The UK arm of German car manufacturer BMW is in the process of
trialling a new online system for selling fleet cars direct to its
corporate customers.
The BMW Direct initiative, which is currently being trialled with a
number of anonymous UK fleet customers, is the result of nine
months of intensive development work to build a system that would
allow corporate customers to configure and order fleet cars online.
If successful, the pilot project, which uses the Internet to give
customers direct access to the manufacturer, will be rolled out
across the rest of the group's operations. The pilot phase is set
to close by the end of the year, when the service will go live to
customers.
According to Richard Downes, e-commerce and customer relationship
manager at BMW UK, one of the main drivers behind the initiative
was a move to stave off the competition.
"The original idea was a defensive move against the competition, at
a time when everyone believed the Internet was going to sweep all
before it and make established sales methods obsolete," he said.
Potential threats at the time included outfits such as Virgin and
OneSwoop. "We have a lot of major international customers, so we
wanted to have a credible alternative," said Downes.
The move was also a response to customer demand for direct contact
with BMW, he added.
The system allows business customers to configure their own
vehicle, which is then checked, authorised and dispatched
electronically by the fleet manager.
"Each company has different sign-off and authorisation procedures
and this acts as a reporting tool for the fleet managers. Using
this, they can track employee activity, thereby reducing the amount
of administration involved in getting a car. This then streamlines
the process and reduces costs," said Downes.