Fleet management systems to reach 7.1 million in Europe by 2018

According to a new research report from analyst firm 3849 Berg Insight, the number of active fleet management systems deployed in commercial vehicle fleets in Europe was 3.65 million in quarter 4 2013. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.2 per cent, this number is expected to reach 7.10 million by 2018.

A group of international aftermarket solution providers has emerged as leaders in the European fleet management market. 748 Masternaut reported an active installed base of close to 350,000 units in July 2014, mainly in France and the UK. 1692 TomTom Telematics was the fastest growing vendor in 2014 and has now surpassed 400,000 subscribers in August 2014. The two companies today share the number one spot in terms of active installed base in Europe. Digicore has also joined the exclusive group of fleet management providers in Europe having more than 100,000 active devices in the field. 5635 Transics is number one in the heavy trucks segment with an estimated 85,000 active units installed.
 
A major trend in the past three years has been the announcements of standard line fitment of fleet management solutions among the HCV manufacturers. 570 Scania, 2069 Daimler, 609 Volvo and 267 MAN now experience fast growth of telematics subscribers thanks to these initiatives. FleetBoard by Daimler, Dynafleet by Volvo and Scania Fleet Management are the most sold systems with cumulative shipments of 150,000 units, 135,000 units and 100,000 units respectively as of quarter 4 2013. A recent trend has LCV manufacturers increasingly working together with aftermarket players to offer fleet management solutions. 1900 PSA Peugeot Citroën, for instance, launched a new fleet management service on the French market in partnership with 5636 Orange Business Services in April 2014. 278 Ford and 1623 Telogis recently partnered to deliver fleet management solutions to Ford customers in Europe. Teletrac has, in addition, collaborated for a long time with OEMs in the UK market, including Citroën and 1685 Mercedes Benz.
 
M&A activities on this market continued with full force in 2014. “Seven major mergers and acquisitions have so far taken place this year among the vendors of fleet management systems in Europe”, said Johan Fagerberg, senior analyst, 3849 Berg Insight.

At the beginning of 2014, 213 Qualcomm finally divested the majority of the European arm of its fleet business to 5838 Astrata Group, a fleet management company headquartered in Singapore. Later in February, 4319 WABCO acquired Transics and the transaction valued the company at about € 100 million. 7607 Lysanda acquired UK-based 4302 TRACKER Network in February and plans to establish Tantalum Corporation from the combined business. In April, TomTom acquired French FM provider DAMS Tracking, adding another 27,000 subscriptions to the installed base. Francisco Partners divested Masternaut to Summit Partners and FleetCor in the same month. In July 2014, Zucchetti Group acquired a majority share of Macnil from its founders. The latest transaction happened in October 2014, when Finder acquired its Polish competitor Autoguard to form the largest FMS provider in Poland. Fagerberg anticipates that market consolidation of the still overcrowded industry will continue in 2015.