Europcar

from Company Car & Van October 2020

Toyota Proace City

Van rental ensures you have a fleet that’s fit-for-purpose, post-Covid

How many fleet managers have spent the last few months looking at their van fleet standing idle in the car park, worrying about the cost to the business?

The events of the past few months have called into question how organisations fund and manage their vehicle fleets. Many organisations have traditionally been committed to fixed term leases, sometimes for up to three-four years; or they have purchased vehicles outright, tying up cash in assets, which haven’t gone anywhere for months.

In addition, if businesses have tried to cancel their leases or contract hire arrangements, they will have found early termination fees that may have made curtailing their plans financially negligible.

And if you’re feeling lumbered with depreciating assets when running a purchased fleet, perhaps going forwards working with a rental partner like Europcar will ensure you take all the residual risk out of running your fleet.

As lockdown restrictions start to ease and we’re faced with a recessionary environment, whether you need to ‘fleet up’ or ‘down fleet’, does your acquisition method allow you to adjust quickly?

The issues facing every business are clear: • Preserve cash for the day to day running of the business • Keep your staff safe, while being mindful of the risk of a second wave and further enforced lockdowns • The impact of the recession on individual businesses and access to credit • The need for instant access to additional vans

• A tightening of the credit policy by lenders with a closer focus on debt levels / gearing • The speed at which new vehicle technology is now moving and the likely acceleration of

EV adoption as organisations become increasingly environmentally focussed following the positive impact of the lockdown

So what’s the answer? In short – the flexibility that vehicle rental provides.

In uncertain times, vehicle rental allows your business fleet to expand and contract with no financial penalties, as the business environment changes. Just rent what you need, and when you don’t need it anymore, simply hand the vehicles back.

How can Europcar help?

Over the last few years Europcar has embarked upon a new strategy to develop a broader product proposition and become less reliant on traditional short term vehicle rental. Our focus has been on developing a range of “on demand” long term flexible rental products covering both cars and vans for B2B and B2C markets.

We believe that these products add real value to your business by providing the following significant benefits: • A minimum commitment period of 3 months beyond which vehicles can be returned at no cost • Zero deposit and no up front payments to preserve your cash flow • The ability to increase or decrease fleet numbers based on demand - to help you avoid long term commitments and improve the utilisation of your vehicle assets • Access to a wide range of vehicles (generally brand new) from our nationwide network and van supersites • Access to the latest technology vehicles at a greater frequency to support the sustainability agenda of your business • Rental obligations that are off balance sheet - to help reduce gearing levels.

And our products include: • Service and Maintenance • 24/7 Breakdown Cover • Relief vehicle for non fault accident and warranty issues • Replacement for worn tyres

As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, we believe there is a continued risk that businesses may find themselves once again with under-utilised assets. This may be due to further lockdown measures or surplus vehicles as businesses ‘right-size’ themselves. In addition, you may find your leasing agreements are coming to an end, or your vehicles simply need replacing.

Call us for a policy review and discuss a different mix of vehicle solutions to add flexibility but not cost.