The Business Car Files
customers want a single point of contact,” he says, “they don’t want to be dealing with lots and lots of different people within a group. So, the fact that we can talk to them on a Stellantis basis is a big advantage. Plus, because each of those account managers are managing fewer accounts, I think we can achieve a deeper relationship with those customers as well. “Most fleet managers understand the combination of brands are all under one umbrella. Fleet is the only area we are going out on a Stellantis basis, rather than the individual brands. It is a unique challenge, but we’ve done a lot of communication in the run- up and going through the change, to make sure this is fully understood.”
When it comes to who will be a business’s primary contact, Taylor explains: “If it’s a leasing company it will done on a Stellantis basis. But if you’re a 50-unit fleet that runs Vauxhall vehicles, for example, your primary contact is going to be a Vauxhall representative. When we looked at it, there wasn’t a huge overlap between the customers of the existing brands. The vast majority of those have migrated into the major corporate fleet area, because they are the larger fleets and are handled on a Stellantis-basis anyway.” Electric cars, be they plug-in hybrid or full electric, are a big area of opportunity for Taylor. “If we look at the stats, we know how we’ve been constrained by availability – but
we’ve done a good job building a very healthy share within the segments that we compete in during 2021. What we’ve got to do, is to get the same share of segment when we launch PHEVs and BEVs in the C and C-SUV segments in 2022.
“Then there are the premium brands; if you look at them as a group, they are really, really strong in the volume segments. We’ve got a big opportunity with DS and Alfa Romeo to grow from where our share is today. A lot of
the marketing mix. “As a guide, we’d want to be taking at least the share of electric that we are taking for the ICE model. There’s less competition on electric, so we should be doing a bit better than that. With 208 and Corsa, we’re taking 40% of the segment. So, we’ve got to be punching for 20% share of segments as a minimum moving forward, because there’s less competition in the short term and across the portfolio, this is what we’re looking for.”
“With electric vehicles we need to hit the ground running this year.”
that will be product led – as we fill more of the portfolio and compete in more of the market with those brands.
“The other thing that will help is that we’ve very much managed on a customer demand basis, so it’s not about chasing volume in those brands, because they are part of a big group. This will be great news for residual values, and likewise for whole-life cost.
“The premium brands are going to take longer, but with electric vehicles we need to hit the ground running this year.” Taylor’s aspiration with low-emission vehicles is to overachieve compared with
The incoming Peugeot 308 and Vauxhall Astra PHEV models are close in terms of concept, but Taylor does not believe customers will have any problem differentiating between these models. “The brands have their own distinct identity, so Peugeot has tried really hard since the 3008 with product quality and design, it’s an upper-medium brand. Vauxhall are on that journey, but it started long after that. At the end of the day, customers will make their choice on what they want, and what they see as the best solution for them and their driver base. Obviously, we’d facilitate around that.”
Left: The Peugeot 308 hatch demonstrates the French manufacturer’s commitment to product quality and design.
Above: The new Vauxhall Astra is the latest model to show the company’s distinct new identity.
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