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Factors which kee the factors at ba

25th July 1981, Page 24
25th July 1981
Page 24
Page 25
Page 24, 25th July 1981 — Factors which kee the factors at ba
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

To combat the threat from outside, the Lucas empire closed its ranks and set up Lucas Service to give greater unity and market penetration. Here, Steve Gray assesses how successful the campaign'sil been.

• THE START of the century len car and lorry manufactur3 were beginning to set up op, Joseph Lucas was busy in -mingham making such things lights and horns for the emyonic motor trade.

Since those days, the Lucas -ipire has grown out of all cognition to become a ultimillion-pound international nglomerate employing 90,000 lople, and its name has almost come synonymous with the otor trade.

It now encompasses a myriad diverse products, some of hich are unrelated to the motor dustry, even indirectly. But the impany is still firmly cornitted to, and very much in, the ?.hicle component side of ings, supplying as it does iecialist original equipment to wide range of manufacturers. Providing a back-up for this ;pect of the Lucas organisation is Lucas Service — set up specifically to give full support for the automotive aftermarket.

Lucas Service came into being in 1976 and united the separate service companies which were then functioning under different identities, such as Globe and Simpson and Simms Motor Units. The idea of forming one company under the Lucas corporate image and with its logo was to promote a greater awareness among vehicle users.

Lucas had found that while its established customers knew well enough what services and goods could be obtained from these individual service companies, many potential new customers were turning to motor factors which had been springing up like wildfire.

Many of these were also covering the same trade customers as those of Lucas and were also creaming off the retail side — another potentially lucrative business.

Clearly, then, something had to be done to stop this erosion. Lucas, to its credit, is first to admit that its insistence on produc

ing and selling high-quality products had led operators and car users to regard it as being expensive.

And to some degree this criticism might have been justified. Until the late Sixties, when the home producers of vehicles began to lose their grip on the domestic market, Lucas was cushioned as it was virtually sole supplier to the vast majority of manufacturers.

As more and more imports came on the scene — both cars and lorries — that influence began to disappear. And worse still, British manufacturers began to "dual source" to overcome the vagaries of supply inevitable when demand rose during the boom years.

So Lucas had problems, parti cularly in the vital afterma which, along with reliability, the original product is wh keeps the customer coming lob for more.

The first step was the uni, tion of the diverse organisati under one roof. No longer w you just be able to buy a lc headlight or a horn from a Lui: agent — now injection eq0i ment, filters and in so branches brake parts were asla able.

And the Lucas service doe just stop at supplying the cctt ponents, it also includes fitt n diagnostic and repair faciliti for auto-electrical fuel injecli and filtration components. Probably, though, the siri most important step which p Lucas Service on its feet was Lucas "all makes" progrannnie

Launched in 1974, it , both vehicle operator and It trade service for electrical, 0 injection, turbocharging, brall and suspension.equipment variety of popular vehicles. To date, the Lucas Service oranisation comprises 145 cornany-owned locations and 156 dependent agents throughout reat Britain and the Republic of eland. This, says Lucas, gives 0 unrivalled network of service utlets for both trade and retail ustomers.

Though many are housed on xisting sites which have served reas for a number of years, Luas are keen to set up purposeuilt units to cope with all ehicles more easily and to proide a better accessibility.

One such of these is the New outhgate branch located on the runswick Industrial Park in orth London. Here manager im Wyper ensures that the randard of service offered is as ood as the pristine new offices, forkshops, and sales show)om which he and his staff now occupy after the move from Borehamwood.

The New Southgate branch offers all the major Lucas service items with the exception of Lucas Girling Brake parts and Lucas Kienzle tachographs. Its list of stocked items, though, reads like a build list for a vehicle ranging from fan belts to turbochargers and from bulbs to batteries.

The workshop areas, which are fully equipped, can handle any size commercial vehicle or light van and are designed to speed turnaround. Injectors can be tested, fuel pumps checked, and the workshop can handle any sort of electrical repairs.

It's no strange sight either to see Bosch or any other maker's components being worked on — Lucas Service is able to take on virtually anything. Jim explained that all his skilled staff are made fully conversant with any new manufacturers or components which come onto the market.

To back up the workshops and to handle breakdowns there is a van service, and should Jim's warehouse be out of stock of a particular item he can and will call round to other Lucas Service agents to collect one.

Failing this, he has access to the Lucas central parts warehouse which will ensure speedy delivery of the necessary components.

The New Southgate branch also operates the Lucas Autospares shop system which has been applied to around 100 branches. This offers car care products, oil, tools, electronic ignition systems, security systems and a myriad of associated products.

It is aimed to appeal to retail as well as trade customers and thus broaden the company's base. One product, however, which is unique to the New Southgate branch is the olc fashioned magnetic fuel gaug for CV. This is, in fact, manufai tured at the branch and still er joys considerable popularity.

There's no doubt that Luca Service is fighting back in th increasingly competitive autc motive aftermarket. One of it problems was getting its cu: tomers to accept its new nam and the fact that it could offe such a wide variety of service under one roof.

The last five years have bee tough but the addition of ne% products to its service centr shelves — such as clutch part and so on — is helping Lucas ti take on the factors on mudl more equal terms.

Tags

Organisations: Lucas Service, Lucas, Luca Service
Locations: London

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