The fleet industry needs to start encouraging a sector-wide conversation about Brexit in order to make preparations, says Meridian Vehicle Solutions.
Phil Jerome, managing director at the medium term rental specialist, said that he understood the current lack of dialogue given the ongoing absence of clarity about exactly what form leaving the EU would take.
However, with only a few months left to March 29 and EU withdrawal, now was the time to start talking about the potential pitfalls and how they might be tackled.
“The motor industry as a whole has not been slow to make their forecasts about the impact of Brexit known, thanks to statements by everyone from Jaguar Land Rover to Toyota. However, there has been very little said across the fleet industry.
“To some extent, this is understandable. Nearly two thirds of businesses across the whole of the economy have yet to do a risk assessment about Brexit, according to the British Chambers of Commerce, and there remains no answer to the simple question, ‘How do you prepare for something when you don’t know what it is yet?
“However, the potential issues that Brexit could create are considerable and we should at least begin having conversations about some of the key risk factors.”
Possible problems, Phil said, could include everything from new vehicle and parts availability through to labour shortages in vehicle maintenance, transportation and preparation.