Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has announced a strategic partnership with Connected Cars to provide fleets with real-time diagnostics and predictive maintenance.

The global agreement will merge Connected Cars' telematics hardware, cloud platform, and dealer interface with VWCV's Connect Pro fleet management system.

Fleets will be able to access vehicle health and diagnostics data, such as error codes, either through Connected Cars' hardware or VWCV's factory-embedded connectivity systems.

Connected Cars' ConnectedWorkshop software will also make this data available to VW dealers and authorised workshops, enabling service teams and technicians to address issues proactively, before they lead to unscheduled downtime and breakdowns.

Moreover, the combination of live vehicle telematics and smart analytics will be able to forecast maintenance requirements, so fleets can book vehicles in for servicing before faults occur.

The two companies will roll out the partnership over the next five years, starting in major European markets.

Kersten Lange, Head of Product Marketing & Connectivity at VWCV, said the new solution for business customers is a natural fit with the manufacturer's digitalisation strategy.

"This collaboration allows us to deliver real-time diagnostics and predictive maintenance capabilities to our dealers and fleet customers European-wide, reinforcing our commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction," she said. "We're boosting our vehicles' uptime and giving our commercial clients a powerful new toolset for fleet management."

Jesper Hill-Kjærsgaard, Chief Executive Officer of Connected Cars, said the partnership marked an important step forward in connected vehicle services, and set a new industry standard for fleet uptime and smart aftersales support.

"We're enabling truly predictive, proactive maintenance on a global scale," he said. "The real winners are the customers - they'll experience less downtime and more personalised service than ever before."