WHAT VAN? AWARDS - WINNER'S PROFILE: All systems Berlingo

Date: Wednesday, June 26, 2019 | Author: James Dallas

Ed Hickin, LCV business sales manager

(Continued from page 1) Although the network had reduced to 65 Business Centres by 2018, he says this was still too many of the outlets, which are expected to sell at least 100, and up to 1,000, vans a year. Hickin has cut the number of Business Centres to 40, but in a two-tier approach has also established a network of 75 Business Active dealerships, which are a sort of light version of the fully fledged Business Centres, retailing between 40 to 100 units a year.

The Business Active sites can have a member of staff dedicated solely to light commercial vehicles but are not obliged to. It’s a “pragmatic solution for dealers”, he explains. With a total retail network of 145 outlets, Hickin says the programme, which officially launched on 1 January, means the vast majority of dealerships have a degree of specialism in vans.

The Business Centres themselves have two employees dedicated to vans so that one is always available on site if the other is out on business.

This expertise is important, Hickin explains, in helping the firm’s customers to make the right choices for their businesses.

“Customers still come in thinking they want a particular thing but they may want something else,” he says.

As well as sales the Business Centres offer loan vans. This could be for when a customer’s van is in the workshop or when they are waiting for a new one to be delivered. Loan vans, Hickin points out, can also act as sales tools if they impress the customer.

The Business Centres also have bigger lifts, wider entrances and longer opening hours.

They must also display at least one vehicle from the Ready to Run conversion scheme.

With a strong commercial vehicle retail operation established, Hickin claims: “We don’t have to run around like some other manufacturers to persuade people to sell LCVs.”

Hickin says that the manufacturer is looking for a 10% rise in van sales this year, which is an ambitious target in the current economic and political climate.

He is targeting 11,500 sales to businesses with fewer than 50 vans and 14,000 to national fleets.

The breakdown for smaller fleets will be at least 6,000 Berlingos, 3,000 Dispatch medium vans and 2,000 large Relay vans, he predicts, with a similar ratio in higher volumes for large fleets.

Citroen Relay Converts Relay conversions

Ready to Run conversions are all based on the Relay model with the main focus being on the core tipper, dropside, Luton, box and curtainside bodies, all of which are on the Citroen price list. Later on this year minibuses will join the line-up too.

When it comes to electric vans, Citroen does not claim to be a pioneer but is increasing its focus on the market. Beyond a handful going to local authorities the Berlingo Electric has remained on the margins. Hickin says a few EVs based on the previous generation remain in stock but that technical studies on a new one, and an electric Relay, are underway, with the models expected to break cover later this year. Meanwhile, a Dispatch Electric is due in the second quarter of 2020, he says.

Brexit

As a European company with a strong presence in the UK, particularly with Vauxhall’s Luton plant set to build the new Vivaro medium van, which is a re-badged version of the Citroen Dispatch and Peugeot Expert, both of which the Vauxhall model has historically outsold in the UK, the PSA Group is keeping a close eye on how developments with the Brexit process will affect its trading operation.

But whatever the outcome of the political wranglings, the company is determined that its UK-based business operations will continue to function as smoothly as possible and has put in place a contingency plan covering human resources, taxation, customs, logistics, production, regulation, the supply chain and IT to ensure this is the case regardless of the final outcome of the Brexit negotiations.

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