The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), the trade association for the vehicle rental and leasing sector in the UK – which Jaama is an associate member – has highlighted some of the key issues to come next year in its Industry Outlook Report 2019.
Key subject areas under the fleet spotlight in 2019, according to the report, are:
- The long road to zero – a future dominated by electric powertrains, but the questions were not ‘if’ we get there, but ‘how’ and ‘when’.
- The last mile – the traditional ‘hub and spoke’ method of delivery was under pressure. Could urban consolidation centres, inner-city micro distribution depots and e-cargo bikes and vans come to the rescue?
- Used market urgency – current market sentiment is that any price changes would be small rather than seismic.
- Diving into data – policymakers will come under increasing pressure to legislate for greater access to vehicle data.
- Brexit – members were focussed on what they could do to prepare themselves and their customers for the unexpected.
- Car subscriptions – as the boundaries between rental and leasing blur, subscriptions were receiving a mixed response. Were they Car Rental 2.0 or just the emperor’s new clothes?
- Up close and personal – up to 50% of new business could come from going one-on-one with a new breed of personal and SME clients in the next two years.
- Urban mobility – with the rise of Clean Air Zone a range of urban mobility providers could emerge alongside a major improvement in the public electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
- Repairability – new materials, sensors and electric powertrains were all having a massive impact on vehicle repairs.