Dealers can increase aftersales profitability by targeting vehicles based on age, according to TekCor4.
The aftersales technology company said that older vehicle maintenance was more profitable, due to these vehicles’ increased need for unscheduled work.
TekCor4 said it had analysed workshop visits made within the past 12 months by more than 2.4 million vehicles aged between one and seven years old. It found that for ICE vehicles, the average invoice value per annum was £372, which increased every year to reach £592 at seven years, while for EVs the average was £292, with the peak £647 in year six.
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It said that because routine service costs did not increase with age, and in fact could fall with some manufacturers, the increases were largely due to unscheduled work, with six out of 10 workshop visits for seven-year-old cars not involving a scheduled service.
According to TekCor4, for a typical three-year-old vehicle, 49% of annual billable value comes from servicing, while the remaining 51% is from unscheduled work. The unscheduled work percentage rises to 70% at seven years, and 75% at 10 years.
Data allows profitability focus
TekCor4 says it can help workshops accurately predict work required for specific vehicles by combining OEMs’ latest maintenance and repair schedules with millions of dealer workshop records, and can use these and other sources to identify the most profitable aftersales work for different vehicles at different ages.
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Jeremy Evans, director of marketing services for TekCor4, including digital marketing agency Marketing Delivery, said: “Many car owners are keeping their vehicles for longer, which presents a significant opportunity for aftersales departments to both foster customer loyalty and increase their average customer lifetime value.
“Retailers can use AI-driven tools to predict upcoming aftersales work and then issue automated, hyper-targeted communications that drive retention and boost workshop profitability.”