Peugeot’s Phil Robson: simplify the buying process
Business Car Manager: Editor’s Blog
FOLLOWING on from my blog on the CV Operator show (Blog 425), I also had the chance to meet Phil Robson there for the first time. Phil is the fleet director at Peugeot, a company that’s been well under anybody’s radar for some time.
But the manufacturer that brought us such brilliant cars as the Peugeot 205 GTI and the business car redefining Peugeot 406 saloon, there’s good news. Peugeot seems to have rediscovered its mojo.
There’s the new Peugeot RCZ coupe – which is a stunning looking car. You can read our news story on it here: Peugeot challenges TT with new RCZ coupe.
And then there’s the Peugeot 5 concept – which was unveiled at the recent Geneva show. You can see it in our Geneva show report.
“Cars like these will help reassess the Peugeot product,” Phil assured me. I think he’s right. And they should be good to drive too.
Typical of Phil though is his straightforward approach. “I think we tend to overcomplicate things,” Phil explained. “When a buyer comes into a dealership we get desperate to identify whether they are a private or business buyer – especially with small businesses. But we’ve been training our dealer staff to ask some simpler questions. What’s the car for? What’s the use? And depending on which way the conversation goes, are you VAT registered? In these ways we can understand what a buyer wants and direct them towards the appropriate funding method. And sometimes towards a more appropriate car for their needs.”
I couldn’t agree more. There’s often a tendency to straightjacket customers. And that’s particularly the case with small businesses. Depending on the business owner, private ownership or company car might do the job equally well. New or maybe used might be the right answer. It will interesting to see how Peugeot develop this policy.
Overall, I met lots of fascinating people at the CV Operator show. And there were plenty of good vans, money saving products and efficiency improving technology. It meant I left a bit later than I had intended. As you can see in the picture, my Audi A6 looked a little lonely in the car park by the time I reached it!
I did have a good drive home though. And as more miles have gone on the odometer, the A6 is definitely feeling more oiled, more comfortable. The suspension seems to react to dips and bumps with a smoother action; the gearshift moves with a more machined precision than before. I do like this car.
However, I am discovering that DAB digital radio has its disadvantages. Occasionally it drops the signal. There’s one particular spot at the roundabout below junction 1 of the M3 where it does this every time. Which is really annoying when you are listening to a Radio 5 Live interview – especially as it always happens at an interesting bit, too!
Rather more pleasing was the great fuel consumption. I recorded 55.3mpg for my journey back as the average – the highest I’ve ever achieved. Given the price of diesel, you need to make every drop count.
