Independent Swedish electric performance car manufacturer, Polestar, has signed a three-year deal with automotive technology provider, Ebbon-Dacs, to directly deploy its market-leading Leaselink e-procurement platform to process new car orders in two markets.
The arrangement will see a launch in the UK with a major international leasing company, which has now gone live, with a similar pilot scheme running in the Netherlands. The solution will then be rolled out to lease companies in both countries who are users of the Leaselink platform. Under the arrangement, lease companies will use a new innovative, order in/order out module within Leaselink to send orders directly to Polestar for fulfillment.
Polestar, which was founded by Volvo Cars and Geely Holding in 2017 and is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, has a current model range of two cars, the electric performance hybrid, Polestar 1, and the high performance all-electric fastback, Polestar 2.
The focus of the new fleet initiative in the UK and the Netherlands will be Polestar 2, which was launched last autumn and produces 408hp and 660nm with a maximum fully electric range of 292 miles (WLTP).
Kay Saunders, Head of Fleet Operations, who is responsible for the project for Polestar, said the use of Leaselink was critical to fulfilling orders for fleet customers in both the UK and the Netherlands. “To make our customer journey as straightforward and easy as possible, we needed two things: simplicity and automation. Leaselink delivers both and will make a real difference to our business. After the launch in the UK, we intend to roll this out to all the other major leasing companies who use Leaselink. In the Netherlands we will use a similar approach.”
Saunders said that since the Coronavirus pandemic, interest in electric cars had accelerated. “While there has been a slowdown in retail orders due to various lockdowns, fleet has been different as it has given companies time to re-evaluate their fleet policies and introduce a wider range of electric vehicles for drivers to choose from. So, the timing of this new partnership with Ebbon-Dacs and Leaselink is ideal for us,” she said.
Ebbon-Dacs Chief Commercial officer, Justine Hawkins, said the partnership with Polestar revolutionized the way Leaselink can be utilized by manufacturers or retailers. “The order in/order out module processes order data from the manufacturer or retailer to update key vehicle data, delivery dates and status directly into the lease company’s back office. This provides our leasing community with accurate, real time updates and information which eradicates errors and improves order communications for end user customers. We are delighted to be working with Polestar to launch this new, innovative module,” she said.
Along with Derby-UK based risk management and license checking specialist, Licence Check, and the recently-formed Ebbon Intelligence business entity which specializes in automotive AI, Ebbon-Dacs is part of the international Ebbon Group.
