The Coronavirus global pandemic was something the most ardent doomsayer would have found hard to predict, though some industry leaders – SG Fleet for example – were ready for the storm.

This preparedness was – and is –  great news for SG Fleet’s clients,  for whom vehicle fleet operations were a problem they didn’t have to deal with since SG Fleet had its business contingency plan in place as the country entered crisis mode. 

Managing director Geoff Tipene says the ability for his team to operate at a ‘business as usual’ level is down to the robust nature of the company’s business contingency plan, which kicked in prior to level 4 lockdown. 

With all SG staff having laptops and secure logins, handling client questions was no trouble at all. 

“That’s only part of it though,” Geoff adds. “We are in a fortunate position with the type of customer we managed. Our large customers are typically Government or essential service providers, so as I mentioned, it was largely business as usual.”

There was an increase in internal daily communication with frontline staff and SG Fleet was able to reaffirm its operational capabilities with its clients.

“Fortunately, we had no one in the position of re-fleeting or undertaking significant changes during the crisis time,” explains Geoff.  “We did have a few customers come to us looking for assistance in one way or another. We made it clear from the outset that we are here to help and that’s exactly what we did in one way or another.”

Technology has certainly assisted SG Fleet clients through the entire lockdown period. Most of us would have been looking for ways to cut costs, professionally and personally and of course, with the IRD. Telematics really came into its own for SG Fleet clients. 

“A high percentage of our customers have telematics fitted in their vehicles,” says Geoff. “Having access to the data gave us a picture of vehicle movement – or lack thereof – and where we could give relief for assets which showed 0 kms in the lockdown period.”   

Now that we are all in a position to look forward with the benefit of hindsight, Company Vehicle asked SG Fleet – through Geoff – to do a little educated, short-term crystal ball gazing. 

“We are expecting to see increased demand in fleet sale and leaseback,” Geoff says. “For this reason, we’ve been actively promoting these through our on-line presence and other channels with our ‘We are here to help’ information material detailing the benefits of a sale and leaseback arrangement.”

 As far as vehicle selection or client preference for vehicles is concerned,
SG Fleet is – as always – going to be guided by its customers, but Geoff is quietly predicting the continuing trend of SUVs to be the market leaders. 

“Their versatility is the key,” he explains. “The SUV suits business and personal use.” Geoff does suggest there may be some downsizing of large SUVs to mediums and perhaps mediums to small as cost saving measures. 

As to the auto market in general: “Toyota and Hyundai have led the way, but we currently see new vehicle pricing is increasing, with the low NZ dollar.

“We expect to see registrations of new cars hit hard following the Covid-19 pandemic, in a similar way to what they did in the recession of 2007 – 2009. 

Many consumers will have had incomes cut and there will have been job losses. While they won’t be able to get into a new vehicle, they will be able to justify the purchase of a near-new used car, rather than second or third-hand vehicles. 

“This will increase demand for vehicles from SG Fleet leasebacks,” says Geoff “which is ultimately a win for our clients.”

Geoff is also anticipating an increased supply of used cars into the into the used market with the rental car companies de-fleeting where they can. This will impact the supply into the market, but on the positive side for SG Fleet, the number of second-hand imports has dropped considerably. 

What then, is the take-away lesson for the fleet manager from the last two months? 

According to Geoff, the lockdown period would have given a fleet owner a picture – or at the very least a view – of what is required for their business when it comes to maintaining personal safety and health and mobility requirements in whatever form that takes. 

From the perspective of SG Fleet, the pandemic has shown that outsourcing the fleet and the management of that fleet to an experienced Fleet management organisation allows both parties to optimise the moving pieces of their fleet without compromising their business to their customers, whoever they might be.