Uplifting vehicles has a market value projected at $290 billion for light-duty vehicles and $390 billion for the medium and heavy-duty aftermarket products in 2021. Determining the right uplift or feature to add is critical for optimizing fleet management. The right feature will improve operations and be worth the additional cost. Industry experts recommend listening to the drivers and choosing uplifts that are valuable to them and will help solve recognizable problems.
Once an uplift has been identified, another decision point is the installation method—ship-thru/to upfitter companies, mobile installers, self-installation by internal employees or at a dealership. The ship true/to upfitter companies are advantageous because they are nearly on site of an OEM which shortens delivery time as there is no waiting on additional transportation. If a full fleet cannot be uplifted at the same time, then mobile installers can become useful.
When legacy vehicles are a part of the fleet, and retrofitting needs to be accomplished, mobile upfitting is very practical and scalable. Self-install is also a cost-effective solution, but only when the technical expertise is in-house. Dealership upfitting can be more costly and involve more administrative coordinations, but when upfittings are incorporated into the initial vehicle cost then it can be more affordable.
- An advantage to using a ship-thru or drop-ship upfitter is the consistency in the work, and repeatability of the process applied, making upfitting very scalable for a fleetd vehicles under $10,000 have the lowest available inventory, with only a 30-day supply
- Mobile upfitting is one of the fastest-growing segments and has the advantage of execution speed, convenience and quality
- Continuously assessing how well the installation process goes, its effect on downtime and the benefit of the uplifts is critical for fleet managers
Article Source: https://www.automotive-fleet.com
Link to complete source story: https://www.automotive-fleet.com/10147981/best-practices-in-upfitting-aftermarket-accessories
Photo Credit: BrandFX
Disclaimer: In the News blog posts are Doering's take on the best content and the latest news in the Fleet Management Industry. Doering did not write the original source article.
