“There’s no way to avoid it – we’re operating in a rising cost environment and it’s critical that businesses use cash to their best advantage and scrutinise spend,” says Barry Nicholson, GM ORIX New Zealand.
Take the double cab ute market. Over the past five years they have seen increases in the purchase price of vehicles across most brands; higher costs of servicing and tyre purchases in the range of 10-25 percent; increases in registration and road user charges at similar levels; and increases of more than 60 percent in diesel costs. Not to mention the flow-on effects to insurances, FBT and interest costs.
“It is costing businesses thousands more to run a fleet and no one brand, make or model is immune,” Nicholson says. ORIX believes that we will be navigating a complex economic landscape for the foreseeable future, making it challenging for even the highest performing procurement teams to drive down price. “The key to reducing the impact in a rising cost environment will be through vehicle choices, funding options and the operational management of your fleet.”
ORIX provides a free no-obligation service to help businesses consider their options. It starts with a chat to understand your fleet and what you want to achieve. It may lead to comparing vehicle and funding options or be expanded to include an extensive review of fleet practices, costs and behaviors.
“Needs vary. Some customers may seek help to transition their business to lower emission vehicles and set up charging infrastructure,” says Jane Morrison, ORIX’s Northern Regional Manager. “Others may approach us to run the numbers on selling their vehicles to ORIX and leasing them back at a fixed rate. When we move to making an offer and analysing running costs, we almost always, find that we can make immediate impact and save customers money.”
She shares a recent case in which ORIX was asked to review activity and spend for a fleet that outsourced management to an independent operator. “We uncovered vehicles being serviced more frequently than required, longer labour times and other activities that were adding unnecessary cost to the business. We estimated that we could save them as much as $2,000 per vehicle during the lifecycle – just by managing vehicles to manufacturer’s specifications.”
ORIX places importance on ensuring vehicles are serviced to manufacturers guidelines by franchised agents, who have the credentials, systems, and technology to best support their product. “As new technologies enter the market, it is critical that vehicles are serviced by suppliers that have the technical understanding and tools to get the job done. It’s also your best protection when issues arise, or you need to access warranty support,” Nicholson says.
ORIX challenges businesses who think only about the initial vehicle purchase without consideration of how they will manage the ongoing activities and running costs. “Business vehicles are part of the workplace and as such you need to ensure they are fit for purpose, serviced, roadworthy and warranted at all times” says Nicholson. “Just wrapping management services around your vehicle fleet, can make a big difference to vehicle governance and cost structures.”
ORIX promotes a lease builder model that allows customers to choose exactly which fleet management services to add to their lease, like servicing, annual registration, tyres and so on. ORIX can then manage driver notifications, supplier, interactions, and costs; allowing customers to leverage ORIX’s asset governance model, technical support and buying power. “Services start from as low as $1 a month and often customers find that the trade discounts mitigate the management fees within the first few transactions,” says Nicholson.
Nicholson credits the engagement between customers and the ORIX team, for being the catalyst for refining products and bringing new services to market. Over the past five years ORIX has been on a journey to bring the best fleet experience to their customers through continuous improvements and innovation. We count 16 projects under ‘About ORIX’ on their website, www.ORIX.co.nz,ranging from cloud-based technologies to next generation customer analytics and insights to flexible vehicle solutions.
In response, Nicholson says, “Innovation is one of our key values at ORIX and we’ll continue to ensure that our services resonate with customers, are easily consumable, efficient, effective and reliable.”
You can find more information on their website or give one of their Business Development Team a call to see how ORIX may be able to help your business with vehicle leasing, fleet management, trucks and equipment.
By Tania Betts
