Automotive Business Magazine – Q2 2026 – Digital edition - Magazine - Page 7
FEATURE
TECHNOLOGY
professionalising the
use of IT, but it has
definitely got better. It’s
an increasingly important
part of the conversation
with dealer groups, with
manufacturers, with fleets.
“Technology is on the
agenda of every single
automotive company
globally.”
The modern fleet
manager: Making
the move from
spreadsheets to AI
increase in upsells associated with
adopting a modern system such as
Keyloop Fusion, was worth upwards
of €350m.
Jeremy Evans, director of marketing
services at Marketing Delivery and
TekCor4, says: “Dealers recognise that
they physically can't use people to
contact customers in the right way, as
often as they need to. They don't have
enough people to do it.”
The pressure to modernise processes
within the dealership has also come from
necessity. When Covid-19 struck, dealers
were forced to find different ways of
doing business.
McPhee explains: “We had to come
up very quickly with contactless ways
of working. That brought things around
like digital job cards, self check-in, online
bookings and online valuations.
"The technology has definitely played
its part there.”
That is not to say that Covid-19 was the
first time automotive firms changed their
tune. Tim Smith, chief strategy officer at
Keyloop, explains: “I think it's perceived
as sometimes a necessary evil.
"I've seen a significant shift in terms of
attitude, having worked in the sector for
20-plus years. Technology is becoming
a much higher priority. When we first
started, you had to almost force your
way in to get [into these] conversations.
“I think it's fair to say that – especially
in automotive retail – it's probably a
little bit behind the curve in terms of
Staying running
Fleets have come around
to technology, too, while
sharing many of the
same cost and employee
constraints as the
dealership sector.
Chris Williams, technical
product director at
Microlise, says: “Our customers, like any
business, they want to do more business
as profitably as possible without going to
jail.
"It allows them to manage more
business, to have a larger customer base
and bring in more revenue.
“Cost management is really important
to all our customers. Optimising cost of
ownership of vehicles, knowing how long
to lease them for or when to sell them,
but also things like driver retention, that’s
costly for businesses.”
Beyond optimisation and profitability,
modern technology has a number of uses
in the fleet space.
Paul Hollick, chair at the AFP and CEO
at Lightfoot, says: “The biggest thing
is decarbonisation. Initially, that was
to electrify, and now it’s very much
about asking: how can existing vehicles
be decarbonised – how can you get
better MPG performance out of internal
combustion (ICE) vehicles, but also then
flip them into electric vehicles (EVs)
or hydrogen, or anything else, in the
medium term.
"Next up are safety and cost control.
Most of our fleets are being tasked by
the businesses to save between 5% and
20% on running costs.
"Technology helping those three
elements is key for our members.”
For fleets, transitioning to EVs affects
every aspect of operations. Vehicles must
be charged, routes planned to ensure
the vehicle has sufficient range, and →
Q2 2026
AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS
7
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