Ford has unveiled its latest tool to slow customer desertion to the German brands – top-spec models badged Vignale, named after an Italian coachbuilder it bought in 1973. To further tempt motorists to stay with the blue oval, it is promising a more personal, premium experience for Vignale drivers.

This will include a Vignale relationship manager as the single contact for any queries and service bookings, guaranteed free collection and delivery for all aftersales bookings and a free car wash every month. There will also be discrete waiting areas with designer leather furniture in the 55 designated FordStores, which are the only showrooms within Ford’s UK network allowed to sell Vignale models. Sandicliffe’s £1.5 million site in Leicester was one of the first in the UK to be designated a FordStore.

All this extra effort is because Ford wants the Vignale driver to feel a little bit special, a bit more loved, to correspond with ownership of Ford’s premium-grade car.  

Vignale’s roll-out starts with Mondeo in September, the new S-Max next year and a Kuga further down the line. It sees these three as a real opportunity for Vignale, given  that each already enjoys a high proportion of sales in the current top-spec Titanium trim.

To make a premium-grade Mondeo Vignale, and to justify the near-£4,500 price difference, each car is hand-finished in a special centre at Ford’s Valencia assembly plant. It features superior refinement, such as a signature hexagonal-quilted leather upholstery and dashboard and an active noise cancellation system, which uses three cabin microphones to monitor engine noise in the interior and directs opposing sound waves through the audio system to cancel out engine noise and improve the cabin ambience. Wind noise is also reduced by the use of acoustic glass.

The result is a remarkably quiet and comfortable car, even with a powerful diesel engine under the bonnet.

It is still recognisably a Mondeo, although that Vignale designation means it comes with 18in chrome alloys, chrome door details and grille bars and a bespoke grille with that signature hexagonal design. The Vignale trim is available on the four-door saloon from £29,795, with estate cars a £1,250 premium.

Jon Wellsman, customer services director at Ford of Britain, said Vignale is hoped to retain customers, particularly corporate user-choosers, who’ve already had a couple of high spec Mondeo or S-Max models and are thinking of swapping into a premium brand.

These are expected to represent 70% of the take-up of the Ford Vignale Mondeo. The carmaker also hopes the new launch will win some conquest sales. Ford’s S-Max MPV and Kuga SUV have previously succeeded at attracting conquest customers by offering high specification and strong styling.

“We want customers to feel delighted with the car and very, very pleased with the level of care and expertise from their FordStore dealer. And we’d like them to look forward to swapping to a new Vignale next time,” Wellsman said.

He said Ford is working on more customer conveniences, such as a roll-out of an overnight servicing programme, which is already being implemented by its Transit specialist centres. He hopes to extend this service to any new Ford buyer in the future, not just Vignale customers.

Telematics will also come to Ford dealerships in the near future. Again, this will start with Transit centres, but ultimately will become available for all customers.

“From a fleet perspective, our aim is to position Vignale at a very competitive monthly payment and given the very positive reaction from the residual value providers, we hope to position it from around £300 per month, although that is to be confirmed.

“The early indications from the RV providers are that they will give it an uplift in percentage terms above the new Mondeo.” However, CAP has told AM it forecasts an RV equal to that of a Mondeo Titanium estate.

Vignale Mondeo will not be submitted to the short-cycle daily rental or Ford management car segments, which may boost registrations at the expense of residual values. The Vignale benefits also transfer to the second owner and later owners if the car is bought through the Ford network. For retail buyers, PCPs through Ford’s Options scheme will be over two or three years and Wellsman predicts it will be very competitive on price. Rates will be confirmed in Q3.

Ford cannot prevent FordStores from discounting the Vignale, but Wellsman said given its niche volumes and promotion on monthly payments it is not a product which will require distress discounts.

The Ford Mondeo Vignale is offered exclusively with high-power engines, including a 2.0-litre TDCI turbodiesel with either 178bhp or 207bhp, a 99g/km CO2 185bhp petrol-electric hybrid or a 236bhp turbocharged petrol unit. The 178bhp diesel, which achieves 115g/km CO2 with manual transmission or 125g/km with Ford’s six-speed Powershift automatic, is expected to account for 82% of Ford’s UK target of 2,000 to 3,000 annual sales.

It’s a low target – Ford will sell almost as many Mustangs as Vignale Mondeos. Yet it reflects a realism at Ford. Many customers in its target market want a premium brand on the bonnet, not a premium-grade car wearing a Ford badge.  

 

FordStores and the Vignale experience

FordStores are large metropolitan dealerships in the Ford network that will operate under an increased set of standards, such as a 12+ car showroom, a Transit centre, larger workforce and a minimum of a nine-car demonstrator fleet, with each demonstrator in a marked parking bay with a permanent information totem. It bears the ‘FordStore’ logo as well as a large Ford oval and dealer branding, and has “a lot of kerb appeal”, especially when lit up at night, said Marc Le Maistre, Ford’s franchising and business management manager.

Inside, the FordStore has three individual zones, displaying SUV models, ST performance models and ‘hero’ models, typically the newest model. Each zone has different-coloured flooring, halo lighting, a plinth and TV screens running related marketing content. Ford’s other cars sit between the zones. Technology in the FordStore includes tablet computers, which consumers can use to configure Ford’s products before ‘swiping’ the image onto a larger screen.

The Vignale area of the FordStore is distinguished by privacy screens, floor tiles, leather designer sofas, a fresh coffee machine and a large interactive table that can be used as a giant tablet computer.

The initial 55 FordStores are upgrades of existing sites, at a six-figure cost, but 10 more will be added in 2016 as new-build or heavily refurbished facilities.

Le Maistre said dealers applied to upgrade to FordStores and went through a rigorous selection process to determine if the site was suitable. The successful partners range from Pendragon’s Evans Halshaw and Vertu’s Bristol Street Motors to Gates.

 

The Vignale collection

To enhance the Vignale experience, Ford has accompanied its cars with premium-grade lifestyle products created by its car designers, which were first showcased at the Salone Del Mobile, a global furniture design expo held in Milan.

Erika Tsubaki, design supervisor at Ford of Europe, headed the project, which saw its £610 leather weekender bag win an IF product design award. The bag incorporates styling cues from the Vignale cars’ bonnet, grille and quilted leather seats, and its ‘wings’ hide fastenings just as a car’s bonnet hides its inner workings. Other products include a £280 handbag, card holder, mobile phone case, money clip and purse.

Ford took the step because its Vignale designers were influenced by trends from furniture to fashion to create this new expression of Ford.

“The Vignale Collection encapsulates our passion for design that sets us apart from other brands while echoing Ford’s unique design DNA,” said Tsubaki.

These accessories will be made available to Vignale customers by their relationship manager, and through the Vignale Collection website.

 

Is Vignale a premium experience with legs? The lessons of history are mixed:

Renault

About 10 years ago, Renault tried becoming premium by putting its futuristically styled Espace, Vel Satis and Aventime models into a dedicated showroom separate from the mainstream Renault models. Dealers fought against having to make the investment and sales of the cars were far lower than expected, so the ambition was scrapped.

 

Citroën

Launching the DS brand in 2010 has been something of a saviour for the Citroën franchise. With DS3’s styling and personalisation standing out significantly from any other models in the core Citroën range, it attracted consumers out of Minis, VW Golfs and Audi A3s. Its larger cars, DS4 and DS5, targeted the fleet sector with mixed success. Having established the DS sub-brand within Citroën showrooms from one product cycle, now Citroën aspires to operating DS as a car brand in its own right with its own entrance and showroom style.

 

Audi

Audi was split out from Volkswagen showrooms in the early 1990s as it shifted its target market upscale to compete with BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Its successful transition to the premium segment today was a result of almost two decades of model improvements, network changes and brand marketing.

 

Lexus

Lexus was born from a Toyota project to create the world’s best car and target new premium opportunities in overseas markets. After the sub-brand launched in the UK in 1990, it shared showrooms with its Toyota parent for almost a decade.

However, once the brand was established it was split off into a network of bespoke Lexus showrooms.