NEW Ford fleet director Owen Gregory is keen to take a look at the broker market in a new light.
“Certainly the market has changed since the last time I was close to it and I’m looking at it with fresh eyes,” he said.
Owen took up the fleet director post in July this year following two years spent with Ford of Europe in Germany.
Owen continued: “With brokers we have been on a journey. My view of how I want to manage the channel is that we have some parties who are a conduit to that channel to access the market and business that otherwise we would not.
“The key for this is that there is a strong pull for our product which is great, but the market remains fragmented. There’s such diversity of deals that the model allows us to sell in our product in an orderly fashion.”
Ford has been expanding its model line up with a range of new models and ranges.
There’s the growing SUV range of EcoSport, Kuga and new Edge. Then there’s the new sporty ST-Line on the Fiesta, Focus, Kuga and Mondeo ranges. Plus there’s the upmarket Vignale offering. Along with a highly successful light commercial vehicle line up.
“We have a number of desirable products that are getting us noticed,” admits Owen. “And I think there is a big opportunity on contract hire. It’s an area where we can be more successful. It’s one of the things we’re really focused on.”
According to Gregory, Ford looked to sell through four channels:
- Brokers
- Direct
- Leascos
- Dealers
“If the proportion of contract hire is growing, that’s where we have the biggest opportunity for our own growth.”
It suggests Ford may start working through the broker channel in greater numbers in 2017. It’s an opportunity for Ford – and a great opportunity for the broker market, too.
Read more on Owen Gregory
- We have an interview with Ford’s fleet director on our sister website Car & Van Funding. You can read more here: Ford sees big opportunity in contract hire.
