A seamless user experience is crucial for commercial and fleet customers, and industry stakeholder are evaluating how best to synchronize operations to deliver it.
As technology advances, standardizing industry hardware and software enables a business model that requires synchrony throughout the supply chain, Isuzu Commercial Truck of America’s President and Chief Executive Shaun Skinner said during a panel at the virtual Spring 2024 Commercial Vehicle Business Summit on April 10.
“We’re all investing in these technologies that we can afford,” he said. “It’s going to become more about customer experience, and how do we team together with our dealers, our customers, the body companies and the finance companies to make sure that you supply a customer experience that is seamless.”
Customers want a smooth and seamless vehicle experience so they can focus more on business operations, Skinner said.
Managing the financing piece
There is continuing evolution in financing, residuals and disposal of equipment hard goods, hardware, soft goods and software, all of which are key industry issues that require collaboration throughout the supply chain, Mandar Dighe, vice president of marketing and sales at work truck body manufacturer Knapheide, said during the panel.
“These major changes, from a philosophy and technology standpoint, with vehicle architecture and propulsion, are pretty cool, and it’s going to be very interesting to see how we all work together to get there,” he said.
The financing side brings every aspect of the supply chain together, Jim Press, senior adviser at Hyundai Motor North America and adviser at Work Truck Solutions, said during the discussion.
“We’re translating from the old way of doing business to serving customers’ needs,” he said. “The financial piece of it is the glue that’s in the middle that puts it all together.”
Finding value adds
Financing companies have limited influence on vehicle systems, but they provide value to customers as financing partners, Kirk Mann, executive vice president and head of transportation at Mitsubishi HC Capital America, said during the panel.
“As a finance company, to the extent that we can value up with [the] end-user customer, the operator of that equipment, we are valuing up with our dealer and we are valuing up with our OEMs,” he said.
“A perfect world would be where we could deliver a business in a box to the operator of that equipment. … We do want to get to a place where we’re able to offer all of the services into the environment for that end-user customer.”
Ultimately, the value added for customers and the success of the supply chain depends on the efforts dealers, manufacturers and lenders make for the commercial space, Isuzu’s Skinner said.
Register for the 2024 Equipment Finance Connect, which focuses on best practices in equipment finance, on May 5-7 in Nashville, Tenn. Learn about the event and free dealer registration at EquipmentFinanceConnect.com
