- Pictured above are Andy Bruce (left) and Nigel McMinn of Fleet Alliance
THE directors of Fleet Alliance, Andy Bruce and Nigel McMinn, have invested in AutoBuzz, a customer handover communications platform.
Bruce and McMinn, CEO and COO respectively of the Glasgow based leasing broker and fleet management business, said the investment was for a minority stake and they were taking a non-executive advisory role in AutoComms Solutions which owns the AutoBuzz platform.
AutoBuzz operates between order and vehicle handover in the retail space. AutoComms Solutions says it helps to keep customers excited about the arrival of their new vehicle with personalised and localised content throughout the post-order, pre-handover gap.
The founders of AutoComms have identified a huge opportunity within the retail automotive industry around the car buying process; and both Nigel and I are very excited about the journey that the business is on. The technology has proven to positively impact customer satisfaction levels as well as selling additional products and services. The ROI to retailers and OEMs is hugely compelling.
Andy continued to say that a further key benefit was the lack of order cancellations because the product kept the car buyer invested in the purchase.
“The same issues apply in the fleet and leasing sector, where we are suffering long lead times between vehicle order and delivery.”
He added that they would be working with AutoComms to explore developing the product for application in the broker and leasing market.
We know the retail automotive space well, but we are now immersed in the fleet and leasing sector and AutoBuzz can easily support some key challenges in this world. Fleet managers and their drivers need a lot of information about their vehicle as well as its latest delivery updates.
Prior to joining Fleet Alliance in 2021, both Bruce and McMinn had a successful career in the retail industry with Lookers plc.
Bruce added that, despite the investment, their core focus remained on developing and managing the Fleet Alliance business.
“We are non-exec advisers to AutoComms,” Andy added. “That doesn’t detract from our central business which is successfully managing the development of Fleet Alliance.”
What is AutoBuzz?
AutoBuzz is a tech platform that connects dealers with customers between order and handover. The directors of AutoComms say they are on a mission to remove buyer anxiety and replace it with engaged, excited customers who can be handled in the most productive way. “We’re all very excited to see how we can develop the technology together at a time when maximising customer value and giving exceptional customer experience is a top priority being discussed at automotive board room level up and down the country,” added CEO and co-founder of AutoComms Solutions, Ingram Sanders.
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Ralph Morton is the leading journalist in the leasing broker sector and editor of Broker News, the website which provides information and news for BVRLA-registered leasing brokers. He also writes extensively on the fleet and leasing market in both the UK and Europe.
