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It’s a year since Tim Tozer joined Vauxhall UK as chairman and managing director, and he couldn’t be happier with the progress. In an interview with AM, Tozer said dealers have a lot to be excited about with the Vauxhall franchise for 2015 and beyond.

“We, as a brand, are on the verge of launching a lot of new cars and powertrains, which makes for a very exciting time. If you wind the clocks back four to five years, when General Motors (GM) was questioning its strategic commitment to the business, investment in Vauxhall just didn’t flow as much as it should have done. We are now seeing the effects of their decision to invest, which is really going to affect Vauxhall and its dealer network in a positive way.

“It really can only get better for the brand and for our retail network.”

Tozer explained his admiration for his dealer network, for sticking by the brand through that rough patch and decision-making from GM: “The dedication that our network has shown just shows me that we have the best people representing us. We don’t plan on bringing any additional dealers on board, but we do plan on nurturing the relationships we already have.”

Vauxhall’s latest corporate identity roll-out – “not a drastic revamp, more a functional edit” – has been completed and Tozer said dealers feel the refresh has made the atmosphere nicer and the layout works better for customers.

“We weren’t going to change the tiles for no good reason; it was a matter of making some simple updates.”

Tozer said some dealers need to expand to grow their business.

“We are going to look at that, with a mind of ‘easily changeable’ not ‘revolution’.” His example: “Thurlow Nunn represents us in Norfolk and Milton Keynes and they’ve just requested representation in Luton and Dunstable, which works for all parties – better coverage for us and better business prospects for them.”

Last year marked a big year for Vauxhall, with the introduction of PCP finance – it had relied on a ‘flexible finance’ five-year HP programme to make monthly payments attractive.

“We had used the five-year purchase way of buying for a very long time, which worked well for us, but things move on. Buying habits have drastically evolved, and it was time for Vauxhall to move on and join the rest of the industry. More importantly though, give our customers what they’re looking for.

“We got rid of lifetime warranties last year too, because, with the change in buyer behaviour, such a warranty just didn’t add up as a sales tool anymore, due to a person’s turnover in cars being quicker.”

Tozer shared his view on the strength of PCPs: “I’ve just come back from living on the Continent, where markets are not generally as ‘consumerist’ as ours – we are a very consumerist market. Everything is really about ‘ok, my disposable income is this and I can allocate this much money on my motability – just like I do with my mobile phone’. PCPs play right into that.

“In the Netherlands, for example, if you talk about PCPs people look at you with a very blank face and say ‘well I want to own it, not just use it’, so it is very much in the psychology of this country. Other brands that were in very early helped condition the market.”

Some 70% of Vauxhall’s retail business on the Adam model is done on PCP, with Corsa close to 50%, which it expects to grow this year.

“Our performance on PCPs has been the drive and influence to produce better products, and thus having a positive effect on residual values and improving them for customers who choose to buy that way,” said Tozer.

Vauxhall is keen to grow its PCP penetration in new and used car sales, but Tozer won’t be laying down ground rules around the used-car PCP any time soon: “I think we will leave the decision to implement used-car PCPs to our dealers. We are called manufacturers because that’s what we do and I don’t think we should be thinking about running retailers’ businesses for them. I have, as a retailer, dealt with manufacturers who give the impression they would like to be running your business for you. That just doesn’t help. We have a strong used-car proposition in NetworkQ, and that’s a real key part of the business.”


Changing Vauxhall’s stocking standards to deter pre-reg

Vauxhall changed its stocking standards last year to help its dealers be less like a stockist and more like a retailer. It created regional hubs or storage centres, with an aim of making its dealers’ businesses less capital-intensive and to prevent the pre-registering of vehicles.

There are five main hubs around the UK, including Ellesmere Port. The cars (all owned by Vauxhall) are sent from manufacturing plants to the hubs and are then called for by dealers as they need them. This is intended to save site space, and widen customer choice and availability. It is also more efficient, as dealers no longer have to have capital tied up in stock.

“We work closely with our network to try and prevent pre-registering happening to understand what tools are needed to get the volume that our targets require,” Tozer said.

“Our central hubs are brilliant and they’ve made a huge difference in our customer satisfaction scores.”

He said this increase in customer satisfaction stems from having the models ready and available when people want them.

Vauxhall has recognised that it has a lot of work to do in terms of marketing and has launched a new programme where it is focusing on a ‘red thread’ that flows through each area of its promotion, communications and marketing departments.

“We’ve simply not had quite the degree of brand marketing competence in the business in recent years, so we hired Chris Hawken as our new brand communications director, in December,” said Tozer. Hawken has previously held senior marketing roles for Hyundai, Renault and Audi.

“We have also strengthened our structure, with Simon Oldfield from Mercedes-Benz joining the business as sales and marketing director. Our focus is to piece together all of our sales and marketing activity, and we have already seen a big difference, with the expectation that those differences will really show at the other end across this year.

“The departments are so much more complex now, not like 15 years ago, when you could just put an advert on between News at 10 or Coronation Street, and the job was done. It’s so fragmented now that you have many different areas which you need to get it right. Hawken is important in this because we haven’t had any fresh people or fresh perspectives coming in in a long time, so it’s nice to hear his ideas.”

Vauxhall is trialling a solely digital campaign on the Adam, as part of its research to see where its marketing budget should be spent in future. It has seen a huge drop in print magazine circulation, but websites are thriving. “It’s not to say we will never do print, it’s just there are new things to think about,” Tozer said.

New models and products arriving this year include new engine variants in the new ‘whisper diesel’ 1.6-litre engine, a new 2.0-litre and the small 1.0-litre three-cylinder.

The Viva is due in showrooms at the beginning of June, which will give the brand three small cars in its range.

“There aren’t many franchises that have such a fresh line-up of small cars – an area which makes up 50% of the car-buying market, and Viva, Adam and Corsa will all play to their slightly different audiences, which puts us in a very strong proposition,” said Tozer. The next-generation Astra is coming later this year.


Simplifying the motor retail process

Vauxhall is currently testing ways to simplify how its retailers do business. One recent change that has made a big impact, is the way it measures and monitors standards.

“If a retailer is doing volume share, getting the right customer satisfaction scores, representing us properly through the employment of great people that have been well trained, and tackled all of the hurdles we put in front of them, then we should let them get on with it – I don’t need to be micro-managing those guys, that’s just a waste of time, they’re doing a cracking job as it is,” said Tozer.

He said getting a return out of car retail is really hard work, but if dealers do the right things by their customers and staff, and give a great service across a balanced business – servicing, aftersales, new cars and used – it becomes a lot easier..

Tozer said he still feels new to the job, but has already made lots of changes and hopes his position can help make the business more pragmatic and more retailer-minded: “I have been a retailer, so I can engage with some of their issues, that’s why I keep a close relationship with them and our franchise board, to offer support if they need it.”