ATS Euromaster launches new digital fleet management tools
ATS Euromaster has introduced two innovative digital tools designed to support fleet managers in their daily operations: the Fleet Manager Portal and the Mobile Booking Tyre Assistant.
ATS Euromaster has introduced two innovative digital tools designed to support fleet managers in their daily operations: the Fleet Manager Portal and the Mobile Booking Tyre Assistant.
After a few years of rapid growth designed to challenge ETEL’s position at the top of the UK tyre retail tree, this year’s data shows that the force of that challenge has diminished and European Tyre Enterprises Ltd (ETEL) is actually extending its lead. The fiercest competition is at the edge of the top five where two manufacturer-connected tyre retail chains have really upped the ante and both have expanded rapidly compared with last year’s table. HiQ comes out as this year’s fastest rise and there have also been significant movements in the mid-table positions as well as some surprising changes towards the end of the top 25.
ATS Euromaster is expanding its successful apprenticeship programme to address the continuing skills shortage in the sector. The company’s investment in training and upskilling has already proven successful, with more apprentices remaining with the company after course completion since the programme was launched in 2022.
ATS Euromaster has appointed Kel Monstad as Territory Sales Manager. Monstad is an experienced sales professional with a background in area sales management outside the automotive industry as well as previous experience in the rental sector.
With shipping routes from Asia to Europe disrupted by Houthi rebel attacks on merchant shipping in the Red Sea, many shipping carriers are avoiding the Suez Canal and take the vastly longer route via South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. Estimates put the additional fuel cost at $2 million (£1.6m) and the journey adds at least 10 days to deliveries for vehicle makers already struggling to ramp up supplies hit by restrictions due to Covid and the Russian campaign against Ukraine, where many car components are made. Both Volvo in Ghent, Belgium, and Tesla in Berlin, Germany, have halted production temporarily as a result. As a result, fleets – especially those with ageing vehicles – ought to invest more in strategic and preventative maintenance, according to ATS Euromaster.
ATS Euromaster has launched a new radio advertising campaign that focuses on the consequences of not turning to a professional to meet both fleet and personal car care needs this winter. This is ATS Euromaster’s first ad campaign since 2017.
ATS Euromaster has launched a web app that allows drivers to book mobile tyre work on their fleet vehicles in real-time. According to ATS Euromaster, it is the first publicly available app that provides this service and follows nine months of research and live trialling. ATS Euromaster expects the app will account for as much as 50 per cent of all of its mobile tyre fitting requests in future.
Jason Chamberlain, sales director at ATS Euromaster, is now also taking over as commercial director role of TrucTyre. In his expanded new role, Chamberlain will be responsible for overseeing and driving business growth for both ATS Euromaster and TrucTyre. According to the company, “the promotion will ensure customers of both ATS Euromaster and TrucTyre get a consistent and high quality level of service, across all vehicle types.”
ATS Euromaster has experienced a significant increase in the volume of SMR work it is now completing, with work on brake changes up 27%, commercial vehicle servicing up 41% and the number of MOTs completed increasing by 8%. The tyre and maintenance provider believes a combination of factors is behind the increased SMR workload, and in response, it is hiring new staff and further training the existing ATS workforce.
There’s no denying that the tyre business has become more digital and connected than ever before, but there are a number of sides to that equation. We know that between 60 and 80 per cent of tyre-buying consumers were doing pre-sale research online before the pandemic. Similarly, industry insiders have been saying that 10 per cent of tyres are bought online for something like a decade now. But anecdotal evidence from tyre retailers themselves reveals that, amongst those working for the large chains at least, many customers walk through the door to receive a tyre change that has already been booked online. Apparently, some of the younger generation just walk in and hold up a QR code on their phone! This month’s Tyres & Accessories looked into these kinds of questions, asking what it means for the tyre business to be digitally native. And it starts with a brand-new ranking of the leading tyre retail, e-tail and tyre comparison websites.
ATS Euromaster says it has seen a significant 216 per cent uplift in the requirement for Class 7 MOTs compared with 2020 as fleet managers adapt to longer commercial vehicle life cycles. With the squeeze on new commercial vehicle availability as a result of the war in Ukraine combined with the shortage of semiconductors since 2020, fleet managers have been adapting fleet lifecycles by making their vans work longer before replacement. The Association of Fleet Professionals recently reported that its members were seeing extensions that ranged five to eight years before replacement. As a result, fleet managers are needing to adapt their management of Service, Maintenance and Repair spend and manage MOT requirements.
Kwik Fit and its other ETEL-related brands (Tyre City, Tyre Pros and Central Tyre) have dominated the UK tyre retail landscape for years. More recently, Halfords has made our annual tyre retail ranking a two-horse race. However, Michelin’s ATS Euromaster network remains a significant player and other chains such as the Micheldever- and ultimately Sumitomo-owned Protyre have grown consistently over a long period of time. But none of that tells the whole story. While big chains generate significant levels of value and volume, franchise networks like HiQ and First Stop represent another dimension. And medium-sized chains are often so good at what they do that they end up being bought by larger businesses at a premium. And yet none of that reflects the importance of the vast majority of the market – the independent tyre businesses with one or two centres. That’s why June’s Tyres & Accessories aimed to present a more panoramic view of the undeniably indispensable tyre retail business. Here, T&A presents our annual tyre retail ranking as a way of keeping you informed of the lay of the land in the ever-changing tyre retail landscape.
ATS Euromaster has appointed Gary Butterworth as central operations manager, effective immediately. Butterworth, who will be field-based, steps up after eight years as area operations manage. In that role, he led up to 28 service centres across southern England.
Fleets are continually looking for ways to minimise their outgoings in the current economic climate. Longer lead times result in fleets running vehicles for extended periods, and many are coming under pressure to contain costs. Longer lifecycles also influence tyre replacement, and ATS Euromaster sales director Jason Chamberlain thus emphasises that it’s in “fleet managers’ best interests to implement a more planned approach to tyre maintenance in order to minimise costs.”
Two months on from the opening of its new tyre fitting and service centre in Hull, and ATS Euromaster reports that the business is “going from strength to strength.” The new premises allows for commercial vehicle servicing including MOT work for class 4 and 7 commercials and for trained technicians to perform routine maintenance on EVs and hybrid vehicles.
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