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Aiming high
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Page 25
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CM'S Julian Milnes
caught up with Vauxhall MD Bill Parfit at the CV Show to quiz him about the company's current position and its plans for the future.
Bill Parfitt has been managing director of Vauxhall Motors since 2005. As well as overseeing the company's sales and marketing, he heads up GM's fleet and commercial sales throughout Europe and business is booming. "We're having a very good run," he says -This year's been strong with over 50,000 units sold. But we're not happy with the gap in the product range We're looking at a new product to get us into the heavy end of the van market, the RWD 3.5-tonne-plus sector, though it's not something we can comment on just yet."
Together or apart
Would such a move be part of the alliance with Renault? "We're looking at a couple of ways of doing it," says Parfit. "Renault's been a very good partner in the past [the partnership] has helped them and it has helped us. But we're looking at the heavy end specifically and whether or not it's practical to do it ourselves, possibly as a global product. What is certain is that we will be in that heavy end at some point, up to 5.6 tonnes GVW.
But will Renault be involved in the nextgeneration Movano? -We're having talks at the moment with Renault," he says. "The chances are it will he a joint venture."
When you are number two in a market, there is an obvious target to aim for so we wonder if Vauxhall has plans afoot to topple Ford from pole position."1 think we've shown that where we've got the right product, and the Vivaro's a classic example," he remarks. "We can take them on and we can beat them. The same applies to the Corsa and Combo. But again, there's a need to get into the heavy 3.5-tonneplus RWD sector.Ford currently dominates this category with its Transit, and that accounts for a huge slice of the market.And not being there can have a knock-on effect on sales.
"Fleet buyers like to have a comprehensive range to choose from. So in those terms we're not realising our full potential as purchasers tend to stick with one brand. And this makes sense it's easy for maintenance, purchasing arrangements and parts. You tend to find that if you're not in one particular segment of the market, you don't get into the others when it comes to fleet purchasing. And that's a major factor when you compare us to Ford."
So much for looking ahead is Vauxhall also looking over its collective shoulder? "I think Volkswagen is getting its act together," says Parfit. "It's beginning to really focus on the brand. It's back on TV and getting its pricing right.And of course it has the reputation. I don't underestimate VW at all it's got a strong lineup. It all starts with the product.
Full package
"No matter how good your brand is or how much you spend on marketing. quality, reliability and economy do the business and VW has it alt.! look forward to Ford, but over my shoulder at Volkswagen."
While vehicle design used to be all about efficiency and profitability, the environment has come to the fore. How is this affecting Vauxhall's plans? "I think probably the biggest concern is rushing into Euro-6 and 7 before we're ready. The current range of Euro-4 engines is very good in that they're economical. quiet and clean,so we want a bit of time to catch our breath before Euro-5.
"There is a worry that we'll get pressed on Euro-5 and 6 earlier than is necessary. It's a big issue for us.There's a lot of cost involved and in the end the customer pays for it." Globalisation is the name of the game, and there were fears that the next-generation Astravan would not be built at Ellesmere Port. Parfit is quick to put the record straight: "The good news is that Ellesmere Port has just secured the new-generation Astra passenger car, and will therefore manufacture the new Astravan. We engineer all our commercial vehicles in Europe at Mil lbrook, where we have a specific centre, so it makes sense to engineer them in the same country as they're made."
With CVs comes a level of care to keep them moving, so what's Vauxhall doing for its customers? "We currently split the business between heavy and light vehicles. On the one side, car-derived vehicles such as the Corsa and Astravans can he handled by any franchise. However, at the heavier end we stipulate that they have to meet certain criteria and it's these centres that we are in the middle of expanding the expansion should be completed by the end of next year. The idea is that you'll never be more than one hour away from a heavy van franchise."
But what about the Vivaro replacement -will it be built at Luton? "The current Vivaro has some time in it yet, thanks to a recent makeover and upgrade to Euro-4. But we are discussing its replacement and at this time Luton looks almost certain to be the place of manufacture. The plant we have in this country is a model for quality and consistency in terms of product.
"It may be stretching it to say Vauxhall is the largest manufacturer of vans, but when you factor in Renault and Nissan it is and this is down to the efficiency of the Luton plant." But regarding Nissan, isn't he concerned that aligning with Renault means a second brand is competing for business? "You have to have economies of scale when you build a vehicle. But there are also variables that allow you to differentiate your product. You can alter interiors, engines and different options.
"The biggest issue is the brand itself and how you sell it to the customer. With this we feel we can have an edge. Frankly we could probably do without Nissan or Renault selling the same products as us. But due to economies of scale, without them we wouldn't have a van.
Constant demand
Parfit seems cautiously optimistic: "We've had a good couple of years with the introduction of the Corsavan and new Astravan. The Combo has now moved to its new production site in Spain, which has left us a bit short of numbers this year, but the demand's still there. With the Vivaro the van is so successful we're struggling to keep up with demand and the way Movano is doing I'm very happy with the range.
"There are no obvious gaps besides the aforementioned heavy van, so we're itching to get more product in. In 2005 we did 52.000 vans, in 2006 we did 48,000 vans-so we've dropped off about 4,000.And this year we're looking towards 52-53.000 so we'll probably beat our record.
"The reason we dipped in 2006 is that we walked away from some fairly big accounts such as Royal Mail. it was business we decided we wouldn't do for a variety of reasons." •