With the never-ending proliferation of new models, new sectors and new niches, there’s no such thing as a quiet period for a major manufacturer. And so it has proved for BMW’s new general manager corporate sales Matt Bristow, who stepped into the fleet boss role at the beginning of the year following Stephen Chater’s promotion to general manager of product and market planning.
Although the core corporate models of 1-series, 3-series and 5-series are largely unchanged this year, there is plenty going on in terms of entering new segments, which creates its own challenges in terms
of addressing the market.
“It’ll be a very busy couple of years, with facelifts, new models and replacement models. It’s 15 this year and the same again in 2015,” Bristow tells BusinessCar. “A couple stand out: the 2-series Active Tourer and the 4-series Gran Coupe. These are the two that we see as having very high relevance and corporate content.”
The new niches of these two models – mini-MPV along the lines of a Mercedes B-class and an upper medium four-door coupe aimed at the Audi A5 Sportback – means BMW is hoping to bring new people into the brand, especially with the 2-series Active Tourer.
“It is the first front-wheel drive BMW, and there will be natural appeal to customer groups we have not touched before, with an element from premium competition, but a lot of interest from non-premium brand drivers,” explains Bristow. “It will be angled directly to people with family, and historically we have not been able to provide a car with that level of specification and practicality at that price level.”
BMW’s fleet boss declares that the priority isn’t to upgrade people from the 1-series, but to snare those that hadn’t previously looked at the brand as an option.
The 4-series Gran Coupe has a different role, attempting to offer existing BMW drivers a new alternative as much as bringing new people into the brand.
“With the success of Efficient Dynamics, people have potentially cycled a number of BMWs, and this is giving someone who has been in 3-series a bit of variation while returning all the driving dynamics and benefits of Efficient Dynamics,” explains Bristow. “There will be a bit of that with that car. On paper, the A5 Sportback is the closest competitor – we’re particularly pleased with the look and feel of the GC.”
The Gran Coupe will bring BMW’s upper medium offering to a total of six models across the 3-series saloon, Touring and GT, and the 4-series Coupe, Cabriolet and Gran Coupe, but Bristow says they all have a place in the line-up.
“Each model has its benefit – the GT is higher and has more interior space, Gran Coupe is a coupe platform with five-door practicality, Touring has the traditional boot, saloon is the mainstay, and Coupe and Convertible are a lifestyle choice and depend on choice lists, especially the convertible,” he declares. “It’s about making sure people are aware of all the nuances.”
Simple plans
But these new models do increase the complexity of the line-up, which is why BMW is now looking at how to address the swelling number of lines in its brochure.
“We now have over 500 individual models, but we’re looking at the ultimate range breadth, the number of models and the way they are listed – but we don’t want to hamper our overall benefit,” states Bristow. “Models were introduced to ensure choice and RV recognition where the product requires it, such as with Business Navigation fitted, but we’re potentially now at the level where we are concerned it’s slightly too complex for people when doing things like picking benchmark cars.”
BMW lists the navigation options separately for its models, giving it a higher number of different entries on its price list, but chooses to do so as some leasing companies can’t manually apply an RV uplift if the model isn’t individually listed.
“We have a specific review we’re undertaking to reduce the complexity,” reveals BMW’s corporate sales boss. “We’re looking to come up with some fairly significant results in the short term – this year for sure. There are some quicker wins and some more strategic thoughts on how to reduce complexity without reducing choice and the benefits.”
BMW was the brand that pioneered the move towards large-scale CO2 reduction, but in recent times, rivals have caught up and in some cases passed BMW for ultimate low-emission offering.
“Our technology has been around for a long time. We’ve actually got 166 models under 130g/km, so the breadth of range that can be adopted is massive,” says Bristow. “We don’t have a lynchpin that acts as a showcase – we have a breadth of technology.
“What we can’t forget is the driving experience that goes with these models,” he adds, questioning whether rival brands would be able to combine low emissions, performance and driver enjoyment, while also hinting that further developments are in the pipeline. BusinessCar reported in late 2011 at the launch of the latest 3-series that the company is aiming to get the model below 100g/km during its current life cycle.
As a separate brand, Mini is receiving increasing attention from BMW’s fleet team, and last year the firm appointed a specific Mini UK corporate development manager in the form of James Morrison.
“Mini is a big corporate focus – and a key focus for the network is investing in corporate as a brand – and a sensible choice for the corporate sector” says Bristow. “Mini has been extremely popular in retail; now it’s entirely appropriate for corporate, especially with the new three-cylinder engines and refinement you can do 200 miles in a Mini and get out feeling fresh.”
Plus, there are more models appropriate for the fleet sector coming, with a five-door Mini hatchback due before the end of the year – first pictures will appear in BusinessCar’s 17 June issue – while the Clubman Concept shown earlier this year hints at a more regular five-door layout for the second-generation Clubman designed to rival the likes of VW’s Golf.
Service focus.
Away from the new products, BMW’s new corporate sales boss is looking to enhance customer focus, having recently added an additional two corporate sales managers in an attempt to reduce the number of individual customers each person attends to. There are now nine in place, but Bristow would like to see that rise.
BMW has also recently installed a new customer contact centre, which will help take some of the load away from the corporate sales managers by acting as a first point of contact and dealing with the administration around customer management and demonstrator vehicles.
Bristow feels his background, which includes working for leasing company Alphabet and BMW Financial Services, helps give a wider view of customer needs.
“It helps me see things from a customer perspective. I have not just been within a manufacturer, so I can focus on the customer and how best to serve them,” he declares. “And that’s not just in the buying cycle, but [also in] relationship management.”
That relationship-building extends to the company’s Launchpad online dashboard that gives a wealth of model-related information, as well as fleet guides on everything from taking a vehicle abroad to the workings and capabilities of BMW’s Connected Drive system.
“We’re trying to remind people to keep using it – it’s not just a gimmick around when they get their new car. It’s got everything you need to know about your car” says Bristow. “Particularly in the user-chooser area. Individuals with a company car have feelings and emotions that are no different to retail customers.
They are a car owner and we should approach them in the same way we engage with consumers.”
A genius move?
Last year BMW launched a new initiative to have at least one so-called ‘BMW Genius’ at each dealership designated to helping customers deal with increasing range and technology complexity.
“Their sole purpose is to demonstrate the product, know everything about it – and they are enthusiastic about it,” explains BMW’s fleet boss Matt Bristow. “They do not have sales targets, there’s no hard sell – we’re trying to break down barriers because people are nervous about heading into a showroom.”
Bristow admits that across all manufacturers there is sometimes a reluctance to help corporate customers, but the Geniuses should help solve that issue.
“With dealers and corporate customers, if you don’t have that account, [as a dealer] across all brands, is there a lack of motivation to deal with corporate customers?” he questioned. “A Genius doesn’t have a sales target, so it doesn’t matter – they should be enthusiastic [about dealing with company drivers that lease].
“It launched last year and anecdotally the feedback has been fantastic,” Bristow continues. “Like anything that doesn’t correlate to a sales target, it’s difficult to assess, but it’s driven footfall and satisfaction within the dealership.”
Bristow says the number of visits people make to dealers is falling due to the amount of research now conducted online, so the experience when they get to a showroom has to be good.
“Genius is something we should look to promote better, particularly in corporate,” he concludes.
