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The start point for the best source of fleet information |
Peugeot is planning to expand and overhaul its short-term rental and car-sharing scheme in order to
attract more corporate business.
Launched in 2010, Mu by Peugeot offers vehicles including cars, vans, scooters and bicycles on daily or even half-daily contracts. It operates from the manufacturer's own Robins & Day dealerships in West London, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester.
Speaking to BusinessCar, Peugeot product manager Gareth Pockett said: "[Fleet is] an area we're looking into now. Dealers are already offering corporate rates to businesses but within the next couple of years there will be more focus on fleet as well. Corporates do make use of the service in the UK but the trouble is we have such a small number of dealers that it's limited."
He said the amount of dealers offering the service was due to "approximately double" and would spread to sites outside of the Robins & Day group, though he did not say how long this would take.
The scheme is also due to merge with Peugeot's national daily rental operation, and will split into specific streams aimed at consumers and businesses. "It's almost going to be Mu by Peugeot Retail and Mu by Peugeot Professional," said Pockett.
At present, customers have to become members in order to access the vehicles but this is set to change in order to make the programme more flexible. "Originally the website was set up where you would have to join to be a member, but from 2015 onwards you won't have to be a member. When the scheme was originally set up it was quite regimented and we're now looking at what customers want a bit more. It might not be a case of collecting [the vehicle] from a dealership - we need to identify where [customers are] getting their cars from, how they're using them, and we're trying to be more flexible."
Other developments for next year will include a new booking website, increased marketing and updated back office systems.
Pockett admitted that the scheme had previously suffered due to being passed between different managers at head office, but said recent stability had led to a "30% increase this year over last year. It's [now] competing well against the likes of Avis and other car clubs."
Peugeot is also considering keyless entry technology for Mu vehicles based at businesses, similar to systems used by leasing firm Alphabet's Alpha City car-pool service and car-sharing company Zipcar.
"For businesses and fleets, we have looked into the keyless entry thing," said Pockett, "where you'd have a group of cars based at a business, accessed with a fob or something like that. This has already been established [with the Mu programme] in some other markets."
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