By Richard Mallek, Director of Business Development, FLD Remarketing
Earlier this year I wrote an article for Fleet Management Weekly titled “There May Never Be a Better Time to Remarket Vehicles and Equipment.” And despite the fact that the fleet industry continues to experience a variety of challenges, that may be even more true today than it was just four short months ago for several reasons, including:
- Historically high resale prices caused by new vehicle and driver shortages
- The need for fleets to right size at a time when business models and missions are changing
- A desire for liquidity and flexibility
- Risk avoidance
- Higher ROI
But of all the reasons there may never be a better time to sell used vehicles and equipment, the truth is that one stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Lower total cost of ownership.
More commonly known as TCO, total cost of ownership represents a vehicle’s total fixed costs until the day it finally sells, and fleets are no longer responsible for the risks that come along with owning it. Achieving lower total cost of ownership on vehicles is the “holy grail” all fleets strive for. And of all the things that affect total cost of ownership, a recent study conducted by FLD recently shows that one factor has more to do with a vehicle’s total cost of ownership than any other:
The speed of sale when remarketing a vehicle.
Why?
Simply put, taking an end of lease vehicle out of service doesn’t stop the litany of costs that continue to stack up every day until it’s finally sold, and the check arrives, a process that can often take weeks or months. And chief among those costs are the monthly lease payments, which alone can account for several thousand dollars a month.
Add in other costs like interest, fees and depreciation and it’s easy to see why remarketing an end of lease vehicle may be one of the riskiest times in a vehicle’s lifecycle. And, why selling it as quickly as possible is the key to reducing that risk and lowering total cost of ownership. As you can see from the chart below, the actual fixed costs of a leased vehicle pile-up pretty quickly.
At FLD, lowering a vehicle’s total cost of ownership has been our mission since the company first got started more than four decades ago. As a remarketing pioneer, we know it’s the most important thing we can do to help customers avoid risk. And while other remarketing options may offer a slightly higher price for used vehicles, FLD is the only remarketing partner that assumes all a seller’s risk by taking an ownership stake in every vehicle we remarket.
How?
With FLD, vehicle sellers can essentially start – and finish – the entire remarketing process in just a few short days, rather than having to wait weeks or months racking up costs while a vehicle winds its way through traditional remarketing channels. With FLD, there’s no waiting on a vehicle to sell at auction. No haggling with dealers or accepting whatever price your FMC will give you. And no wasting valuable time, money and resources waiting for the remarketing process to finally run its course.
Now, instead of throwing caution to the wind and taking their chances on traditional remarketing channels, fleets can essentially sidestep risk by getting an offer from FLD in hours and paid the next day for the full amount they agree to. Once payment is received, that’s it – the remarketing process is finished, and sellers are free to move on to more important things without their vehicle continuing to pile up a litany of expenses.
And with FLD’s online WebAccess tool, sellers can even get an offer on any used vehicle in real time from any device, anywhere, anytime. Even while it’s still in service, essentially amounting to “Zero Days to Sale” – the fastest way to sell a vehicle in the industry.
With traditional remarketing channels, the meter keeps running until you have a check in hand, driving up the total cost of ownership and increasing the possibility something could go wrong along the way. At FLD, eliminating risk and lowering TCO is not some kind of new fad, it’s perhaps the most important reason fleets have turned to us for their remarketing needs for over four decades.
So, remember. If your fleet is looking for ways to avoid risk and lower a vehicle’s total cost of ownership, your friends at FLD will always be ready with an offer in hours, a check the next day, and over 40 years of expertise to help you get it done faster than anyone else in the business.
Richard Mallek is Director of Business Development at FLD Remarketing, and a fleet industry veteran with more than a decade of remarketing experience. To learn more about how your fleet can eliminate risk and lower total cost of ownership, you can reach him at 1 (800) 754-1522, or by emailing him at [email protected].
