Pinewood supports EV retailers to maximise workshop returns

It’s no longer a debate of whether electric vehicles will take off or turn out to be a passing trend. With the UK Government insisting that 50% of new vehicles will be zero emissions by 20281, and 100% by 20352, the change is now a reality.

According to Pinewood Technologies, dealers must make use of the tools in their DMS to uncover new profit opportunities and stay ahead of the curve when it comes to electric vehicles. Pinewood has been working with dealers across the Nordics where 84% of all new cars sold across Norway in January 2022 were electric vehicles3.

Stine Mundal Hagen, Corporate Business Development Manager for Porsche Norway said: “Pinewood DMS has given us the perfect tool with which we can monitor and steer all aspects from trade-ins, car sales to service and used cars. Combining this with the financial capabilities of the system, we have reached new levels of process excellence in our operations. Pinewood’s extensive experience in the retail car industry has greatly helped us in our quest for increased value and service for our customers.”

It’s no secret that hybrid and electric vehicles have fewer serviceable parts and longer service intervals than traditional petrol or diesel cars. Because of this, electric vehicles may appear less profitable for workshops on the surface. However, dealers can prepare their teams with alternative ways to bridge this revenue gap.

Timely communications

It’s vital that dealers use their DMS effectively to maximise profits. Service Advisors must ensure every customer receives regular reminders, with a link to book their car in. Mark Davis, Dealer Principal at Brighton Honda explains that being able to set contact plans and send branded service reminders in Pinewood DMS is essential for his business –

“The customer experience is great with Pinewood DMS. We can send text reminders in a touch of a button from the service department. It’s really brought us into the 21st century with what people now expect with their online experience.”

Increase upsell

After securing the booking, Service Advisors are presented with a golden opportunity – to upsell more cosmetic repairs, like dents and paintwork. With a system like Pinewood DMS, dealers can create custom checklists and adapt services by brand or vehicle type, helping Technicians to identify and upsell more additional work.

Save time managing multiple teams

Servicing electric vehicles requires working with batteries, so dealers will need to expand or upskill their aftersales teams to include electrical engineers. Inevitably, dealers need a system that handles multiple labour rates – especially if the workshop caters for both hybrid/ electric and petrol/ diesel engines. Many systems on the market are not equipped to handle this, so dealers must weigh up the implications and challenges if their system falls into this category. Without a sufficient DMS, dealers will need to manually calculate the labour rates – which can be inefficient and time-consuming.

Planning ahead to maximise productivity

Vehicle retailers must consider the extra safety precautions needed to run an electric vehicle workshop – such as handling high voltage batteries, and accessing specialist tools and equipment. This will involve building separate workstations for EV teams, safely distanced from the petrol/ diesel vehicle bays. The changes will affect the workshop diary, so it’s key to get a DMS that can handle this, to maximise productivity and draw the best possible returns.

For example, Pinewood’s Workshop Planner makes it easy to manage different skillsets and service teams, or schedule repairs based on productive hours for each area – saving hours and boosting efficiency for EV Workshop Controllers.

The future for EV dealers…

With electric vehicle sales only set to increase, dealers need to have the right tools in place to maximise revenue and profits. With close relationships supporting dealers in the leading electric vehicle markets worldwide, Pinewood offers a strong solution for EV retailers.

If vehicle retailers are interested in learning more about Pinewood’s EV offering, visit: www.pinewood.co.uk/contact-us

REFERENCES:

Sharpe, T. (2022, April 8). Government proposes that half of all new car sales must be EV by 2028. Retrieved from AM-online: https://www.am-online.com/news/market-insight/2022/04/08/government-proposes-that-half-of-all-new-car-sales-must-be-ev-by-2028

COP26 declaration on accelerating the transition to 100% zero emission cars and vans. (2022, Apr 8). Retrieved from gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cop26-declaration-zero-emission-cars-and-vans/cop26-declaration-on-accelerating-the-transition-to-100-zero-emission-cars-and-vans

Hill, J. (2022, February 3). Norway’s stunning new EV numbers: 84% of new car sales in January all electric. Retrieved from The Driven: https://thedriven.io/2022/02/03/norways-stunning-new-ev-numbers-84-of-new-car-sales-in-january-all-electric/