By Ed Pierce, Fleet Management Weekly’s Brand Acceleration

Branding and marketing are essential elements of a successful fleet supplier’s growth strategy. However, they are often misunderstood and confused. While they share similarities, branding and marketing are distinct concepts with different objectives.

Any fleet supplier can achieve its growth goals by understanding these differences and exploring the potential synergies through the right combination of both.

Branding involves creating a unique identity for your business and its products or services. Contrarily, marketing promotes a brand and its products to a specific user base, such as prospects and customers, to meet its growth goals.

A combined branding and marketing approach can be highly successful for B2B companies. By combining branding and marketing initiatives, businesses may develop a strong brand identity and produce leads and sales.

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(Photo: Kevin Clark, Interim Vice President of Sales at Fleet Services by Cox Automotive)

By Fleet Management Weekly Staff 

Fleet Services by Cox Automotive manages a team of thousands of the industry’s top technicians, performing 24/7 emergency mobile service for fleets of all sizes.

Not only do they seek out the best and the brightest to add to their team of trained technicians, but their FleeTec Academy is buffering the technician shortage by training new technicians and providing them with the tools they need to succeed.

To learn more about Fleet Services and what they can offer both fleets and technicians alike, we spoke with Kevin Clark, Interim Vice President of Sales at Fleet Services by Cox Automotive.

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WEX, the global commerce platform that simplifies the business of running a business of payments, fleet management, and employee benefits, hosted the LinkedIn Live panel discussion, “Navigating Economic and Energy Shifts in a Mixed-Fuel World.”

Industry experts Carlos Carriedo, COO, WEX; Adam Woolway, VP of Global Energy Transition at WEX; Nick Woolley, CEO, ev.energy; and Dr. Jose Serras-Pereira, Director, Global Mobility, Frost & Sullivan, unpacked the toughest questions facing fleet operators.

This conversation emphasized the growing importance of electric vehicles (EV) in the fleet industry, the need for a strategic approach to transitioning to mixed-energy fleets, and the various factors that influence EV adoption decisions.

Highlights included a discussion about how mixed-energy fleets are becoming increasingly common. Fleet operators are transitioning to a mix of EVs, hybrids, and traditional fuel vehicles to optimize cost, sustainability, and operational efficiency.

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According to LexisNexis, 27% of cars involved in accidents are now considered totaled, a significant jump from just 19% in 2018. And that wasn’t a one-off year: the percentage has risen steadily each year since, suggesting this trend isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

Cars are more capable and safer than they’ve ever been. At the same time, the systems that make them so are costing consumers way more in premiums.

Thus, when it comes to safety, it definitely comes at a price when buying or leasing a new car equipped with the latest tech. Replacing a bumper now often means replacing a bumper possibly packed with radar, lidar, and ultrasonic sensors.

via CarScoops

Another day, another report of Tesla sales dropping. The automaker’s performance in Europe has not been exactly stellar lately, with February sales down 10% in Spain, 42% in Sweden, 45% in France, 48% in Norway and Denmark, 53% in Portugal, 55% in Italy, and a whopping 76% in Germany, as reported by Reuters.

The high drop in Germany, may be contributed to Musk’s support of far-right parties like Germany’s AfD that has hurt his company’s reputation.

Things are looking grim even outside Europe, with a 66% drop in Australia and 49% in China, where BYD reigns supreme with Xiaomi hot on its tail.

via Autoblog

One of the biggest arguments for steering clear of electric vehicles and going for a pure combustion or plug-in hybrid is the cost of repairs.

The huge battery pack nestled in the floor of an EV is the most expensive part of the car. That’s likely a $15,000 repair bill by itself, never mind other damage to the vehicle.

But statistical data is here to calm the nerves of current and potential EV owners. According to Mitchell, a company that delivers smart technology solutions and services to the auto insurance and collision repair industries, the average cost of repairing an EV last year in the United States was on par with newer combustion vehicles.

via InsideEVs

Following approval from Transport Canada, EV startup Workhorse will be bringing the W56 and W750 model electric delivery vans to commercial truck dealers in Canada as early as this spring.

“This is a major step forward for Workhorse,” says Josh Anderson, Workhorse’s chief technology officer in a press statement. “Pre-clearance from Transport Canada opens up a large new market for our products throughout Canada, including with fleets that operate across borders in North America.”

It remains to be seen if and how the latest tariff-driven trade war between the Trump Administration’s US and Canada will impact Workhorse’s plans to expand throughout North America.

via Electrek

Sustainability efforts have enabled businesses to boost profitability, unlock new markets, attract and retain new customers, and even spark innovation. While terms like ESG—shorthand for environmental, social, and governance initiatives—may have become politicized in recent years, the outcomes of these pursuits are hard to deny.

There is no better time to start measuring vehicle emissions and taking steps to reduce them. The journey to a zero emissions world begins with an assessment of the organization’s current state.

Whether your company provides vehicles for employees to use on the job, or your organization supports the use of personal vehicles for work, there are likely major opportunities to make your vehicle program the centerpiece of your corporate sustainability efforts. The Motus 2025 Sustainability Report offers the insight to show you how.

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Embark Safety has partnered with Smith System to integrate over 200 online driver training lessons into its MVR Monitoring platform.

With this new partnership, Embark Safety clients will have access to a vast library of educational content designed to address critical areas of fleet safety, including distracted driving, defensive driving techniques, and effective driver behavior management.

“We are thrilled to partner with Smith System to offer our clients a variety of online lessons directly within our MVR Monitoring platform,” said Edwin Sosa, CEO of Embark Safety.

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By Tristan Kruth, Head of Marketing, FuelCloud 

Powered by a series of game-changing innovations, fleet management software now delivers more accurate and timely data than ever, which in turn is revolutionizing fleet management best practices.

These systems provide real-time monitoring, automated tracking, and integration with existing fleet platforms.

Since FuelCloud integrated with Fleetio last summer, customers have been able to directly compare vehicle operating costs, and in some cases, been able to provide drivers with specific day-to-day fueling instructions that ultimately reduce operating costs.

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