Speaking at the launch in London last week, Arval CEO Philippe Bismut (pictured) said: “Telematics-based services and the data they produce are keys not only for the automotive sector, but also for the future of full-service leasing, which is going to be deeply transformed, placing anticipation at the core of every strategy and allowing the whole business model to shift towards a new era.”

Arval Active Link was developed by a dedicated team established in a start-up incubator in Paris and is designed to offer fleet managers in-depth information on a car and its driver’s behaviour, accompanied by a wide range of proactive services.

The data is collected securely from the car and fed into the Arval portal. It can be used to manage the contract by, for example, identifying contract over-consumption so that managers can ask for a proposal for a re-contract to avoid additional costs, or cars which are idle and could be used in a car pool or for sharing.

As well as pushing information to managers for action, Arval Active Link can also be used to encourage eco-friendly and safe driver behaviour and training. Using pattern recognition, the telematics can analyse each driver’s handling of a particular route and pinpoint activity which could be improved, such as harsh braking or aggressive approaches to cornering.

Drivers are able to register each trip they make as either a business or a private journey, and the system will automatically code up frequent journeys, such as from home to office locations, in line with car policy requirements.

Arval Active Link will be launched in the UK, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Czech Republic from September 2015.

In addition to the new product, Arval has also announced a string of enhancements to existing elements of its digital services, including its analytics, fleet view, and mobile+ offerings.  In the UK, there will be a re-launch of the company website from today, coupled with giving SMEs access to the Arval Webstore which the company says is the first B2B service to offer full-service leasing quotes on an unrestricted list of vehicles (40 makes, 500 models) with the need to register.

In France, where the website was re-launched in April, Arval reports that the volume of leads and orders has tripled, while response times to inquiries are running at ten minutes average, and the time elapsed between an inquiry and delivery of a car can be as short as one week.

Robert Pieczka, marketing and insurance director at Arval, said: “Our new telematics proposition is unique and high competitive. It is easy to use and highly intuitive and, like all our digital transformation strategy, is based on changing our approach to focus on the user and customer’s point of view.”