Avis Announces One-third of its Fleet is Officially Connected
Car rental firm presses on to hook up vehicles internationally
Avis has announced that it’s already connected 200,000 of its vehicles to its cloud-based technology platform. The company says it has already shown reduced operating costs and garnered positive feedback from its customers. And while they have roughly 400,000 vehicles left to hook up around the planet, the company is happy over the results on their bottom line.
“We’re seeing not only near-term, bottom-line benefits from our connected initiative, but also setting the stage for long-term growth by unlocking new opportunities for products, services and partnerships previously impossible,” said Arthur Orduña, chief innovation officer of Avis Budget Group.
Avis also outlined three areas that will continue to be of primary focus in 2020.
They’ll still press for greater efficiency to its operations once all 600,000 are connected. So far, connectivity has resulted in faster access to data and analytics that Avis will need for improved fleet management. Real-time status reports on everything from fuel usage to tire pressure is leading the company to realize fewer costs associated with maintaining a vehicle inventory.
Additionally, its customer service has reportedly improved thanks to its upgraded mobile app, which is demonstrating that customers have greater control over their accounts. It’s already garnered global recognition, thanks to a recent award given to them by J.D. Power. And with greater connectivity, Avis clients will be able to get faster access to vehicles, especially at airports, while they won’t require an attendant to visually inspect the rental upon its return. Connectivity, which includes three-dimensional imaging for more thorough assessments of a vehicle’s condition, will have already taken care of that detail.
Additional goals for 2020 include additional revenue streams beyond its traditional car rental business model. It’s already providing vehicles and other services to ride-sharing companies like Lyft (which announced plans to get into the car rental game), Uber and Via.
They’ve also hooked up with information technology company Otonomo to explore new opportunities from the marketing data they can retrieve from its fleet, and plan to investigate other avenues like the public sector to see how they can cut downs on traffic congestion and fuel emissions. Finally, encouraged by their work with vehicle technologists Arrive, which added a feature to the revamped Avis app for customers to take advantage of finding valuable parking space, Avis plans to find ways to provide more options to its consumer base.
“We’ve really just scratched the surface of the potential of our connected initiative,” said Orduña. “We look forward to unlocking even more possibilities in 2020 and beyond.”
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