RAC Business Services and Hitachi Capital continue partnership with new five-year contract

The RAC has been awarded a five-year contract for Accident Managementservices by Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions, adding to the current provision of breakdown services already taken across its divisions of cars, commercial vehicles and driving instructor vehicles.

The move sees Hitachi Capital’s 20,000-strong fleet of accident managed cars and commercial vehicles able to access the RAC’s new Accident Management service, complementing provision for Hitachi Capital’s total fleet of 63,000 vehicles by the breakdown service.

Hitachi Capital, one of the UK’s largest leasing companies which won Fleet News Leasing Company of the Year 2014 and was placed in the top 10 of the FN50, selected the RAC’s Accident Management service following a £2m investment in a bespoke IT system. The new RAC platform brings together state-of-the-art diagnostics with super-fast repair networks to produce significant cost efficiencies and reduction in vehicle downtime.

The two organisations have been working together since 2011 and through the development of new services will provide Hitachi Capital clients with best-in-class levels of service and will pioneer initiatives aimed at addressing real fleet manager concerns.

Customers are already seeing the benefits of Hitachi Capital having the RAC’s roadside service in place, which completed the roll-out across all Hitachi Capital divisions in December 2013, with current driver satisfaction score relating to breakdown running at nearly 90%.

David Aldridge, RAC Business Services Director, said: “The way Hitachi Capital works to continually improve its level of service and customer experience is very much in line with the RAC way of operating, so there is a real match in the way we do business.

“This has led to a strong partnership that we believe will continue to grow and deliver major benefits to Hitachi Capital’s fleet. Having invested significantly in our Accident Management service, systems, personnel and infrastructure we know that we are in the best place possible to meet the needs of the fleet and ensure we support Hitachi in the best way possible.”

Tim Bowden, Head of Operations for Hitachi Capital Car Solutions, who was actively involved in the negotiation and implementation of the accident management and breakdown services added: “The appointment of the RAC for accident management services is a strong strategic fit for our organisation.

“Provided alongside the breakdown services, the appointment presents a number of opportunities for us to drive further benefits for our customers. We were very pleased with the professional approach adopted during implementation by the RAC and we look forward to jointly developing further initiatives."