Spearheading the new telematics side of RAC’s business is newly appointed Nick Walker, now managing director of the RAC telematic branch. He’ll be looking to grow the business throughout 2015 and continue to expand on current developments at the company moving forward.
This isn’t Walker’s first rodeo though, as previously he worked at Masternaut where he held the position of managing director. As Fleetworld points out, there he was responsible for helping to grow the company’s European customer base, as well as the launch of several new strategies and developments. He hopes to continue that sort of work at RAC.
“There is a fantastic opportunity to drive the telematics proposition at the RAC, because there are so many synergies where telematics makes complete sense,” he said in a statement about his appointment.
“It’s important not to see telematics just as a stand-alone product, but as a technology that sits behind a whole range of services we offer, and that makes it a much more powerful offering. I genuinely think we have the opportunity here at the RAC to be game changing in the area of telematics.”
He has a good platform to springboard off of with RAC too, as the company recently secured a lucrative contract with Volkswagon, which would see its telematics offerings put in every single one of its commercial vehicles sold from now on. Those wishing to make use of the service will need to pay out £12.50 a month to subscribe to the service, which will offer basic tracking of elements like fuel usage, vehicle wear, maintenance issues, distance travelled and real time location tracking.
With the appointment of Walker, RAC hopes to build off of that new development, though he will have more of a UK focus. In a statement, RAC chief executive officer, Chris Woodhouse said:
“I am delighted to announce that Nick Walker has joined RAC to spearhead our UK based telematics business.
“These changes are designed to provide absolute focus on leading edge product development, operational delivery and most importantly the best possible customer service.”
He went on to describe Walker’s appointment as a “big step forward,” for establishing RAC as one of the premier telematics firms in the UK and around the world. It will be interesting to see whether Walker’s impact is felt quite quickly, with the launch of new initiatives and developments within the UK, or whether he will take some time to get to grips with the new position.
RAC’s telematics is rather unique, as it has not only made it easier for people to keep track of their own vehicle metrics, but is helping to improve the response time of RAC emergency vehicle recovery, as it can show drivers on a map just where they are, rather than having to rely on information from the customers themselves.
