Europe Fleet management Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

Europe Fleet management Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The Europe fleet management market is registering a CAGR of 16.5% during the forecast period.

• Favorable market regulations, coupled with a growing emphasis on operational efficiency,​ are driving the growth of fleet management in the European region. Various fleet markets in the European region saw registration numbers return to near normal in 2022 after experiencing a notable decrease in numbers and fluctuations since the implementation of the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) deadline.
• Moreover, the vendors operating in the market are focusing on the total cost of mobility instead of the total cost of ownership. This significantly reduces operational costs by boosting productivity, streamlining routes, and giving customers complete clarity over their fleet's activity and condition in an otherwise confusing time. Such developments are expected to increase the return on investment for customers and thus increase the demand for fleet management in the region.
• Further, the vendors are adopting partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions to offer better solutions to customers and deeper insights into their fleet's performance. For instance, Rent-A-Car, UK acquired SHB Hire, which operates a fleet of over 18,500 commercial vehicles. The agreement created one of the UK's largest commercial-vehicle rental businesses, with a combined fleet of more than 45,000 commercial vehicles.
• According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), European Union demand for new commercial vehicles contracted by 34.5%, mainly due to the impact of the coronavirus on March and April results. The region's four major markets posted double-digit percentage drops: Spain (-46.6%), France (-41.6%), Italy (-41.4%), and Germany (-22.5%) due to closures of registration offices and showrooms due to the coronavirus, combined with the production stops in factories. This fall in the numbers will directly impact the fleet management market in the region. In addition to supply-side constraints, the demand is expected to decrease in the short and medium term.

• The need for fleet management solutions is increasing the need to improve the smooth flow of vehicle fleets, keep track of vehicle and driver movements, and ensure reliable registration of all vehicle-related activities. The integration of fleet management software also allows the users to manage the bus fleet efficiently, record entering and leaving buses, and monitor vehicle and driver-related activities.​
• The benefits of fleet management software are that it produces near real-time alerts and notifications about dangerous driving habits. For example, fleet vehicle equipment such as dashboard video cameras allows fleet managers to monitor any incidences of speeding and hard cornering by their drivers.
• The need to avoid exhausted drivers behind the wheel is among the major factors driving the fleet management market growth in the region, for instance, according to the government of the UK. In June 2021, around 1,760 recorded road fatalities were recorded, a 4% drop over the year ending June 2020. Also, 29,804 were killed and seriously injured (KSI) casualties in the same year, a decrease of 6% from the last year.
• Two years back, Verizon Connect also launched an integrated video for Fleet, an extension of its Integrated video for its Reveal product made for fleet customers. The integrated video uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to help businesses improve driver behavior and understand the details of specific driving events. The smart dash-cam solution captures and automatically classifies harsh driving events in near-real-time. It also provides video analysis that can be used to help keep drivers safe on the road, protect them against false claims in the event of an incident, and coach and reward drivers.

• In the construction industry, many moving parts and machinery are involved with high-cost projects; hence, optimization of these asset use through sophisticated fleet management has gained popularity over the years for many operational applications, including maintenance, efficiency, accountability, productivity, and rented equipment.​ With increased emphasis on safety, increasing output, decreasing downtime, and obtaining optimal product lifecycles, careful management of heavy fleet equipment has become more critical in recent years.
• Fleet management allows the organization to the physical location of their equipment and enables digitized and error-free documentation about this equipment using fleet management software. This provides data on how frequently and when precisely the equipment is being used, which can later be used for preventive maintenance, resulting in gaining on the increased realization of their productivity.
• Moreover, according to Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), for heavy-duty vehicles, CO2 emissions must be reduced by 15 % by 2025 and 30 % by 2030. This is expected to provide opportunities to fleet management vendors to penetrate further in the construction industry across the region.
• However, the Covid-19 pandemic negatively impacted the construction industry in the region as sites were closed, supply chains disrupted, and clients suspended investment plans. The slowdown in the construction industry is expected to hinder market growth for fleet management. For instance, According to European Automobile Manufacturers Association (EAMA), in 2020, 64,456 heavy trucks were registered across the European Union, 35.4% less than the previous year. Demand declined by 39.8% in France, followed by Germany (-30.8%), Italy (-25.7%), and Spain (-23.6%).

The Europe fleet management market is moderately fragmented, presence of original equipment manufacturers, low levels of product differentiation, and sinking connectivity costs. The competitiveness has been increasing steadily due to high market consolidation by market leaders and increased R&D activities, leading to innovations in telematics and analytics solutions.

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