Wycliffe Peugeot

Source: Retail Digital

Date :7/26/2007 11:35:50 AM

80 years of development: Wycliffe Peugeot brings the personal touch to the modern motor trade

A family owed Peugeot Main Dealer Group with Dealerships in Lutterworth and Rugby, Wycliffe Peugeot is an incarnation of the longest running family-owned motor trader in the UK. Managing Director Graham Richardson and his brother Adam, General Manager, spoke to James Hurley about the challenges of the UK automotive industry and how the company is entering an exciting period of development for the company

Written by James Hurley & Produced by Ben Weaver

Tracing its origins as far back as 1927, when James Richardson founded a motor business in Lutterworth, J Richardson & Sons is now in the hands of the fourth generation. In its 80th year of trading, the company is developing its Peugeot franchise outlets in Lutterworth and Rugby. Developing a state of the art dealership in Leicester Road, Rugby, Wycliffe Peugeot is also combining its two after sales departments together in Rugby. Along with the company’s extensive, established knowledge of the Peugeot brand, its plans for streamlining and enhancement are likely to herald a further period of strong growth and development.

Major rebuilding

In April, the company’s Rugby dealership made the short journey next door into its short-term premises, with all aspects of the business temporarily transferred. The old building was demolished in May and construction began on a striking new dealership. The new £3 million site, covering an area of almost two acres, is due for completion in the autumn. With an outstanding design, on a fast developing area of Leicester Road, the refurbished and expanded dealership is a dramatic statement of intent from a company that already has an established presence in the area but is constantly looking for growth.

That the company enjoyed a record-breaking performance of both vehicle sales and service during the first month of trading in the temporary premises is an incredibly positive indicator for the company’s future.

“The way we are structuring all this is not just with the intention of opening a new dealership but to try to bring it into the next century,” explains Managing Director Graham Richardson. In the short term, he believes that interest in the development combined with the company’s excellent reputation in the area, has contributed to the record trading in the temporary premises, but the refurbishment and expansion programme is part of a larger effort to modernise the company’s operations. “Strangely enough, it seems to attract new customers because of the curiosity as to what is going on. But we’re looking well into the future in every direction to see what the motor trade is going to change into. The most important thing is that the quality of service has to improve dramatically through the whole of the industry. I think for us to benefit in future, it’s important that we take that on board now as much as we possibly can,” he says.

Quality of service is something that Graham and Adam clearly take a personal interest in – my appointment to speak with them began a little late because both were with customers.

Graham says that the success of the interim arrangement, and the knock on promotional impact that it has achieved, has been evidence of both a marketing and management success. “We have had a tremendous help from the staff, their loyalty to the business has been second to none,” he says. “We have done a lot of PR work to the effect that this is only a temporary accommodation. We have spent a lot of money on marketing the situation as it is, obviously to keep and maintain the loyalty of the customers. But now that they can actually see that there is a huge development in place, it gives the customer confidence that yes, there is a re-development there so they will continue to deal with us and continue to buy.”

Investing in a global brand

The Richardsons are very happy with the company’s franchisee status and the advantages that the association with a global brand can bring. “We look upon it as a partnership and with such a huge investment with the build in Rugby, it’s good to have that established relationship that benefits both sides,” Graham says. He also acknowledges that some of the regulations that they are subject to pose some potential challenges.

“I think if we are looking to the future, block exemption regulations are a slight worry. That have come to be changed yet again means it’s a worrying time, and we’re wondering what Brussels may come up with,” says Graham. The block exemption regulation set a framework for the operation of vehicle franchised networks. In the past, many of the changes the regulations brought have in fact had a positive impact on the industry and dealer / manufacturer relations. “Certainly what has happened in the last few years has been no disadvantage to us and in fact, if anything, it has been an advantage. The whole thing has been designed to take the stranglehold of the manufacturers off the retailers to give a better competition ratio for all the customers,” Graham says.

“If this continues in the same way, it isn’t a threat to retail unless the motor trade begins to disappear into supermarket outlets, which would be a disaster. But the investment in Rugby does put us in a good position in the future. We have to make it work and we certainly have a lot of confidence in the new dealership and with our future with Peugeot,” agrees Adam Richardson.

Graham has recently returned from France, where he was attending an international meeting with Peugeot’s Chairman Christian Streiff. “It was very interesting to see how he mapped out a strategy for the 308 and 4007 four wheel drive models,” he says. “Peugeot’s investment worldwide is increasing dramatically and they are getting stronger and stronger.” Despite a difficult market in Europe, with increased taxation of motorists and lower consumer spending hitting the motor, the UK market is holding strong.

“I think the UK economy looks fairly buoyant. As far as production is concerned, we’ll see a different breed of motor car coming through over the next five to ten years with a focus on the green element rather than the luxury market. But that will evolve in a similar way with every manufacturer in due course.”

Taking the green initiative is something that the company is taking very seriously; Peugeot plans to be the first manufacturer to offer a small family car with a diesel-electric hybrid power unit. It intends that a hybrid version of its new 308 model will be on sale before the end of the decade. The Peugeot diesel hybrid promises to average better than 70mpg and to have the lowest car-bon-dioxide emissions of any car other than a pure electric.

“Peugeot’s global investment is huge, and they’re still continuing to grow worldwide which is very important,” Graham says. “If you look at some of the other global manufacturers they have major problems. Our decision to stop with Peugeot because of their strengths was an important one.”

It’s not surprising that Wycliffe Peugeot experienced some major challenges when Peugeot pulled its manufacturing operations out of the UK earlier this year. “The upset meant we lost a lot of customers in the short term, and the volume of employee sales was hit. But that hangover has now disappeared and we’re back where we should be,” he explains. “In my opinion, the future for all involved with Peugeot is looking very good.”