Kadjar to lead Renault assault on fleet market

The Autumn launch of the Kadjar, Renault's new C-segment crossover, is set to lead a raft of future new fleet-friendly models for the brand.

Head of fleet sales Mark Dickens told Fleet News that drivers at Company Car in Action were the first to see and drive the new model, in left-hand drive form; ahead even of the brand's own dealer network.

"This is the first time we've come to CCIA with a solus model, and we've had an excellent response. It's given us a really good platform for the vehicle, off the back of some great RV's four months ahead of launch."

FN: What are your expectations for the rest of 2015?

Mark Dickens: For 2015, we're now in the fifth consecutive month of our growth outpacing the market's growth - which is crazy, and we think June will be no different. Our key streams are Clio, Captur and LCV.

We're facing some availability challenges in LCV due to customer demand, particularly on Trafic, and Trafic Sport, the most desirable van in the range. 

Add in Kadjur on top, and it's going to be a very busy year.

All the important stuff for Kadjar's launch is already in place. The official Renault UK launch of the model is on October 1, with order books open from July 1. For fleet we're ready to go, and can take orders from the first. We have ten right hand drive vehicles arriving in the UK in July for contract hire roadshows, with 60 demonstrator models for fleets arriving in October.

We've got great RV's - the highest of any Renault ever launched, fleet terms agreed, we're listed in the Motability guide for Q3. Renault in the fleet world has been pretty silent in the UK for the last few years, so we need to make some noise. We've not been in the segment before, and we're confident about the car.

In 2015 we're expecting total Kadjar volumes to be quite low, 6-700 across all markets as we ramp up supply. As we go into 2016/17, we're expecting around 20,000 units a year, which is a big ramp up for us, with roughly 60% of that being fleet sales. 

We're very optimistic and positive, and having a great year so far. 

FN: Are you introducing, or have you recently introduced, any new initiatives for fleets?

MD: A lot of the work we're doing now is to help re-energise Renault's fleet presence, in anticipation of the Kadjar and new fleet friendly models to follow it. We're trying to make a really bold statement at Company Car in Action. 

We're looking to develop and grow our digital marketing strategy, because the products are coming. We're seeing quite a shift in the business pool. Traditionally we talk about user-choosers, job need vehicles, but where we're seeing a rise is in the salary sacrifice market.

For us, that's quite an interesting move, because you're then talking to a different audience to market those vehicles. It's not always necessarily the end driver making the decision, we're finding the call centre advisors are having quite a lot of influence. It's quite different to some of the scenarios we're used to.

I think we'll see a departure from the more traditional company car to 'lifestyle vehicles', so we're having to react to that.

We have a strong corporate account team in place, and we're further expanding the team. Our internal structure is now sorted, but our missing link is this digital marketing strategy - we're doing a lot of work on our website, and with LinkedIn. Traditionally in fleet, we've not got into any of that, but now we're starting to see it explode.

FN: What new fleet models are you due to launch this year?

MD: The key for us this year is the Kadjar. We've come to this market quite late - every new car has an evolution, so we've been able to benefit from feedback from customers and the market, to improve the product. We've worked hard to improve interior space on rivals, including boot space. 

Drivetrain is key for us, with best in class emissions in both manual and automatic transmissions. You expect most of the audience here at CCIA to be quite cynical, but we've had no negative comment at all. We're very excited for the launch.

In the next few years, we've got new Megane, a new D-segment SUV, and perhaps even a return for Espace on the next generation in 2018/19 - the Kadjar paves the way for future fleet growth at Renault.