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Brand building
Page 20
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Fiat's performance in the UK market has been a case of 'could do better'. However, its new head of CVs, Gerry Clarke, has big ideas for the brand. We caught up with him at this year's CV Show.
Words: Jutian Manes / Image: Tom Lee
WHILE FIAT'S current product range is generally accepted as being its most competitive yet, the Italian company's image is still lagging some way behind in the UK, despite having made an indelible impression several decades ago when the product was less robust.
Gerry Clarke. who's been in his job for just over 11 months, has been given the task of turning its fortunes around.
So let's firstly dispense with the elephant in the room. I ask if Fiat's public image is in any way an obstacle to improving sales'? His reply is typically biased, yet partly justified.
"Fiat's image in the UK is misplaced. One of the things we have to do is make sure the perception of the brand mirrors that of Continental Europe, so there is some brand work to be done, but you don't sell one in eight CVs on a European level without having a decent product."
A professional approach
But that leaves him with the challenge of winning over customers. "In the UK, part of the issue with widening our dealer base is to improve the standing in front of the potential user, and this was partly the reason for changing the brand and logo [to Fiat Professional].
"The Fiat Professional dealer network (which now totals 80, and is made up of 42 passenger car-enhanced dealers and 38 truck dealerships split between Daf and Iveco) is now more dedicated and professional than ever when it comes to customer focus" He also concedes that the company was not as developed as it should be at pushing the brand forward in terms of commercial success, particularly in the fleet markets. Ah yes, now here's a sector where Fiat was lacking a presence. That is until recently, when Royal Mail added a significant amount of Dobbs to its fleet. So what next for the fleet market?
"If we want to grow, we have to penetrate more into the fleet market. We now have the platform that allows us to speak to professional users of commercial vehicles in a way that we perhaps couldn't before. Testimony to that is some of the names we now see on fleet CVs that a few years ago you might not have."
Clarke points out that this has also opened the door to speak to other potential customers, including BT and the National Grid.
Electric vehicles
Brand is all well and good, but you need product as well. The CV Show saw Fiat launch its new micro-van — the Fiorino.
"It's a new segment in the market that's going to develop. But we're also competing with PSA Group (with whom it was developed) and Renault with its 2.3m3 Berlingo. It'll sit between passenger car-derived CVs and 2.52.8m3 vans. As regards to the first year, we're looking at 800-1,000 units."
And with the show abuzz with electric vehicles, the proposition of a Fiat version shouldn't be too far away.
"There's an increasing desire to talk about electric vehicles in the UK, but we still have to see the actual move to use them. At this time, even in Italy, it's not Fiat who's distributing these vehicles. Whether we do that in [lie UK or establish something directly has yet to be decided, but there is a will to have electric vehicles in the UK." •