Long-term Collaboration
We have had a long-standing relationship with Vertu Mercedes, since 2011, and two dealerships, in Slough and Ascot, approached the Rotronics team to help with their showroom charging requirements, to provide a reliable power supply for all their demonstration vehicles. The Ascot Showroom is newly opened, and we were delighted to be able to extend our technology supply to them. We have previously provided the EXP717 dedicated Mercedes tester to the Vertu Group along with service and repair support across all other technology.
What Problem Did We Solve?
The two Heads of Business, Adam Rich in Ascot and Raj Virdee in Slough, wanted to look at a variety of charging options and needed a solution as soon as possible before opening time for the showroom.
A New Partnership
We are delighted to have formed a new partnership with a leading national online automotive company allowing customers to purchase or finance reconditioned cars online for delivery or collection, at one of their 16 customer collection sites. Services and MOTs are also available at customer sites, to maintain vehicles after purchase.
Our customer is committed to completing a 300-point inspection when preparing a car for delivery or collection, along with a service and MOT if required. They also offer a seven-day money-back guarantee, with a 90-day warranty. It is important that the vehicles are working in all aspects, to maintain quality customer service. It is especially important to ensure vehicle batteries are functioning correctly, as they can cause non-starts soon after a car is delivered or collected, if not maintained.
Our battery management expert Ken Clark took his own vehicle into a workshop for an inspection after receiving multiple warning lights.
Has Your Vehicle Been Inspected Properly?
Ken noticed several warning lights on the dashboard and knew he needed to get the vehicle inspected as soon as possible. The technician at the workshop ran a series of tests which lasted around four hours providing results which included a video report. The reports revealed nothing abnormal about the vehicle, so the technician determined that the programme was faulty within the vehicle and needed to be re-programmed.
All the information that Ken would need is on the report, such as the condition of brake pads, tyres, exhaust, and brake fluid including the recommended time to make a replacement. Although the report may seem conclusive,
We were back once again at the Mechanex Show 2022 in Sandown Park last month, where the industry-leading brands gathered in one place once more to learn about the latest automotive workshop products and technology.
At The Show
The Mechanex Show attracts automotive professionals from around the UK, who work in all manner of roles across the industry. Visitors to the show are keen to speak to manufacturers and stay up to date on industry development. The show allows visitors to familiarise themselves with leading names in the industry, try and buy their latest products and build a rapport with future partnership opportunities.
Along with Rotronics Managing Director Ken Clark, Mark Poole from CTEK and our Marketing Assistant Haris Jawed attended the Event. Ken said, “as always, the Mechanex Show at Sandown
To have a warranty claim for more than £100,000 and not have any evidence to back up your claim, is worse than frustrating. ROBIS can help you here by providing data that will allow you to address the problems by presenting facts.
Ken Clark, Managing Director of Rotronics, has been working with a Commercial workshop, with over 800 vehicles in a southern region. They were receiving £100,000 warranty claims for one region alone each year.
The Commercial workshop had 12 months of outstanding warranty claims that were being rejected by the battery supplier, with claims getting nowhere because they had no real data on which to base their claim. The battery supplier was adamant that the batteries were not failing and that the workshop was negligent and not managing their batteries.
The Rotronics team was asked to solve a problem for a customer in the north of England who was experiencing significant issues with a warranty claim relating to a Hybrid passenger vehicle. The EV battery pack (which contained a 24v lead acid pack) had failed, although the workshop team had an excellent battery management programme for the 24v battery in place.
The battery pack had been well looked after throughout its life and had been tested and charged at every opportunity, therefore the failure was unexpected. The battery manufacturer was not receptive to the claim and wanted to blame the customer for the failure.
Ken Clark, Managing Director at Rotronics, says: “Our customer was already using ROBIS, which is our industry-first online reporting system
The Rotronics team has been working with a national public service vehicle company which has well over 50 depots throughout the UK, to help them understand and improve some costly issues that their workshops have been facing, relating to the use of their existing battery management technology.
What Problem Needed to be Solved?
Ken Clark explains: “Our customer came to us first, asking for guidance relating to how the battery management equipment already in use in their workshops was being used by their team of technicians. The management team felt that there was a lack of consistency and control, and the test and charge results were varied and not always leading to obvious solutions.”
Rotronics’ sponsored race driver Lewis Clark, has been competing for over three years in the motorsport scene, including taking part in a variety of Championships at Castle Combe Circuit. On his first ever outing in 2020 competing within the Hot Hatch series he manged to win his class, beating more experienced competitors and high-powered cars. Lewis has had some amazing races at Castle Combe Circuit this season over three years while driving his Ford Fiesta ST. In the eight rounds that make up the Castle Combe Hot Hatch Series, Lewis competed at all of them and took home eight trophies which included four first, three second and one for third. He competed in Class A alongside a grid made up of all front wheel drive cars, ranging from 1400cc up to 2000cc split into multiple classes.
We participated in one of the UK's largest vehicle recovery industry events.
On September 28th and 29th, we exhibited at the Professional Recovery tow Show event, where we showcased our knowledge of battery management techniques and programmes to visitors. Each year the event brings together professionals from different industries from all over the UK to display and present thee latest designs in roadside vehicles and technology equipment.
Mark Poole from CTEK and Haris Jawed, our marketing assistant, joined Rotronics Managing Director Ken Clark at the event. Ken said, “it is always amazing to attend events to speak to other industry experts and visitors on the importance of battery management. The fundamentals of battery management in contemporary vehicles remain the same. The importance of continuously testing the battery over time can help you save a lot
We are pleased to announce that ROBIS has reached five million test results since its inception in February 2019.
ROBIS has been busy over the past three years, gathering battery data from vehicle workshop customers across different industry sectors, including automotive main dealers, commercial vehicles, emergency services, fleet workshops, independent workshops, public service vehicles, and specialist roadside organisations. From the five million battery tests to date, key results show that:
If you are the Service Manager of any car dealership, then perhaps one of the worst things that can happen is that the sales team is not able to demonstrate a vehicle because of a flat battery. That means not being able to allow the potential customer to open the tailgate, use the infotainment, move the seats and have a good play with any of the vehicle’s functions.
Rotronics has been working with the Shukers Land Rover team in Ludlow and Aberystwyth to provide them with the best option for showroom charging, to make sure that they are not faced with any of the above embarrassing situations.
Ken Clark visited the Ludlow Land Rover showroom at the beginning of the year to assess their requirements. First things first, what issues were they facing?
Dave Roberts, Service Manager
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