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NEWS BRIEFS FROM THE 2006 GENEVA MOTOR SHOW
03 March 2006 - Honda
Whilst the cars are seen as the stars of any motor show, it is the information gleaned from senior executives representing the various manufacturers that provides significant ‘news’ about future plans and models.
The following are a few highlights from the 2006 Geneva Show news roundup. Honda Civic is becoming the pride of Honda Swindon. From its launch in the New Year, demand for the striking new hatchback has been outstanding, particularly with the diesel engine.
As world wide manufacturing centre for the new car, Swindon is looking at order books of six months in Northern Europe and up to a year away in the Baltic States.
Closer to home, Honda has been surprised by the diesel take up and also by the fact that customers are ordering higher specification models than early feedback suggested would be the case.
Honda’s new head of UK sales, Ian Ramsay, said the high demand could be put down to memorable advertising campaigns to raise awareness in December and January including websites which had attracted 280,000 hits a week.
The increasing availability of diesel engines was also playing a part and opening up the brand and the Civic range to new buyers, who are predominantly retail and over 50 years.
He said, “I think there is still quite a lot more to be done, particularly in the corporate market which is generally more conservative towards changing ideas and trying something new.
“I am happy to be with a brand which has a lot of momentum and which last year grew as the second highest and still has plans to develop.”
Part of that plan is designed to improve appeal of Honda to buyers in the 30 to 50 bracket without turning off the traditional core buyers and that will be achieved by bringing new performance image products to the market, such as the Civic Type R unveiled at Geneva motor show this month.
Honda’s 200 UK dealers are also being encouraged to raise the image of the brand in their dealings with customers and the layout of their showrooms.
By the end of March, Honda UK expects to have sold 100,000 cars in 12 months and wants to raise this to 108,000 by April 2007 and 40pc of that figure will be taken up by Civic.
“To attain the volumes we want we will have to focus more on the corporate market than we have in the past because our retail share is strong and continues to grow,” he said. Peugeot Peugeot UK’s new boss is confident its fortunes are turning and it will have a very good year, particularly after the new 207 is launched on 8 June. Pierre Louis Colin, who took over in December, said the turnaround was due to it refreshing its range and returning to the company car market where diesel sales were particularly strong.
“We are back in the fleet market and already the results are very good,” he said.
January and February sales are up on the same time 12 months ago and now March is beginning to live up to projections at a time when the market in general is in decline.
“Q1 should show a significant improvement in market share over the same time last year and also a rise in volume as well. We are pretty confident we will finish ahead.”
Mr Colin said his task over the next few months was to ensure continuing demand for the Ryton-built Peugeot 206 because the new 207 slots into the range between the British built model and the larger 307 series.
The current 206 range will be rationalised and it is the first time Peugeot has ever continued with an old model alongside its successor but they are expected to appeal to different buyers over a broader price range than before.
When the 207 is launched in early June it will be one of the safest cars in its sector, having picked up strong results from the latest European New Car Assessment Programme safety tests.
Peugeot has stepped up production of the car in France and it will hit UK showrooms at least a month before it was expected. The company puts the earlier arrival down to the car’s good showing in pilot build runs which has allowed the introduction date to be brought forward.
“We will have a complete range of 207 models from launch with three and five doors, diesel and petrol engines and several trim levels and the prices will be revealed later in March,” he said.
Key to that new range pricing and look will be how it stacks up against the current 206 and Mr Colin said one of his major tasks is to ensure the Ryton model remains attractive.
Now in its eighth year, the 206 does look its age but he believes sales will be buoyed by clever incentives and a refreshment of trim levels while it can compete very well on price against rivals without impacting on sales of the 107 and 207.
The plant employs about 2,000 people on two shifts and Peugeot has said the 206 will remain in production for several years because it is an important model between the 107 and 207. Specific versions of the 206 will continue such as the SW, CC and Sedan.
He also revealed that Peugeot is considering increasing the number of its own retail outlets from the handful it has today as other manufacturers get involved in selling their cars on the High Street.
There is mounting concern within the industry at the growth of the super-groups and the influence they may exert on local market places to the detriment of smaller independent dealerships.
“We will probably have more of our own dealerships and this might lead to some changes in the coming years,” he added.
Mr Colin said it was Peugeot UK’s medium term aim to pass the 8pc market share it had a few years ago but he did not see any significant changes to the total of 320 outlets it has around the country, even if their ownership changes.
Kia
Kia is throwing down the gauntlet to its Asian and European rivals at the Geneva Motor Show this year. On the back of its latest generation Sedona MPV and the near production ready C-Segment challenger, code-named the cee’d, Kia UK says it is aiming for 45,000 registrations this year.
After increasing sales last year by 20% in a market down 5%, Kia UK boss Paul Williams is very bullish about the British market.
He said, “We have gone from 12,000 to 40,000 sales in three years and we will sell 45,000 this year.
“We are getting ready for a step change and we have to make sure we get more dealers, better dealers and we have an infrastructure in place to allow growth.
“Up to now we have largely grown on the back of retail business and we know the corporate market is more conservative and we have work to do here because it’s not the same as the retail sector.”
He added, “The corporate sector accounts for 55% of UK registrations and we will be having a C-sector model coming next year into a part of the market which accounts for 80% of business sales.
“I think it is realistic to see our 45,000 registrations this year grow towards the 100,000 sales we have planned for by 2010.”
But Kia is not forgetting its existing owners and they will play a key part in this projected growth as well as the company seeks to retain their loyalty with repeat business.
A lot of this will revolve around the five and three door C-sector car, which will have a range of popular small petrol and diesel engines from 1.4 to 2.0 litres including a “hot” sporting derivative in 2007.
There are currently 152,000 Kia models on UK roads with 120,000 still under warranty and Paul Williams wants to retain as many of these owners as possible within the brand, where residual values are similar to mainstream models from major European car makers.
He believes the arrival of five new models over the next 12 months will help with his customer loyalty plan as well as bring new retail and business buyers to the brand.
At the end of 2004, customer retention was around 30pc but by the end of this year he thinks it will be closer to 40% and rising. The widening pool of used Kia models will also be a good income stream for dealers.
The most significant new model for Kia will be the production model of the cee’d, which will roll out of its Slovakian plant towards the end of the year at a rate of 200,000 annually initially but building towards 300,000 when its in full swing.
Side by side with this growth will be an increase in dealerships from the present 164 outlets to 175 by the end of 2005 and 210 in 2009 as Kia seeks to fill its open points and replace under performing dealerships.
A new remarketing plan has been unveiled to dealers and it will be put into place at the end of March, to coincide with the new 06-plate sales and part-exchanges.
Volvo
Swedish cool met Welsh rough when engineers wanted to create the new Volvo S80.
The new mid-size car range from Volvo uses an engine built at Ford Bridgend plant but the car with a Welsh heart has also been given Welsh ‘legs’ after senior product designers put it through its paces in North and Mid Wales.
They were led by Ford group vice president of product engineering Richard Parry-Jones, who well knows the demanding roads of his native Wales are the toughest test for any car’s suspension and handling.
Suspension settings and lessons learned from this cloak and dagger exercise were incorporated into the new S80 which had its world premiere at Geneva motor show and which goes on sale from this summer.
Volvo plans to sell 4,000 S80 models in Britain this year priced from £24,000 to £42,000 with a range of diesel and petrol engines, including the new 3.2 litre straight-six cylinder engine built at Bridgend, where it will go into production in May.
The model’s biggest market is expected to be the United States, where it will be sold from 2007.
Spokesman John Lefley, director pubic affairs Volvo UK, said, “The old S80 was very popular for its comfort and quality but with the new series we have made it bigger, more luxurious and after developing the ride and handling in Wales we believe it will have added driver appeal through its sharpness.”
End Skoda A new chapter in car design and construction arrives with the Skoda Roomster at the end of 2006.
The new B-segment midi-mpv uses the front chassis of Skoda Fabia and the rear part of the Skoda Octavia platform separated by a unique centre section with a wheelbase that is longer than in the Octavia.
This is the first time any member of the Volkswagen Group of car companies has embarked on a “modular strategy” as it has been called.
The idea will save time and money and is likely to be adopted by other brands in the group, which includes Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT and possibly Bentley.
A unique seating arrangement provides for five or four seats to be utilised as in the Ford Focus C-Max and for them to be folded flat or removed to maximise loadspace.
Roomster will arrive in Britain in November and Skoda believes it will sell 800 over two months with 6,000 UK registrations next year.
There will be Classic, Style and Sport versions but the mid-range derivative is anticipated to take 40% of sales.
Skoda says it will be the first in the class to have standard kerb and cornering lights, usually found on luxury mid and executive size models. Miles Better News Agency
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