LCVs.
That’s the finding of research carried out for Northgate, which suggests that inclusive service and maintenance is now a priority for businesses acquiring new LCVs.
The survey, carried out by GfK, polled the views of a broad cross-section of businesses across the UK with fewer than 500 employees who acquire LCVs for business purposes.
Nearly half the sample (45%) identified service, repair and MoT as a main cause for vehicles being off the road, second only to breakdown (53%) which typically also results in servicing and maintenance. A total of 60% of the sample considered the provision of like-for-like replacement vehicles as a key factor to consider when choosing an acquisition deal.
Eddie Aston, UK managing director, Northgate, said: “Our research shows that vehicles are off the road for an average of 12 days per year and downtime means hassle, expense and, at worse, loss of business. It causes extra paperwork, unplanned expense, loss of productivity and it reduces the opportunity for advertising. Added to that, if a vehicle has been tailored to an individual business’ needs, it will often be difficult to replace.”
The survey also found that, although businesses attempted to manage this downtime to avoid unproductive periods, few had any formal processes in place.
Aston added: “Any business’ reputation is dependent on getting the product to the customer on time or fulfilling a service requirement to an agreed deadline. Vehicle breakdowns and downtime in general mean you are letting the customer down and adversely affecting your productivity into the bargain. Added to that, if roadside recovery and repair is unsuccessful, our customers may even end up with a large garage bill to pay together with their disgruntled clients still waiting for service, many hours after the agreed time.”
