Renault has introduced a series of improvements for its business customers under the banner ‘Renault Business Promise’.

UK fleet sales have become a major focus for manufacturers who are preparing for a decline in retail sales.

Fleet saes so far this year are nearly two-and-a-half times greater than the same period last year.

Renault's new Business Promise is founded upon five pillars promising Renault’s level of service for its business customers matches the levels of quality in its cars and vans.

"They set out to ensure that business customers of every fleet size benefit from the most complete care package offered by any manufacturer through a combination of warranty, recovery, servicing and delivery promises," says Renault.

The changes are effective immediately and include a business customer commitment. This consists of several commitments, designed to give confidence and convenience to customers, whilst reinforcing the message that the company has full belief in the quality of its vehicles with its three-year guaranteed mobility pledge.

As part of the commitment, for one of four eventualities, a replacement car or van, like-for-like whenever possible, will be made available to keep businesses on the road.

The first circumstance is that the French marque commits to delivering a new vehicle by a set date, agreed at the time of ordering, and if it is not, then a loan vehicle will be dispatched in its place. Secondly, if the vehicle is recovered at the roadside. Thirdly, if parts are unavailable for longer than 24 hours and lastly, if a repair involves warranty work over three hours.

On top of this, roadside assistance has been enhanced from two years to three, including home and European cover. In the event of a breakdown, a replacement car or van will be offered for up to three days.

Renault’s promise also aims to keep fleets on the road for as much time as possible when the time comes for service, maintenance and repair.

Service booking lead times will be guaranteed to be no longer than 48 hours for Pro+ dealerships and 72 hours for the rest of the network, with 120-minute ‘Pit Stop’ servicing on offer for routine service and maintenance.

 

In addition, free wi-fi will shortly be rolled out across most of the Renault network.

There will also be clearer pricing, with free fitment of items like screenwash, wiper blades and light bulbs at the time of service, plus no environment charges.

In addition, every dealership now has a business customer contact for both sales and service.

Courtesy vehicles are available (subject to availability) across the Renault network for service bookings.

A wash and vacuum service will be undertaken with every routine service booking, plus free collection and delivery within a 20-mile radius for vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes (10 in urban areas).

Renault has also introduced an accident support line which is available 24/7 and will assist and guide any driver in the event of an incident, regardless of fault.

The second pillar, designed to attract primarily contract hire company business, is a new nationwide dealer maximum labour rate pricing structure across the full Renault network, split into three geographic and price bands.

Priced from £49 to £62, the set-up ensure that business customers are never charged more than their pre-set rate, regardless of which outlet they choose to use.

The fleet service commitment is available to ‘Epyx 1Link’ system users, or via contract hire and leasing companies using the system.

The third pillar of the Renault Business Promise focuses on reducing service, maintenance and repair costs for customers.

The first part of this is a lower cost interim service for higher mileage drivers, 20,000 miles per year.

Available optionally, these services are carried out on odd-numbered service intervals, replacing a full Renault service, and reduce costs for the customer through shorter servicing times and by ensuring that essential safety and maintenance checks are not unnecessarily duplicated.

Over 3 years/60,000 miles, this would save a customer £50 on servicing hour charges (based on a London labour rate of £62 per hour).