RAM, DODGE AND CHRYSLER CANADA CHIEF TALKS PRODUCT, MANUFACTURING AND THE FUTURE OF AUTO RETAILING
At the Canadian auto dealer studios in Markham, Ont. our columnist and automotive journalist Petrina Gentile had a chance to speak with Reid Bigland, President and CEO, Ram, Dodge and Chrysler Canada Inc. via satellite from Chrysler’s headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. Here’s part of the conversation. You can watch the full interview at: www.canadianautomotivevideo.com.
PG: Last year Chrysler had its best sales since 2000. What do you owe that success to?
RB: I owe that success largely to product. This business is all about delivering a product that consumers want to buy. And arguably we had the best product portfolio in the history of our company in the tail end of 2013 and rolled it into 2014. We sold 260,000 units in the Canadian marketplace last year. That was good enough to be the second-highest vehicle manufacturer in the country and we gained more year-over-year units than any of the other 20 manufacturers we compete against.
PG: Let’s talk about product. The all-new Jeep Cherokee has been a sales hit. It also won the 2014 Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year award.
RB: We did. It’s a great addition to our product portfolio. The midsize SUV segment is the third largest vehicle segment in Canada. And it’s a segment we’d largely been out of for 18 months until November of 2013. So far in 2014, we’ve set all-time sales records for Chrysler Canada for midsize SUVs, now that the Cherokee is a key part of our product portfolio.
PG: But in Consumer Reports annual report card on vehicle brands Jeep didn’t do very well. It came in last place — tying with Ford — in 23rd place for quality?
RB: Quality is about continuous improvement. When it comes to Consumer Reports, we’re very proud of our Ram 1500, named one of Consumer Reports’ top 10 vehicles and top four best vehicles overall — the only domestic nameplate to receive that recognition from Consumer Reports. When it comes to Jeep and all of the rugged off-road characteristics we just haven’t been able to get in sync with some of the driving dynamics Consumer Reports is after. I think a lot of it has to do with the severe capability of our Jeep products which is just not meshing with what Consumer Reports is looking for. That’s not to make an excuse. We still have a lot of room to improve across all aspects of our business. We need to continue to stay focused on quality. But I think what we’ve accomplished with our Ram products is indicative of the new Chrysler.
PG: What is Chrysler’s commitment to Canada when it comes to manufacturing?
RB: Chrysler has had a long standing commitment to the Canadian marketplace. We’ve been manufacturing vehicles in Canada for almost 90 years. Last year, we built a little over 570,000 in the Canadian marketplace. That represents about 25 per cent of Canada’s total automotive manufacturing output. In the short term, we’ve announced significant investments in both our Brampton and Windsor assembly plants.
PG: What does the dealership of the future look like — is it a brick and mortar shop or a virtual car lot?
RB: I still see the actual transaction happening at a brick and mortar showroom because there’s no substitute for being able to kick the proverbial tires — you can only take that experience so far on the Internet. Although we’ve also seen a number of dealers that perform the majority of customer transactions online and even schedule deliveries to a customer’s house or place of business they are still in the minority. Most consumers want to do their homework online and then get down to the dealership.
PG: What’s the best way for dealers to engage consumers in the digital arena?
RB: It’s important to have dedicated resources handling both the digital advertising as well as following up on leads and disseminating information. A number of our dealers are very advanced when it comes to the digital arena. Many have dedicated online digital resources that’ll handle the customer enquiry without any passing of the baton, so to speak. They’ll speak with the Internet sales manager and they’ll in essence complete the entire transaction. That really seems to be one of the best practices. It’s no longer a digital revolution. It’s here, it’s a reality. It’s critically important that they get into the game.
PG: What’s the biggest challenge for Chrysler moving forward?
RB: We’ve had a lot of success at Chrysler. We marked 51 consecutive months of year-over-year sales growth in February of 2014. We began the year as the number one selling vehicle manufacturer in the country. We sold slightly over 36,000 units, delivering over 17 per cent market share. Our key is to continue to stay focused on that continuous improvement.
The industry is brutally competitive. Anytime you have 20 manufacturers and over 300 different products to choose from, you’re going to get a wickedly competitive market. It’s critically important for Chrysler Canada to stay focused. If we can stay focused on improving we’ll continue to do alright. We can’t become complacent for one second.
