A major revamp of CAP Monitor sees the product rechristened ‘CAP Gold Book’ and radically upgraded to enhance the accuracy and breadth of its forecasts.

And an entirely new product – ‘CAP Gold Book IQ’ – will open the window onto CAP’s forecasting process down to individual model derivative level, revealing all factors and assumptions involved in every RV prediction.

Both developments will enhance customer confidence in CAP’s existing status as the leading independent benchmark residual value forecaster for manufacturers, captive finance providers, finance houses, contract hire & leasing operators and other industry sectors exposed to future residual value risk.
Development of CAP Gold Book and CAP Gold Book iQ is part of a major investment strategy to benefit customers which was made possible by the acquisition of CAP last year by Montagu Private Equity.

As the business rapidly expands CAP has invested in a raft of additional expertise, including a dedicated Gold Book product manager – Peter Knight – who is leading all development in close collaboration with existing users of CAP forecasts.

Experienced future residual value expert Dylan Setterfield was appointed last year to overhaul the existing forecasting process and introduce additional intelligence and rigour, ready for the transformation of Monitor into Gold Book.

Overseeing this, along with other valuation-related projects in the CAP Editorial division, is Adrian Rushmore who has more than 25 years’ experience in the field of vehicle valuations.

Investment has also brought rapid technological advances at CAP which, in combination with the CAP Code which intelligently links a wide range of data sets, unlocks unique capabilities in terms of depth, breadth and speed of information delivery.

Customers are at the heart of development for CAP Gold Book and CAP Gold Book iQ. A range of launch partners from across the contract hire & leasing, fleet and finance sectors have been collaborating with the CAP team on Gold Book development since late last year.

The radical upgrade of CAP Monitor, already the leader in the field of independent benchmarking for future residual values, to CAP Gold Book also introduces new forecast data sets and more timely delivery.

Among the benefits of Gold Book are:

• More sophisticated and robust forecasting process built around statistical rigour, combined with expert editor opinion
• More variables taken into consideration as part of the valuation model
• New short term forecasts (under 12 months)
• Live release of new vehicle forecasts avoiding the delays associated with a monthly product
• Clarity on end-to-end forecast methodology and rationale
• Faster reaction to market changes

Meanwhile, full transparency of CAP forecasts will be offered by Gold Book IQ – also set for launch in 2013.

Gold Book iQ provides a wide range of new forecast information, including:

• Full access to all forecast evidence and assumption factors, including Black Book trending and model lifecycle data
• Editorial commentary to support each step of the forecasting process
• RV history/tracking reports, without need for complex analysis of multiple data sets
• At-a-glance RV comparisons between same model (petrol/diesel) and competitor baskets
• Clear macro-economics rationale, split by supply/demand factors
• Access to forecasts without seasonal effects
• Facility to ‘lag’ forecasts to take account of vehicle lead-times or other delays

Gold Book product manager, Peter Knight, said: “CAP is already the leader in the field, with a unique heritage as the provider of crucial independent benchmarking for future residual values and these developments place us unquestionably at the leading edge of forecasting.

“Customers have been key to our transformation of Monitor into Gold Book and the creation of Gold Book iQ so we can be confident this investment has resulted in tools which are intuitive, user-friendly and absolutely fit for today’s market.

“The introduction of radically overhauled background processes in combination with full transparency will bring more confidence for our customers than ever before. The delivery of new short term forecasts will benefit customers in sectors we have been unable to serve properly until now.

“The editorial expertise underpinning all of this is unrivalled and the changes to our forecasting methodology utilise the unique wealth of quality data at our disposal more than ever before.

“The essential qualities of Gold Book and Gold Book iQ can be distilled into 3 terms – simplicity, certainty and confidence for our customers.

“CAP Gold Book will be easier to use and incorporate into customers’ own workflows. Multiple enhancements, from process to efficiency, statistical rigour and transparency will drive more timely and reliable information to deliver greater certainty for customers in their forecasting. And by improving on an already strong heritage of independent benchmarking, we believe CAP Gold Book and CAP Gold Book iQ customers will enjoy greater confidence than ever before.

“We will now be communicating the wealth of detail behind the new Gold Book and Gold Book iQ products to customers and launch dates will be announced in July.”