A company in the consumer goods sector wanted to reorganize the management of its company fleet of over 120 company vehicles. The interim manager was hired as a fleet management expert to find a new leasing provider with better service and more favorable conditions. He was also tasked with designing a new car policy for the company.
Current leasing provider unable to improve conditions
When the interim manager took on the mandate, dissatisfaction with the previous leasing provider was already high and had also affected the employees. As the previous provider was unable to improve service or pricing, the only option was to switch to a new provider.
Great pressure to act due to model change and expiring contracts
One challenge in this mandate was that one vehicle model accounted for 75 percent of the portfolio and was no longer offered by the manufacturer. In addition, the company had not yet agreed on a successor model. At the same time, there was time pressure: due to expired leasing contracts, there was already an order backlog of around 40 vehicles, and the trend was rising.
Prepared tender, reviewed bids and concluded negotiations
In view of the high time pressure, the interim manager developed an ambitious schedule. The plan was to conclude the contract with a new leasing provider within five months. As an experienced expert in fleet management, the interim manager was able to quickly gather the information required for the tender and summarize it in a complete tender. After receiving the bids, the management followed the interim manager's recommendation and finalized the deal within a very short time.
Pre-ordering significantly reduces costs for 40 vehicles
Immediately after the change of leasing provider, the time pressure increased: due to supply bottlenecks caused by chip shortages, among other things, large vehicle manufacturers reduced special conditions for major customers or even canceled them altogether. In order to avoid foreseeable additional costs, the interim manager brought forward the vehicle orders that had already been placed with the new leasing provider by four weeks. As it turned out later, this significantly reduced the costs for around 40 new vehicles and was fixed for a leasing period of three years.
Six-point plan developed for a modern car policy
The interim manager developed the new car policy in parallel with the leasing tender. A six-point plan included car budgets, working time models, sustainability, model selection, individual customization options and additional equipment as well as framework conditions for the use of electromobility. For the previous volume model, he specified two models that were of a higher quality and also scored points with the employees with better basic equipment.
Change of leasing provider and car policy implemented
After just four months, the interim manager successfully completed the project ahead of schedule. The costs for the vehicle fleet were significantly reduced despite rising prices and higher-quality vehicles. The employees are very satisfied with the new vehicles and the new car policy provides a framework that everyone can understand.
