When asked by Business Car if he thought the Frontera’s fleet opportunity was in its price parity, Douglass said: “I think the BEV mix we will do on Frontera will be bigger than the BEV mix we will do for anything else. We’re assuming 35%, and our biggest BEV sales month was November this year, which totalled 33%.
“No Vauxhall car has ever reached 35% on its own, but Frontera will because of price parity – on list price and monthly payment.”
Asked whether the Frontera would be a conquest buy, Douglass went on to highlight the point that the brand has lost a lot of fleet customers to the likes of MG and Dacia in the last five to six years.
He said: “Frontera gives us the perfect opportunity to win them back – so there’s a very big conquest element to it, like every car. There’s also a defensive element, in the sense it’s giving those existing Vauxhall fleet customers that haven’t felt that they can make the leap to electric, it gives them the perfect bridge, because of its practicality, and it price positioning.
“So, we might see user choosers who may have gone for a Mokka or Astra petrol, take a leap into electric with Frontera – because it doesn’t feel scary from a pricing point of view.
“When you talk of job-need cars, and there’s not a lot of those left now, I think, it will be slightly different. Frontera will just appeal, as the financials will be strong, and its got a lot of practicality – especially for use outside of work. I can’t imagine many staff will be saying ‘The Frontera isn’t suitable for me’ – because it’s really flexible. So, from a job need point of view it could do really well.”
Douglass sees the Frontera as ‘the bridge to electric’, because the price is so appealing – but not at the expense of other models. He says: “Someone who was going to choose a petrol Astra will choose the Frontera, because it’s an affordable way to go electric.
“Broadly however, I don’t think so. When we put cars in Motability – all at the same price, people don’t always buy the bigger car. We’ve had Corsa, Mokka, and Astra, in the past – all at the same payment. And we always sold more Corsa – customers like what they like!”
“For the Frontera, I think it will be 35/65 in favour of the GS trim, because the price walk is £25 a month more, in a four-year finance package. And from a styling point of view, I think GS will appeal to more people. Although, I do think there will be a buyer for the optional white steel wheels pack – because it looks cool. GS also opens the buyer to more pack options – which you can’t have on Design.
“No other mainstream brand in Europe has every single car and van model in the range with an EV version. So, from a fleet perspective, if people have an eye on electrifying, we’ve got everything for them.”
