Only 40% of drivers are now getting a tyre fitted on their first visit to a fast-fit centre, says Epyx, due to an ever-widening choice of tyre sizes and brands.

The statistics are taken from analysis of customer reports from some of Epyx’s largest fleet customers and is believed to be around half the typical figure of a decade ago.

David Goodyear, head of business development at Epyx, said: “These figures are not really an indication of any slide in efficiency on the part of fast-fits but a reflection of the huge range of tyres fitted to modern cars.

“It would be nearly impossible for a fast-fit centre to carry all the stock needed to cover the majority of the current car parc, such is the diversity of size and manufacturer.

“But it is a development that is bad news for the customer. A company car or van customer pulling into a fast-fit is more likely than not to have to come back when stock is delivered, which is a waste of time for them.”

Goodyear said that the statistic was one of the reasons that Epyx had launched Tyreserve, a new e-commerce service designed to help franchised dealers compete with fast-fits for fleet tyre business.

“A franchised dealer is at an advantage in that they are only expected to carry tyres for their own vehicles, which is usually a reasonably limited range,” he explained.

“If they choose to carry a reasonable selection of stock, then they should be able to comfortably beat the first-time-fit figures being achieved by fast fits.”

Any fleet or franchised dealer user of 1link Service Network can easily choose to adopt Tyreserve through the e-commerce platform. Currently, around 1000 franchise dealers are on board while Epyx is soon to announce its first major leasing company user.

“The success of a project like this very much depends on being able to achieve significant numbers and we should be able to announce our first signing very soon,” said Goodyear.

“We are seeing considerable fleet interest but really everything depends on franchise dealers coming on board and recognising the profit and service potential that exists.”