Fleets need to factor in disposal costs before committing vehicles to remarketing channels, to avoid potentially damaging end of life costs.
That’s according to remarketing firm Adesa, which says vendors and fleets incur ongoing disposal charges because they do not properly assess the cost of defleeting.
The firm’s UK managing director Jonathan Holland said companies should adopt a total cost of disposal (TCD) approach to achieve the best possible returns.
He said: “Fleet cars start racking up costs the moment they reach the end of contract, which is why we advise vendors and fleets to consider TCD as part of their total cost of ownership calculations; this is the missing piece in the running costs equation.”
Adesa says TCD should factor in costs typically incurred between end of contract and resale, including charges for vehicle movements, storage, inspection and refurbishment as well as depreciation.
Holland said: “End of contract cars are not always collected the day they become available and can also spend time in compounds awaiting the next available auction date.
“All the time they are losing value through depreciation, third party stocking costs and daily interest charges accrued whilst the vehicle is moving through the traditional remarketing process.
“From defleet day to a car’s appearance at auction can often take weeks, so vendors and fleets risk being hit by a month’s book drop and costly daily stocking charges – which are seriously downgrading the returns they are achieving.”
Adesa says it has reduced its own defleeting times with its recent launch of Intelligent Vehicle Inspection (IVI).
This uses artificial intelligence to enable drivers to carry out self-appraisals using smartphones or tablets, so that vehicles can be remarketed online before they reach end of contract.