GLASGOW-based Fleet Alliance has won the contract for the 620 company car fleet from Cox Automotive.
Cox Automotive is the owner of Manheim the auction specialists.
There are 545 company cars on contract hire; 50 owned cars; and 30 grey fleet cash allowance cars in the Cox Automotive fleet; all will be managed by Fleet Alliance.
The majority of Cox Automotive’s company cars are run by staff at Manheim which has 16 auction centers and online auctions throughout the country. The remainder is operated by employees at the group’s other UK brands: Motors.co.uk, Dealer-auction.com, Movex, Modix and NextGear Capital.
Cox Automotive said it decided to switch from its previous fleet management supplier because it wanted greater transparency and openness in the running of its vehicle fleet. The fleet was put out to tender.
From a final shortlist of three, Fleet Alliance was selected because of its outstanding scores in all qualifying criteria, recording an astonishing 545 points out of a possible 600. The nearest competitor scored just 368.
Alan Barratt, Head of Supply Chain for Cox Automotive, said:
“Fleet Alliance was head and shoulders above its competitors in the selection process and, since their appointment, they have shown themselves to be outstanding in every way.
“We now see them as a strategic partner which is very important to us, as we wanted a partner not another supplier. They are also very flexible and have been able to act quickly, moving all our fleet across within a tight 12-week deadline.”
Amongst the initiatives that Fleet Alliance has introduced is a new competitive tendering strategy for all new vehicles to be added to the Cox Automotive fleet, employing a panel of four preferred contract hire funders. In addition, and with the funding panel’s full agreement, all company cars will now be de-fleeted through Manheim Auction centers.
At the same time, the Cox Automotive fleet policy has been completely refreshed with a premium brand car in every job grade category, an SUV in every category and a choice of at least one ULEV (Ultra Low Emission Vehicle) for every job grade.
“This was an important consideration for us as it is the start of the process to migrate our currently all-diesel fleet across to a number of lower emission alternatives,” said Alan Barratt.
