By Brian Matuszewski, Sustainable Strategies Manager, ARI

The rise of the “sharing economy” may be one of the most disruptive forces currently affecting our modern economy

Advancements in information technology are leading more and more consumers to value convenient access to things over ownership of things. Broadly defined, the sharing economy is an economic model in which individuals are able to borrow or rent assets owned by someone else. “Access trumps ownership” is the common mantra used for describing the value proposition of the sharing economy. Individuals can now hail a private taxi via a smartphone and book a room in someone’s private home – and these are just the very early days.

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By Jeofrey Bean

To Improve customer retention and loyalty you must aim for THE HOLY GRAIL of customer experience.

Do this by purposefully creating a customer experience that goes beyond traditional customer service and customer satisfaction. Segment customers by experience creates with the measurable goal of creating active advocates for your business. Customer experience leaders consider: What should the customer experience be? and then consciously creates a complete experience to answer that question.

But one size (or one experience) doesn’t fit all. Segments or groups of customers may require different experiences. If your company can tailor the customer experience to a variety of customer segments, it will be on track to providing every customer with a great experience and increasing your percentage of active advocates.

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PARS, a leader in fleet vehicle transport and logistics, announced a new Open Safety Recall Check service. The new complimentary feature, based on a real-time feed of open safety recall data from NHTSA’s safercar.gov database, protects drivers and clients from potential safety and liability issues resulting from recalls.

According to PARS president Lori Rasmussen, PARS will initiate a check for open safety recalls after the submission of each order: “If any open safety recalls are found, you receive immediate notice, and the order is placed on “Hold” until we obtain the client’s guidance.”

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Federal Times

The General Services Administration is adding efficiency to fleet vehicles by tracking data on their use. As a result of the March 25 executive order to make fleet vehicles more sustainable and emit fewer greenhouse gases over the next decade, the GSA is now providing vehicles with telematics, the term for devices that gather and store data on vehicle use.

Telematics involves installing “black box” devices that track information like fuel consumption and driver behavior to increase fleet efficiency.

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Reuters

Ford Motor Co. is developing new ride-hailing services and investing $4.5 billion to expand its fleet of plug-in and hybrid electric vehicles, company executives said Thursday.

The initiatives are part of a broader effort by Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields to counter threats posed by companies offering alternatives to car ownership and regulators who want vehicles to emit less carbon dioxide.

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New York Times

By 2025, New York City is planning to employ the largest municipal fleet of electric vehicles in the country, along with a sprawling network of charging stations to go with it.

Under a plan announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday, around 2,000 city-owned sedans, used by local agencies like the Transportation Department and the Parks and Recreation Department, would be replaced with electric vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf over the next decade.

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IIHS.org

Nearly 50 vehicles meet tougher criteria for 2016 to take home the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s TOP SAFETY PICK+ award, earning good ratings in all five IIHS crashworthiness evaluations and an advanced or higher rating for front crash prevention. An additional 13 models qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK.

“We asked auto manufacturers to do more this year to qualify for our safety awards, and they delivered,” says Adrian Lund, IIHS president. “For the first time, a good rating in the challenging small overlap front crash test is a requirement to win, in addition to an available front crash prevention system. How that system rates determines whether a vehicle will earn TOP SAFETY PICK+ or TOP SAFETY PICK.”

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The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) recently released its annual Holiday Vehicle Theft Report, which found that New Year’s Day is the second most popular holiday for auto thefts, with 2,011 cars stolen on that day in 2014. New Year’s Eve and Christmas Eve were not far behind on the list, with 1,858 and 1,750 vehicle thefts, respectively.

With the holidays approaching, we wanted to provide your readers with a few tips to prevent auto theft during the festive season, courtesy of Pat Clancy, VP of LoJack law enforcement. As background, LoJack is a Canton, Mass.-based auto security company that has helped more than nine million people protect their vehicles in the event of theft over the past 25+ years.

CLICK HERE to see the 5 Tips to Prevent Auto Theft

By Reinier Willems, International Marketing Director, LeasePlan International

The day-to-day basics of managing hundreds, or even thousands, of vehicles and drivers are very demanding. That can mean opportunities for adding value are frequently overlooked, either because they’re not noticed, or because there simply isn’t enough time in the day to even consider them.

But what if you could easily access real fleet and market insights – to take the guesswork out of managing a global fleet and start really improving your operations?

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The Car Connection

Look at any parking lot, and you’ll notice two kinds of people: those who, upon finding back-to-back spots, pull through to the other side so they can drive straight out when their shopping errands are done, and those who stop at the dividing line, preferring to back out into traffic.

According to AAA, one of those people is doing it wrong.

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