Peugeot sinks claws into growth

PEUGEOT wants to build on its 60-year history in Australia with a push to introduce more dealerships and cast its customer net even wider.

The plan, which includes an expansion of the number of Peugeot dealerships nationally, is based on an aggressive new-model push as the brand attempts to reach beyond its loyal buyers.

In the last three years, the French brand has introduced or updated 11 models in its Australian line-up, including four this year alone.

“In the space of four years, there will be 15 new Peugeots arriving in Australia,” Peugeot Automobiles Australia managing director Bill Gillespie said.

“You’ll find with Peugeot models going forward that there are a lot less options and a lot more value.”

To handle this new-model influx, Mr Gillespie said Peugeot would expand its dealer network.

“We have a new Sydney dealer opening in June – a very strong brand name – we have two more dealers in Sydney to come on board the second half of this year, and we’re very keen to grow our metropolitan presence,” Mr Gillespie said.

“We’re also adding a new dealer in Brighton in Melbourne, with a person that’s had a very long association with the Peugeot brand opening another one there, and we’ve just opened a new dealership in Ipswich in Brisbane.

“We’re actively seeking more, and I guess better, dealers in the Australian landscape, but we need to make sure our existing dealers have a good customer base as well.”

Left: Peugeot Automobiles Australia managing director Bill Gillespie.

Peugeot buyers have some of the highest repeat business rates, with Mr Gillespie saying as many as 85 per cent of owners likely to jump behind the wheel of another lion-badged model.

It also has “bubbles” of strong sales in Australia, including around the north-central Victorian town of Ballarat, and the Gippsland region in the state’s east where buyers have warmed to the brand.

Mr Gillespie said Peugeot would also make an effort to expand its customer base after previous efforts proved successful.

“For us, one of the areas where we’ve retained more customers is by introducing a capped-price service plan,” Mr Gillespie said.

“We were the first brand in the premium segment to bring that to market, and that is really about telling our customers that we wanted to offer something that mass-market companies offered, but offer it in the premium market.

“It was a big step for us to do that, and a few others have followed since.” Peugeot’s showroom performance is down slightly so far this year, VFACTS figures show, with the 208 city car and 308 small hatch and wagon dominating the almost 1600 sales the brand has posted to the end of April.

Last year the brand recorded more than 5070 sales, an almost 3 per cent fall compared with the French car-maker’s 2011 result.