A new voluntary industry standard covering dealer deliveries of cars and vans to fleet customers has launched with the Association of Fleet Professionals.
The AFP Dealer Standard consists of 28 points covering pre-delivery standards, the condition of the vehicle on handover and familiarisation with its key functions.
Paul Hollick, chair at the AFP, explained: “The Dealer Standard is quite simple in its intent – to ensure that the vehicle is delivered in excellent condition to the fleet end user, who is shown the fundamentals of how it works and treated courteously.
“The need for this kind of benchmark has become apparent over time as a number of factors have emerged. Probably the most significant is that cars and vans have been rapidly becoming more complex. The time when a driver could sit in the seat of a new model and work out all the key functions in a couple of minutes are long gone.
“Modern vehicles require a degree of familiarisation on handover – especially in instances where drivers are adopting an electric model for the first time – in order to be used safely and effectively.
“At the same time as this requirement has become essential, issues such as the pandemic and supply issues have placed dealers and the logistics sector under considerable pressure, meaning that handover standards have varied considerably. What we hope to encourage is a high degree of consistency in important areas such as ensuring that vehicles arrive with a high level of charge.”