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Morel authority
Page 24
Page 25
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Paul Morel is head of Ford's commercial vehicle operations in
Europe. In an exclusive CM interview, he tells Andy Salter
what's in store from the UK's biggest van manufacturer.
In the UK. Ford remains head and shoulders ahead of the competition in the light commercial vehicle sector (page 22, CM 20 November). Transit has led the field for years. and the new Transit Connect is forging ahead with impressive registration figures to date.
Of course, being number one gives everyone the incentive to take a pop at your success.There is always room for improvement, however, and Ford knows better than most the risks of sitting on your laurels and not keeping up with market requirements or expectations.
Morel is keen that Ford retains its sharp market focus: "Personally. I think our product line is the strongest its ever been," he tells us. "With the arrival of the Fiesta van, we've completely redone all our core product lines since 2001. We've had an all-new Transit, the Transit Connect,the Ranger and now,with the Fiesta van,we have a full complement of new products." He is the first to admit, however, that it's not only products which matter in the commercial vehicle business. Customers demand a certain level of back-up and without a high-class service network, any manufacturer is doomed: "It takes a combination of product plus service and sales support for customers. In the commercial vehicle business, customers are doing a job and if they have a problem, they expect to be taken care of.And so the manufacturer who not only has the best product range, but also offers the best service to keep them going, will be the one who dominates the business."
Looking at efficiency
So you've got the product and the back-up but, inevitably, the thing that turns customers' heads is the price. All areas of efficiency have been under the microscope recently at Ford. particularly with the parent group suffering tough economic times.
In the van division, the recent decision to transfer Transit production from the factory in Genk, Belgium, to Turkey where it will be built alongside Transit Connect, has been made with a sharp eye on the bottom line. In the past,moving production to the east would have raised an eyebrow; these days. most won't even notice, with other firms undoubtedly ready to follow suit.
"We're very happy with the standard we get from Turkey, and this is reflected lathe fact that most of the manufacturers going into "Ibrkey are all top-quality producers." Morel explains. "In terms of being able to manufacture goodquality vehicles in Thrkey, we do that today — and we're very, very confident we will continue to do so."
While Morel has no quality concerns about Turkish production, The Home of the Transit' is at Eastleigh. Southampton. and he is quick to confirm its position: "Southampton's very important," he explains. "They wit ally be producing more Transits than today. We're very well entrenched reg manufacturing and product developrr the UK. At Southampton. we will be ir ing our production, and the team then stronger role to play in the future." ro