Independent Swedish electric performance car manufacturer, Polestar, has signed a deal with Oxford-based automotive technology provider, Ebbon-Dacs, to directly deploy its market-leading Leaselink e-procurement platform to process new car orders in the UK and the Netherlands.
The new arrangement has seen a launch in the UK with a major international leasing company, with a similar scheme running in the Netherlands. The solution will then be rolled out to lease companies in both countries who are existing users of Ebbon-Dacs’ Leaselink platform.
Under the arrangement, lease companies will use a new innovative, OrderLink module within Leaselink to send orders directly to Polestar for fulfillment.
Polestar, which was founded by Volvo Cars and Geely Holding in 2017, is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. The focus of the new initiative in the UK and the Netherlands will be the high performance all-electric fastback, Polestar 2, which was launched last autumn and produces 408hp 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. Following the launch in the UK, we intend to roll this out to all the other major leasing companies who use Leaselink and will use a similar approach in the Netherlands.
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.
In the Netherlands, leasing company Athlon is using the new OrderLink module for the direct processing of all new vehicle orders from Polestar. And by adopting the new, innovative OrderLink module in Leaselink, Athlon is now able to send orders directly to Polestar for fulfillment.
As in the UK, OrderLink will be rolled out to other leasing companies in the Netherlands that are users of the Leaselink platform which electronically connects communities of leasing companies, manufacturers and dealers.
Virginia Azavedo, Operations Director of Athlon, said: “Athlon strives to unburden our customers as much as possible and to make their lives easier. By automating the ordering process and making it transparent, as Leaselink wants to do, we can fulfill that promise even more – and now including electric cars, which is an important segment for us.”
According to Justine Hawkins, Chief Commercial Officer of Ebbon-Dacs, the partnership with Polestar has revolutionized the way Leaselink can be used by manufacturers or retailers. “The Orderlink module processes order data from the manufacturer or retailer to update key vehicle data, delivery dates and status directly in the leasing company’s back office. This provides our leasing community with accurate, real-time updates and information, eliminating errors and improves order communication for end users. We are delighted to be working with Polestar to launch this new, innovative module,” she said.
