Fleets in the East of England are the most likely to choose independent garages over franchise dealers for service, maintenance, and repair (SMR) work, while those in Wales are the least likely, according to new data from Epyx.
The figures reveal that 62% of fleet SMR jobs in the East of England were carried out by independent garages, with the remaining 38% handled by franchise dealers. By contrast, Wales recorded the lowest proportion of independent use, at 46%.
The data comes from Epyx’s 1link Service Network SMR platform, which supports fleets with a combined total of over four million vehicles.
Tim Meadows, CCO at Epyx, commenting on the findings, said: “These regional variations are quite wide and, to some extent, unexpected. It would seem sensible to suggest that the high use of independents in the East of England might be due to relatively few franchise dealers being available in an area that remains largely rural – but Wales has the lowest use of independents and is a similar kind of region in those respects.
“Instead, it seems likely that the patterns being seen in the data across the UK are based not just on local factors but the preferences of fleets when it comes to their individual SMR policies, and the type and age of vehicles they operate. We know, for example, that both older vehicles and vans are more likely to be maintained at independents, while newer prestige cars are normally serviced by franchise dealers.”
Additional insights from epyx’s data reveal how fleet maintenance choices vary by vehicle category:
- Company cars: 44% serviced by independents
- Vans: 72% serviced by independents
- Hybrid vehicles: 32% serviced by independents
- Electric vehicles (EVs): 42% serviced by independents
- Petrol & diesel vehicles: 62% serviced by independents
Meadows added: “Some of these trends can largely be explained by fleet policies, which are often influenced by the preferences of the used market and their impact on residual values. Used car buyers are generally reassured by the presence of a franchise dealer service history, while van buyers are much less concerned about where a vehicle has been maintained.
“It’s also interesting to note that 42% of maintenance jobs for EVs are being undertaken by independents. Of course, some of these will be general maintenance work that is common to all types of vehicles, but the data does suggest that the independent sector is gearing up to offer fleets a wider range of EV SMR services – something that we also hear in anecdotal feedback.”