Vauxhall is hoping to drive service and maintenance from fleet customers into its franchised network with help from motor IT firm Epyx.

A customer service team has been formed at Epyx's offices in Warwickshire following work with Vauxhall fleet aftersales and the brand's dealer franchise board.

It will liaise between dealers and leasing company customers to ensure convenient dates for vehicles to be serviced.

Currently, drivers of a leased Vauxhall car or van book online or call their leasing company when it requires maintenance, and the leasing then uses Epyx’s 1link Service Network e-commerce platform to book the work online with a franchise dealer.

However, a number of these bookings are declined or lost to the franchise network for a variety of reasons but usually simply because the dealer is unable to meet the immediate diary requirements of the driver.

The Vauxhall team will be proactive in ensuring that all booking requests are dealt with efficiently and ensure alternative dates are offered to the Vauxhall driver when the preferred date is not available

 

Rob Walsh, from Vauxhall Fleet Aftersales, said: “Every day, a number of service and maintenance bookings are lost to our franchise network through nothing more than a lack of communication. This is frustrating for everyone – the driver, the leasing company, our dealers and ourselves.

 

Ken Trinder, head of business development at epyx, said: “One of the major motor industry trends of 2010 is a desire on the part of motor manufacturers to ensure that as much fleet SMR work as possible stays within franchise networks.

 

“Vauxhall Fleet are the first to take this step to ensure that as few potential bookings as possible are lost and should be congratulated on taking the initiative in this area. We believe that many other manufacturers are likely to follow suit.”