Shiftmove takes over Optimum Automotive and aims to accelerate digitalization in fleets

Shiftmove, according to its own statements the German market leader for fleet management software, has acquired the French company Optimum Automotive. The digital platform from Aix-en-Provence is among the leading experts in software-based fleet management in France and currently manages more than 7,500 customers with over 200,000 vehicles. With the takeover, the Berlin-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company Shiftmove, which emerged in 2023 from the merger of the fleet management market leaders Avrios and Vimcar, is expanding into France—Europe's largest fleet market. This move aims to advance consolidation and digitalization in the European fleet management market, according to the company. With its expansion strategy, Shiftmove aims to become the European market leader for digital fleet solutions by 2027 and make the use of more than a million commercial vehicles even more efficient, it further states.

AI-supported software and telematics for more efficiency in European fleets

The combination of holistic software and telematics solutions by the Berlin SaaS company enables small and medium-sized businesses, as well as large enterprises such as DB Schenker, McMakler, and flaschenpost.de, to manage their vehicle fleets more economically and decisively drive forward the transformation to low-emission mobility. Through the acquisition of Optimum Automotive, Shiftmove aims to bring its AI expertise to France as well. By automating previously time-intensive, manual processes, as well as providing detailed data analyses, companies can save costs and resources with the modern software solutions and strategically plan the shift to alternative drivetrains, the provider advertises.

Urgent need for digitalization in the transformation of the transportation sector

The market offers enormous potential, outlines Shiftmove's CEO and mobility expert Francine Gervazio: “With around ten million commercial vehicles, France forms the largest fleet market in Europe, closely followed by Germany with more than seven million commercial vehicles. The digitalization potential of the sector is immense. Only every third European company currently uses fleet management software to manage its own vehicle fleet.” Moreover, fleets are considered drivers of new technologies. While vehicles in the private market are replaced on average every eleven years, fleet vehicles are replaced on average every three to four years—a great opportunity for the switch to electromobility.

“We have the clear vision that by 2027 more than one million vehicles will be managed with the help of our cloud-based software solutions,” says Gervazio.