Automotive News Europe - March 2, 2009 - 19

March 2, 2009 www.autonewseurope.com · PAGE 19 Some good news for the Swedes Just six dealers worldwide serve up a smorgasbord of Volvo, Saab products Lyle Frink Automotive News Europe PRAGUE With Volvo and Saab each facing an uncertain future, this might not be the best time to be heavily reliant on the two Swedish brands. Yet a Czech dealership has found success offering both under one roof. “Some people like the no-frills Scandinavian design, but they don’t know which [car to choose],” Norbert Srba Jr. told Automotive News Europe. The Srba Servis dealership in Jiloviste, which is south of Prague, has showrooms for Volvo, Saab and Opel, with the Swedish showrooms separated by the drive-in service area for Volvo. The brands have different sales and service personnel. Worldwide, Volvo has 2,400 dealers and Saab has about 1,300 retailers. Few of them sell both brands. “It’s very rare,” said Volvo spokesman Stefan Elfstrom. He said there are six mixed VolvoSaab dealerships globally: three in Germany, one in the US, one in the UK, and now Srba Servis. “We find that fans of each brand like to see the other’s cars. While both brands have a Scandinavian context, each has it own natural values,” said Srba. “Saab is more sporty and technically driven while Volvo is about safety and family. Customers really divide themselves.” Volvo is the newest addition to the family-owned Srba Servis dealership. The Ford Motor-owned carmaker was added in 2007. Saab has been part of the business since 2005. It was added to complement General Motors sister brand Opel. Successful so far Srba is pleased with the results of having both brands. The dealer boosted his Saab and Volvo sales by 50 percent last year compared with 2007. In 2008, Srba sold 79 Saabs and 71 Volvos cars, in addition to 1,125 units from Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, Fiat, and Opel at his three Praguearea dealerships. Globally, sales at both Swedish brands fell by more than a quarter last year, with Volvo sales down to 359,000 units and Saab to 93,338 units. In the Czech Republic, Volvo’s total sales fell 166 units to 1,546 units. Saab sales rose to 116 units, an increase of 34 units. Andrew Prest, general manager of Polar Mobil, the Budapest-based Saab importer for central and eastern Europe, said both Saab and Volvo are relatively new in the region and have a different reputation from premium German brands. “There is a big distinction in the market between German and Scandinavian brands,” said Prest. “A Scandinavian car is seen as a sign you are successful, but not in a showy way.” Srba’s success is a contrast to the typical Saab dealership. “Most of the dealerships selling Saab have more than one brand, although the ones that do better tend to be those that focus 100 percent on Saab,” said Prest. Multibranding with Volvo is unique. “It’s not a completely bad idea in the current market,” said Prest. “There have been absolutely no negatives from this.” Putting similar segment cars together is part of the Srba strategy. At their newest multibrand showroom, in a working-class area of Prague, the Fiat Punto is sold in close proximity to the Opel Astra. “It’s similar to a mall where For Norbert Srba Jr. of Srba Servis, the pairing of two Swedish brands has been a success. you go shopping for The company added Saab three This is a problem Srba has not had shoes. You, the customer, want to years ago hoping that such a move to deal with since Saab is so new to make the choice,” said Srba. would complement its 30 years of ex- the market. A different view perience in selling Volvo. Yet last year Secondly, Baigent said, Saab GB they sold 250 new Volvos but just 40 and parent General Motors have selfBut offering both Saab and Volvo Saabs. registered too many vehicles. products is not a sure route to suc“We have no problems selling both “I think the market for Saabs is cess, Adrian Baigent, general manag- brands together,” Baigent wrote. much smaller than for Volvo. The Voler of the Cecil & Larter dealership in He said that one of the issues is that vo brand is perceived as more ‘modBury St Edmunds, east England, said Saab has not launched a new model ern,’ ” Baigent wrote. “It is unlikely in an e-mail reply to questions. in years – the 9-3 dates back to 2002 we will continue with the Saab brand “We originally thought that having and the 9-5 to 1997 – so the brand has unless they introduce more new the two Swedish brands together struggled in the highly competitive product and position it more comANE would benefit both,” he wrote. UK market. petitively in the UK market.” Photo: Lyle Frink Q & A: Tom Purves For red-hot Rolls-Royce, will 2009 deliver a chill? For Rolls-Royce, 2008 was a record year, despite the sour economy. The elite British marque sold more than 1,200 cars, a 20 percent increase over the previous year. This marked the fifth straight year of increased sales as the company’s volumes rose in all its key markets. But will Rolls-Royce’s run of success run out this year? Automotive News Europe correspondent Tony Lewin asked CEO Tom Purves. What are your expectations for 2009? To do better than last year. If there’s any way that we can sell as many cars in 2009 as we did in 2008, we’ll try to do it. Will we build as many cars? No, we won’t. How does the banking crisis affect your customers? It has not affected their attitude toward Rolls-Royce. They have not lost everything, or they have not lost to the point where they economically change their major decisions on houses or cars. But the main effect is on the whole of the economy in which we are operating – our confidence, everybody’s confidence, including our customers. "For many people, the RR4 will be on their horizon.” Tom Purves the Phantom and its derivatives. Do you think bringing out the RR4 will bring the center of gravity of Rolls-Royce downward slightly, to a less elevated position? The introduction of RR4 will certainly see a larger number of cars in the Rolls-Royce brand sold at slightly lower prices than the Phantom. But I don’t see that as ‘bringing down the center of gravity.’ These cars are complementary. The Phantom is larger and the Phan- tom has a higher price. But for many people it’s not something that’s on their horizon. For many people, the RR4 will be on their horizon. Are you asking suppliers for price reductions? I am not aware where we are asking for a substantial reduction in price, but I do know that we have visited a number of different suppliers to make sure that we are getting as competitive a price as we can. In some cases, that has led to a reducANE tion in cost. How does your order bank now stand, compared with the same point last year? It’s definitively smaller than it was this time last year, and this is excluding any interest in our future new car – I’m just talking about

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Automotive News Europe - March 2, 2009

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